Kitchen Renovation: Updating a U-Shaped Layout

I'm sure that the thought of undertaking a kitchen renovation has given pause to many.  After all, the kitchen is known for its potential to be one of the most expensive areas of the home to update.  Add to that the inconvenience & time required and even the most stout-hearted homeowner must become trepidatious.

I knew that careful planning was in order. To start with, I needed a clear understanding of the benefits that we already enjoyed as well as  the problems that we expected this renovation to solve.  In other words, I needed to identify The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly!

Now I've had years of experience analyzing & architecting computer systems but experience reviewing a kitchen, not so much.  Let's face it, developing a critical eye can take years and though I was capable of doing the research I was unwilling to pay for the mistakes I knew I would make along the way.  So I took a practical approach and consulted with experts.

Tanya Collins (Tanya Collins Design) and Richard Heller (Richard Heller Renovations) helped me navigate the renovation perils and revealed wonderful options that I never would have discovered on my own.  I could write a whole article on the benefits of including experts on your renovation team (and probably will at some point) but right now I'll return to the task at hand, analyzing the state of the old kitchen against my family's current requirements.

Here's what we came up with.


The Good

The U-shaped layout had a fairly efficient work triangle.

The Kitchen size was adequate for my family.

The Pantry provided for ample storage.

The Breakfast Area accommodated six comfortably while the Dining Room accommodated at least ten; additional seating in the Kitchen wasn't a requirement.

The island made a great buffet for large dinner parties where both the Breakfast Area & the Dining Room were used.

The Bad

The cupboard valances hung so low that it was difficult to utilize the counter space underneath.

The island provided the only good preparation area.
The island provided the only drawers.

It was a tight fit between the island & the fridge.

The fridge & the range were on their last legs, in fact the fridge died before the renovation actually began.

The ceramic tile floor had failed, tiles were cracked & loose and grout was missing.

And The Ugly

The original white, melamine cupboard doors had yellowed (all in different shades).

The bulkheads meant to be decorative were anything but.

Viewed from the Dining Room, the back of the island looked like a huge, white coffin.

The fluorescent skylight (need I say more?).

The Preliminary Floor Plan

Although I was committed to correcting The Bad, I have to admit it took a while for me to come around to addressing And The Ugly.  After all, ugly can still be functional and after absorbing the shock to my budget that the replacement of 700 sq. ft. of tile entailed I was reluctant to keep adding to the tally.

Fortunately Tanya & Richard managed to talk some sense into me and we arrived at the following.

Removing the bulkheads and extending the cabinets to the ceiling made a big difference but the most audacious change was the elimination of the upper cabinets on the back wall.

Looking at the diagram you can get an ideal of how dramatically the space was expanded.

Total cupboard space remained the same; what was lost from the back wall was recovered from higher upper cabinets and additional depth of the upper cabinets on the fridge wall.

Twelve new drawers facilitate storage & organization.

With additional preparation space on each side of the range we discussed eliminating the island.  In the end I opted for a slightly smaller, more elegant piece.

Valuable inches were gained with a new, counter-depth fridge.  The fridge could have been moved back even further but it required a change to the load-bearing wall behind it.  I just couldn't reconcile this with the budget and I don't regret passing on this opportunity.

With the preliminary floor plan in place it was time for the final specification of the finishes & fixtures.

Time to stop swooning over pretty pictures & make a commitment!


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Kitchen Renovation: Updating a U-Shaped Layout by Tatiana Dokuchic on 2014-04-14  Identifying The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly of my current kitchen design.

Find Tatiana Dokuchic on Google+

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