I think I share aesthetic DNA with a lot of the posters on this thread. Love the French look; prefer colored appliances with SS/nickel/brass/etc. trim over all SS. My house is a 125 y.o. "second empire" style, which I feel deserves some sort of hat tip, if not slavish devotion to old-looking stuff. To me this means avoiding visible electronics, and overtly modern lines. OTOH, anything simple, chunky, roundish, using materials that have been around for at least a hundred years, works fine. We will be remodeling our kitchen soon, but as my current (awful, unmentionable) range just died, I will be replacing it somewhat ahead of schedule. A few months ago I went crazy over online picture of an AGA legacy. Later I met one in person, and was underwhelmed. Crushed, actually. The oven doors and knobs just didn't feel solid. Kind of reminded me of a very adorable "Easy Bake" oven. Interestingly, the same showroom had the pricier AGA 6-4 cooker, also duel-fuel (not the true cooker that the name would imply), and I was shocked at how different it felt - super solid heavy cast iron doors with integrated hinges and latches, although the knobs were the same. The Cornufe was there as well. The doors felt more solid than the legacy, as did the knobs, but like the 6-4 it was a bit out of my price range. And then there was... ... the small oven thing. I tried to tell myself this didn't matter, was actually an advantage, less energy to heat up, etc. And I really DO want to be able to cook two things at different temps simultaneously. But among my friends who actually cook, virtually all said I'd sooner or later regret not having a regular-size oven. (Wall oven/s not an option for me.) Not sure how the Lacanche stacks up in terms of oven size. It's probably my favorite looks-wise. Their owners seem to really cherish them. But to me it only makes sense to spend that much on a range if it's going to hold some sort of visual dominion over the rest of the kitchen. My range will only be seen head-on from the fridge wall; not from the kitchen entrance or kitchen table or any other rooms, so I'd rather put my aesthetic eggs in other baskets... Which has brought me back to the pro-styles. My husband eliminated Bluestar because of the open burners. He thought we were too lax in our cleaning habits to prevent that drip plate from turning into a smelly, scary disaster. I think we're about to settle on American, most likely black (with SS trim), in a 30" AG, which has an unusually large oven, and pretty good burner capacity (2 @ 17K btu, 140 degree simmer). We plan to get a countertop toaster/confection oven combo to accomodate our second/small oven needs. Or maybe a microwave/convection oven combo that we will hide somewhere. We are looking into a modern aire PS26 range hood in black with SS trim. One cool think about American is that you can swap out the color down the road. So if our upcoming remodel screams for a different color, say, fire engine red, we won't be stuck with the black. (The hood is another matter... hmm...) The color kits are about 250-300 bucks, I think, and require a pretty handy, if not professional, person to make the switch. I'll worry about that if and when it comes to it... Good luck on your search, susied3, and everybody else (including me). Let's keep each other posted.

Yes, do the tile then. It will look better. Like PP said, DIY. I personally love the look of subways on the way with hex on the floor. If/when we ever rip ours out, this is what I'd do. BTW, see my "bath and a half on a budget" thread to see what we have now. They were in decent condition, so we left them though they were PO DIY. Here is a link that might be useful: Subways on shower walls with hex floor

I like Option 3 the best. I also prefer the refrigerator location in Option 3. It looks to be the most functional layout of the lot. The problem with the refrigerator on the opposite end of the kitchen from the range (on the sink wall) is that it's now inaccessible to the Prep & Cooking Zones without either running around the island or doing a lot of zone-crossing...refrigerator-thru Cleanup Zone-to-Prep Zone and back; refrigerator-thru Cleanup Zone-to-Cooking Zone and back. It's especially an issue b/c you have such a narrow aisle b/w the island and sink wall (it looks like 36"). Imagine doing all that running back & forth with a DW open and/or someone else working at the sink. In that location, the refrigerator is also pretty far from the MW and most foods that are MW'd come from the refrigerator or freezer. OTOH, with the refrigerator on the wall near the garage, it's right next to the Cooking Zone and easily accessed from the Prep Zone (the counter b/w the sink and range). (If you plan to use the island as a Prep Zone, I recommend a sink and, possibly, a wider aisle b/w the island and sink.) It's also right next to the MW. Personally, I like having all the appliances nearby that I need when prepping & cooking...without having to navigate around obstacles...things or people! The other advantage of having the refrigerator (and pantry) near the garage is that when you bring groceries in, you enter the kitchen right where they need to go to be put away. Island...you will have only a 9.5" seating overhang. 1.5" overhang + 24" cabinets + 1" decorative door on the back of the island = 26.5" 36" - 26.5" = 9.5" seating overhang You also have a rather narrow aisle behind the island (only 40" to the back wall). Even though you're skimping on the seating overhang, people will still take up the same amount of room in that aisle as if you had at least a 15" overhang...the stools will be pushed out b/c you can't fold up your legs to fit under the overhang, all you can do is have the stool farther out into the aisle and then lean forward...or maybe "straddle" the island (legs spread to "shorten" the distance b/w your hip and knees). With the minimum overhang, it's still recommended an aisle behind seating be at least 44". If that aisle b/w the island and back wall is going to be as busy as you say it is, you may regret it over time. My SIL has a 36" aisle b/w her refrigerator and island with a 12" seating overhang on a similarly located aisle (door to garage w/DR on the left and FR straight ahead)...and she became so frustrated w/the lack of space b/w them plus all that traffic that she removed the stools from the kitchen. It's not that the refrigerator is there, it's that if someone is sitting at her island, no one can pass by without forcing those sitting to get up and move out of the way....and they're a very thin family! I don't know what to tell you about the seating...except not have it...and I know you really want it. I guess this will have to be one of the compromises you make in your kitchen; we all have to make some compromises when our "wants" aren't compatible with what we have to work with....... Dimensions....in option 3, the arrow goes b/w the wall and the cabinets...not to the other wall. However, when I count boxes, that 11'4" measurement appears to be DR/FR wall-to-sink wall. If that's the case, I think you have a little less space than you realize. (The refrigerator wall cabs appear to stick out no further than the DR/FR wall, is that correct?) 11'4" = 136" 25.5" sink wall + 36" aisle + 36" island + 40" aisle = 137.5" So, one of the aisles will be 1.5" narrower than you show...which one? The work aisle really needs the full 36", minimum, and the busy aisle also needs as much space as possible... [Of course, if you have 0" counter overhang, then the overhang doesn't count and you're back to the 36" and 40" aisles.] Another compromise somewhere? Good luck!

This is just as an illustration of another way to kill the corner pantry by moving the mudroom door to a more convenient place (as far as the kitchen is concerned). It also shows the primary benefit of a three working sided island fat enough for two stools on the end. Your drawing is showing a counter depth refrigerator. In the above drawing, a full sized ref (allow for 36" of depth) could be countersunk into the wall shared with the mudroom. Whether it goes ref-pantry or pantry-ref is at your choice. The nubbin by the ref need not exist - I was thinking about a msg area or some such thing. You might have a little more room in your aisles than the impression formed by this drawing. I would adjust those so the cooktop was closer to the island and further from the dishwasher. One of the differences with tall tub dishwashers is that the doors stick further out into the aisle - so I would be sure to have a 48" aisle between the cleanup sink and the island. Again, just as an idea, I might put a drawer micro on the side of the island near the ref.