This is based on your first floorplan that you posted - First thing I would do is make that island with the DW your prep space. You spend most of your time in the kitchen prepping and I would want to be facing the view while I'm doing that. So, in that island goes your prep sink and your pull-out trash. Doing that it will still form part of your work-triangle between the fridge and the cooktop.
Put your DW and clean-up sink/trash in the other island which is actually a better location as it is closer to your DR for ease of clearing dishes.

I met to mention that your second floorplan looks a little hodge-podge for me. I noticed that you have an everyday eating area but regardless my above comments still apply.

Thanks, blfenton - The first plan is the direction we've been leaning in, but have been concerned about island breaking up narrow width & path from cooktop to fridge. Your idea to move main sink & DW to middle island is interesting - we've been thinking one end or the other; hadn't considered the middle! One previous plan had a longer (8') island in the middle; a friend suggested 6' as shown in first layout I posted, but w/ a 2' sq. rolling butcher block "docked" @ end toward living rm. but movable for when it's in the way or needed elsewhere. That was the origin of the little rolling cart in second layout. Would be glad to hear any other thoughts!

don't know right off. there's a lot going on in those layouts. It seems fragmented to me.

what are the blocks on either side of the doorway into the LR?

can you open up that doorway more?

what's between the 2 pantries on the far left?

Is that a functioning brick chimney and can the entrance into the DR be changed?

This is more of a what-if than an actual plan. Sometimes in england they implement a big-kitchen-little-kitchen scheme in places that had a scullery-etc. So they have a family-life kitchen and also a small one. Or one could think of it as a canning kitchen. Dude in photo is Jamie Oliver and this is 3/4 of his small kitchen. Along the wall we can't see is a range flanked with two small worktops - like 18" and a BIG double drainboard sink. Its obviously dressed for his TV show, but that's pretty much all there is, altho I get the impression that there is a pantry outside of that door.

So this is one implementation of something like that. Cause I'm thinking of an easy-to-use kitchen for actual cooks and a flow-through kitchen(actually its the scullery) for the entertaining part.

Plus, is it possible to open the do

Whoops! - started a though and didn't finish. That should have been "door to the living room more?"

So great to get these fresh eyes looking at things!

Desertsteph: Yes, despite the sq. footage (approx. 430), with all the entrances we're finding it hard to keep things cohesive. On either side of the new entrance to living rm. are existing built-in bookcases (right now there's just a niche between them that's crying to be opened up!); we'd rather leave them intact & also keep the new opening to 4' wide to maintain LR as a separate space (& also echo other entrance further down along same wall).
The 2 pantries are on street-facing wall. The current plans include unbroken counterspace between (be still, my heart!), maybe @ baking-center level (?), wide drawer storage in lower cabs, & 18" w upper cabs flanking planned widened (& centered) window.

Remodelfla, the brick chimney is our furnace chimney & is structural - wish we could move it but no go. Moving the door into DR is more reconfig than we had hoped for, but possible if it enables a great solution to our quandaries.

Bmorepanic: "Now for something completely different!" - LOTS to consider - thank you for diving right in!! Again, just wondering what the benefit of opening the LR entrance more would be?

Also thinking more about blfenton's main-sink-in-the-center-island idea: if island is only 2'x6 or 7', is that deep enough for a main sink (usability, not hust physically possible)?

Anyway, I'm going to do more drawing & hope to post revised ideas soon - would love to get any more thoughts - Thanks!

Oops - "not JUST physically possible".

It's catching!

Hopefully, opening more of the view into the kitchen.

You have a lot of space, but it's not very useful. You need to think about what's really important to you. For example, the breakfast room that has a view is great, but you added a fireplace so really you've killed the space, forcing you to have a very small table with bad circulation around it.

Do you need a bathroom with a bathtub next to the kitchen? Is there a guest room nearby? If you just filled in the entrance to the kitchen next to the bathroom, you would gain valuable continuous wall space which you need for a well functioning kitchen. Even considering moving the entrance to the dining room adjacent to the stair would at least group circulation spaces and give you valuable wall area.

Anyway, you may want to consider hiring a professional to assist you. This large a kitchen will easily be a 6 figure project, well worth working with someone to make sure you've examined your options.

My suggestion for putting the prep sink on the island facing the view and putting the clean-up sink/DW on the other island was made just to get the clean-up zone off of the island with the view. You can't leave the DW where it is anyway because it blocks up the path between the eating area and kitchen and you don't have enough room to open the DW door and stand beside/infront of it and to empty it.

I'm not sure that you have enough width to have a middle island. You note that you have 36" aisles on either side of the island. Is that 36" cabinet to cabinet or counter to counter? Counter overhang can be anywhere from 3/4" to 1 1/4" so in EACH aisle you could lose 1 1/2" to 2 1/2" of aisleway. A 2' wide island isn't wide enough for a DW and clean-up sink to be placed comfortably. At one spot you also have wall-ovens placed and noted 36" aisle space but did you take into account the space that the oven handles will take. And the amount of space required for you to open the door and stand in front of it to take out your cookie sheet/roasting pan, etc. will be uncomfortably shallow with those measurements.

What I see is a problem with aisleways widths making the middle island not feasible.

