Kitchen Update advice (floor, countertops, laminate, window)

[jenlion]

I'm getting ready to finalize plans to change up my kitchen. It's not a huge change, because my husband will not consider a huge remodel. (I would consider it, personally, but it's not important enough to try to move on that - we have young kids and don't want it completely out of commission).

I'm replacing blue laminate countertops with MSI's Toasted Almond quartz.

Floors will get changed throughout living areas in a later year, and will probably be consistent stranded bamboo among living, dining, and kitchen, but that's down the road.

The choice I'm making right now is whether to add a passthrough or not. The main difficulty we have is in entertaining large groups -- once more than 2 people come over, and they all try to pack into the kitchen, it's a mess. I wish I could get people to sit in the dining room or the living room, but they just will not do it. I understand that this is pretty universal and I can't change it. ;-)

This is only a problem a few times a year, though.

Currently, I have two gigantic full-height cabinets along the wall shared with the dining room:



From the living/dining area:



If I change only the countertops (paint color is not confirmed, and the backsplash is generic -- just to give a general idea) it would look roughly like this:




If we add a passthrough, we lose a little bit of cabinet space (we can live without it -- it's so high up and far back I can't reach all of it anyway), add counter space, and have a very small bartop. The top protrudes only a tiny bit into the dining area and is rounded so I don't gouge myself on corners.


From the living room:



Trying to decide whether to pull the trigger on the passthrough. I'm pretty sure we have the skills to do it -- there shouldn't be any electrical in that space, and we should be able to handle the framing of it and drywalling it, and putting up some trim around it.

We aren't going to open up the wall to the living area (the one with a mirror on it right now) and we aren't going to rearrange the cabinets to make a true full bar right there -- it's pass-through or nothing. And the dining area is just under 11 feet wide, so I can't put in a very large bar while keeping table and chairs comfortable.

I will probably try to get the passthrough to match the doorway height and I am thinking about putting in matching trim around the door frame.




If it looks cheap to just put in a passthrough, I'll skip it. It's somewhat cramped in the kitchen with big cabinets, but it's hardly terrible. I *think* the passthrough window would be an improvement. Thoughts?

[glamatomic]

I personally like the idea of a passthrough window. I had them at my last two houses and honestly it was so much easier when entertaining because you didn't feel as disconnected from the dining room!

My current house doesn't have a passthrough- but when I remodel my kitchen I've been seriously considering it!

Good luck!

[chet everett]

There is a LOT MORE functionality gained / added when the doorway and passthru and combined so that you effectively create a "penisula" and there almost no additional cost in a situation like you have...

[Padgett2]

I think a passthru is a great idea.

However, you might want to think about a some sort of folding shutters to close it off when the kitchen isn't at it's best. Dirty Dishes, pot and pans can really pile up sometimes. It's hard to have a nice supper when your guests have to look at what needs to be done after they get to go home.

[jenlion]

Chet,

The ceiling is very high between those rooms. Pretty big change:



There were two dealbreakers here. We'd have to move the dining room light switch to the exterior wall, or around the corner to the living room wall (there is a light switch there already, not pictured, for a ceiling fan). Neither is appealing. Plus, the ceiling fan in the dining room is textured, and in the kitchen it's not. Whole-ceiling redo is not in the cards right now.


If you mean simply removing the post, we still have the electrical issue, but not the ceiling one.

[JayCT]

Can't you flip those tall cabinets to the other wall and then open it up? Jay

[Yellow Saltbox]

I think the pass through is an improvement, but I think removing the post also is a BIG improvement. If you can, I'd remove the post. I can't imagine the electric would cost more than a couple of hundred dollars. Perhaps I'm naive??

[timneh5]

I like the last picture with a passthrough where the mirror is (on the wall facing the living room?) to open it up more to your guests. Great plans.

[chet everett]

Originally Posted by Yellow Saltbox

I think the pass through is an improvement, but I think removing the post also is a BIG improvement. If you can, I'd remove the post. I can't imagine the electric would cost more than a couple of hundred dollars. Perhaps I'm naive??

Visually I think this works better and you can some function too. If the "bar height" service ledge stop short of the end you still have some privacy / separation between kitchen and dining room. By running the top over the edge you create a handy spot for kids and a little "walk up buffet area" that is also handy for enterrtaining / holidays / everyday family use...

Depending on what other issues there are with electric I think this would be a worthwhile improvement -- there are ways to sneak a switch in almost anywhere these days.

Believe I routinely trash some folks ideas on "open floor plan" and I don't know that you have to open the space all the way to the ceiling (personally I like something to help contain mess / odors of kitchen...) but functional changes that happen at the "work top level" are anothing issue -- nobody has a parade of servents to dish out food and then march it back to the "char crew" these days. Things that make it easier to keep people out of the traffic flow but still conveniently located to lend a hand when asked AND socialize from the adjoining kitchen and dining room seem much more modern than some old- fashioned idea of a diner gong being rung...

[mkarch]

This house looks like one of the ubiquitous 1970's-80's split levels in the burbs, no? A lot of people have cut out that wall to varying degrees. I might suggest hitting some open house listings in the area and get a feel for the change. The vaulted ceilings certainly complicate matters, but I agree with the others here that say at minimum to remove the post between the doorway. The pass through window looks old fashioned, more so with the trim around it.