Can you take a digital photo of your plans and post it?

Hi functionfirst- Where is your fridge? Is it behind you, in your description? Is the only opening from the kitchen, into another room, on your left?

If the fridge is behind you...then an island might cut off your flow between the fridge and the sink. The fridge to stove/oven will still be fine.

You might want to add a prep sink, depending on how much you have to walk around the island. There are other advantages to a prep sink, depending on your layout, so it might be worth considering.

I like an L-shape with an island...it's my favorite layout and what I have planned for my farmhouse remodel. My kitchen is open on two sides, so the fridge is part of the L. This gives you less storage, than if you had the fridge and maybe a pantry on the back wall, but I have a separate pantry area.

An island will be a great place to converse with friends and family. As far as the raised side, which direction would the raised area face? Is it on the left? Any extra information you can give us, will help :)

You could draw it up on graph paper (available for free online), take a picture of it or scan it, and post it here.

It's a lot easier to comment when you can actually see the layout. Otherwise, there will either be a lot of questions back & forth just to get the layout right or people will make assumptions.

Also, it would be a great help if you could answer the questions posed in the "Layout Help" topic in the "Read Me" thread.

HTH & Good luck!

Here is a link that might be useful: Read Me If You're New To GW Kitchens!

I will try to post a picture within the next day or so. In the meantime, the right side of the U begins with the fridge on the right, then a 27" base cab, then the oven. The opening next to the fridge (on right) leads to an office at the front of the house. The opening to the left leads to the rest of the house, i.e. dining and living combined (about a 20 x 30 space). Behind me is a pantry closet, not walk-in, just shelves, which has a regular door. I do appreciate all the advice I've read here and will definitely try to post a pic.

I can now show some pictures of my layout (although I tried to make them smaller and place one below the other but apparently did it wrong) for any and all suggestions. We are about to build our retirement home. We cook and clean up together most of the time. We will have 6 young grandchildren visiting for possibly 3-6 weeks out of every year (2 at a time with their parents). We will entertain a few times a month, casually. We have a separate dining area that I hope to use at least for dinner every day. Doorways and windows could be changed but we like general floorplan. There is a small home office behind the refrigerator wall, and a sunroom beyond the current seating counter. The sunroom, dining area and living room (to left of dining area) face the water. On the other side of the pantry closet is a game room. There is 6' of space from the current island to the pantry closet wall. Appliances: slide-in range, OTR MW, standard DW, standard size FD refrig, recessed. I would like a baking center but it's not a deal-breaker. My main question to GW: Is the counter seating as currently planned (room is 16' square) too far away from the cooking/cleanup area for conversation? Or should I take out the far counter and make this an L-shape with larger island w/seating for 2? I can get distracted when guests come in while I'm cooking, so only want two seats somewhere in the kit, whether it turns out to be at the island or at the counter as currently planned. The current plan is a 3'x4' island. Any ideas, though, about the placement of anything will be much appreciated. Oh, we have changed the upper, glass-door cabs to 15" rather than the 18" pictured, and taken the 6" pull-out spice cabs next to the MW out.

I hope you meant a raised bar on the peninsula and not the island?

I don't think the peninsula is too far for conversation.

I prefer an L with the island, but if you want to seat more grandchildren where you can see them and they're out of the work area, the bar is maybe a good choice. If you want to bake cookies with them gathered around a good sized work area, a large, one-level island is better. If you ran seating on the outside of the island (the dining/game room side), you could seat more than 2 without them being within the workspace. --Or are you saying you don't want 2 more seats even at the peninsula?

Can you move the window at all? I would want to move the sink to the right...You have a lot of room on that side of the sink, and where it is now, when the dishwasher is open, it will block use of the left uppers and the peninsula storage.'

Do you need all the upper storage? A bigger window could be nice. I went from a 3 ft window to a 6 1/2 ft and would never want to go back...It makes working in the kitchen so much more pleasant and light.

I hope you're considering the use of drawers in your bases over door cabinets or pull-outs. Much more comfortable than getting down at floor level to look into cabinets, and more convenient and functional than pullouts, which require you to open both doors wide to pullout the tray...and things fall off. Hated pull-outs...LOVE my drawers.

I would think twice about counter height seating. As you age, and your balance goes, you might prefer a lower chair with arms that is easy to get into and out of. Or maybe I am just a short-legged klutz! lol

I would tend to put the island 40" from both left and right runs of cabinets. Or, I would err to having a bit more on the side with the range and fridge rather than on the peninsula side. 36" on the side where you will be opening the oven door and bending over is a bit tight. You may bang your tailbone on the island.

Rhome, I was thinking of a raised bar with seating on the outside of the island to hide some of the kitchen clutter. Today I saw one I loved in Fine Homebuilding's Kitchen & Bath Planning Guide 2010 on p. 143. It's pie-shaped with the pointed part of the "pie" cut out (probably not a good explanation). Bad idea to have a raised bar? I wouldn't want more than two seats at the counter or island. I like people around but not close when I have company. I'm not that good a cook and need to concentrate in order to make an edible meal! I like the idea of a larger window. I probably don't need all those uppers, but my last kitchen was set up in a similar way. I loaded the dw standing at the sink and unloaded it from the left side of it and stored glasses and dishes in those uppers right above. And I am going to use more drawers than are shown here. Palimpset, you are correct about placing an island 40 inches from range and fridge. Thanks for pointing that out.