I don't think it's the number of steps to save, but how those steps navigate through the kitchen. A straight line is one thing, but going around and back and forth is another. Even a simple meal could mean a few armloads...you can only carry so much at a time. The more you carry and the further and more complex the path, the greater chance of dropping things, dripping across the floor, bumping your hip on the corner of a counter. Why not make it as easy and direct as possible? And you don't have the issue, but multiple workers not crossing paths was important in designing our kitchen with shorter, simpler paths. To be realistic, the fussy, start-and-stop steps around an inefficient kitchen are not adding much in the way of exercise, and any tiny benefit there might be from that are negated by the frustration. ;-)

I thought you had a good layout you were happy with?

Because...

When you are cooking you are often carrying heavy and/or hot items to and from the cooktop/range/oven and sink/table/etc. It's not necessarily an "exercise" issue, it's more of a safety issue. Do you really want to be crossing back and forth and weaving around people when you have something hot & heavy in your hands? It's not just your safety, but everyone else's as well.

You also have time constraints when cooking, you need to get things to/from the range/ovens/etc quickly and not have to maneuver around obstacles like islands, peninsulas, or even people!

If you want more exercise (and who doesn't need more exercise!), then use the upstairs bathroom rather than the downstairs, take a break by taking a walk rather than sitting in front of the the TV, etc.

Pulling down a ceiling - even without the 2x4's - has got to be one of the dirtiest jobs in renovation; the debris gets in your hair, in yours eyes, & in the entire house. Take a break, maybe a bath & walk away from it for a while. It'll still be there tomorrow & you'll be ready to tackle it again.

I think the reason we obsess so much over the details is that we have so much $ involved & a lot of us only get to do it once. If we screw up, we'll have to look at it & live with it for a long time to come.
Hester

I agree, Cotehele. Hope you grabbed a bottle of wine and headed for the tub with it.

It's really a matter of personal priorities. There are almost always a number of good ways to do something, but every choice requires tradeoffs. You have to please yourself first. It's just that so often an automatic emphasis is put on the kneejerk assumption that everything should always be as convenient as possible, worth almost all tradeoffs.

Give the precious corner location of a home to a garage and give up sunshine, charm, views, breezes in your kitchen/breakfast area, use of the land to the side--absolutely worth the cost because the kitchen can be adjacent and you don't have to carry groceries 20 feet through the house instead of 10. Really? REALLY?

I located my fridge something of a stroll away from my stove on the other side of an island simply because I hated the idea of its bulk looming where it would be most (wonderfully) efficient. I put yet another window there instead, which I love. A tradeoff of that specific convenience for something I valued more--a wide-open airy feel.

Building exercise into one's day is very valuable, or at least not designing critical amounts out. The trick is to carefully consider all your options and understand your most precious desires and then find ways to do it--tradeoffs--that don't ruin your satisfaction with your home also.

Like getting exhausted and covered with dirt pulling down beam and having a destroyed kitchen as a tradeoff. :)

Hester, I couldn't agree more. Kitchen rehab is expensive. I am so afraid I will get it wrong and not like it. I wish I could live with the new kitchen before committing. Not reality, I know :(

Rhome, I was happy with the design. I thought about it too much. Is this the view I want while chopping all those veggies? Can I easily talk to someone sitting at the table? No. Looking toward the table and out the windows is preferable to looking at a wall, no matter how much I may like the cabinets.

Buehl, I'm not trying to get more exercise. I am only saying I'm willing to take a few more steps when an appliance is not in an ideal location to enjoy something that matters more.

Rosie, thanks, I needed that! I haven't headed to the tub yet; I was downstairs taking the sheets off, vacuuming and putting the furniture back. And, oh, doing the laundry, which is in the kitchen, too.

So are you saying the new plan has the view problem or the old kitchen you're tearing out? Can you look out windows and talk to people at the table at the same time in the new plan, or can you rearrange it so that's possible? It's so easy to lose sight of a priority when you get involved in the other details. I almost messed up big myself, forgetting one of my primary wants as I got designing. Thankfully, I caught it before we ordered the appliances, which is when it mattered.

The new kitchen prep island faced the clean-up sink on one side and the cooktop on the other. I rotated the island 90 degrees so the view is toward the table and windows. The clean-up area moved to the garage end of the east wall. There is now room for a third window on the west wall. The south end of the room is food storage, prep, baking and cooking. The north end has the beverage/breakfast bar, table, clean-up and back foyer.

If I could get DH to get up from the table and help with the dishes, I'd have achieved something.

Hmmm...Not sure if even the amazing people here on the forum can help accomplish miracles that big! ;-) Maybe it'll be so wonderful he'll just get drawn in? It's more fun to help keep something new looking nice.