House with an open kitchen in India

[r2i-mumbai]

This happens all the time. DH yells stop the cooker or mixie and I do it again to irritate him. So he bought a earphone to connect to the TV incase of these nuisances :angry:

Noise bothers me as well. Pressure cooker is not as bad as it is for a few seconds and then it gets over after a few whistles. DWs mixer use is still limited so not an issue. The most problematic is dishwasher so I am getting one with a delay timer so we can load it during the day and set it to start around 4 am in the morning.

Hopefully sliding doors will ease the noise problem.

[r2i-mumbai]

Thanks r21-mumbai. Excellent suggestions. We will ask the builder to lay the counters little higher than usual height.I havent seen quartz countertops. I will look around for it. Can you post a picture of your kitchen inside with the cabinets and countertops . Seems like a really cool kitchen

The kitchen and partition doors are being built. I will post a photo once it is done. It is by no means a cool kitchen the kind of ones you see in magazine photos as it is small. Open kitchen is for small houses and when family members spends a lot of time there an open kitchen makes it possible for them to interact with others in the living room.

[mrthiru]

Hi r2i-mumbai, Excellent information on the kitchen works. What kind/model of Dishwasher you use? I'm working on my kitchen now and need to know which model fits within 30-32" space underneath the kitchen top. I heard that there are two types like Built-in and movable. Can we put a movable within 30" clearance space?

[Lively]

The kitchen and partition doors are being built. I will post a photo once it is done.

Hi r2i-mumbai,

Is your kitchen done now? Waiting for the photos :). Please post.

TIA

[r2i-mumbai]

Hi r2i-mumbai, Excellent information on the kitchen works. What kind/model of Dishwasher you use? I'm working on my kitchen now and need to know which model fits within 30-32" space underneath the kitchen top. I heard that there are two types like Built-in and movable. Can we put a movable within 30" clearance space?

Sorry I didn't see this for a while. yeah I spend some time trying to fit a dishwasher under the existing kitchen countertop but there is none available that can go under a 30" countertop height. In addition to that, still many kitchens made in India don't have standard 24" openings whereas most kitchen appliances are 24" width so there will an extra space around the appliance like DW or oven. So I ended up tearing down my entire countertop to raise the height. You will have to provide water and electrical connections so some tear down is needed anyway if you don't have those already. I also wanted to install it right next to the sink and storage cabinets to it is easy to load and unload.

You need a clear 32" space under countertop and 24" depth and width. Dishwasher is slightly taller than 32" but you can remove the top cover and adjust about 1/2" height with height adjustment legs so 32" is good enough. Any more and the extra space will show up and any less, you will have trouble sliding in the dishwasher including scratches on the top and side wall that can rust. I got a Siemens one. More details here.

Built-in are 2 to 3 times more expensive compared to movable mainly because these are special order and not bulk imports. Unless you have a totally built in kitchen and you want to hide your dishwasher, there is no point in spending the extra money. There is a also a third variety called integratable that can be customized to suit rest of the kitchen cabinets but these are expensive as well. You can fit a movable under countertop but you will need 32" of space under the countertop.

[r2i-mumbai]

Hi r2i-mumbai,

Is your kitchen done now? Waiting for the photos :). Please post.

TIA

Here you go.

With the door closed (smell, noise and clutter stays inside the kitchen with some privacy (I can still see a silhouette) :-)

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Opened. I can chat with DW sitting on my sofa while she is making something there.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]4014[/ATTACH]

[Lively]

Here you go.

With the door closed (smell, noise and clutter stays inside the kitchen with some privacy (I can still see a silhouette) :-)

[ATTACH=CONFIG]4013[/ATTACH]

Opened. I can chat with DW sitting on my sofa while she is making something there.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]4014[/ATTACH]

Thank you, R2imumbai.

The kitchen looks fabulous, You have successfully recreated an American kitchen in India. Very well staged! The pocket door is a neat trick. How difficult was it to remodel brick/concrete block wall to accommodate the pocket door?

The walls of our kitchen are of 9-inch thick bricks and the counters are 4 inch thick concrete slabs with granite on top :(. I get jitters when I think of all the demolition involved in a remodel:cry:. Any suggestions/tips to achieve a remodel with relative ease?

TIA

[VS007]

We did that and breaking concrete walls is the easy part,but if you have to cut the granite stone, that would create a powdery mess of the house and cleaning is pain. Better to remove the entire slab if possible, else cover all the furniture with poly sheets. Our contractor said a day to break and three for finishing off, they took a day to break and 7 to finish major stuff. Painful experience, but was worth it at the end.

However later we hired a cook, and wished we had a private kitchen with no smoke,noise coming out.

[Lively]

We did that and breaking concrete walls is the easy part,but if you have to cut the granite stone, that would create a powdery mess of the house and cleaning is pain. Better to remove the entire slab if possible, else cover all the furniture with poly sheets. Our contractor said a day to break and three for finishing off, they took a day to break and 7 to finish major stuff. Painful experience, but was worth it at the end.

However later we hired a cook, and wished we had a private kitchen with no smoke,noise coming out.

Thanks, VS.

We are still in the US and our house is vacant right now:). That's why I wish to complete the remodel, renovation whatever before we return. Removing the entire slab - that would be my choice too, but that would also mean discarding the granite top along with it, no? Our kitchen is a good size - 10 * 12 and the kitchen counter is a U along 3 walls. That would mean throwing out a lot of granite and I would rather salvage the granite if possible. Is it possible to remove the entire slab and then somehow detach (for lack of a better word) the granite from the slab to reuse? Any ideas?

[VS007]

Removing granite and attaching it is risk, I am told. High chances of breakage. Cutting is preferred in that case, especially if not occupied. The open countertop is very useful for keeping munches, fruits, and passing back and forth.