So wait, is your drawing both (1) existing walls/doors/windows AND (2) proposed locations of fixtures (sink, stove etc.)? I ask because the gas range appears to be sitting right in the doorway to the dining room. If that's the case, could you explain where everything currently is? In other words, what's the "before" picture? Assuming what your diagram shows is where fixtures and cabinets WILL be in the future, I think with a little tweaking it would be great. Here's what I would suggest: - Like you said, blow out the part of the kitchen/dining room wall that doesn't have cabinets on it (essentially, the bottom half of the wall). - Put a wall behind the stove and the cabinets on either side of the stove. Since your space doesn't have room for an overhang, seating or clearance (i.e. space between the range and people in the dining room), you really would gain nothing from having that be a peninsula that's open to both the kitchen and the DR. But if you let that be a wall, then you gain space in the kitchen for some important stuff: (1) a good vent hood (if you're building a new wall it's very easy/cheap to put in the ductwork for the vent); and (2) wall cabinets on either side of the vent hood, for more storage in the kitchen. Yay! - Instead of a 24" cab to the left of the stove, make it a 12" cab so the stove can move down. As drawn, there's not enough space between the stove and sink. 12" more and you've got an great work space that you'll use all the time--just make sure you don't put any appliances on that counter (coffee maker, toaster), just use it for prep space, and you'll be very happy with it. You could even consider making the cabinet to the left of the stove be 9". I wouldn't go smaller than that because you need some clearance between the range (in particular, the handles on your pans) and the doorway. - I see you want a 24"x18" farmhouse sink. Want to save a LOT of money? Get an Ikea Domsjo farmhouse sink (link below). It's 24" wide, exactly as you want, but it has two HUGE advantages over anything else you're going to find: (1) it's REALLY inexpensive, and (2) it's 27" deep, in other words, you DO NOT have to put any countertop behind it--it goes all the way back to the wall. That makes your counters cheaper and easier to make. Here's a link where you can buy the Domsjo -- the other link shows you how it's installed, so you can see why it makes the countertop simpler: http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/S49847479/ Here is a link that might be useful:

The stove (or cooktop) against the wall is a building code violation. Must be at least 4" away. Also, the compact freestanding fridge placed directly under a countertop and surrounded by cabinetry will have its compressor burn out from excessive heat in the back within a few years. Read the installation or owner's manual and you'll see it requires about 4" of space on each side and above. A proper undercounter refrigerator with the compressor grille in the front toekick area should be used here; these are designed for zero clearance to the sides, back, and top. My usual space-saving tips: a 12"w two-burner cooktop, an undercounter 24"w, 24"h oven with a 5" or 6" drawer beneath it (I like Fagor's inexpensive oven with the side-hinged door and glide-out racks for easy access), either a good-quality 18"w dishwasher (Miele's is best; Bosch is good but less roomy, Danby, GE, or others if you're price-conscious), or Fisher & Paykel's 24"w but only about 16" tall drawer-type dishwasher with a drawer beneath it, and perhaps a shallow drawer above it too. Roll-out trays or drawers in the base cabinets and any full-height pantrys. Sink that is less wide than usual but deep front-to-back, with either a wall-mount faucet or the faucetry in the corner(s), and the drain in a rear corner or off to the side or back - no lengthwise faucet deck stealing space from the sink. Undermount sinks gain about 5" of countertop width, if you use a countertop that can accept one.

OP here. My Julia soapstone from Stonemasters in Kennet Square, PA, which I picked for the hardness, has only one tiny chip on the flat counter that you can't see unless you look for it. I had the fabricators round over all the edges and there are no edge or corner dings. It has only had three applications of the oil wax mixture on it in over three years and is truly a no-maintenance counter. We put hot pots on it, have had lost of spilled juices and sauces, tomato and red wine, and continual coffeemaker drips, but all clean up without problems. Sorry to hear that dataw1127 did not have the same experience. Stonemasters had given me 2x2 inch samples of all their soapstones and I took them home and experimented before choosing the one with lowest maintenance. Maybe that is a key to selecting soapstone? PS I also had my overhanging counter corners rounded and did not realize what a difference that made until this past week when I stayed at my sister in law's home and banged my hips several times on her very sharp 90 degree granite counter corners. Apparently her 4 year old grandchild had a bad run in with them earlier also but with his head. Thankfully he is OK.

Navy Momma, I understand your frustration. I am sure you will come up with something you will love. As far as staying with your back to the family, I think pretty much every plan we discussed you had your back to the family most of the cooking and clean up time. I truly think if you go too narrow with the peninsula idea, you will regret it later. I'm sure you are probably sick of looking at my ideas. So I will just post one last one, to address your desire to have the sink by the window (not ideal location for DW, but livable), and to be able to expand the dining table when needed. It doesn't much address the "back towards family" problem, but it does give you one opportunity to stand with your side towards the dining table. It probably does not give you all the counter space you would like either. But the table I included there can expand to about 90" to sit 8. And can stay at 60" for daily 6 people. No one can go down to the basement when table is at 90", but perhaps that won't be an issue. The catch there is to close the entry way to the kitchen from the living room to 48". I am not sure it is a possibility in your space or budget, but I thought I'd give it one last try. ;)