OK, I'm back. Here's my stab at it. Others will tell you if something I say won't work. This is all referring to your plan, not the current kitchen. I have exactly the same distance -- 7'3" -- right now b/t my sink and fridge. Granted, the stove is 6' from the fridge and the sink is 11' from the stove and all the counters are separated from each other by doorways and more. Terrible setup. There is no taking things from one place/zone, pivoting or short steps to put in the next zone. I have to take several steps. Your distances b/t the other two appliances are shorter than mine, but I don't see an easy way to get things from the fridge, clean/prep them, and take them to cook. All those involve more than a pivot or one or two steps. We ended up putting a rolling cart in the middle of the kitchen, which helped with that, but it always felt like it was in the way, we were always having to shift it one way or another to get around it or into things. Is the pellet set in a place that it can't be moved? Before I saw it I wondered if you could switch your LR and DR and have columns to replace the wall b/t the LR and kitchen. If no, then forget what I'm about to say. I also realize that the LR is much bigger than the DR, so maybe this could work just to borrow a little space from the LR and keep the DR where you have it. If you have a more formal LR though, you probably won't want to do it this way. But let's just say it is possible. Here's what I see. I may be biased by my own layout, but you can try it on for size anyway. - Open the LR to the kitchen with columns for support. - This would eliminate the run of cabinets by the fridge. - Start your cabinets on the next (stove) wall. Put a tall pantry cabinet in the corner on that wall. To its left, put the fridge with the side panels. To its left, a run of counter and upper and lower cabinets. - Turn the corner. Allow enough space for the range; move the window to the left to accommodate it. - Move the sink to the left to allow recommended counter space b/t stove and sink. - Instead of a door there, continue the lower cabinets further along. They could go another 2' and still allow more than 36" for clearance to get into the DR without changing that wall. - Start the window to the left of the MW cabinet and center the sink if you like, or have upper cabinets if you need them, and start the window at the sink. (My vote would be to start them at the stove and go to the end run of cabinets. You can center the windows above this run and center the sink with the windows. If you have any kind of view to the left as you are standing at the sink, the uppers on the left side will drive you crazy (or would me). - Replace the middle bay with a door. - In the middle of the kitchen, 42-48" from the counters, run an island parallel to the sink run, 6'x36-39" with seating. This would leave a 42" aisle to the left of the island from the DR through the kitchen. If it doesn't work to switch the LR and DR, I still have another idea. - Leave the long wall b/t kitchen and LR alone. Instead, add 18" to the 12" section. Move the peninsula 30" into the kitchen and down to butt up against your new 30" wall. Your doorway to the LR will be 3.5'. Your peninsula will extend in the same direction and to whatever extent you want, leaving clearance. - Keep the same L-shaped plan as above for your kitchen work zones. - In the middle of the kitchen, put a smaller island for landing and work space, leaving 42-48" for working aisles, 36" for passage aisles. A 4'x2' island running parallel to the sink would give you some workspace and some storage and a 36" aisle b/t it and the peninsula. - An alternate to the peninsula: make the cabinets in the DR next to it 12", bring the peninsula 3' out and make it an island, 3.5'x4', with its long middle where the wall is. I'm assuming you will have something for support? Columns or a beam or both? GW thread on islands with columns Island with columns If you like that look, google "Kitchen island with columns" to find more One other thought: if you were to put the stove on the outside wall, would you consider getting a regular hood? We are trading our OTR MW for a full hood and separate MW. I don't know about your OTR, but mine is no good at clearing the air when cooking and is way too noisy. I hope that is all clear and somewhat helpful.

I think if you take the time to analyze the facts your answer will be a no brainer. Fact- A kitchen makeover is without question one of the largest and most expensive projects you can undertake in your home. Fact-The sink is without question the singular focal point of the kitchen. Almost every time you go in the kitchen, regardless of what the reason, you will ultimately end up at the sink if only to grab a glass of water. Fact- If you have your heart set o a 10" sink and settle for an 8" sink it will forever be a source of irritation and contention, one which you will confront dozens of times a day. Fact-If you are changing all the cabinets you will already have easy access to the wall and changing the drain line is no big deal. Fact-If you install the 8" sink now, then later decide you really want the 10" sink it could prove nearly cost prohibitive to make the necessary changes to the drain lines. Now let us consider what would be required to lower the drain while you have access to the wall. In a best case scenario when the fixture arm enters the wall it is connected to a vertical line by means of a sanitary tee. In that case it would be very easy to cut the line, lower the tee to the desired level and reconnect the line. In a worst case scenario the waste arm enters the wall then turns horizontal and runs through the wall to a point were it connects to a vertical stack. The question then becomes how far does the horizontal line travel through the wall? Under the IRC a kitchen sink drain line is an 1-1/2" line and it is allowed to run a maximum of 6' from the trap weir to the vent opening. Allowing that there is generally about 12" from the wall to the trap that means that the line could run up to 5' horizontally in the wall. Under the UPC we are required to use a 2" diameter drain line but the total developed length from trap weir to vent opening of a 2" fixture arm is limited to only 5' so we could anticipate a maximum of 4" horizontally in the wall. In all probability the portion of the wall that you would need to open up will most likely be covered by the cabinets when all done, therefore when you open the sheet rock it would only require a simple patch with one coat of mud & tape to prevent bugs from entering. Not a big deal here. The question then becomes how much should you lower the line? From your preliminary calculations you determined that you need approximately 2" however, from my experience it is much easier if we allow ourselves plenty of room, therefore I would lower the arm at least 4 or perhaps 5". Keep in mind that code will allow up to 12" vertical drop from the finished sink opening to the water level in the trap.

Lol, at the belly flop mental image! Ok, if I have to ask my DH or contractor to measure my armspan in relation to the kitchen project, they are really going to lose it, they already think I am crazy enough! I get it though, and its a totally practical concern. (Little Fishies, do you have irregularly long arms?!) My contractor did say he thinks they can frame it in to get it a bit less deep, the carpenter will know more. Justmake it, your window is beautiful. Your cabinets look great too. Are you going to have casing around the bump out? Are you putting uppers next to the bump out? I'm trying to decide how much room I need to leave next to where the bump out starts before I start a cabinet. I'm going to check that out on other posts showing these windows. Little Fishies thanks for posting that. When it comes time to order I'm sure it will be helpful. Thanks again!

For an under-mount sink, the real depth of the sink is the sink's stated depth + the thickness of your countertop. So, if you have 3cm stone (or 2cm stone + subtop = approx 3cm), then your sink will be 10" + 1.25" = 11.25". Grids raise the "bottom" of the sink by 1" to 1.25". So, figure 10.25" depth for the sink, just to be conservative. Is this too deep? It depends on several things: (1) Your height (the taller you are, the more likely a deep sink will bother you b/c you have to reach farther down than shorter people) (2) Your arm length (the longer your arms, the farther you can reach down w/o having lean or hunch over) (3) Current condition of your back & shoulders...if you already have occasional problems w/your back or shoulders, it may exacerbate the situation if you have a very deep sink. I'll be honest, I'm 5'10" (the shortest one in my family...the rest range from 5'11" to 6'6") with long arms and I would not want a sink any deeper than the 9" one I have (well, 9" + 1.25" - 1" grid = 9.25" total depth). Mocking it up is a good idea, however, you really need to use it for an extended length of time to see if it will eventually bother you (you might not at first, but after a while or over time it may start to bother you or your DH.)