Your assumption is correct. The dishwasher is just on the right side of the sink, and counter space goes over from there, running most of the length of the kitchen. It’s a galley style kitchen, so there’s also a little bit of counter space across from that (to the right of where I’m standing to take the picture), as well as the range and the refrigerator (which used to be just to the left of where I’m standing to take the picture). Where the fridge is now used to be a small eat-in area.

In the grand scheme of things, I want to move the stove to the opposite (exterior) wall, and open up the interior wall (where the stove is now) to put in a breakfast counter that goes into the den.

I really need to put together a diagram of how that kitchen was when I bought the house, how it is now, and how I intend to make it.

With regards to opening things up to the dining room, I would look into putting a steel beam..its actually a lot more affordable than you might think.

Or a small prep sink, and put the outlets in the backsplash or under the counter. Or extend the counter and put a BIG freezer under it, and put the outlets on the other side of the wall (in the dining room?)

Happy new year.

As for moving the dishwasher, recall that the stove and fridge are both on the other side of the sink from the picture shown. So moving the dishwasher gets it out of my “triangle,” and gives me more storage/work space in the triangle.

And yes, I plan to put in more storage all around. For starters, I plan to knock out the header and either install small “top” cabinets for infrequently-used stuff like turkey roasting pans and whatnot, or else install cabinets that go all the way up (42″?).

Les:

I believe we’ve been through this before, but yes, High Life is the Lawnmower Beer of Champions. Also, the High Life delivery guy commercials are the best beer commercials in years — especially the ones where he confiscates the beer from the hoity-toity.

Also, the fridge looking thing in the picture (holding up the microwave) is a deep freezer. I use it for long-term storage of stock, meat, and other raw materials for cooking. The main freezer (I have a side-by-side fridge) is for the more ready-to-eat type stuff.

rightwingprof:

I’m pretty sure it’s load bearing. Anyway, I want it a little more open than it is, but not too open. The doorway you see there is one that the previous homeowners had paneled over, and which I just re-openend. I would, however, like to widen it to about 4′.

All:

I really think I’m leaning toward the prep sink idea. I could move the garbage disposal over there, too, which would be nice (right now, there’s a lot of conflict, where the main sink is being used for X and that’s blocking the disposal). But I’m thinking I could use the prep sink as a combination prep/bar sink.

I think a shower in the kitchen is, well, just weird.

Lots of good ideas already. Have you ever relished a deep freezer? You could go with a chest freezer or an upright in that space.

A spare sink is cool. I’ve always been intrigued by Andrew Tobias’s idea of having two dishwashers. Load dirty dishes into one, use the clean dishes out of the other, reverse as needed. Voila! You rarely have to put dishes away. I’m not sure how well it works in practice, though.

Heinlein’s idea, not mine. Well, except for the drain.

Would make a handy staging area for larger dinners between the kitchen and dining room.

What ever you do you will want to redo in a few years anway.

Good luck

If you have a SWMBO in the house, ask her first, saves a lot of grief downstream.

In any case, stub it out, don’t cover it with sheetrock. As soon as it is covered you’ll need it.

Hmm, maybe a curtain, too.

Or just go for the deep sink. That would be good, too.

If you add a small refridgerator, a toilet, and a BBQ grill, you need never move from that spot again.

Stick a shower in there. It’ll attract more buyers if you ever need to sell the place.