Interrupting for the range trim, its gotta have something! Seriously - you need to choose one of them, island, normal or tall. You sound like you should get the island trim (1" tall). If you get the default (4-8" tall trim), it will cover over more of the backsplash than you'd like. For the hutch, remember that black is a pita for showing dust. I gotz the following stuff about the appliance garage - have you thought about how those doors will open? It looks like one will open towards you and without special hinges may actually block you from being able to get into it. It doesn't look like a good place for a mixer because it would need to be pulled out onto the little piece of counter towards one side of the sink - not a lotta room to sit other ingredients nearby. Remember to ask what the clearance height is for the appliance garage and know the height of your mixer. With framed cabinets and large mixers, it might not have enough height. When I used to own a kitchenaid mixer, I felt like I needed a certain amount of overage to be able to pick the darned thing up because it weighed so much. I don't know if I'd be comfortable using a toaster that close to a water source.

Peace, I don't have much time this a.m. (Saturday is our busy day, and I don't have any rendering software at home--to keep the job and home a bit separate.) but I have to say, that's a much busier roofline than your line drawing would lead me to suspect! And, it's surprising that the gables run N-S rather than E-W. That's why advice from an experienced contractor on the scene is so much better than an anonymous internet person! But, having suggested that you think out of the box, my first suggestion to you would be to try to live within the current plan without any expansion. That's always the cheapest, and it's the best investment for resale since additions won't "pay you back" unless you plan on living there for 10 years or longer. The chimney and the stairs really eliminate much of the potential openness between the family room and the living room. But, if you eliminate that wall all the way to the chimney, and use the sunroom space, I can see turning your current kitchen into a very efficient galley style arrangement that will still be as open as possible to the living room. Keep the sink in the same location (always a LOT cheaper!) or scootch it down towards the family room a bit, and just run that run of cabinets all the way along that new wall between the patio and family room. THe range would go on that wall between the sink and a full sized glass door (single "french" door") between the kitchen and patio. Put a pantry where you show the fridge, and put the fridge on the new "mudroom" wall (and maybe laundry?). That is, make a wall extend east from the stairwell through the porch (right about where the post is in the rear shot, I'd imagine) to create the other wall of the "galley" where you create a "snack zone" with a microwave (and maybe a beverage sink?) for all of those snackers coming in from outside. The new small "mudroom" would give a place for coats and boots and flotsam to drop before it hit the kitchen. You wouldn't have to change any of your footprint, and you'd get a very efficient kitchen that would be as open to the living room as structurally possible, with minimal structural issues to be solved. No, it doesn't give you an island, or seating in a kitchen, but it will literally probably be a minimum of 50K less of a project, which if you plan on moving in less than 5 years, might make these changes be more in the realm of being able to be recouped. Like I said, Saturday is my busy day at the showroom, so I probably won't be able to check back in until Sunday to see your response to my radical rethinking. And, I'm probably making a few assumptions about you that may not be entirely correct, such as this being more of a first or second home for you (I noticed the young kids toys.) rather than a home for a mature family. If this is a home from which you will never move, then the dollar amount "invested" in remodeling is less of an issue, as you will get years of enjoyment out of creating a larger and more functional space to live in. You might post your current home's layout with a request for other input about creating the optimum kitchen from what exists and you'll get a LOT more input from some very talented forumistas with a more specific appeal to a layout challenge.

Let me preface my critique with the comment that just b/c you're a one-cook family now does not mean it will stay that way...as a matter of fact, you should encourage your boys to learn to cook since most young people today live on their own for a few years b/f settling down...which means both boys & girls should be learning to prep, cook, & clean up (as well as laundry, taking out the trash, & house cleaning). Who knows, you may even have a future chef! In our family of 6 kids, my younger brother actually likes to cook more than any of the rest of us. One question first...If the counter b/w the ref & ovens is really supposed to be 12" narrower, does that mean the aisle b/w the island & that counter is really 4' and not the 3' noted on the plan? (That would match the 15' kitchen width) And, just to verify, the kitchen is 11' x 15' not counting the pantry & ovens area (i.e., to the back of the cooktop wall). My first comment on your current layout is the location of the DW relative to the cooktop...they're right across from each other. I know you have 5' aisles, but it's still an issue for someone working at the cooktop w/the DW open...if they step back there's a good chance they'll back into the open DW. If they have boiling water in their hands, it could be disastrous. I recommend you switch the DW & trash if you stay w/this layout or similar. Next, the island. If you want seating for 4, then you need a island 8' long/wide...2' per seat. Since this is your forever/4 teenage boys home, plan for seating 4 adults... I'm on your side...no MW over the cooktop! Regarding the MW location. Have you considered a MW Drawer? They mount under the counter. Another option would be to get a range and single wall oven instead of a cooktop & double wall ovens. If you did that, you could put the MW oven over the wall oven in the oven stack. It would also give you more storage above and/or below the ovens. Based on your comments, I suspect the layout you have right now will not meet your needs and wants...Rotating the island may work since your kitchen is wide enough. You could even add a 12" deep pantry or 12" deep pantry cabinets. Note that if you have seating and an aisle w/traffic and cabinets/counters, then you need at least 54" b/w them, preferably 60" - 66". So, doing the math, 12" pantry + 42" aisle b/w DR wall & island + 40-1/2" deep island + 60" aisle + 25-1/2" deep counter in front of window = 180" = 15'0" Something like this: Layout #1 Issue: DW is pretty far away from all storage...so unloading the DW could be a chore. AND, the island is a barrier island b/w the sink & refrigerator. Or, with the DW switched: Layout #2 While the DW is now closer to storage, it's now b/w the range & sink. And, the island is still a barrier. Layout #3 This is probably my favorite, but you may not like it b/c the cleanup sink is in the window (w/a 6"-8" bump out to give you more room behind the sink). No more barrier island & DW is somewhat close to storage. Visitors can see the view as can the person cleaning up. While prepping, you can visit w/your visitors or someone in the DR. And, the kitchen has potential for being a multi-cook kitchen. The only negative is that while prepping your back is to the window. Other than the DW & dish storage issue, the only other glaring issue I see is the view...yes, you'll be able to gaze out at the mountain while working, but the poor souls sitting at the island get to look at the DR wall & pantry! But it's late & I'm tired, so maybe someone else from the west coast will chime in tonight! To mitigate the barrier island issue in the first two layouts, you could add a prep sink in the counters along the window. It also mitigates the DW being b/w the sink & range...it still is, but now you have a second water source so it's not a real problem anymore. Like this: Layout #4: BTW...your plans call for a 32" cooktop. The standard sizes are 30" & 36". Yes there are some 32" cooktops out there, but your choices are limited and I don't know what the availability will be for them in the future (if you have to replace it down the road). If it were me, I would go w/either a 30" or 36".

Erica, I realize that you don't have a whole-house plan, but it's so difficult to think through the various obstacles and options for you without one. The only way to provide one is to go around the house with a a tape measure and sketch something yourself on graph paper. It's a fair amount of work, but I think you'll be so glad you did it. We (layout people) LOVE a challenge like yours, so if you give us a complete floor plan to noodle on, you're sure to get an avalanche of suggestions. As it is, I don't even have a strong sense of where these various doors go or what's beyond them. I know you've mentioned it, but there is an ocean of difference between saying something once in a different thread and have a clear floor plan visual with all the relevant information on it for me to tinker around with. In general, verbal description of spatial relationships are clear as mud unless you already have a good sense of the space. At least to me. I really would like to help, but this currently is like being handed flour and being asked to make a cake while the rest of the ingredients -- butter, chocolate, eggs, etc. -- are all hidden somewhere else. I might be the best cake baker in the whole world, but what am I going to bake for you with just flour? I need more ingredients. Then I will make you chocolate bomb flambe!