First, because of the horizontal pixel-width of your image it bumps through the margins of the text box on the right so the text disappears under the pic of remodelfla's excllent kitchen and the compost pile. So I can't read most of what you've written.

(Easiest cure w/o going back and resizing your drawing's box width: repost just text only as a separate comment, then it will stay contained with in the text block.)

Anyhoo, my first take is that you've got way too much so-trendy-you-gotta-have-one island real estate and not enough practical storage and an un-refined work flow.

A worktop-only island would be good. I think sitting in those seats essentially with your backs to the corridor to the DR will feel too exposed.

So: shrink the island;

Find a new location for the fridge that doesn't result in the DW and fridge doors having to negotiate with each other;

Use the space along the lower left (picture-wise) wall (common wall with bathroom) for storage. Perhaps narrow closed cabs below and bookshelves - cookbooks! - above or glassed cabs for pretty dishes. Blank wall = too boring.

I wouldn't add another DW to the island, just find a more workable position for the one near the sink. Keep the prep sink though.

You still have an awkward return path for dishes from you dining room as they have to go all the way around the K/DR wall for washing at the sink/DW position.

Perhaps consider reversing the swing of the door from garage so it opens against the side of a (moved) fridge along the range wall.

Ventilation path for the range, what are your constraints for exterior vent pathway?

Consider a taller and narrower DW.

What's in the jogged intrusion from the DR into the kitchen? Any chance you could eliminate that and add the space to kitchen?

Keep the pantry.

But before you start in on adding in suggestions, I think more thought has to be given to food/work flow within the space. You'll be crisscrossing constantly. Since you're doing a full remodel, not just a refresh, now's the time for that analysis.

Think about where your food comes in and is unpacked > where it's stowed > where it needs to go to be prepared (need water for that?) for cooking > where the prep and cooking utensils are stored > where the cooking position is> where the serving vessels (either plates or serving dishes, depending on your type of service) are stored and where the food will be plated > where it goes to be eaten > where leftovers are prepared for storage and where dirty dishes are brought for cleaning > where the cleaned stuff is stowed ready for re-use.

This requires you to think about how the room functions as a work space, first, before thinking about how it may look (colors, styles, amenities). If you get the work-flow tweaked to its best config., then you can easily populate it with all the trendy pretties that you want. But don't begin with pretty, start with functional.

Make a (measured, scaled) drawing of your space on graph paper. Mark the completely unalterable elements, then play around by sketching in various arrangements of things using my outline above. Nothing is perfect, but usually if you let the workflow dictate your pattern pretty soon a natural skeleton of where to put individual activity/work elements emerges (not necessarily on the where-to-put-the-can-opener level, that's the next round after the bones are settled.) Many iterations are usually necessary, but they cost only time (and who begrudges the engrossing hours of thinking about their new kitchen?), paper and pencils and erasers. You can d/l a template for graph paper and print some immediately, but I find it's easier to buy a pad or spiral book with it already printed. Don't start thinking about your friends having wine at the island or what cab style or b/s to choose. Start with where your flour and veggies come into the room, then go to where they can be stored .....etc.

Once you've got a trial plan, then "cook" in that plan using a colored pencil to mark where you'd have to travel as you prepared the meal. Pay attention to every time you cross back on yourself. Some crossing is necessary, or unavoidable, but doing these imaginary meals will quickly reveal where you need to lean harder on refining your arrangement of work centers.

Don't be discouraged if you need to start anew a few times. Think why the previous plan failed and use that to inform the next layout. And if you get stuck, then imagiine some of the "unalterables" away. Perhaps a radical, but otherwise do-able change in one thing will open up the key. Also, if you get stuck, think why? Is it something like "must have sink perfectly balanced below window". Sez who? Sometimes the "rules" we have in our heads need to be challenged. And challenging them on paper is a effective way to break out of a rut in your thinking.

Have fun!

hth

L.

I think the way the whole house picture has the stove and fridge seems to work better. With the sink and dw by the window I would be tempted to open that side up to the dining room as it is you have to walk all the way around to get to the sink/dw with dirty dishes.

No island...but room for a sous chef?

I agree with lyfia that the layout on the whole house plan looks better. You can consider a pass through on the bottom right wall with higher base cabs (42"?) so setting and cleaning the DR table would be easier, and you can still have some storage there.

Thanks very much for all of you who've responded. First, to liriodendron's comment, I'm re-attaching the text for my original post to the bottom of this response.

Also to liriodendron:
I totally agree with the idea of shrinking the island. I've don't have any intent to have people sitting at the island, so something like 3x6 is plenty of room.

To lyfia and sena01: I'm coming back to the whole house view and can get behind the stove/fridge on the same wall. In that layout in particular I'm worried that the sink under the window is too far away from everything else.

The jogged entry to the kitchen from the south is due to an original built-in in the dining room. I really don't want to disturb that, even though it shrinks the width of the kitchen. It also makes the path from the dining room somewhat more complicated, which is not ideal.

So, in summary: I'm going to shrink the island, maybe play around with rotating it (thanks robotropolis), and then spend a little time with a colored pencil tracing my cooking and grocery flows.
Thanks again for your ideas. I'll be back with the results of my walkthrough soon. I'm still hoping to start talking to contractors in a week or so.

ORIGINAL TEXT:
I've been lurking the forums as I've worked with my designer on a full house remodel of my early 1900s California bungalow. Now that I've gone back and forth through the discussion, and worked through the first 20 or so iterations of my kitchen design I'm here to get your opinions.

Part of the remodel includes taking out a middle bedroom to relieve what is currently a cramped kitchen layout. The layout attached here is the expanded kitchen, that will look out on my deck and yard. There's a lot of space, which is exciting to me, but the kitchen is pretty long and narrow.

I do quite a bit of cooking, and frequently have at least one other person in the kitchen cooking with me. I also have small groups of people over, and with my friends being who they are, we often congregate in the kitchen.

My remaining problems are with the workflow within the kitchen. Right now I'm torn on how to bring the main appliances into a natural flow without a)pushing everything to the back (East) of the kitchen, or b)leaving the entire east wall blank and effectively unused.

As I mentioned this is a full remodel, so other than the main walls, I don't have countertop, appliance, utility, or other limitations on where things go.

Sorry. I forgot to include the kitchen layout I am working with:

Here's what the kitchen look I'm starting with is: