True to form, we’ve been scattered lately. Between refreshing the blog design and troubleshooting a missing header for some readers, we’ve also been slowly working on a $6 cabinet makeover that still needs paint and finishing touches (photos and a full update are coming soon). Meanwhile, we’ve been doing yard work, tackling a random bedroom project, and brainstorming the next phase of the kitchen. So here’s a bit of a brain dump about that kitchen planning.
We’re still saving toward new appliances before moving forward with the next stage of our slow-and-steady kitchen overhaul. Remember when we upgraded the fireplace and added wood paneling a while back? While we wait for the bank account to allow a new wall oven and a microwave that match, we met with an old friend and kitchen pro to gather ideas. That friend is Nancy Kulik, the designer who helped plan our first kitchen makeover through Home Depot—she’s great at space planning and offered helpful, practical advice that made our first kitchen far more functional.
Back in 2007 we knew we wanted white cabinets and light, marble-look counters, so we didn’t need much style guidance from Nancy then. What she did provide was smart layout advice—where to place appliances, how to squeeze in a dishwasher, where to relocate the fridge, and how to build in the microwave. Her input was invaluable. The takeaway: pros can save you a lot of time and frustration, and it’s worth consulting them when possible.
We stayed in touch with Nancy after that renovation—she and Clara became fast friends—so when we needed fresh eyes on our current kitchen she kindly reviewed our photos and a to-scale floor plan and offered some practical suggestions. There’s real value in keeping relationships with knowledgeable designers.
Quick refresher: the eat-in portion of our current kitchen looks like this:
We’ve always planned to replace the too-small dining table with a built-in island because when we open the big doorway to the dining room, two tables aligned through that opening would look awkward. We imagined a large round dining table in the formal dining room and a smaller built-in island near the fireplace in the kitchen so the two areas wouldn’t compete visually.
Here’s an old floor plan we shared before we moved, showing the proposed island location and a new wider opening to the dining room:
Some other goals: we’d like to paint our cabinets white, trade our mixed white, bisque, and black appliances for stainless steel, keep and refresh the existing granite counters with a lighter backsplash, remove the fluorescent tubes and the big brown fan, and eventually address the flooring. We’re still undecided about the floors because we don’t yet know whether hardwood runs under the entire kitchen or if we’ll need a new surface. Joist strength limits heavier materials like stone or tile, so we’re considering lighter options such as cork or a high-quality resilient flooring—still deciding.
Back to Nancy: when she reviewed our current, accurate kitchen-only floor plan she noticed a major discrepancy in our whole-house plan. The fireplace is actually nearly in the corner of the room, not centered on the wall. Because the fireplace sits off-center and almost kisses the hall doorway, centering an island under it would block the doorway—and we want to keep that opening clear. Nancy proposed an unexpected alternative: a floating L-shaped banquette that faces the fireplace and the entry frame wall.
Note: ignore that vertical line on the sketch; it was Nancy’s visual cue to align the back of the banquette with the living-room doorway. The banquette would float in the room like an island, not be attached to the wall, keeping the space open while creating a purposeful, cozy nook that engages the fireplace.
Initially we were skeptical, but the idea grew on us. I’ve always loved the snug feel of an L-shaped banquette, and a built-in nook could feel cozier than a freestanding island while solving the awkward off-center fireplace problem. Nancy drew a quick sketch and we taped the footprint on the floor to test the idea:
The plan uses two L shapes: the smaller inner L is the bench seating that faces the fireplace and frame wall; the larger outer L is cabinetry that wraps around the back of the seating. That cabinetry would provide concealed storage accessible from the back, much like an island, and it would look finished and attractive when viewed from the dining room or living room after we open up the doorway.
For good visual flow, we’d keep the tops of the cabinetry and the banquette seating the same height as the rest of the base cabinets so everything feels cohesive and open. Knocking out a wide doorway to the dining room behind the banquette would also keep the circulation airy and prevent a boxed-in feeling.
To help visualize scale, here’s John sitting at the taped banquette footprint. The real table would likely be a smaller pedestal-style table—perhaps round, oval, or square—and possibly a light color to keep the area bright.
Note: regardless of whether we build an island or a banquette, the lighting needs to be adjusted. The current fixtures are spaced poorly; for a banquette we’d center the light over the table rather than the seating strip.
To illustrate variations, we placed a round pedestal table and a lower square table in the taped area. We tend to prefer the rounded top because it frees up legroom and creates a softer look, but we’re still deciding.
This idea might not convince everyone—many people love islands—but the banquette solution organizes the off-center fireplace and frames the wide doorway to the living room so the whole arrangement reads with more balance. We might build a cardboard mockup of the cabinet-backed banquette to better judge scale and sightlines, or try a digital mockup to visualize the back side, which is a less common viewpoint in inspiration photos.
Ignore the temporary white fireplace surround on the floor in these shots—it makes the layout feel crowded. When we redo the flooring and reconfigure the fireplace someday, we plan to double-side it so you can look through to the living room. We may convert it to gas or leave it as an inoperable architectural feature so it won’t require a large tiled hearth that encroaches on the dining area.
In short: we taped a new footprint on the kitchen floor and are seriously considering a cozy, cabinet-backed, floating L-shaped banquette in place of a centered island. It feels like a promising way to handle the off-center fireplace, add functional seating and storage, and create a warm breakfast nook. We’ll keep experimenting with mockups and share updates as we make decisions. For now, it’s back to the bedroom project and the office cabinet makeover—DIY always keeps us juggling a few things at once.