I have a friend that did exactly what you are describing. They removed the wall between dining room and kitchen (no cabinets or appliances were on the wall) and added an island to separate the space where the wall was previously. It's really more of a peninsula since it comes right from the wall. They have an overhang so seating is on the dining room side. It looks nice and opens up the space. It's far enough away from the main counter run that it isn't functional for food prep etc. It's great for serving and seating though.

I agree, new cabs are better than those 35 years old things. there are plenty of decent, solid wood cabinets available. you don't have to get them from lowes either. my kitchen painter guys I went with (and had mine refaced) got solid maple (paintable) shaker style. they are very nicely made. That is something you can consider if keeping the same layout. Are the bases solid wood and decent shape? just have everything refaced, and modified to add drawers to the bottom. if keeping it that way, you could do a bar top overhang to hide the dishes and have seating. (ignore the design choices) however, with all the room you have, I'd think about expanding. you currently have a G, not a U. you can look up G kitchens and get some ideas if you like. could you put in a window on that wall? (the cabinet wall. could you put in a window?) for instance, if you extended your cabs down to the right, you could put in a window and put your sink under it.: this just shows if you did a window in your current placement. is that possible? trying to show if you extended them down the wall, maybe do a pantry on the end if you need it, and a window and sink in the middle. then do a little built in nook/banquette at the end of the cabinet run: Or extending the cabs down to the Family sign, and create a large island where you can sit and eat. Put a nice large sink in the island. don't even look at the next pic's design choices, just look at the layout. if you extended the kitchen down, made an island w/sink, and did a built in or a table and chairs by the window. looks like this: think about doing a built in banquette breakfast area over by the windows

Yes... I was originally going to make the tabletop 36"W, but after reading those specs on Arhaus.com I decided to widen it to at least 38" to accommodate the bases. The mounting issue was another thing I tried to discuss with the online "designer" and didn't get any help with. In this picture it looks like there are holes on the top of them, but since my top is 2 cm quartz, I won't be using any screws into it to attach them. The stone fabricator will install the top similar to how they install countertops to cabinet bases, using a special epoxy glue. But I will definitely show these bases to them first to make sure it can be attached properly! As far as other coordinating colors in my home, I am planning on replacing most of the existing fixtures (except wood floors) so I'm basically starting from scratch with the 2 tables in question, the tan leather sofa and 3 kitchen chairs I already have. From there I will decide on barstools, light fixtures, rugs, banquet cushions and other accessories, incorporating an accent color or 2 in some of those. Interesting idea to do the bar table legs in an fun accent color, but I think choosing that now would be putting the cart before the horse! Maybe I'll skip that step for now and keep the existing black legs that are on it (knowing that they will eventually be changed) until I choose my kitchen table base and barstools. Does anyone else think the brass bases might look more (or too) formal than the black ones?

Please, feel free to use my low-rent drawing. Spuyten Duyvil is beautiful and such a fun name to say. Yes, we are a stone's thow away. I'm near Ft Tryon Park in Washington Heights. If you have a good experience with your contractors, I'd love to get their info. While my kitchen is 3 feet longer than yours, it is only 7'8" wide. Light surfaces and bouncing light around makes a huge difference. If you place your fridge to the right of the sink, it will chop up your counter space, block the window light, and contribute to a small feel, just as the stub walls do now. Can you put the fridge where the stove is and move the stove to the right of the sink? Ask your contractor and building. When do you close and when do you intend to start construction? We had a month in between. Though we were only here on the weekends during that month it was incredibly helpful to get a realistic idea of how we felt in the space and how we wanted to use it. If you can do the same, I suggest it. We had a folding table and two chairs that we moved around the space. The window was a magnet and entirely changed our layout. We also scooted it around to imitate a countertop and approximate the feel of our sofas. Everything is so different in person with 3D objects. Not being able to get certain pieces of furniture through the bedroom door also changed things. We were moving from a 3 story, 5 bed house into this 2 bedroom apartment and in the end, having no room for a china cabinet, limited closet space, and no basement storage, putting up a wall and having as many kitchen cabinets as possible was a major reason to go with a galley kitchen. I cannot stress enough to ignore your realtor and do what you love in the space for the time you are using it. Our realtor and multiple contractors encouraged us to knock down a kitchen wall in our old house. We refused and ignored all of the experts. When we sold our house got four offers in two days, whereas others on our street sat on the market. People commented that our kitchen was a selling point. Yes, our kitchen with a wall between it and the dining room. Go with what feels right and is practical for you in the space. Also, try to find pics of kitchens with islands that have columns in the middle to get a feel for the look.