four-square kitchen in 3D

So I've always thought of our house as a two-story bungalow.  It has some of the interior woodwork and detailing of a bungalow, and a similar layout, but not a whole lot else.  Bungalow's are traditionally no more than one-and-a-half-stories (at least in appearance, from the front elevation) and have deeply overhanging eaves that usually provide cover for a front porch.  I suppose it could be a special Michigan variant, as there are quite a few other homes in the neighborhood like ours, but for the purposes of this blog, I'm going to classify her (yes, her) as an Arts & Crafts Four-Square.  She's not as large as a traditional four-square home might be and she is quite understated when it comes to her interior details.  But she is a gem and I've discovered that I am quite fond of this house style and layout - a good insight for our future house-hunting endeavors.

In any case, all of that just to pick a name for the post . . . 

Now that we've got a contractor, a plan, and a tentative start date for the kitchen remodel, I've been trying to make sure all of the details are figured out before the contractors start throwing things into place.  And what better way than to throw together a 3D model of the space to see where some more decisions might need to be made that can get missed when everything is flat.

looking into kitchen from dining room

looking towards kitchen from living room

So I did just throw this model together so it's missing details like actual windows and a side door, but it's mostly complete.  One thing that jumped out at me right away was the crown molding on the cabinetry.  I am definitely not liking how big it is.  The ceilings aren't high and I think this crown is just pulling them down even further so I'm definitely going to investigate the detail where the cabinets hit the ceiling a bit more.  I don't want a 4" dust shelf up there though.  Perhaps adjusting the mounting height of the upper cabinets up by 2" and creating a 2" reveal between the ceiling and top of cabinets might work better.

I'd also like to try and figure out a way to build in some usable storage on the back of the peninsula.  I only have the thickness of the wall to work with but some shallow shelving or flip-forward bin (kind of like these shoe cabinets from IKEA) might work.  And, I'm still investigating alternate fridge options so that I can gain enough space next to the fridge for a tall, skinny pantry cabinet.