That's a great idea, Rhome410 and Buehl! Now that I see it, though, I'm sure I'm going to have to go with the finished end panel. I knew a wall would take more room, but didn't really *know* it until I saw it, if you know what I mean. I'm still thinking about switching the dishwasher and sink. As I mentioned, I have a wall of three windows, each 18" wide, with molding on the sides and in between. The more I think of it, the more I know I'll be unhappy if the sink isn't centered under one of those windows, as it will feel haphazard to me. I really want it to be centered under the center window, but that reduces the prep space and it means I need a 5-6" spacer to the right of the sink. I know I could use the space for a pullout, but I'd much rather have real cabinet space. I think I'll end up centering the sink under the left window, even though it means the dishwasher will have to stay where I have it on the plan I posted. I have the Fisher & Paykel dishdrawers, so I'll just do what I do now - take some dishes from the dishwasher, push the dishwasher in, and put the dishes away. It doesn't seem like a big deal to me. Fori, I did think about switching the oven cabinet and the fridge. I think I've decided against it because I feel like I need landing space on a counter for the oven more than the fridge, especially if people are sitting at the table when something hot comes out of the oven. The table won't be centered in the room. It will be pushed more towards the cooktop side. I'm hoping that will encourage people not to walk through my cooking area, and will leave a wider aisle for the oven and fridge. I don't care about the cooktop side. I'm the only one who cooks and the only one who will regularly sit on that side. Plus, there's only 30" between my range and the table now, and it's never been a problem. It's really hard trying to balance function and aesthetics. I'm not sure I'm getting the balance right, but I guess you just do the best you can.

Hmm, I don't like either of the two layouts much, and I am a peninsula lover. It just seems that with an 11' x 16' space, it shouldn't be so cramped. And yet, an 8' wide table space is crampy, I think. Will the DW be housed in some kind of cabinet, or will it have some kind of paneling over the back and open side to match the rest of the peninsula cabs? I don't know if that will work, especially if you have a heavy countertop material. You might need a cabinet on the other side of DW. It's hard to tell, even in the old thread, how big all the windows are at the end of the kitchen. Do you have two sliders at that end, plus a really wide window? How far from the floor does that big wide window go? Seems like this space should be more useable somehow! Oh, I do see something in the old thread where bmorepanic referred to getting rid of one of the sliders...I think that's a good idea. I would possibly turn the other slider into a single door rather than a double slider; that will get you some deeper useable space near the wall. Anyone remember that small kitchen a couple years ago where they did that? Seemed to work well. If you're going to stick w/ the peninsula plan, what about getting rid of the slider on the fam room side of the kitchen? You'd have more room for a longer bank of cabs where you have the cooktop; instead of a table, have an overhang, which would take up less space. Sorry it's too late for me to draw; I need some sleep!

Yes to putting a prep sink in the island to the right by the table as suggested by rhome. Your pull-out trash should then go beside it. Frankly, your pull-out trash is currently in a useless spot. You will (without a prep sink) be prepping between the sink and range and are going to have to walk/carry your garbage stuff over to the other side of the DW. For clean-up (scrapping plates whatever) again your plates are going to be scrapped into the trash, maybe into the sink for a rinse if necessary and then back again into the DW. There is a lot of back and forth with it in its current location. Put a prep sink in the island with a pull-out trash for doing your actual prep (right across from the fridge and range - great location), clearing the table you can either clear dishes into the pull-out trash and straight into the DW or like me, I also have trash can under my sink for clean-up duties. I was not convinced about the validity of a prep sink and thought it was overkill for my kitchen. Listening to my KD and putting it in was the best decision I made and I use it everyday, every meal (with my pull-out trash right beside it). Listen to the people here, you have the perfect set-up for one. It doesn't have to be big but it will be useful.

If what you like is a one-wall kitchen with an island, that is possible. You'd have a super long island that is 3' deep and way roomier walkways (4') around the island. If you did that, I'd just make the nook a straight windowseat. Like this: The island has legs on one end for seating like this: The bay window provides extra space needed to walk comfortably behind the island seating. I'd add another doorway into the dining room, since that is now your primary eating area. You want non-cooking traffic to be able to get back and forth without entering your kitchen work zones. And I think you'll generally like the greater visibility and circular flow between rooms. If you orient the island drawer stack closest to the dining room so it opens toward the dining room, you'll be able to unload the dishwasher directly into that. And glasses can go in the pantry, which is just a step or two further. The pantry is floor-to-ceiling cabinets and around 12" deep. That's great pantry storage - stores a ton, and it's easy to see everything with nothing lost in the back. Note that the downsides are: - You lost a hallway closet and deepened the other hallway closet in order to elongate the one-wall part of the kitchen. You wouldn't have to do this if you lose the wall ovens, but I assume you don't want that. - It's going to be complicated to vent the range hood. - You'll need to get a fridge with one door and drawer freezer so they don't bang the open dishwasher. Or make peace with not opening the fridge and dishwasher at the same time.