I think your kitchen is bigger. With 3 adults (one being 6’3”) cooking in our kitchen, we’re constantly in each other’s way.

youll need to show the area under the light fixture.....no table shown but is that the idea? is there a patio door or windows along that outside wall? How far down that outside wall can the kitchen expand? or not? The stair wall has electrical.....cabinets at less than full depth can be installed there. Show inches and openings [walkways/ doors/windows/walls etc] of all the areas . .

I'd slide fridge to center of the kitchen wall ..install cabs and counter on either side to help w work zones .....Use stair wall as below or similar. [coffee bar? more storage?] 15./ 18 or 21 inch deep cabinets will still be useful and not crowd that area. what sort of table is planned? avoid the remodel until occupancy for 6 mo minimum......how long have you been in?

Needham Bar · More Info

Medfield Circle First Floor · More Info

Please post a floor plan including the connecting rooms and post a picture of the wall along the sink that I assume is the dinette. We need all this to help with the flow of the whole area not just the kitchen.

You might consider simply revising the positions.

You do this:

You post a floor plan of the entire living floor, a scaled drawing that lets us see the entirety, all the walls and rooms around that kitchen, with feet and inches noted, walls, windows, etc.

You post a scaled drawing of the kitchen as this below.......See how every solid wall has a dimension noted, every opening, every window?

Your version ...like this: Walls, window, passage and where they lead.

THAT is how you get help.

Yes we nned the to scale plan to even begin to help. So many questions will arise during this help so be prepared to chack back as we go along. I find best help comes when we have no preconceived ideas about the space , Blind corners are never space and storage savers . To start the space I see with the chandeleir is not the DR???? Waht is it since you say the DR is next to where the fridge is ?

Thanks for the suggestions and feedback. I’ll have to take measurements and create a floor plan (thanks for the guidance as I’m new to this). Until then, here are additional photos. The area under the chandelier is a breakfast nook. We’ll use that space for a small eating area with table/chairs. We thought about extending the kitchen counter into the breakfast nook but question if that would look odd (as it’s next to the sliding doors leading into the backyard). The area beyond the breakfast nook is the family room (which we intend to use as a family room). The formal dining room is the room you enter from the opening next to the refrigerator. I believe the refrigerator wall is load-bearing as it goes straight up to the vaulted ceilings.

Does the dining room run the full length from kitchen to the front windows? Looks like it's all carpeted. Be sure to include the dimensions of the dining space. Perhaps kitchen can expand somewhat into the dining area.

Dining Room is fairly small - it runs the length of the stove wall to the back of the refrigerator. With a dining table and hutch in the Dining Room, there isn’t much room for anything else. The Living Room is next to the formal Dining Room. It’s an 80s house.

I think you could easily move the kitchen out into the sapce with the light hanging down so why not ?Foor me the ptio door could go then the window I see on the left could become the patio door and you would have amuch bigger kitchen

"Our kitchen is very, very small"

Oh please....that is NOT a very, very small kitchen....

Regardless of what your perception of space is, I think U-shaped kitchens are great. I grew up in a house with a similar layout, and I'll tell you -- it was a functional and efficient kitchen. Embrace the basics of what you have going there.

I mean really -- how often in the course of a day does the fridge door block the flow of traffic? Never seemed to have a problem when I lived with that kitchen, and there were bunch of us in that house. If it bugs you that much, buy a new fridge that opens on the opposite side -- that would be cheaper than what you seem to want to do.

I think the kitchen size is fine. You might want to consider some of the new inserts available for corner base cabinets that makes them easier to store items inside.

Smallish kitchens can be a jewel with the right finishes and details.

If you have three adults who regularly cook in the kitchen at each meal, you probably need two stoves or two cooktops. Have you considered that option? It would mean expanding into the dining area. Two stoves ( and two sinks) are often seen in kosher kitchens, so a search for "kosher kitchens" may give you some ideas.

Another thought in waiting for your floor plan is to consider extending your kitchen into the Formal dining room by removing the existing stove wall and making the dinette dual purpose dinette and dining room since you have quite a lot of room there.

Really 3 people in a kitchen is pretty normal I did not need 2 stoves for 6 people in the kitchenwhen I had my catering biz . Okay those kitchens Beverly shows that is another story for sure.

I can imagine how it would feel small especially with oven or dishwasher door open - not a pro but I’d probably want to remove the peninsula to give more space. — although the existing door creates some issues with opening up the kitchen that way

I'll guarantee :

First? the layout, early 80's is more common than snowflakes in Alaska in December.

It's a kitchen not many specks wider than 13'

You come in the foyer...to the right is living room, and beyond is the formal dining room.

