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Design Dilemma
dknai

Help needed to design the kitchen and bathroom

dknai
9 years ago
Firstly , the kitchen is not properly ventilated and there is no sufficient light coming in as is seen the image attached. I need help to redesign my kitchen so that I could bring in more light to this room. Also am not preferring an open kitchen as I don't want my guests to be irritated with cooking smell that comes from kitchen.
Secondly ,I always wanted an enclosure in the bathroom to separate out the dry and wet areas. But I feel the bathrooms are too small to squeeze in an enclosure .Is there anyway I could include or at least separate out the dry and wet areas other than using a shower curtain.

Looking forward to all your suggestions and ideas. I really appreciate it.
Featured Answer
  • boundsgreener
    9 years ago
    I think I need to find a microscope, but are the three bathrooms all going to have baths or are these showers? How about turning the two back to back bathrooms into one large family bathroom and then you can have a bath and separate shower and the partition you are talking about.

    Sounds like you can't change any exterior walls, so, like Curt says, make sure you get a hood that is vented out to the balcony and choose light countertops (unlike the floorplan image) so they don't absorb the limited light you do have. I would also have light coloured cabinets. If you are having hanging cupboards, have under cabinet lighting as well as ceiling lighting.

    I'm sure you can hang a door to the kitchen that swings toward the wall (not toward the sink) if you like.

    Comments (18)

    • Curt D'Onofrio
      9 years ago
      For letting in more light into kitchen, a skylight or solar tubes are options
    • Curt D'Onofrio
      9 years ago
      last modified: 9 years ago
      Kitchen ventilation : The overhead hood above stove needs to be vented to the outside. Some hoods simply revent same old smelly air back into the room...that's the low budget type we have
      dknai thanked Curt D'Onofrio

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    • User
      9 years ago
      The floor plan is so low res it's hard to make anything out. Do you have something bigger?
    • suzanne_m
      9 years ago
      What are the dimensions of the showers?
    • User
      9 years ago
      Dimensions would be helpful, but just using the scale of the toilets to the bathrooms they look way too small to add any separation.

      As for the kitchen if there is no way to add a window on that wall on the right solar tubes are great for adding light to a dark room. As for ventilation, it depends on what you mean. Do you want fresh air like a window would provide or ventilation for your cook top? Maybe a full skylight would be an option if a window is not.
      dknai thanked User
    • dknai
      Original Author
      9 years ago
      Am so sorry I forgot to mention that this is an apartment layout and on the 2nd floor,so I dont think skylight is not an option.
      @Lila and Curt : Yes, am looking for more like ventilation for my cook top.
      I did talk to my engineer regarding adding a window to the wall on the right, but he said its not feasible at the moment as the 5th floor is in progress,so demolishing the wall now would make the structure weak.
    • dknai
      Original Author
      9 years ago
      @Suzanne : the shower dimension is 5'2"x7'0"
    • dknai
      Original Author
      9 years ago
      Thank you all for the suggestions .I think this picture will give you all a better idea of the kitchen and bathroom
    • divadeva
      9 years ago
      I was thinking along the same lines as "boundsgreener". Combine those bathrooms. Put a reflective backsplash in that kitchen, such as penny stainless steel. Add enough lighting to the kitchen to get at least 75 lumens on each work area...most kitchen have 35 lumens/s.f. and it can make a huge difference in how much you cook in there. Also, people are phototropic, that is, drawn to light. Put extra light where you want to draw attention. That master bedroom appears to have a strangely minimal closet space.?
      dknai thanked divadeva
    • suzanne_m
      9 years ago
      I think if the shower is that big, you could easily borrow 6 in. from the shower to enclose it. You would still have a very good size shower.
    • boundsgreener
      9 years ago
      Oh it's a utility area not a balcony! Obviously that second floor plan helped :).

      What is at the end of the utility area? Is that a door or window? i.e. any natural light at all?

      I know you don't want an open plan kitchen, but if you don't have any natural light unless you replace the wall on the left of it with a breakfast bar/counter it is going to be really depressing in there. The ventilation won't be an issue with a proper hood and you'll enjoy the space a great deal more.
    • User
      9 years ago
      I agree with divadeva. More lights. If you can add pot lights do it. If they're already there add task lighting and up the wattage on the bulbs on the pot lights (replace with LED and you can make them brighter because the wattage on LED is lower for brighter light). If you have all of that add decorative lighting.

      If ventilation is an issue find a way to move the air around or add air filtration. Maybe the HVAC is deficient. Maybe you can add a HEPA filter instead of the standard one that comes with the unit. Call an HVAC specialist to see if there is a way to boost air flow in the room.
      dknai thanked User
    • User
      9 years ago
      I was just reading @boundsgreener comment and thought... if you really can't stand open concept then what about adding a window into the living area that is frosted?
    • dknai
      Original Author
      9 years ago
      Thanks a lot guys for the ideas..I talked to the engineer ,regarding demolishing half of the wall towards the utility there by bringing in more light. Like boundsgreener suggested ,I could build a breakfast counter here.As for the baths,I dont think I would be able to have dry and wet area as space is not enough:(.
    • suzanne_m
      9 years ago
      Looking at the floor plan, I estimate that the shower is like 3 x 5. I don't know the regulations about how much space you need in front of a toilet but if 48 in. toilet and space in front together is enough, you could do something like that. You would need a pocket door instead of a regular door. This would work only for the bathroom beside the kitchen.
      dknai thanked suzanne_m
    • suzanne_m
      9 years ago
      Looking at it again, I don't think you have enough room to move your shower and sink the way I did it.
    • dknai
      Original Author
      9 years ago
      Suzanne this is really a good option but there will be pipe connection problem for me
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