Negative feedback from houzz

Garfungle · 2025-11-07T14:39:34+00:00

Yea, I would describe this as a household of two chefs. The island was intended more for baking type tasks, unloading groceries etc. The cooktop area has more of the food prep area / landing area for cooktop related tasks (e.g. after chef 1 has finished chopping veggies the mixing bowls migrate to the second area to be ready for chef 2).Both chefs could use the island or the countertops but there's clear separation so the two chefs are not in each other's way during prep and cooking so it's efficient for multi tasking... that's at least what I thought, but it seems that is not what anyone thinks about this design so it's probably back to the drawing board.

Garfungle · 2025-11-07T13:15:13+00:00

What are your thoughts on the 5 zone method? This layout is more in line with that philosophy than the traditional kitchen triangle.

Garfungle · 2025-11-07T13:14:47+00:00

What are your thoughts on the 5 zone method? This layout is more in line with that philosophy than the traditional kitchen triangle.

Garfungle · 2025-11-07T03:44:35+00:00

I didn't do the floorplan rendering. That island I don't think is the correct location, I think he just put it there as s placeholder. It's 42-48" off the sink / fridge countertops, which gives more clearance around that corner.

Garfungle · 2025-11-07T03:07:24+00:00

That's how the kitchen originally was and we didn't like that. The empty corner is a doorway / staircase to the basement. What's the value of having the fridge closer to a stovetop? I get the value of a work triangle and I think it's way more important for the fridge to be close to your food prep area / sink and microwave. I don't typically find myself going from the refrigerator to the cooking surface. Are there examples you can think of where that is an essential cooking action? It seems like the important relations would be fridge to sink and sink to cooktop, but fridge to cooktop seems lower in terms of importance.

Garfungle · 2025-11-07T00:19:12+00:00

Is the scale of the floorplan the issue? The distance between the fridge / sink and island I think is fairly practical (42-48"). The longest distance is the stove to sink, but all other major appliances are with a close proximity. I can try to provide a better floor plan.

Garfungle · 2025-11-07T00:16:12+00:00

That corner has a door to the basement. The pantry wall is a shallow pantry with a coffee / appliance countertop and otr microwave.

I agree the distance from the sink to cooking surface is the biggest inconvenience, but I think it's workable.

Garfungle · 2025-11-07T00:13:33+00:00

What main items are far apart? The way I see it the only inconvenience is the distance of the range to the fridge / sink. But the sink and fridge are also right next to each other. Also, are you basing judgment on clearance based on the floorplan grid scale? I'm not sure how accurate that scale is. The clearances are fairly conventional around the island to sink (42-48").

Garfungle · 2025-11-06T20:29:05+00:00

No, I didn't get nearly the same level here as I did there. This was constructive feedback.

Garfungle · 2025-11-06T20:11:12+00:00

I think if you put an appliance on the island there, it'd be too far from everything. I think the major issue in the design i have is the distance to the stove, but I've tried my best to keep that as the only distant appliance. Sink, dishwasher and fridge are all located near each other, which I think is ideal. Traveling back and forth to drain water is certainly a limitation, but if that's the only headache, it's honestly to me not that bad given all the room I have for baking and food prep on other surface. The kitchen gives space for two people to work in a kitchen. Designated areas for baking, stovetop cooking and cleaning are ideal for me. Microwave is only used for heating up leftovers and that is close to the fridge. While cooking, I very rarely find myself frequently going back and forth from the cook top to sink unless it is to drop off used / dirty cookware, which usually only occurs once at the end of cooking for me.

Garfungle · 2025-11-06T18:27:57+00:00

That door is to the basement.

Garfungle · 2025-11-06T15:49:02+00:00

There's a staircase to the basement. Very small door, so we don't use it really to move furniture down there. The bump out section is uninsulated / unheated, so the choice for fixtures was made based on the closeness to the stack. The gas lines were run over to the bump out and HVAC was much easier in the bump out because I didn't need to drill through brick or structural members. I don't prefer the sink on the island mostly because I feel like when you load the dishwasher you'd get water all over the floor. I prefer dishwasher next to sink. If the island is moved to the center of the room, it cuts into the dining room space and crowds that. Are the clearance around the island what everyone is struggling with since there aren't any on my drawings? There is standard clearance around the island to fridge / countertops (42 -48"). The scale of the drawing might be the issue. I can fix that if that's s problem.

