This permutation is better than the original. All the better since you also will not be eating right across from it. It essentially opens in a hallway between two parts of the kitchen.---Not the suburban ideal, but living in a 12(?) foot wide house has its challenges. (Its 19th c. ish...you have a kitchen and a scullery:)

One form of behavior modification you might consider is having the door open Out into the kitchen--that way, it must be kept closed or almost closed at all times.

I did this in a townhouse that had a small vestibule formed by a closet and powder room at the front door. In all the houses, you looked right in the front door at a toilet if the door was open at all. (Which since it wasnt in the way, was always.)

I convinced the homeowner to swing it into the vestibule, and since it is "in the way" when open, it is kept closed. The only house on the street without a view of the toilet front and center:)

Great idea palimpsest! Thanks!

I missed your original post so I'm not sure if you're remodeling the bath too, but if you are, I would swap the toilet and sink, then hinge the door from the other side, which would block your view of the toilet without having the door swing into the kitchen.

BTW, there are many old farmhouses here in N.E. where the main bath opens off the kitchen. I think it was to avoid frozen pipes in houses that often lacked optimal central heating.

I'm digging this layout, even though I can't exactly see what everything is in the rendering! Maybe it's a nostalgia thing having attended many gatherings in urban rowhouses in my twenties. I love rowhouses.

A few questions because, um, well inquiring minds want to know! :-)

Is that a bar sink to the immediate right of the fridge?

Where are the doors on the fridge?

What is on the left side of the fridge?

Is that a wall on the right side of the range or...hmmm? It's not yellow like the other walls. Help! What is that?

What's the appliance along the wall on the "bottom, left", sort of near the peninsula?

What is just right of the bathroom door? counter? shelf? pantry?

Btw, I never had a problem with the bathroom. I've seen my share of rowhouses and lofts with bathrooms less private than this one.

Anyhoo, regarding the bathroom door swing, if it were my place, I think safety would trump esthetics. I would have the door swing inward. An outward swinging door in the only pathway between the front and back, increases the probability of an unfortunate accident. Not to mention it could be a major inconvenience if you have a gathering.

Sorry the plan isn't all that clear. Let me see if I can clarify.
It's a small prep/bar sink to the immediate right of the fridge. I found in a previous kitchen incarnation that I loved being able to take veggies from the fridge wash 'em, chop em and move 'em right to the stove in one sweep. There will be a 4' run of butcherblock with a built in knife slot just to the right of the prep sink.

Haven't picked out the fridge yet, but the plan assumes a counter depth, french door style, with bottom freezer.

To the left of the fridge is a smallish 24" wide, 18" deep china type cabinet, with a 24" wide , 12" deep book shelf/wine rack unit next to it. They make the transition into what is now the dining room. It will remain the dining room, but be more multi-purpose, as it also houses my largish roll-top computer desk. And there'll be two stools for seating on the dining room side of the peninsula. As for the dining room table...it's a 40" square table with banquette under the stained glass windows on the opposite "bottom" side of the dining room. The table has MANY leaves, so opens up much bigger on the rare occassions, I need it.

It's not a wall on the right side of the rangetop...Don't know what it is...I think just a ghost in the plan! And to the right of the bathroom door is a 24" deep, 24" wide "Pantry" cupboard of sorts. It's designed to have a tallish big space on the bottom for storage of large bags of cat litter and food, with 4 drawers in the middle (since that's the one thing missing in the "scullery" part of the kitchen" and pull out shelves for serving dishes and what-nots on top.

I think what you're seeing on the bottom left is the wall oven and microwave. Across the way, it's a range top only...no oven. I like the high BTU gas burners of a Wolf or Viking range top, but an electric oven. And a cheaper way to get it than buying a dual fuel range is the range top and a good quality wall oven. Also...it gives me two separate zones...one for prepping veggies, etc. and rangetop cooking....one for baking, with a big wide counter to roll out dough, etc. and a place for an appliance lift cabinet for my kitchenaid mixer. I'd rather have it in a appliance garage and just pull it out, but I can't figure out a way to make that work...so the appliance lift cab is the next best thing. I'm sure not lifting that heavy sucker out of a bottom cabinet!

Hope that helps! And thanks for the encouragement!

What does your layout currently look like? Are you living with any sort of winding pathways now? Mine REALLY annoy me and are the reason for my remodel. I would hate to see that peninsula do the same for you.

You may not have room for both a wall oven AND seating in this layout, but let's give it a shot. Pretend there's an appliance garage for the KA mixer on the fridge/oven wall. This one lets you keep your windows and you face them as you work. Aisles are kind of tight, but I think it's worth it.

A better option would be to tweak the above and put an electric wall oven under countertops, with your MW on a shelf. That would give you an extra 30" of counterspace. I can't seem to do that in IKEA planner though.

Thank you for clearing things up and indulging me.

I never knew that about saving $$ with the cooktop/separate oven arrangement. Thank you. I wish I had room to do the same. [Wandering off to check....]

About the only thing I am wondering (and I am sure you've already figured this out) is possibly having two garbage/waste locations, one in front and one in back.

I am right there with you on planning a prep sink next to my fridge! In my plans, I recently switched to a bigger sink base for my prep sink in order to put a little bit more space between the sink and fridge, but also to accomodate a second garbage recepticle and recycling for this area of the kitchen.

Overall, the more I look at it, the more I really like your plans, powder room and all! It's an interesting, unique, yet functional space. I think my favorite part is the nook with the main sink facing out the back window.

Thanks redheadcurlyq: It just occurred to me, too, that I needed a waste /trash space in the front area. If I can't figure out another space, I can live with a small trash receptacle under the kitchen prep sink.

Tracie: Thanks for your thoughts. The winding path MAY turn out to be a problem, but I hope that the pathways are wide enough not to feel that way. Unfortunately, I don't think your option works for a couple of reasons that probably weren't clear in the plan: The room is only 12" wide(I think you're plan shows it 13'). And where you might have seen a clear path from dining room through to back door, you couldn't have known that there's an old (but goregous) cast iron steam radiator to deal with in the dining room. We are planning to run the peninsula countertop up to, and possibly over it (with a cut out for the air to circulate). But moving it would be a B*&^%*, and there's no place else for it anyway!

Figured out how to do that last idea. Your MW goes on the shelf over the oven, which is under the counter.

I missed your last post Melissa, sorry about that! Hmm.. I'm kind of stumped then!