I'm sorry guys. I'm doing a truly awful job at describing this. Let's see if this illustration helps. The point of the pass through was to turn the cabinet next to the washer into a hamper of sorts so we could drop dirty clothes directly into the cabinet and then easily access and transfer them to the washer. I've marked up the picture. The square is the pass thru from the closet and the long rectangle is the shelf in the cabinet. We've thought of cutting a circle out of the shelf and dropping a basket into it, but I'm a little worried about maneuvering the basket out, pass the center stile between the cabinet doors. I was thinking if the counter hinged up in the area over pass through, it would be like a chest and I could pull out all the whites or darks at once and start a load. I also thought this would be advantageous because the dirty laundry would tend to stay in the cabinet/hamper instead of in piles on the laundry room floor and might keep the area "neater". I really appreciate everyone's ideas. We are at the last push now and I just want to make sure we are getting the best utility possible out of all the little things we tried to design into the house. Thank you!

I like your cabinets, and would not feel the need to do anything to them unless you plan to sell soon and all the comps have new fancy kitchens. Can you find matching pantry cabinets? You may want to consider a built-in again. If your scale is correct, you have enough space to move the fridge down opposite the peninsula and have a fairly long built-in the same depth as the fridge. Then build an end end wall on the far side of the fridge to make the fridge look "built-in". With a regular interior door on the build-in, you'd have much better access than what you have now. You could use the peninsula as a landing space for fridge items. I like Sena's idea of moving the range down closer to the door, assuming the door will open towards the wall with the door to the basement.

Got it, thanks for that feedback Veronika. I think that you guys are right about the location being too low light. I'm working on improving the lighting situation for the plant. I live in a 3 apartment home, I am in the middle. So I have that window in the front that was pictured and the sliding door in the back of the place with a smaller kitchen window. My plan is getting this plant in the front window, removing the blinds and relying on curtains for privacy at night. I can leave a portion of the curtains open at night so it gets morning light right off the bat, then open the curtains when I wake at 7:30. Unfortunately, my home is surrounded by trees (I live in NE Pennsylvania). I wish the time of year was more ideal to leave the plant outside. Would you say I may be well served to put it outside if the temps will permit throughout the day, and just bring it in when I get home around 6:30pm? We still have a bit of mid to high 60's around here for the time being. If that's a possible approach to give it some much needed constant light, what temps should I be sure to keep it out of (nothing below 60 say?). Thanks in advance.

There was a thread on here on which a Houzzer recommended some ways for a potential house builder can solidify some of his/her ideas for a potential house. It recommended a book to read. I don't remember the title, something about small houses. Does anyone remember the title? It had some valuable contents that apply to all houses. Also, there were some valuable diagrams for a potential house builder with all sorts of circles for the potential home builder to draw for themselves about how they would live and move in the home, it was so clever! Does anyone remember that thread, or from where that circle diagram was obtained? These things would most probably be very helpful to Ross H.