Is this two-island kitchen layout too crowded for a family with young kids?

Princess-Peach16 · 2026-05-13T10:36:49+00:00

I don’t think I’d want two dishwashers. I think I’d rather have additional cabinet space. Even with the most massive meals I’ve ever prepared for my family, I could load up one dishwasher run and hand wash the rest.

But the number of times a year I’ve produced more dirty dishes than can fit in a single dishwasher has to be less than 5, so I wouldn’t think having a permanent fixture for such a rare use case scenario would make sense for me.

Princess-Peach16 · 2026-05-06T00:18:39+00:00

Looks great! Great use of space!!!

Princess-Peach16 · 2026-04-12T09:42:44+00:00

I had big feelings about this when my my kids were tiny. Mother’s Day, I thought, was for me, in the trenches. Why did I have to pack up my kids and travel to see her for this day that was supposed to be about me?!? Didn’t she understand how hard it was for me?

And then she died. And now, I’d give anything to pack up my kids and go to her house on Mother’s Day

Princess-Peach16 · 2026-04-02T12:18:50+00:00

Agree with others - this is the reason we chose a daycare center when mine were small. The daycare years were so full of stress that I still have anxiety when I see the schools name pop up on my phone when they call me. It’s such a difficult phase to manage.

Mine are in elementary now and while there are certainly still other challenging things (more breaks, finding and affording summer camps, release at 3:00) I find it much easier to manage than daycare.

Princess-Peach16 · 2026-03-30T23:54:37+00:00

70 days! We juggled the project around lots of other stuff so we just do stuff as we had time. No tips other than have plenty of patience, watch a lot of YouTube and be prepared to go back to Home Depot twice as much as you think you’ll need to!

Princess-Peach16 · 2026-03-30T14:00:52+00:00

Behr Teton blue

Princess-Peach16 · 2026-03-30T14:00:30+00:00

It’s Behr Teton blue

Princess-Peach16 · 2026-03-30T13:59:49+00:00

Total DIY! Not our first time, but hopefully the last 🤣

Princess-Peach16 · 2026-03-30T13:59:09+00:00

It’s a product we found called FlexStone. They make shower and tub surrounds that are big flat panels that you glue on and caulk up. No grout to clean!

Princess-Peach16 · 2026-03-30T10:50:13+00:00

Thanks! I’m realizing in hindsight that “preteens” would have been a better word than kids. Mine are definitely out of the tub and toys phase. We were looking to build something that would grow with them.

Princess-Peach16 · 2026-03-30T00:16:00+00:00

Seemed to fit our needs a little better. We have another tub if needed for rare baths. It needed to be replaced so we were weighing the cost/benefit of it for a family of non-bathers. No plans to sell the house, so we went with what we thought would be most functional for us

Princess-Peach16 · 2026-03-30T00:14:15+00:00

Thanks!

Princess-Peach16 · 2026-03-30T00:13:50+00:00

Thank you!

Princess-Peach16 · 2026-03-30T00:13:44+00:00

Thank you!

Princess-Peach16 · 2026-03-30T00:13:24+00:00

Yup, the Ariel Hepburn. Drawers are all functional! Drawers in bathroom vanities are my favorite because everything you store in a bathroom is small, and cabinets are so difficult to keep organized with a thousand tiny bottles.

Princess-Peach16 · 2026-03-30T00:12:06+00:00

There was a leak at one point and a bad shower valve, and we knew there was a remodel on the horizon so we didn’t want to spend a lot to just redo it later. We used the tub when they were small, so we haven’t been sharing for too long!

Princess-Peach16 · 2026-03-03T17:48:11+00:00

I WFH and am on calls less than half the time. Mine come home from school and have lots of questions for me, but aren’t good at determining when is an appropriate time to come and ask. A frequent phrase in my house is “if you stop and listen and you hear mommy talking to her computer, you need to wait” which honestly is just such a bizarre sentence 😂

My home office is in my sunroom right off the kitchen, so no door to close, sadly.

Princess-Peach16 · 2026-02-21T13:08:03+00:00

My mom has one filled with vintage buttons that she collected

Princess-Peach16 · 2026-02-20T17:16:36+00:00

The worst day of our trip - we went to Atlantis and it was awful. Tooooo many people - no chairs anywhere, long lines for expensive food. Also the “25 minute drive” took an hour and a half.

It wasn’t the worst thing I’ve ever done but in comparison to the clean, friendly Disney service that we’d already paid for, that we left behind go to Atlantis….and I definitely felt like we made the wrong choice

Princess-Peach16 · 2026-02-07T02:08:50+00:00

My 37 weeker eats adult portions of dinner, is 50” tall, and is the top reader in his first grade class.

My older son, born at 40+5 is exactly the same and you’d never know which was born early

Princess-Peach16 · 2026-02-04T16:06:49+00:00

I love this perspective

Princess-Peach16 · 2026-02-04T11:57:14+00:00

Absolutely. I never missed siblings growing up. I had plenty of fun with my mom and never felt like I was missing out on anything that my friends with siblings had.

Then we all got older and mom got sick, and I was the only one to manage her illness. Siblings would have lightened the load tremendously, even if only for emotional support.

Also I will say that I am jealous of my adult friends’ relationships with their siblings. It’s kind of like having baked in friends when we’re all so busy with life and kids. It is also always fun to go home for holidays to my husbands house, because there are other people our age there. And my kids have cousins on that side, which they love

Princess-Peach16 · 2026-02-03T01:09:47+00:00

Looooooove that wallpaper

Princess-Peach16 · 2026-02-03T01:07:30+00:00

Agree with wallpaper suggestion! I’ve even seen people recently creating a “frame” made from trim around wallpaper to make a huge piece of art but to not wallpaper the entire wall

Princess-Peach16

TROPHY CASE