Have you thought through the paths that food will take within the kitchen from arrival to storage to prep to cooking to plating, etc. It seems to me that you have paths that will cross and double-back on themselves. That will make your kitchen less efficient and more likely to have conflicts as you make a meal.

You do have quite a hike from fridge to sink and back to stove.

Where do you eat your meals, in the DR?

Have you considered having two sinks: one as clean-up on the DR side of the prep/cooking zones, w dish storage nearby; the other located closer to food storage zone or enroute from there and closer to the range. Your butler's pantry sink is not going to serve either of these needs, though useful on its own for other purposes.

Although overlooked by many, and clearly not as fun as thinking about styling issues, for me the essential first step in kitchen planning is thinking about the food & work pathways. If you get those as right as possible (there is rarely perfection) then no matter what else you do in the kitchen it will be fab since it will work so well.

Right now, your plan has the three main things the fridge/food storage, the sink and the range out of order. You'd have to walk from the fridge, past the stove to the sink to rinse the carrots before trekking back to the range to cook them. Then back to sink to add (and later to drain) water to the pot.

You are correct to be wondering where to store the dishes. If they are stored near the present sink location then you'd have to walk back to there to get a dish, before schlepping the plate past the stove where the carrots were cooked, onward to the DR, etc.

Using the outlines of the space that you have, start by thinking through where the food will arrive, be stored, be prepped (with easy access to water) cooked, plated and served. Then where the plates will come back from where ever the food was eaten to be cleaned and leftovers stowed. Think about whether you will be going out through the french doors for outdoor grilling. Forget, for the moment, the notion that sinks need windows. Keep in mind that ranges need direct, or easy upward venting. Some people with young children like to have a fridge near the DR.

Just ponder the food flow, then afterward walk through in your mind each step in a dozen or so commonly prepared meals. Every time you have to double back make a note of it, when and why. Use those notes to smooth the paths out.

HTH,

L.

Do you plan to have seating at the island? If not, then I'd add a prep sink, on the fridge side of the island. If you do plan to have seating...maybe a prep sink in the corner, between the firdge and range?

As for dish storage...maybe on the left side of the range for glasses and have plates in drawers, on the island, across from the main sink? Lots of GWers have big windows over their sinks (or even no upper cabinets) and they somehow manage to store all of their dishes.

Love the fireplace and french doors...and all the windows! Best of luck with the new house :)

A prep sink on the corner of the island that's between fridge and stove will help a lot and solve a lot of problems. In our house the butler's pantry area would become a drop spot, and since it's out of the loop and a long way to the dw, not as practical as it might seem. I would make that into pantry (including cookbook shelves) and have the sink in the island instead. On the corner of the island, as I suggested, it'd be handy for prep, for filling/draining pots, and also handy to the snackers and helpers, since they could access it from the fridge side, while the cook uses it from the stove side. Ours is set up that way and it's GREAT.

The dishes issue... We had to get used to that in our new, bigger kitchen... Everything can't be handy to everything. I am SO glad we concentrated all our dishes and glasses near the dishwasher. It's easy to carry one dish or glass to the fridge for a drink or a snack, whereas it'd be a huge pain to carry all the clean dishes from the dishwasher across the room to the fridge/snack area.

I would consider moving the sink a bit to the right so you can have more storage for dishes to the left of the dw. Or you could put them across the aisle in island drawers.

I would consider putting a small sink in the island, too. It's a long walk from frig to sink and back to range; the island sink would take care of that, or I'd put a small sink in the corner between the ref and the stove. We were going to put a sink at our bar but opted for placing near the range and I'm so glad we did. It's a pivot step to drain/fill a pot and our main sink functions as clean up only, another thing I love. We store our dinner plates/pasta bowls in an island drawer, and that makes plating and putting dishes away a snap. Make sure your aisles aren't too wide. Conventional wisdom says 48" is best but mine are only 40" and work very well, even with a kitchen full of people. Its great not having to take two steps to move from island to baking center etc. I love your space~have fun!

Oh thank you so much for your help and insight!

Liriodendron - you are exactly right and thank you so much for reminding me of what is important. One of the problems I'm having is that I spent weeks perfecting my first kitchen plan and after making all those decisions I'm having a hard time starting fresh with this one. Starting with bringing in the groceries is going to help me a lot.

Lavendar Lass - Thanks so much! I would like to have at least 2 or better yet 4 seats at the island. It's great for when the kids bring their friends home for snacks or when we decorate cookies or gingerbread houses. I think the sink in the corner is a really good idea.

Rhome410, Thank you so much for sharing your experience with dish storage! I've been trying to decide whether I'd rather have the dishes close to the dishwasher or the refrigerator/snack center. Moving the main sink to allow for more storage next to the dishwasher is a great idea that I'm going to have to think about. I was going to try to make a baking center in the area between the sink and the range wall but your idea might be better. I also want to try to figure out if I can store dishes in the island and still have room for seats. I also think you're right about the "butler's pantry" - it's a breakfront that's original to our 1918 home and I can easily see it becoming a dumping ground. I'll have to work on that.

Two Scoops: Thank you so much! I agree that a small sink in that corner will help a lot. I think I need to revisit the shape and size of the island to make sure it's functional and the aisle widths are right.

I'm so glad you're going to have seating at the island. Not only is it perfect for baking/decorating, but also gives you a wonderful place to sit and enjoy the fire :)