How Large a Farmhouse Kitchen?

[jhambley]

We are beginning to sketch out our farmhouse kitchen. We want to be sure we size the work and pantry areas large enough to handle all the chores (canning, etc). We would also like to have a wood cookstove in the area as well.

Does anyone know how large a typical farmhouse kitchen/pantry/storage would have been a couple of generations ago? Also, any suggestions you might have for an efficient layout would be greatly appreciated.

JH

[Wolf mom]

Why don't you visit homes that are for sale? You'll be able to see "size" a lot better than on paper.

[AngieM2]

http://www.ag.ndsu.nodak.edu/abeng/plans/

Check out some of the house building plans, these are old designs and should give you some ideas.

Angie

[lmrose]

Our house was built in 1829. Both the kitchen and dining rooms are 13 feet square. In the kitchen I have a wood stove, electric stove, fridg, six feet of sink and counter, a Hoosier cupboard and small kitchen cart with drawers.

It is four steps from the sink to the wood stove, six to the electric stove or Hoosier and two steps to the table and fridg. There is room only for three at the table. More people we eat in the dining room.

The pantry is about five by nine feet with lots of shelves. Our kitchen is small and cozy and alright for me and my husband.

What I wonder is how the original owners of this house lived here with two adults and ten children!

[Wags]

This site - http://www.antiquehome.org/ - has antique floor plans from 1900 to about 1950. You can search by architectural styles.

[texican]

Imho, your kitchen cannot be too large, neither the pantry. If your the typical family, a small cozy kitchen is fine. But if you spend most of your waking hours in the house, in the kitchen, larger is better. My current kitchen is 10x8 with a 3' walk through on one end. Almost zero counter space outside of the stuff that usually rests there.

New kitchen in the 'dream house' is going to be 21' x 18'. The regular triangle will be within the 'norms', but there'll be a large island in the middle. I regularly butcher animals, and the carcasses get processed in the kitchen. Having room to do that would be heavenly. When I start canning, my kitchen is overwhelmed... one person only can be there... and the stove heats the house up terribly. So, the new kitchen will have a canning area, as well as an outdoor kitchen, for those triple digit summer days.

The pantry will be walk in, with freezers and shelves, in a room 10x20. And this eventually might be too small.

My view is if it's 'too big' you can put something else there... a hutch, or some such. If it's too small, there's absolutely nothing you can do about it.

[Callieslamb]

Either put in two sinks - or put plenty of counter space to either side of it if you want good canning space - even if typical farmhouse kitchens weren't designed that way. I have lots and lots of cupboards and long runs of counter space....but one sink in exactly the wrong spot. I guess looking out the window is more important than kitchen efficiency.

[NCLee]

You may not want to really rely on those old farmhouse kitchen plans when designing your own kitchen. Back in the day, they didn't have dishwashers, breadmachines, side-by-side refrigerators, stand alone freezers, and a host of other modern equipment and conveniences.

Another factor to consider is whether you want an eat-in kitchen and/or a separate dinning room.

For a good homestead/farm kitchen, put a lot of emphasis on your pantry. IMHO, that's more important than a bunch of fancy overhead cabinets. (Or even plain over the counter cabinets, for that matter.) If I were designing a new kitchen, I'd want a pantry at least the size of a bedroom, even if it meant that the master bedroom has to be small and cozy. I wish I could swipe all the excess floor space in my master and put it in my pantry, instead. (sigh)

If I could have my dream kitchen, it would also include a working fireplace for cooking, too. The fireplace would have a crane for hanging pots. A hearth than can be used for camp style Dutch ovens, spiders, reflector ovens, and even a spit. Since money is no object in my dream kitchen, the fireplace would also have a wood fired oven for baking bread.

If there's going to be a masonery fireplace anywhere in your home, consider putting it in the kitchen. -- seriously! Do give it some serious consideration. A beautiful fireplace in the living room looks nice, but do you want to use a Tuscan grill in your living room?

Finally, if you can find one that's within your budget, add a triple bowl stainless steel sink. I found one for $25 at a Habitat for Hummanity store. The two large bowls are perfect for washing canners and other big pieces of equipment. Same for washing masses of produce, such as greens for preserving. When I'm canning the small center bowl comes in handy for hand washing, rinsing small items, etc. especially when both of the big bowls are in use for something else. I've found it to be more convenient than having a small bar sink located somewhere else in the kitchen for that purpose. Top the sink with a faucet/sprayer. It's well worth the extra dollars, especially when dealing with the sizes and quantities involved with preserving foods.

