Kitchen Plans

Not only has the kitchen itself morphed over the years, the design and layout of the future kitchen has also gone through dozens and dozens of renderings. I began designing it with a program that doesn't even exist anymore. In my newest design software, I have at least 40 different plan files saved over the past 3 or 4 years, with about 12 of those files involving major structural differences, like the kitchen on the west side of the house, then on the east side, etc. Within the last year or so, we finally settled on the basic layout and began building the foundations around that (windows, doors, lighting, etc.) . Once all the new windows were purchased and installed, there was really no turning back.

Some driving factors in the current design:

1) The need to stand anywhere in the kitchen and be able to see the barn, the aviaries and a good portion of the fenceline at a glance.

2) The need to be able to physically get out the door and access the back deck within one or two seconds flat from anywhere in the kitchen. (Basic predator control - hawks, foxes, the occassional black bear...) It eliminated having a peninsula or large refrigerator along the back wall, blocking a path to the door.

3) The possibility of a future addition onto the east side of the house. This determined the placement of the french doors and open space for the table, in case we ever needed to open the kitchen up to a family room or breakfast room on that side. (Ahh, dreams....maybe someday. But maybe someday we'll just move and leave the addition to someone else.)

Unfortunately, we no longer have any ducks, geese or birds that need such intricate monitoring. Well, maybe in a few years... how about pygmy goats? :-)

Here are the elevations....

The refrigerator wall:

The south (sink) wall:

The cooktop wall: