Boy your walkway looks SO out of place. That's what I first thought when you posted the driveway perspective picture. Then a few people mentioned it...but that was definately my gut reaction. Everything is so nicely curved, the beds (and the corner bed at the driveway - walk intersection), the plants, everything...then you have the straight as an arrow walkway throw in. Suggesting to replace it is obviously one way to deal with it, but what about creating a shallow bed along the walkway, with curved edges, perhaps that mirror whatever you do with your island bed? Or even extend the foundation planting bed on the right side of the door out away from the house a bit, then bring that edge all the way over to the driveway ("swallowing" the walking in the process). Perhaps mirroring some of the foundation planting plant selections in this bed would help the existing walkway blend in (or rather, not stick out). This approach would also sort of "lay the foundation" for a future walkway replacement... Also, my initial thought on your bed, from the picture taking from your neighbor driveway, would be to extend the bed to the left, towards your driveway. What jumped into my mind was a large radius that followed the curves of your driveway edge beds. The "vast expanse" of grass on the driveway side of your kidney bed sort of "visually weighs down" the whole picture to me. As someone said, too much grass over there. I would almost image a gourd shaped bed....although I don't know where that leaves you on the right side of the bed (no real good pictures of that side as a whole). I guess to me, the visual flow of your yard (again, to me) sort of leads to that big grassy space between the driveway and the bed...and there's no reward at the end of that journey. Sorry I started rambling a bit there. My main point is that your walkway seems terribly "un-integrated" and you have a good opportunity to come up with a cohesive design for your whole front yard which could address that "problem"

A few things to think about not related to specific plants is the amount of litter they produce on the patio. Lots of flowers means lots of petals and possibly leaves falling and lots of sweeping if you want it to stay clean. Also, you and your guests will be sitting right there with them, so plants that look good from afar, might not look that great close up all year long. They might look great when they are blooming, but not so great when they are out of bloom and can detract from the overall look. Another is the ultimate size of what you are planting - 30" depth is not alot. Most plants that grow to 3 feet tall, will likely be 3 feet wide or more and that would mean lots of pruning, or taking up lots of your hardscape area. I don't know how tall your knock outs are now, but expect them to get quite large, and will probably hang over your patio alot unless you severely prune them. That might be OK, but something to think about. Some nice plants that look good all the time for your backbone, and then some pocket color to break up the sameness. Small nandinas give you beautiful winter color in sun, always look good, and don't drop alot of litter. Rosemary looks good all the time, and blooms are small so the litter won't be so in your face. Purple fountain grass gives great color - good for background or at the end of a bed. Liriope for a border - easy care. Moss verbena is good. Stella d'Oro daylilies. Summer phlox. A few bulbs like jonquils for winter, oxblood lilies for fall could be interplanted. Blue Shades ruellia is a great ground cover. Plumbago are gorgeous, but I think our growing season isn't long enough in DFW to get a good show after the first year when you buy that beautiful blooming plant in the nursery, and then it barely blooms the next year (that's been my experience anyway). But try 1 or 2 in the mix, and maybe you'll have better luck. A couple of tropical hibiscus, but they are annuals and would have to be replanted every year. Pieris never did well for me - it might be a heartbreaker. Part of the fun is trying and failing and trying again, but I know that can get expensive, so having learned so many expensive lessons, I now plan carefully, and expect most of the information on the plant tags (especially mature size) to be outright wrong!

Refrigerator...keep in mind some things. First, to open fully, the doors of your refrigerator must stick out past the surrounding walls/cabinets/counters. This means you can only recess your refrigerator so the carcass/box is even with adjacent walls/cabinets/counters on the hinge side(s). In this case, it's a counter...25.5". The depth of your refrigerator is approx 31". Unfortunately, KA doesn't give all the necessary dimensions, in this case, the depth of the carcass/box. You need this to know how deep you can recess it. Remember, you also need room behind the refrigerator for air clearance (1/2"), water lines for ice maker & water dispenser (probably an inch or two), plug, and, if used, the anti-tip device. The 31" does not include these items. (FYI...the doors on my refrigerator stick out 4" from the carcass/box. This does not include the handles.) If we assume your refrigerator is similar, then its carcass/box is probably 27" deep (31" - 4"). Add another inch for the water lines and you can probably only recess it into the wall 3" or so. (27" deep carcass + 1" = 28"; 28" - 25.5" = 2.5"; you can go up to another half-inch or so if the door hinges allow it...it depends on the hinges.) The handles extend out another 2.5". So, this means approx 6" of your refrigerator will extend out past the counters. This brings us to the second point...your aisle. According to your layout, the aisle b/w the counter and the island is 40". However, in front of the refrigerator, the aisle is only 34" (40" - 6")...rather narrow. That's bordering on too narrow to get the refrigerator in/out without removing the doors...and maybe still too narrow even then. It will also create a "pinch point" when the refrigerator is open...a minor annoyance in this case, I think, b/c it's not a path through the kitchen and a refrigerator isn't usually open for very long (and others could always go around the island.) The concern is the ability to move the refrigerator for cleaning, repairs, or replacement w/o damaging the refrigerator or your cabinets & counters. The cabinet above the fridge is usually installed so the front of the cabinet box is flush with the refrigerator's carcass/box. You might be able to install it so the cabinet + doors are flush with the refrigerator doors, but you run the risk of hitting your head on the cabinet since you're tall. I recommend sticking with the former. Dishwasher + Corner Sink...You really need more space b/w the sink and the DW. If you look at the pic with the "Sink specs from Thomasville", note that it recommends a base cabinet at least 15" wide b/w the corner sink base and the DW. You only have 9"...you really need at least 15"; 18" would be better. As to a corner sink, there are pros & cons. It's a great way to handle a corner and the less-than-optimum storage under a sink base. You combine the sink base and corner storage into one so you only have one place with inefficient storage. However, unless you have a large corner sink base (48" or more), only one person can use the sink at one time. OTOH, there's plenty of space behind the sink for your faucet, soap dispenser, etc. You also don't have to worry about how deep (front-to-back) the sink is b/c there should be plenty of room for everything. But, you do have to be careful how far back the sink is installed, have them install it as far forward as possible and don't let them put any more than a 3" piece of stone b/w the sink cutout and the edge of the counter. This is to prevent the need to lean too far forward to use the sink. (The taller you are, the more important this is.) Prep Zone...Your Prep Zone will most likely end up on the perimeter b/w the corner sink and the range. That's where your water source is as well as it's close to the range. While 39" is normally enough room for prepping with a "straight line", when you factor in a corner sink and the fact that some of the floor space in your Prep Zone will overlap with the corner sink's floor space, you may not really have enough. I would like to see you increase that 21" cabinet to 30" (and decrease the one on the other end by those 9" to 27"). It will make a big difference in functionality. I don't recommend putting the DW b/w the sink and range...you really don't want to work over/in front of an open DW if someone is loading/unloading it or a running DW venting heat & steam on you! (If you're very, very disciplined about no one ever cleaning up while someone is prepping or cooking or there's never more than one person in the kitchen at a time, then a DW might be OK, but it's not ideal.) Besides, you should try for as little overlap of Zones as possible. Seating at the island...The National Kitchen & Bath Assoc (NKBA) recommends the overhang of counter-height seating be a minimum of 15". You have 12". I suspect you've put in 12" so you can fit an island. However, you should be aware that even if you skimp on overhang, people sitting at the island will take up the same amount of floor/aisle space...they'll just have to either sit farther away from the counter's edge or have to lean farther forward...neither of which is particularly comfortable for any length of time. Some people here swear that 9" or 12" is enough, but I suspect they have very short legs. You, OTOH, have stated you are tall (6'1")...so I doubt very much you have short legs. Our family ranges in height from 5'10" (me) to 6'6" and still growing (my DS). We have a 15" overhang and while my DD and I think it's OK, my DH & DS wish it was a few inches deeper (neither of them sit at the counter very often b/c of this). Honestly, I would have rather had 18" as well, but 15" works OK for me. One comment: You say everyone tells you they love an island even in a small kitchen. I wonder if they had a better designed kitchen if they would change their tune. Sometimes we don't know any better and think something is the best we can do. In the case of a kitchen, once you work in a well-designed kitchen, you're spoiled! What others think is fine, you know really isn't. People can adapt to anything...even a poor layout...and if they don't know any better they don't know how good it could be! Aisles...I'm concerned about the aisle b/w the back of the island and the porch door. At most, you have a 42.5" aisle (34" + 8.5"). It may actually be narrower when you start counting door trim, door knob, etc. When the door is open, you may have an issue with chair/door conflict (even an empty chair). Counter height...You were wondering about counter height. Have you calculated your "ideal" work height? It's not just a matter of height...upper arm length comes into play as well. To calculate your "ideal" work height (it takes two people): Stand up straight with your feet slightly apart and arms straight down at your sides. Now, bend your elbow 90 degrees. Keep your arm against your body. Have the second person measure the distance between your elbow and the floor. Subract 6" from the measurement. This is your "ideal" work height. Note that work height can be modified by raising the height of the cabinets, installing them on a platform, increasing the thickness of the counter, or by using large, thick cutting boards placed on top of a standard-height work surface (36" off the finished floor). Crown Molding...Most ceilings are not perfect and the floor-to-ceiling height can vary throughout the kitchen. To accommodate this and to make the differences "invisible", KDs usually either place a significant gap b/w the ceiling and top of the crown molding or use a 2 or 3 piece crown that includes a "filler" piece that is adjusted to accommodate the ceiling height discrepancies. The latter is, IMHO, better than the former. However, to do this successfully, the space for the crown does have to be tall enough so differences in filler piece heights are not noticeable. The shorter the filler piece, the more noticeable differences in height are. In our case, we have 6" of crown. We have a 3-piece crown molding with the filler (Stock-S) in the middle. The top and bottom pieces remain the same throughout the kitchen, it's only the filler piece that changes height. (We have approx a 1" height difference b/w the "tallest" and "shortest" floor-to-ceiling height in the kitchen.) Here's the design of our crown molding: Rev-A-Shelf Trash Pullout...I'm sure it will be less expensive to install it yourself after-market. Cabinet companies are notorious for marking up cabinet inserts tremendously. Since cost is a factor, I recommend ordering the cabinet you intend to use for your trash pullout as a full-height cabinet (i.e., no top drawer) with the door unattached. You can then purchase the pullout elsewhere (search the web, you can find it for much less than it is on the Rev-A-Shelf site) and install it yourself. In the end, this is your kitchen, so you have control over what you end up with. Please, really think about all the things I've mentioned b/f you decide on a final design. You will then be making an informed decision and whatever you decide you will know the pros & cons and know the compromises you have to make. Good luck!

I think this is improving, but one feature I would try to move away from is the creation of lines of "hedges," one in front of the other, as if you are creating a hierarchy of edgings. The same plants placed in blocks (instead of lines) will look better. Where you question "Too large a space for just filler?" ... I say absolutely not. Whether it has been stated, or not, I can't help but think that creating a pleasing view to passersby is one of the objectives of making changes. Creating some unification and making the "design" easier to read/grasp will make it seem "stronger" and more effective. For myself, I prefer the lawn without the stepping stones. But if you had to have them, I'm including a suggestion for one possible way of arranging the path. Naturally, I would not implement it without mocking it up in marking paint first. It can be the greatest help for visualizing an element and determining if one really likes it, or not ... before going to great expense and effort. As long as one grasps the basic, most important ideas, there is not too much cause for a gardener to fret over the details of planting design. It could all come together rather quickly and offer itself up for serious reevaluation. If it's determined then that there are obvious changes that need to happen, it's not difficult to move smaller plants around and improve the scheme. BTW, I applaud your efforts at ACTUALLY WORKING ON A PLAN! It's what most people seeking advice here should be doing. It tremendously clarifies communication. I also note that there is a radical improvement between your first design and the most recent. For sure, this would be a great project to come back later with a photo of the "finished product." Not sure if discussed or not, but I would consider planting the mulched area around the main tree with a single variety, very low groundcover. Green and leafy is just better than brown and crunchy.