Finally, if your budget will permit, put in a free standing 6 burner gas stove. Even if you have to cut back on something else. In my case the stove was more much more important than high end counter tops. And, I'm not talking about a $5000 range, either. Mine was about $1200. SS, with a high output burner, a simmer burner, and other burners with BTU's between the high and low. Has both manual and electric burner ignitor. I chose this after becoming fed up with trying to can on a 30" electric cooktop. There was NEVER enough burners or room on that cooktop.

Oh, one more thing... If you can find the space, add a built-in electric wall oven. Used ones in good working condition aren't expensive. IMHO, having more than one oven in a farm style kitchen is a dream. Think about biscuits baking in one while the turkey and dressing are baking in the other one.

Hope you'll find something useful in this post. Good luck with your new kitchen!

Lee

[byexample]

I agree with Texican... I'm not sure a country kitchen could be too big.

Multiple sink areas is a real smart suggestion -- especially if you are going to be doing large amounts of food processing, canning, & butchering. Multiple stoves is another very handy thing to have when canning.

I've seen some farms where they have two kitchens... one being your average family kitchen and the other being a food processing area for canning and butchering. You probably have a good idea of what you need in a family kitchen. A canning / butchering kitchen will likely serve you better if laid out more like a restaurant's kitchen.

[7thswan]

You can't get too big. My kitchen is 28' x 13' 6" pretty much. On the east end is my wood cook stove, the back door is here, to the right is the pantry it's 8'x6'2" it is too small as it also is used for cool storage.The rest like empty jars and elec. turkey cooker(used for dyeing wool) apple peelers, food processors etc. are in the Laundry room. In the middle of the kitchen there is a small antique gas stove,sink and fridge, cabinets. In the center is a moveable island and a round old chopping block. West end has our woodburner for heat.This is where a table for dining is,but it is an old round flip down table. Rarely used. Vaulted ceiling with 2 skylights, so there is a ceiling fan to move the heat around. This kitchen is in the center of the house.The liv rm has a wide opening off to the south side center. On the east end,I knocked out the wall and added a doorwall and a full lite door. the west side has a large window. In this room is also a oak ice ice box, Hoosier, and china cabinet. It would be better if it was about 18' x 28'. I do have a portch where canning is done in the hot days. Sink is very deep and large for the canners. We cook year round outside on the grill,which even has a oven for summer bakeing. Have a special 1 burner item for canning out there too.

[7thswan]

Oh ya, one thing I'd like is a pot filler water spout by the cookstove.

[Macybaby]

I realized I could not get everythign I wanted into one kitchen. There were too many "sepecial use areas" that I would need to use at certain times of the year. So I solved my problem by having two kitchens. They are not both in the house, but you may want to consider having one large mud/prep/cleaning/canning area and then having your house kitchen for the day to day stuff.

My canning kitchen is larger than my house kitchen. I has a double bowl untility sink so I can fit even my biggest kettles in there to clean, or a whole bushel of veggies. I have a hose type spayer and since it is not the "nice" kitchen I don't have to worry about overspray - I just clean it up. I can leave 4 -5 large kettles out to dry and still have room in the other kitchen to prepare the noon meal without moving around any of my canning/prepping supplies.

If I could design a house I would turn the laundry room into a big processing/canning kitchen area (complete with heavy duty coil cooktop for the canners) with plenty of cleanup room. It would also have a powerful ceiling vent. Then I would have a nice large kitchen with nice counters for rolling dough and day to day cooking. It realky is a joy to leave the "mess" and go have lunch and then return to the "mess" and finish up.

Last year I dealt with boxes of produce on my kitchen floor, it was so much nicer this year to have that in a different spot.

My "real" kitchen is torn up right now, but still usable. I struggled for the last four years trying to figure out how to make things work in there (while we were remodelign the rest of the house) and now that I no longer am trying to make it work for my canning I can get what I really want (induction cooktop) and one huge island with a marble top for making dough. I hope to get started on the kitchen this November - We are making all our own cabinets and hope to keep the 125 year old farmhouse feel.

Cathy

[Ardie/WI]

Originally Posted by byexample

I agree with Texican... I'm not sure a country kitchen could be too big.

Multiple sink areas is a real smart suggestion -- especially if you are going to be doing large amounts of food processing, canning, & butchering. Multiple stoves is another very handy thing to have when canning.

