Need some opinions on what to do with this part of kitchen

[thestrangebrew1]

Looking to replace all the kitchen appliances but because the house is so old, I'm having a hard time deciding what to do with this portion of the kitchen. The cooktop is electric so we're having a plumber run gas and replacing the cooktop with gas.

My issue is the wall oven and microwave. The oven is ~23" wide, the microwave is 27" wide with the inset (unit itself is only 23" as well). I'd like to put a double wall oven in there, but I'm not finding very good reviews for some of these 27". From the end to end of the wood where these two are located, it's only about 30" wide. So my option is to widen the area which I'd basically have to take the cabinets apart, remove the counter and relocate the cooktop to the left, which would most likely require new cabinets etc. The only 27" oven we've found with good reviews is a GE product. We're leaning towards going all GE for appliances so they match, but I'm not 100% sure about the quality of GE products.

Any thoughts or suggestions?

 

[herm0016]

man, that layout sucks.

anywho.. looks like its really your only option. is the fridge going back in that hole? what is the width there? Don't get too stuck on the reviews, Many people don't know wtf they are talking about. Looks like the kitchen aid gets pretty good marks, we have been vary happy with that brand of dishwashers. Where are you putting a microwave? replacing the hood with one?

I think i would tear it out and put in a 36 in range with more counter space.

instead of just replacing appliances, we decided one night just to gut our whole kitchen. 8 months later we are so happy we did it and love the new space.

 

[thestrangebrew1]

The width of the fridge space is about 38-40" We have a 37 1/4" fridge currently that could go in that spot but we're going to get a new one. Bad thing is the depth is only about 24" so the fridge will stick out a lot.. We have a guy coming over tonight to give us a quote on doing new flooring throughout the house including the kitchen as well. Prob. see about getting rid of the old school cream tile countertop and backsplash too.

 

[Greenman]

You need a new a whole new kitchen.

 

[Subyman]

By the time you spend money on a cook top and cabinet oven, you could be a long way into new cabinets and a counter that makes sense.

 

[NAC]

I would remove the oven/microwave and put in a normal oven/range combo, with a microwave above it as an exhaust fan. It would give you some more counterspace, which is especailly useful next to the range. Or if you have a lot of space on the other side of the kitchen, you can move the microwave there somewhere.

 

[thestrangebrew1]

I haven't price checked cabinets, aren't they super expensive? We priced all our appliances and total came out to about $7k for double wall oven, microwave, cooktop dishwasher and fridge. Seemed decent. We'll be putting in new flooring also. Anyways, here's a pic of the whole kitchen area.



Took this when we first moved in so it's a mess. I think we're going to move the bar to the middle and use it as an island so we can keep the original cabinets. The wife read somewhere that linoleum laid 20+ years ago may have asbestos. Anyone heard of that? First for me, but we gotta rip that stuff out.

 

[Carson Dyle]

Wow, that layout really does suck. If the location of the stove can't be moved, I'd consider a more conventional stove/oven combo and an over-the-stove microwave. Which would let you open up the space to the right of the stove and give yourself a little more counter space for cooking.

Not sure how/if that could be made to work with your existing cabinets, though.

* Edit *

I completely missed NAC's reply.

 

[shabby]

Bad thing is the depth is only about 24" so the fridge will stick out a lot..

Get a counter depth fridge... but its double the price.

 

[thestrangebrew1]

I think anything we do outside of replacing existing appliances would require us to cut/remove the cabinets. I don't think the wife is willing to do that and we can't afford new cabinetry right now with our plans for the flooring. Our options appear pretty slim atm.

 

[Humpy]

I think anything we do outside of replacing existing appliances would require us to cut/remove the cabinets. I don't think the wife is willing to do that and we can't afford new cabinetry right now with our plans for the flooring. Our options appear pretty slim atm.

Using standard appliances may free up some money to have the cabinets modified. Depending on your location there is likely a cabinet shop who could rework what you have at a reasonable cost.

It just seems like a potential false economy to buy less common, odd sized appliances in order to keep some cabinetry.

Maybe not, but I wouldn't give up too soon before truly examining all the options. Also, it's your money and your priorities. Don't let anyone overly influence your decisions.

 

[Aikouka]

New cabinets can definitely be quite an expensive endeavor, and a lot of it can depend on how much you're willing to do. I'm getting most of my kitchen redone right now, and all I'm pretty much handling is the demo, but it's still costing a decent amount. (Fortunately, given how the "outdated kitchen" was noted on the assessment, it should add a decent percentage to my house's value.) For an 11'5"x12'0" setup, I'm paying around $8k for the (20) cabinets and any trim (crown molding and light rails) to go in a U-shape.

I'll be giving up a wall oven as well, and I'm quite glad. I think mine is as big as yours (~24"), and I never even noticed before moving in that it was too small for most of my cookie sheets.

 

[Carson Dyle]

Do you plan on putting the new flooring under the existing cabinets? If not, it will most likely need to be redone in the future if/when you do decide to remodel.

 

[Aikouka]

Do you plan on putting the new flooring under the existing cabinets? If not, it will most likely need to be redone in the future if/when you do decide to remodel.