I'd now ask.....what is the budget? What is the climate that dictates all the tile?

What flooring do you want?

If you're good with the tile? Okay with the formal dining space? Plan for a breakfast table at the bay? All that is driving you crazy is a fridge door ?

You do this: as Bev suggested.

You don't really even need set down space on that side. You have the peninsula a couple steps away, but it's a good spot near dining entry to put the microwave and trade for a real hood.

Beyond that, you look at what others in the neighborhood have done. You look at how long you will live there. Your budget....all of it.

For 100k ?

There's probably a lot more that can happen.

First would be to blow the entire kitchen into the formal dining.

The house was the priced to consider the kitchen. : ) and all else.

So until a really full measure of the entire first floor? That's the deal, as it almost always is.

la_la_Girl is correct. The current layout becomes more problematic when someone is washing dishes while someone is trying to open the oven door or while someone is cooking at the stove. We don’t intend to expand into the dining room or the living room. The preference is to keep the breakfast nook (and to use counter stools at the peninsula). Bev’s suggestion is the front-runner. Another option is to replace the stove with a cooktop so that pots/pans can be stored under the cooktop (pots/pans are currently stored under the peninsula which causes a lot of crossing the kitchen to grab a pan/pot, resulting in traffic jams when multiple people are in the kitchen).

Removing the peninsula would result in losing counter space and I don’t believe a decent-sized island would fit. I’m including a pic of a neighbor who did just that.

^^

The neighbor has a console table in the kitchen as that is ALL the width will allow.

"Another option is to replace the stove with a cooktop so that pots/pans can be stored under the cooktop"

Which will then TRADE for 30 inches lost on the fridge wall. Down here ( neighbor)?

The need for storage outweighed need for hood, Their pots and pans lurk in there I'm sure.

That is DEFINITELY across the kitchen: )

"We don’t intend to expand into the dining room or the living room.".........

Back to this?

You will not get ALL you want in this kitchen. Not unless you expand the walls of the kitchen.

Investigation just means measure - lets see all: )

1. Rebuild the peninsula to bring it out as far as possible on that bit of wall to the right of the patio doors and ditch the idea of stools there. A table will be 2 steps away. You would gain wider counter space but more importantly you could have cupboards filling the entire underneath of the peninsula with doors front and back. The blind corner would be accessible from the breakfast area, a huge space gain.

2. Yes, switch the fridge door to hinges on the right.

3. Get a good kitchen business to find the best swing-out storage gizmos for the other blind corner. There is a small cupboard door there thus giving access to storage for pots and pans. These 3 ideas are financially manageable, give you many more cubic feet of storage. Your kitchen is lovely, streamlined and bright!

4. Not intending to criticize but this is a huge kitchen compared to my own beautiful LITTLE U-shaped oasis which is my happy place and where I spend hours every day.

Your views of the hills are beautiful. Enjoy your new home! The easiest and best solution is to follow Beverly’s advice to switch the placement of the refrigerator snd the adjoining cabinet.

I have a similar layout and our fridge is a problem. I am thinking of flipping the fridge to the wall where the sink is (with some cabinets and counter inbetween the two). With the fridge moved, the cabinets could be reconfigured to provide more storage. The peninsula could be removed and an island with storage that starts in the kitchen and a rounded/kidney shape table is attached to the end in the space where the patio doors are. This would eliminate the need for another table and give you the seating you want. As for the corner cupboards, install lazy susan’s (do they call them this anymore 😂) that pull out so you can use them more efficiently. Where would you put your oven if you go to a cooktop? Maybe in the bank of cupboards where the fridge was - but then you are carrying hot things across the kitchen. Just some ideas, good luck! Hope to see the finished solution 😊

Not a designer, but my first thought is switch the arrangement of the refrigerator and cabinets. Move the fridge to the end where the pantry cabinet is. Yes it will be tight between it and the peninsula, but you have to make some concessions. The next thought is to make the concession of not having so many people in the kitchen at once. U shaped kitchens are pretty popular. Depending on your budget, you could completely redesign things so the flow of traffic works better. Since you have the formal dining room (how much do you use that?), you could eliminate the idea of the breakfast nook or the family room and move that to your formal DR. No one ever said you have to use the rooms as they are marked on the plans.

My sister a few houses back put an island in a kitchen that was narrower than yours. It had a small overhang on the open end towards their eating area. Was it perfect with huge clearances all around? No. Did it make the kitchen so much more functional? Yes.

Tell us more about the 3 adults cooking. Are their kids in the house? Would a smaller walkway around an island really interfere with daily function?