I've seen some farms where they have two kitchens... one being your average family kitchen and the other being a food processing area for canning and butchering. You probably have a good idea of what you need in a family kitchen. A canning / butchering kitchen will likely serve you better if laid out more like a restaurant's kitchen.

I agree with Texican too!

[RosewoodfarmVA]

Just my opinion re the woodstove. In our kitchen the woodstove is at one end and the door to the rest of the house at the other. The kitchen is always too hot with the living room and other rooms too chilly. In my opinion the heat source should be anywhere BUT the kitchen because you are cooking and producing body heat from movement, where in the dining room or living areas you are more relaxed/still producing less body heat, hence a need for a heat source.

Our current kitchen space is 16x24. We have not remodeled it yet as we have been focusing on other parts of the house (house was built about 1820). We are seriously considering adding a new kitchen and turning the old into family room because it's in a more central location with the heat source. Kitchen doesn't need the woodstove. The family room does. Currently the only living room is 15x17 so this would be a nice room as a family room. The pantry (which we just finished adding on) is 7x13, the old one was 6x7 which was rotten and termite ate up so we tore it off. It does have the washer and dryer at one end and is barely sufficient for clothes washing and pantryspace.

[ronbre]

there are a few things to consider that I have found after 38 years of interior design..

one do NOT put an island between your sink and your stove..make sure that your work stations, sink, stove and refrig..are in a triangle or near each other with no barriers.

also too large or too many steps is overkill as it just makes more work for you ..esp if you are carrying somehting hot, heavy or large..

make sure that all bottom cabinets have pull outs..esp if you plan to grow old..and never have anything higher than you can comfortably reach for everyday items..

make sure your countertops are at a comfortable height..and you may want more than one height if there are short and tall people that will use the kitchen..a shorter and taller work area for both.

hanging racks are great, but they can be in the way when over a work area..you can hit your head on them or block your view of others.

have more drawers than cabinets..drawers..esp deep drawers work really well for things like plastic containers, bags, boxes of things, towels, pots and pans, spices, etc..good solid runners on the drawers make it easier to put in heavier items.

another thing i hate is trying to put something in the cabient over the dishwasher..it is so hard to reach with dishwasher open.

Keep the wood burning cook stove off to the side or end of the kitchen..out of the way for summer esp..as it will get really hot in there..if you can you could plan a summer/winter kitchen so that keeps the excess heat out in the summer.

if you use a computer for recipes..make sure you can access it in the kitchen or you'll be wanting to print off recipes..which uses up paper and ink.

try not to buy things that you don't need, esp excess small appliances and cookware..and store any of the seldom used stuff way up on top..way down on bottom or in another room..pantry..etc..

speaking of pantry..a walk in pantry is a true luxury, had one for a while at the old house and loved it..32 years.

make sure you have excellent lighting..esp task lighting..and good venting.

[timfromohio]

Texican is correct - kitchen cannot be too big. I remodeled a 1970's split level and turned the kitchen/living room/small eating area into one big open area that's about 24'x24'. Huge, "L" shaped island in the middle, tons of cabinets/storage (no walk-in pantry unfortunately), wood stove with cooktop, room for couch/chairs, etc. Family spends most waking hours in that room.

Depending on where you live, you might want a separate summer kitchen area for canning. Wife has already told me that dream house would have a slightly larger version of what we already have (remember, it's almost 25' square...) and would include a huge walk in pantry, big laundry nearby (currently ours is in the basement), and even more storage. I'd add valuted ceiling to the list and a screen-in porch off the back fitted with utilities for a summer kitchen.

As for sink, I put in an oversized "farmhouse" sink for her which she loves.

[timfromohio]

Made me think of a follow up question regarding the wood cookstove - wouldn't you want another gas or electric stove if the wood cookstove was in the main kitchen area? Might get mighty hot in the summer.

[mandidawn]

I love my kitchen, I think it's the perfect size, layout, everything. I designed it myself Every time we think about moving, I say I dont' think any other house could have a kitchen that "works" as well as this one. I do a lot of canning and have plenty of room for manuvering, prepping, clean up.

I sketched up my layout.

[Windy_jem]

I'm going to turn the bedroom off the kitchen into my new pantry.... It's a rather big room and I'm glad! Besides, one less kid can move back home that way! lol

[byexample]

Originally Posted by Windy_jem

I'm going to turn the bedroom off the kitchen into my new pantry.... It's a rather big room and I'm glad! Besides, one less kid can move back home that way! lol

Now that's good planning!