House in Progress Diary

hello.

the radiator shouldnt/cant go under a counter it will render it almost useless unless you want to heat the counter and let the counter heat the room.

good news they are easy to move and in both kitchens it seems the place to be is in between the 2 existing doors.

is your back room history? if so you could poke a hole in it now and enter through there so you could put the stove where its sposta be.

Shame about the radiator then. It's only 18 inches high. I was hoping to put a radiator cover on it.

Sadly, moving radiators isn't a cakewalk in this old house because they are one-pipe steam radiators... with all of the lovely nuances that steam presents. Change one thing and the whole system needs to be coaxed into balance, like tuning a lovely violin. Hot water would be easier to move, definitely.

using the ikea kitchen planner is such a good idea! even if you don't use their cabinets, it gives you a general idea of what you need, just keep in mind your working triangle should be 22' or less.
i think that you probably have to move your radiator- once that's out of the way, you'll have so much more room to work with! i'd put the fridge where your stove is now and move the stove (unless you're planning a kosher kitchen, you don't need them seperated), the sink should definetly stay where it is and you'll have a perfect triangle! where your fridge is now, you could create a really nice pantry area that blends seamlessly with the existing builtins, or more counter space with glass/open shelving above it.
whatever you decide to do... good luck!!!

Off topic, but what happened to that "Nathan was right" post? It seems to have disappeared from your site ...

Callie-- We made a mistake with that entry. One of the people pictured had asked us not to post their photo. It shouldn't have been posted in the first place so we took the entry down.

So... The kitchen dimensions are 17' x 12' ? That's pretty big - bigger than I figured from the pictures you posted last week!

Would you ever want to open the kitchen up to the dining room? Some sort of a pass through, or perhaps do away with the wall entirely?

Oh Nick...we'd LOVE it. Unfortunately, the stairway to the second floor and the basement is smack dab between kitchen and the dining room. (Bummah!)

Doh! Actually, I just found your 1st floor floorplan, here, and I see what you mean. Boy, you sure have a hike between the front door and the kitchen!

Would you ever consider swapping the front bedroom and the kitchen? Expense-wise it'd be similar, as it looks like you already want to move some plumbing. And you could create a more open floorplan with the dining room. Of course, it'd be harder to take out the trash...

And, if you dont need the front bedroom, you'd have your temporary kitchen all set up! :)

Okay, okay. I think I'm getting too excited about other people's homes again...

Thanks, Aaron. I was going crazy looking for that post again to see that wainscoting so I'm glad I'm not losing it!

This may be too radical for you folks but I just betcha there was an old apron sink on legs over that radiator at one time. It was that way in our Chicago bungalow, and our neighbors as well. They actually built base cabinets below that sink ages ago with those grill panels in front and it was toasty warm in that kitchen.

i'm not so sure the radiator can't go under the counter. our cooktop sits on a cabinet that has a grill panel where you'd normally find a silverware drawer, and two regular cabinet doors that open to---a big cast iron radiator! it would not be my choice, and we plan to relocate the radiator when we replace the cooktop with a vintage detroit jewel stove. in the meantime, it keeps the kitchen pretty warm, and we manage to use the cabinet for some of our pots and pans, though most of it is full of radiator.

now, whether or not this violates building codes, i don't know. it all happened in 1958, and i wasn't even born yet, let alone around to stop the madness...

one other note---i see you're putting a wall oven where your current stove is located. just keep in mind that the oven door will stick out into the traffic path when opened. our wall oven door opens in front of the exterior doorway, and though ken thinks i'm paranoid, i'm always fearful that one of the kids will come barging in while the oven door is open, and walk right into it, causing hideous burns and possible decapitation... so far i've prevented this tragedy by cooking as little as humanly possible...