Thanks so much, everyone! Rookie - you have great taste as well ;) !! I have posted on your pics before and LOVE your space!! I can be flexible on the window location and size around the range and thus the range hood size itself so I will see if I can add more landing space. I am sure that this hood will be very expensive so I'll have to see how that plays... I have been thinking about the landing/enclosure issue for a while and don't want the look to outweigh the function so that has been a big concern. I do love the look of those hoods though and how it would "make" that wall... sigh. Skyedog - thanks for the info on the combustible material (I will look into that!) and the upper cabinets. I'm wondering if I can rework the configuration on the side walls so that there is a single cabinet in the corner and then a double next to it, to avoid the door issue opening towards you... thanks for bringing that up!

that picture is gorgeous! i wonder how that works from a "work triangle" perspective. there's not a lot of triangles in a straight line. :) would your sink/stove/fridge all be on the same wall? would your kitchen "stuff" all be on an exterior wall or interior? i love natural light in the kitchen! just the practical stuff to think about but from a prettiness perspective it's lovely. :) we're building an open concept familyroom/kitchen/dining room as well, and i think both the kitchen and the family room are sort of "featured" as they share an exterior wall. the kitchen has a huge 9' long window and the family room has a big fireplace and you see them both equally from the foyer.

I'm back...with an updated design. I met with an architect yesterday about some future projects, and he suggested dedicating more entryway space at our back door. In this new design, again we're keeping all utilities where they currently are. We explored other possibilities based on great feedback on this forum and I think we really prefer this layout. It gives us a protected "sink wall" for doing dishes and putting them away, keeps the trash near the main prep areas, makes space for a baking counter and allows my gorgeous stove to be front and center when you walk in the room. We would switch the swing of the back door so you walk into a little nook (new swing in red). I preserved some in-kitchen seating while also expanding my counter space. The sacrifice is that the refrigerator is further away. I think the inclusion of the counter next to the kitchen will be handier, however, for putting groceries away and laying out ingredients. I think most nights my husband would be seated at this counter while I cook, easily ready to grab whatever I need from the fridge for me. Please let me know what you think of this new plan! Thanks in advance for your great advice :)

First thought: An L+ island is hard to get wrong; it's a shape that works well for most houses, and you only have to deal with one corner. Other thoughts: - Looking at the image, take the cabinets to the ceiling. It's a neater, calmer look. I hate the snaggle-tooth look with some cabinets higher than the others. - How often do you drink wine? I don't care for that dedicated wine cabinet. - The fridge-under-counter ... you need glassware to be stored nearby, and I don't see a place for it. I'd suggest flip-flopping the dishwasher so it'd be nearer the beverage center. - Where's your garbage can? The fridge door is not going to open against the wall. You need several inches between the fridge and the wall. I currently live with this problem. It's not a world-ending thing, but if you have the option to avoid it ... yeah, avoid it. Can you put your microwave where the wine bottle storage is? I like this idea. How much do you use your microwave? I use mine only rarely, and I'm considering putting a very small one in the microwave. For the next house, get a window into the kitchen (and build a house that's only 1-2 rooms deep, including porches/garages). :-D Enjoy this one while you have it! Yes, good advice. Natural light is a big deal. Ditch the 9" wide cabinet on the island. It's useless. Agree. Rather than have a 9" cabinet, I'd widen the drawers a bit. thanks for your comments... we are right handed people, shouldn't we have the dishwasher to the left of our sink?? Handedness doesn't matter a bit. What does matter is that you place your dishwasher as near as possible to where you'll store your glassware and your silverware ... of all your tableware, they're the smallest /most-used items ... so you want them to place them near the dishwasher for easy clean-up. As for your husband, if you didn't talk about left-vs-right dishwashers, I bet he'd never note it. Ditch the roll outs and go with all drawers. Yes. But are you 4'11" short?? ;) I am 4'11" short. I'm going with this option: https://hideawaysolutions.com/  I'm also placing my upper cabinets LOWER than most people do. I decided this years ago when we rented a cabin at the lake (by chance, it was a handicapped-friendly cabin), and I LOVED the cabinets. Didn't take me long to figure out why: they were low enough for me to reach!