That's an interesting question, because I've heard a lot of differing opinions on that. What do most of you think? The only negative about taking the tile to the cabinets is that you can't really change the layout without exposing untiled floor, but doing it the other way will save you some money.

In my case, I just got my tile installation scheduled for the middle of August... when I've got all of my cabinets, appliances and tile materials sitting at my house. If I don't just do it myself, only taking the tile to the cabinets would allow me to not wait on the floor tiling to get the cabinets installed.

 

[Carson Dyle]

I don't really have an opinion, other than to point out the downside of not doing it. Another consideration is that doing it one way or the other may change your existing counter height. We had our kitchen remodeled about five years ago, and the way the countertops were mounted on top of the cabinets caused the counters to be about 3/8" taller than previously. Took me months to get used to the height difference.

 

[thestrangebrew1]

The wife is now thinking to leave the bar where it's at, get the appliances, and get the floors redone. At this point, I kind of don't care and just want it done lol. Our cooktop takes forever to boil water, the oven apparently doesn't work now and I'm tired of having to go to a separate room to get into the fridge. Honestly I don't mind the layout too much. I think we'd be happier with the layout if we just got rid of the godawful tile counter top and replace it with some nice granite and backsplash. We'll see. Wife is going out of town for a few days so we're not making any decisions till next week now.

 

[Aikouka]

The wife is now thinking to leave the bar where it's at, get the appliances, and get the floors redone. At this point, I kind of don't care and just want it done lol. Our cooktop takes forever to boil water, the oven apparently doesn't work now and I'm tired of having to go to a separate room to get into the fridge. Honestly I don't mind the layout too much. I think we'd be happier with the layout if we just got rid of the godawful tile counter top and replace it with some nice granite and backsplash. We'll see. Wife is going out of town for a few days so we're not making any decisions till next week now.

I finally got a chance to see your photos, and I don't think it'd take much to make it a bit better. I'd remove the cooktop and its cabinet, then replace that with a freestanding range. The only issue is that it sounds like you need more space near the fridge, and since you won't be using the wall oven anymore, you could remove that section. The issue with doing that is that the entire column is most likely a whole unit, which means you'd have a gap at the top. Although, you might be able to just cut them apart and add a new bottom. If you want some room for your microwave, you could consider an over-the-range model. They aren't as good at venting as a true vent, but it'll help you conserve space while being adequate.

 

[thestrangebrew1]

I finally got a chance to see your photos, and I don't think it'd take much to make it a bit better. I'd remove the cooktop and its cabinet, then replace that with a freestanding range. The only issue is that it sounds like you need more space near the fridge, and since you won't be using the wall oven anymore, you could remove that section. The issue with doing that is that the entire column is most likely a whole unit, which means you'd have a gap at the top. Although, you might be able to just cut them apart and add a new bottom. If you want some room for your microwave, you could consider an over-the-range model. They aren't as good at venting as a true vent, but it'll help you conserve space while being adequate.

I thought about this as well. If we just slide in a conventional range, remove the wall oven and microwave, we could essentially use that space as a small pantry, while still having a bit of room for the fridge. Might look funny, but we could maybe find a door and put some makeshift shelves in it. We're using extra storage space in the laundry room as a pantry right now. Might be something worth considering at any rate. See if it passes the wife test.

 

[Carson Dyle]

The width of the fridge space is about 38-40" We have a 37 1/4" fridge currently that could go in that spot but we're going to get a new one. Bad thing is the depth is only about 24" so the fridge will stick out a lot..

Isn't 24" a pretty standard kitchen cabinet depth? That's what mine are, with a 25" deep counter top. I just took a look and the face of my fridge sticks out 7" from the front edge of the adjacent counter top. Doesn't seem unusual.

 

[thestrangebrew1]

Isn't 24" a pretty standard kitchen cabinet depth? That's what mine are, with a 25" deep counter top. I just took a look and the face of my fridge sticks out 7" from the front edge of the adjacent counter top. Doesn't seem unusual.

I don't know if it's standard or not. I just don't remember my fridge sticking out as much at our old house. Could have though.

 

[Aikouka]

I don't know if it's standard or not. I just don't remember my fridge sticking out as much at our old house. Could have though.

24" is standard base cabinet depth for a kitchen and 21" for a bathroom. It's 12" for a wall cabinet, but it's not uncommon to see people with 15" deep wall cabinets. I thought about it for mine, but the price increase was quite steep for something that might only benefit a few larger plates. Anyway, your fridge might not have stuck out much simply because it wasn't a very big fridge. For example, these fancy-schmancy counter-depth fridges are only 21-23 cu. ft. inside, which is pretty small since you pay the same for a nice 30 cu. ft. model that sticks out 5-7 inches.

Based on what you've said, I'd definitely at least try to get the fridge in there. The worst thing you could do is spend a bunch of money and still be unhappy with a major part of your frustration (having to go to a separate room for the fridge) being ignored.

 

[thestrangebrew1]

I think the wife has decided to cut the bar out and relocate it to make it an island. We'll be getting a new fridge with the same dimensions or slightly less depth, and keep the current fridge where it's at.