Before
After (I guess it was foolish to hope that the fridge would come w/the interior already chilled…)
New appliances is but part of the kitchen equation – but the rest is going to be a few months off (though I’ll be hooking up the ice maker sooner rather than later – what I wouldn’t give for some ice water right now…). In the meantime, I’ll just have to put up with the stove jutting out farther than it should. The gas line comes up through the floor about 6″ out from the wall…which is itself 6″ out from the wall proper because there used to a fireplace there (I think). I think this was done however many years ago to clear the thick foundation – though I suspect if I really wanted to, I could use flexible piping below to address that problem somewhat.
But I’m not going to bother because a) due to the chimney, it would still stick out beyond the counters and b) this fall, I’ll remove the large hutch (below) so I can move the gas (and stove) to the other wall, thereby creating a classic cooking triangle. My thought is that the resultant 30″ gaping hole over rough plaster behind the current stove location will make me jump on making new cabinets and counters. But I’ll probably just stash the trashcan there for a while.
A domino-effect job…inside the upper cabinets in this hutch is the backside of a deep recess in the bathroom wall on the other side (yeah..the upper section of this is hutch is wholly useless for storage). So to remove this, I also have to take out the bathroom shelving and patch the hole.
Rude Mechanicals Press Blog 
Girl when you buy a house you think about all this. That way you get down to all that woodworking you want to be doing(ha ha). But I’m glad for you on the new house…
By the way I want to thank you for your hard work on woodworking for us hand tools guys (an girls). You have help me and others out with your articles and blogs. Now get back to work on more woodworking articles.
Gotta love the surprise repairs!
Already looking better.
Ah, the joys of a new project. So many possibilities.
If you move the stove to an interior wall then you may have problems with a hood/vent. Unless you pull down the ceiling… Or does that stove have a down draft vent?
I’d do a ventless hood…if I do a hood. I don’t really like hoods (though I can’t articulate why).
Hi Megan. I think in this case, you might not want to adhere too strictly to the classic triangle. The reason being the kitchen table. The classic kitchen triangle refers to work flow and efficiently moving between work areas. That implies an unobstructed path to each station. If I interpret the layout of the kitchen from the pics correctly, that table will definitely get in the way. So in some cases the “rule” doesn’t apply and can actually make the flow worse. I’d suggest you do a lot of cooking the way it is currently configured and then see what works and what could be improved upon. You might decide to reconfigure the entire area or you might say this is the best layout for this space. Either way, you can live with it for along time the way it is while you are working on other parts of the house. Good luck.
By the way, is the sink located to the right of the stove and what’s on the wall opposite the refrigerator wall?
That’s not actually my table; it will be departing the premises by the end of July (I told the owners they were welcome to keep a few things there for the nonce – I have plenty of other stuff to do before worrying about the first floor!). I’ll have a smallish rolling work island there instead, after I make it, of course (I like to eat at my dining room table).
Yup – the sink is one cabinet over to the right of the stove, then the non-working dishwasher (figured I’d leave it there until my new one comes in).
Opposite the refrigerator is a window and the back door.
I had the same gas line location problem with our new stove a month ago. Cost $380 to have a plumber drill a hole, screw on three elbows and two pipe nipples. I thought they would have to remove, shorten and rethread the iron feed pipe but he just made a dog leg with the parts and angled it back towards the wall.
exactly! And I’m not paying $380 twice. I shall live with it for the nonce.
You are going to love the frig. We have exactly same one after years with the former.
You have a great start. Good tools can work well in a non perfect shop.
It’s like discovering a secret compartment in a desk!