The left hand wall - does that window look out onto anything important and does the size have to stay? What about putting the DW and clean-up sink there instead.

Your kitchen is 12' wide so you need 50" for counter space (24" + 1' overhang x 2) plus 42' per aisle (which is comfortable for most people) for a total of 84" for a grand total of 134" of necessary width. You have 120" available - mmmmmm. An island will only work if you get rid of either the top counter run with the stove or the bottom counter run with the range and then you have to find someplace to put that stuff. I'd get rid of the middle island. But JMHO.

Felixnot, your first sentence summed up a lot of our concerns - & the 2nd & 3rd, too. Re: the bathroom, it's the only bath on ground floor; right now it has a shower stall, & we're concerned about reducing a full bath to a powder rm. Not in terms of resale, since we want to stay put, but we're not getting any younger & who knows when we might need a full bath on ground floor. OTOH, the plans in any form call for eliminating what is now the only bedrm. on ground floor (now used as office/misc. storage space), so there won't be a bedrm. associated w/ the full bath. I'm going to try to post the complete ground floor layout; maybe that will help. And yes, we know it's all going to cost many $ - Yikes! - just want to be happy on that beautiful day that I can post "Finished Kitchen" photos here!! This is the first kitchen we've ever done, & want it to be the one & only!

Blfenton, your math is grim but enlightening. I hadn't been counting overhangs or door handles - have to do some major redrawing, I think. The left-hand wall is on the front (street-facing) facade of our house, & that's where our DW, sink, & range are now located - basically (running from bottom of plan to top in posted layouts) 5' of counter (w/DW under), then 30" sink, then 18" counter, then 30" range, then wall. The 5' of counter is the entire prep area in the existing kitchen, & it's intruded on by canisters, toaster, & dish-drying rack - actual work area is about 3'x18". ANYTHING would be an improvement, but after all this time I want to get it "right"! I'll get back to the drawing board - Thank you!

OMG - My math is wrong!!!!! You have 144" ( 12 x 12 is 144 ) and not 120"! That gives you space for an island of 10" wide.

Blfenton, I thought you had subtracted the 24" width of the island shown on our plans, leaving the 120" (approx.) to try to squeeze 134" into! Either way, we seem to be in trouble.

BTW, has anybody used Floorplanner.com? I've drawn our ground floor using their tools, but can only seem to get a jpeg that I can't post here - but I'm just past quill pens on parchment, so I may be missing the easy way to do it. One way or another, I'll get a plan up soon. Thanks in advance for any more input!

Well, here (maybe?) is the current full-floor plan of our house from Floorplanner. Sorry I got a bit carried away w/ putting in graphics for wood floors, DR furniture, etc. - novelty factor of actually figuring out how to do things, & then not sure how to undo w/out losing other things! - but you can get idea of existing kitchen better, I hope. The darkest-orange stuff nearest the wall between kitchen & DR is the brick chimney (stays) & brick extending along wall to the right (goes). Extending up from chimney is current peninsula (goes; is now completely taken up w/ TV, food processor, cutting boards, phone, etc.). Extending to right & back around to brick on wall is brighter orange section representing existing built-in (dangerously code-defying, never-used-by-us!) charcoal-burning brick grill (GOES, big-time!)

Oooh, JBGB, you just pushed my button. I love the way great halls are wonderful to be in themselves and also spread their special blessings on the entire home--including making them feel twice as large and showing off their terminations at each end as special destinations. Too often it's only very expensive architect-designed homes that get to have them.

I'd open up that entire central area from the "hallway" doorway sweeping right down into that great (newly important) sunny corner room with a view. The closets would go.

If it fit the use of the home, I might even remove the wall around the stairs in favor of a really great railing (if they go down, I'd put the door at the bottom).

Doorways would be widened and centered as needed. Art on the walls, nice rugs on the floor (especially in cold seasons).

Of course, there'd be a second wide opening to the living room, as you're planning. Whatever you do, you're going to love what creating a circular flow through your living room does.

The kitchen, any stools, etc., would stop short of the hall so they didn't clutter the view as you used it, but at least one nice working spot or traffic path in the kitchen would have a lovely view out across the living room.

BTW, if my own experience is anything to go by, you might well enjoy a view just as much or more as you walk toward it as you would having it in front of you as you worked, attention actually on whatever you were doing. Plus, views can be overexposed like anything else. I'm guessing it might be very satisfying just to have the view available through a new doorway without actually letting it direct important kitchen choices.

Rosie, what a poetic approach to our issues! I chuckled at the mention of "architect-designed homes", though - our house is a quirky, probably early-1930's Cape/cottage, with lots of elements that seem like someone was building a large HS shop class project (& maybe didn't get an "A") & just making it up as he (probably then, it was a "he") went along - but it's always felt like a real home to us, oddball parts & all.

I'm intrigued by your idea of removing the closets, though we'd have to work some more closet space in elsewhere. I'm afraid my floorplan doesn't accurately show the stair situation, however: I'm showing the door @ the top of the basement stairs going down, but in the hall where the closets are, that same area contains the stairway from the ground floor to the second floor. I shouldn't have the wall across the end toward the bottom of the plan.

I really appreciated your take on the access to the view - both sensitive & sensible! Very good to keep in mind.