First I tried the most obvious (I think) design with a wall of cabinets and an island in front, each with either the sink or cooktop. I modeled it with IKEA kitchen designer as well as VectorWorks renderer, and I came to realize that the calm look I am striving for cannot really be done if the wall surface is extensively broken up - by either a sink or a cooktop.
And if sink and cooktop instead are both in the island, then that will have to be at least 9' long to allow for sufficient space on the sides of each work place. So this is bad news for some of my "domino" concepts from a previous blog post (i.e., the partial overlapping of a dining area and the island just doesn't work - there is not room enough for sink + cooktop + seating.
So if I am to make the long wall un-busy, here are 6 different concepts for the kitchen. For each "archetype" I have estimated the utilitarian value in terms of # sf of usable counter space (excl. sink and cooktop) and # sf of shelf/drawer space
I think I have too little space to make the dbl. niche (4) look really stunning; and I am not really sure the single niche (5) is a good idea from a visual point of view though I still like the idea of putting all the dirty dishes away ;-)
Although there are less cabinet space in the horseshoe, it will likely be the most expensive solution since so much has to be customized. But it is intriguing
The two orthogonal island solution (2 and 3) could both be made wider if I don't need a separate freestanding table.
The double island provides tons of space, but unfortunately it is a bit tight as a 2 person work area. There ought to be 4' between the two islands to allow people to pass one another; but here I have only 3' or so (The total of 15'2" would be divided into 6' for island space and approx 9' to be equally divided between the three passage area). I could take out the shallow cabinets from one of the islands, or i could assume that the sliding door toward the hall will be open most of the time and therefor allow only 2' between island and wall (toward hall).
