Here are four reasons to vent: 1) Pollution and noxious fumes (carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide, particulates, combustion pollutants, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, etc.). These exist in greater quantities if you cook with gas, but can still exist even if you don't cook with gas--particularly if you fry alot, spill, burn something, or overheat a pan with a non-stick coating. 2) Moisture. Higher moisture can lead to mold and fungus growing in places you may not realize. This can also aggravate allergies and trigger asthma attacks. Also, cockroaches prefer higher humidity environments. A non-venting recirculating fan will not reduce moisture. 3) Excess heat. Adequate venting will keep the kitchen from heating up while you cook. 4) Grease splatter. If you fry anything at all, you create a 'splatter zone' of grease. Beyond that 'splatter zone' you also create an aeresol mist of oil that floats about your home, combining with the dust in the air and sticking to whatever it can, resulting in, over time, a gooey, smelly mess. Fry a fish in a house with no vent and you'll smell that fish for days, because it's on your walls, your ceiling, your curtains, your furniture... An adequate vent (and sadly, many are not up to this task--you need a good hood or capture zone and lots of CFM for this) will suck that aerosol mist and the splatter up into the grease trap or baffle and keep it from circulating around in your home and coating your walls and ceiling. If you cook, leave the house, come back a few hours later and still smell dinner, you do not have adequate ventilation in your home. Some relevant links: Air Quality Sciences Resource Center website CDC Carbon Monoxide FAQ website

Do you have a quick sketch of your space? From what you're saying, you'll have: 1.5" counter overhang + 15" drawer base + 33" corner susan = 49.5" from the wall corner to the end of the counter run...correct? With a 90o angle, that gives you: 1.5" + 15" + 9" = 25.5" of counter frontage along the small leg. I think it's time to do some mocking up of your ideas...life size! * Get a couple of boxes (or similar) and create a surface that's 49.5" x 25.5" with one box and 25.5" x at least 24" with the other. * Put them together to form an "L" like you envision it and, preferably in a corner to simulate how the corner w/walls will "feel". * Then, use this construct to work on for a few days. This will give you a pretty good idea of how it would work for you. If it works, then go for it! Mocking up really helps...but not just for a few minutes, work with it for several days. And, not with tape on the floor...you need to mockup the actual "mass" of the counters (using the boxes). I will say, though, that as far as workspace is concerned, you really aren't gaining much in counter frontage. Without the short leg, you have 33" of workspace on a straight run as opposed to 25.5" on the short run. What you do gain, however, is overall counterspace...25.5" of it. What does that really give you? Well, you have 49.5" overall in workspace. The 33" or so that's in the corner can be used for putting your ingredients & tools you're using on the 25.5" space. However, it sounds like your range is right up against the corner with the leg and that you cannot work in front of the counter if someone is working at the range, rather you have to stand at the end where you don't have access to the corner. How often is someone working at the range? Kitchen work studies show that only 10% of the work/time spent in a kitchen is cooking and actually standing in front of a range/cooktop. So, conceivably, you could have someone working in front of the counter for most of the time. So, does it really gain you anything? Only you can decide. These appear to be your options: (The blue circles are 24" in diameter and represent someone working.) As far as storage is concerned, I don't think you're losing much if any b/c you're adding the 15" cabinet in addition to the corner susan...together they're close to what you would get in a 33" cabinet...just not all in one cabinet. I have a similar workspace, btw. When I planned it out, everyone told me it would be too small and, in my case, be in the way...both my KD and GWers. However, I mocked it up and found that it worked wonderfully well, so I put it in! It's the pic I posted above, what I call my "mini-peninsula". It's: 1/2" filler + 27" cabinet + 1/2" filler + 24" drawer base + 1.75" overhang = 53.75" from the wall to the end of the counter. Only 4.25" longer than yours. B/c it's a peninsula, I don't have cabinets above and it gives it more of an open feel, so you might consider not putting upper cabinets on that wall...it would also give you some open space w/no cabs above for things that might be too tall to use under the cabinets. I like using my KA mixer there b/c there's lots of room above it and I don't feel "cramped" when using it. I find this workspace very useful. However (yes, another one!), I have 30" and 6" cabinets b/w the corner where the cabs meet and my cooktop....so approx 36"...whereas you only have 9" in that same space (assuming you're talking about a corner susan that's 33" on both sides and not 33" on one side & 36" on the other). 36" vs 9" (or even 12") is a big difference functionally. Here's a pic of my kitchen and one w/the Zones marked...the "Baking Center" is the "mini-peninsula": Zones: Bottom line? I think the "L" would be better for you b/c of the lack of space b/w the corner and the range (as shown above). But, as I suggested earlier, mock it up and see how it works for you. If it does work, then go ahead w/it!

Ours will have 2 legs under it but also cabinets on the other side - so not the same as what you asked for but you can see the table legs anyway. Chairs in pic were used just to check spacing for stools. Our granite goes in next week. Dorothy [IMG]http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f270/dorothyct/IMG_3886.jpg?t=1202436427[/IMG] Here is a link that might be useful: Pic of peninsula w/legs

It's not just the oven doors, but also the cabinets + knobs on the other side. The oven doors will be worse, though, as they have large handles that stick out farther than most door knobs... Can you open the refrigerator doors >90o for removing shelves or drawers? It doesn't look like it... 33" corner oven cabinets eat up 48" of wall space on each side...your 36" refrigerator + filler will eat up more... As to that location...it probably puts the refrigerator right in the middle of the working part of the kitchen...not the best of ideas. Refrigerators generally work best when they're on the outskirts of the kitchen so they're easily accessed from not only the kitchen, but also the DR, FR, breakfast nook (if you have one), etc. Why? So people looking for a snack will not get in the way of those trying to work in the kitchen. What does the rest of the kitchen look like layout-wise? Personally, I don't think it's a good idea...but if you can make it work functionally and you don't mind losing all that space, then go ahead!