It seems the pantry/refrigerator wall is the main issue (since you don’t want to rethink the peninsula). Your run could accommodate pantry, french door refrigerator, and a built in microwave with drawers underneath for pots and pans (and more cabinetry above). Installed in that order from left to right starting at the dining room door, that would allow you to make the path into the dining room less congested, get the cooking gear out of the traffic pattern to the sink, and install a proper vent hood over the range. (The landing for the microwave would be the peninsula. We have a similar layout and it works well. We actually do also have a counter to the right of our microwave, but we never use that for landing space.) If you’re willing to spend a bit more on appliances, we have a a Liebherr integrated french door refrigerator (over freezer drawers) that does not stick out beyond our cabinetry and I think the extra inches are worth the cost in a narrow kitchen.

I know the peninsula provides counter space but removing it at least enables people to get out of each other’s way - the neighbor’s approach (while not perfect) seems to give a lot more breathing room

if you want to keep the peninsula I’d skip the stools and use it as prep space (standing on the stool side) moving the fridge makes this work better

you didn't really address budget (or I missed it). If you are ready for FULL kitchen remodel, then you have a lot of options. But if you are just wanting to deal with the fridge blocking the dining room entrance as you described in your original post, then I agree with Beverly 100%. You might even be able to do that with saving that piece of counter top, cabinets, everything! Just some wall patching and paint and you are good to go. Having that counter space near the dining room entrance would also make a nice "buffet" like area close to dining room.

all i can say is beware....these kinds of thoughts can easily lead to a much bigger project that you might be ready for!!! happened to me before! Good luck.

We have minimal info and lots thaat ells us what you will not do I need that to scale floor plan and IMO so all the rest of us. You tell what you won't do but that is it . Do you need more storage or what ?? I agree the kitchen is small but can be better for sure

LOL "small." My 1950 ranch kitchen is 8 x 11 feet.

How often do other people have to walk by the refrigerator when it's open? Is that really a big issue?

Found listing photos from 10-15 years ago, This layout was definitely functional for a family of 3. Plus they entertained frequently and it worked for that as well.

Decorators would say it wouldn't work but it was more functional than the former peninsula was.

Having personally lived with two different kitchens in the nineties with that exact layout, I feel your pain! The most bang for your buck is to do what Bev suggests and put the fridge in the center of that wall. And splurge on the fancy dead corner storage. I would rather have that big pennisula workspace than an inadequate island.

Still waiting for a dimensioned floor plan...

It is not bad the way it is now in many respects.

Paint the cabinets white or a nice pastel of your choice. Move the microwave from above stove where is is difficult to slide hot bowls out onto a cabinet and put it on the cabinet where it will be more convenient to use.

If the floors are hard tile, change to real wood, or cork, or VCT with lots of clearcoat. Hard tile is hard on the legs more than most realize. And 100% chance of glass dropped breaking, with wood floors closer to 50% chance.

The frig location is great so close to stove to grab more ingredients to add to a pan or skillet.

Love white appliances! Yay - keep them!

The countertop is outdated in some peoples opinion but looks in good condition - keep it or change and stick with a light color.

Not a fan of high counter stools, but it might not work to lower that area to table height - and might be expensive. It could be worth is since there is not space for a table or table-height island in the middle of the room. I have a baking cabinet as part of my island that is table height and love it for stirring in a bowl as I am average height woman and counter height is not the right height or angle for me. In olden days people used a table in the middle of the kitchen for baking/mixing - was a great idea.

Have fun!

If you removed the peninsula, you could add a narrow island table height for prep.

AVOID GREY AND BLACK! UGH! People suggesting that are behind the times - that horrid trend is over!!!

Tell people to not use that door to the dining room when you are cooking and to go around or stay out of the kitchen. Set a chair in the doorway while cooking as a reminder. It needs to be there to bring food to the DR table. My frig door does that too blocking door to DR and I just deal with it.

I too feel your pain, had the exact same issues in a previous kitchen. Like others, I agree with moving the fridge to the center of the wall (next to the pantry. I would also install a cabinet (fridge depth) above the fridge for added storage, useful for tall pitchers, platters and water bottles.

Look into toe kick drawers under all your base cabinets. They are invaluable for casseroles, flat pans, baking dishes and broiler pans. Last two kitchen remodels we used Showplace Cabinets and have been delighted.

Consider a smaller (but deep) single sink so that you can reduce the size of your sink base cabinet to 30”. This allows the corner cabinet to the right to be larger and potentially a lazy susan to accomodate pots and pans.

Consider removing the half wall at the peninsula so that you can gain an extra 5” in the kitchen. the back of the cabinets would have a stained ir painted panel instead if sheetrock. It would require moving the outlet to the outside wall. Have the corner cabinet on the peninsula open to the dining to eliminate the awkward blind cabinet that is currently there.

Best of luck!