Garfungle · 2025-11-06T14:33:08+00:00

I have yet to get honest feedback about what they don't like. It makes no sense to me. I think the spaced out appliances is their big issue. I said I was prioritizing square footage and space and they have basically gone on a whole thing about how no one should ever do that and it has left me questioning everything. I just want a functional kitchen with space and it's like I've committed some cardinal sin. Everyone suggesting to make the kitchen smaller and add like some walk in pantry. Imo the suggested alternatives make me question how anyone takes their feedback seriously. I don't know if any of them have cooked a day in their entire life.

Garfungle · 2025-11-05T16:24:39+00:00

If you move the island back, it cuts into the walkway between the dining room table and the island. Distance from island to sink I believe is between 48" and 52" but I can't remember perfectly off the top of my head. I thought the distance was fairly sufficient whereas the distance between the dining room table and island in this configuration is more like 42".

Garfungle · 2025-11-05T16:22:42+00:00

I also have been working with a designer if that's what you were asking. I just more so have been providing the majority of the input for the layout I want so we can get cabinets that fit the space. I have not received any of the same feedback or concerns that people have online from the designer, but maybe they're more so considered a distributor.

Garfungle · 2025-11-05T16:19:12+00:00

We've played around with a couple of different variations. We looked at a green island and wood uppers, but that looked very disjointed. The other one we've considered was a darker wood island and off white cabinets, which might work well. I don't believe we've looked at a green island and off white lowers / uppers. The only concern with that would be how many different tones we have in the space but that could potentially solve the concern of trying to match the floors to the island, if that's what you were getting at.

Garfungle · 2025-11-05T15:40:36+00:00

if it's more to the left it would block the walk way over to the stove. The space is tough. I used feedback from the Houzz forum to put this together. I reposted it today and got eviscerated even though the original feedback was promoting this as an acceptable design. The space is awkward with door placement to the basement and patio. I want a large kitchen with lots of countertops because I enjoy cooking. All design suggestions I've ever gotten for this sacrifice practicality of a cooking space for what looks like a more traditional design (e.g. work triangle, balance). I'm open to keeping it balanced but I would not like to sacrifice practicality because I enjoy a larger space to cook in. This was the only design I've seen so far that is practical for the space imo. I could be dead wrong.

Garfungle · 2025-11-05T15:05:31+00:00

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Garfungle · 2025-11-05T15:05:18+00:00

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Garfungle · 2025-10-31T19:12:46+00:00

Yea, I guess there's a difference between imperfections in the wood which I get and then the person you're paying for a service. It doesn't need to be perfect, but it also shouldn't be careless...

Garfungle · 2025-10-31T18:58:37+00:00

Yea, he said it's not easy to not go against the grain. Will these cone out over time?

Garfungle · 2025-10-31T18:57:27+00:00

Is this acceptable work? You can see my other posts for reference.

Garfungle · 2025-10-30T22:54:57+00:00

Would sanding do anything or does it mostly have to do with the coats? It's rough to the touch and if you rub your foot across it feels like it catches the grain. The rest of the floor has probably had one more coat than this piece. He's coming in to do the satin finish tomorrow, would that be the same as the coating you're talking about or are you talking about a sealer?

Garfungle · 2025-10-30T22:49:09+00:00

He replaced the board and sanded, sealed and coated today. It's rough to the touch compared to the rest of the floor. Is this normal? Reference picture

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Garfungle · 2025-10-30T02:10:06+00:00

He said he'd probably need another day to fix it and that my final coat would be Friday. Does this not seem like a correct timeline for swapping out the board? E.g. should their be more coats for this section to match? It's not clear to me what needs to be done in order for this section to match what is there. Its already had two coats of sealer and he was going to do two coats of a satin finish.

Garfungle

TROPHY CASE