So the cost of removing the wall would be about 5k, not cheap but not prohibitive. The wall is really thick, so losing the wall gains me an extra foot of interior length (for simplicity I hadn't draw that into the prior sketches). Here was my basic idea stealing concepts from some of the great ideas above. It bumps the cabinets back enough to make the island 36" and give 48" of clearance all around and opens up a back path to what I see as sort of a "butler's pantry" concept, still keeping a closed off walk-in pantry with a pocket door to allow access. I have enough room to unstack the washer/dryer and can put them on pedestals which ideally I prefer to the floor standing or stacked configuration. I also get more light into the kitchen (I can put a window somewhere along the W/D wall, exact size and placement TBD but figured something near the sink). and should have a decent line of sight into the backyard. The wall I had the fridge and SO/coffee on (backing to w/i pantry) becomes smaller and can now fit 87.5" of stuff (lost 4.5" extra space due to recess of pocket door)). So gives me room for a 27" pantry type cabinet and the fridge/speed oven or I could maybe drop the drawer fridge and instead do a 30" fridge column + 24" freezer column, trim SO/coffee out to 30" (there's a kit for that) and have 3.5" of wiggle room. The bigger fridge/freezer combo would actually be cheaper than the french door + drawer fridge combo. The bigger door clearance is a mild concern, but if I stick the fridge on the end near range (which makes the most sense anyway) the door shouldn't really get in the way of island. Plan to keep sink and at least 1 dishwasher where it was, perhaps relocate the 2nd dishwasher next to the second sink? Thanks in advance for the input!

You should not have a room with a supply and no return air path. You either need a return in that room, or you need to provide a way for air to return to rooms that do have a return path. That can be by a real return, undercutting a door, jump ducts or straight grates in a wall. The problem with no return path is that pressurization of the room will result in, depending on how well the exterior is sealed, a combination of poor supply air flow or leaks out of the room in random places. If the leaks are to the exterior of the home, makeup air will have to be sucked in in other random places elsewhere in the home (around windows, and doors, from the attic, from the basement,.... I think that you should first focus on the heat loss for that room. If a couple of 100W incandescent lightbulbs will heat it to the level that you need on the coldest day, it really does not matter what kind of heat you install from an operating cost standpoint. (Err,. make that 3 x 60W since you can't buy 100s anymore.) You are investing in the efficiency on the loss side in your new construction. Good for you, but sometimes it does not pay to "double up" on efficiency measures. Your mudroom will not have a thermostat so the main heating system will not be responding to the temperature back there with door openings in cool weather. That fact, coupled to the efficiency of that room will ensure that it does not affect your main heating plant very much at all. It will be the least expensive way to heat the area if supply and return ducts are practical. If not, just install electric heat under the floor if installation and operating cost calculations support that. Don't hamstring yourself by saving your HE furnace from battling the elements in your new room. Efficiency is why you bought it. If you don't use it, you'll be like the British with their navy in our revolutionary war. The admirals refused to use the great resource to the maximum advantage in the war for fear of battle losses. If you plan to have pets in that room while the heat is running, please check into that. I have no pets and no radiant heat so I have not made myself an expert. In understand that they need to have a way to get off of warm floors for their safety.

Thanks! I asked my cabinet maker for repose grey cabinets, they are a conversion varnish that is supposed to be matched to repose grey. The sample turned out lighter/less grey than I was expecting, but we liked it so stuck with it. They are still grey but fairly subtle... almost a greyish off white rather than GREY. They do look whiter in the pic than in real life. We use the drawers under the washer all the time, mostly for clean clothes or empty laundry baskets (I wanted a place to store these things since there isn't a dedicated closed off laundry space). I liked the pedastels that come with washers for the height raise, but found the storage useful and didn't understand why it couldn't be functional. The drawers were specifically sized to fit a laundry basket. My only issues with the setup is getting the units in and out is a little tough and a two person job. The laminate counter they were on got a little chipped and the adjacent cabinet got scratched one of the first times we had to move them (had some install issues with the ducting that requiring pulling them out several times, turned out it was plugged up by the hvac people and no one knew). Now that I know to be very careful with them and protect the counter/cabinet a little, it's not a big deal. The hanging bar next to the washer/dryer was a great idea too and use that all the time as well.

Back deck entry to kitchen.