Sorry...this is wordy. I do appreciate all the help. Still floundering I guessÂ. I've actually been thinking and rethinking this kitchen remodel for 3 years, maybe I just havenÂt been paying attention to the real details like zones and functionality. Originally (3 years ago) I had 5-6 different quotes and almost all were for the very last layout I posted or similar. My mom then had a heart attack and a 3-week hospital stay, so my mind wasn't into it and some of the budget got depleted with helping with medical expenses and travel. So we redid a master bath and haven't gotten to the kitchen yet. I guess like loves2cook4six I may be puzzle fitting...but I thought I was following a good plan and utilizing prep/cook/clean zones. I was figuring the peninsula as a landing zone, food into the pantry and into the fridge, minimal steps to take. I have counter space between the fridge and oven. Cooking zone at the cooktop area. Cleanup along the sink. Prep zone on the peninsula. I could put the DW on the peninsula. I can easily rethink the cabinets above the peninsula. Super large pantry for storage of anything and everything that doesnÂt fit in the kitchen. Mixer, break maker, crock pot, etc. Part of the problem is the kitchen has two funky wall juts (one on the deck side ~22.5 inches out and one on the garage side again ~28.5 inches) that doesn't make it quite square and dictates the space. The space along the garage includes a load bearing wall so there isn't much I can do to push a wall into the garage or make it a good idea to place the cooktop on that wall. I do not want a cooktop on the peninsula. That isn't a look I'm partial too. Just for looks I like the cooktop on the wall where it is to make it a focal point, view from the FR. I don't want to be looking at a fridge. I don't seem to have quite enough space to put in an island where I could put a sink and DW. Or utilize as a prep area. I have an island now with a cooktop and I hate it. Mainly because it is 2x7 and in the way. I seem to run around it all day long. So more than anything I know what I donÂt want. The exterior wall is brick, so it really isn't easy to move the window over the sink. And I think it is the sink and window that are driving the placement of the other items. In a perfect world, I blow out the wall at the deck and push it out 8-10 feet. This however, would entail building out the basement and the bathroom/bedroom above. Granted the bathroom above needs work and the bedroom above is the smallest and would benefit the size increase, but blowing that out would take up my entire kitchen budget plus some:)

Thanks, RC. I didn't do a very good job of cropping, cutting, and pasting, but I'm getting better. Here are some more that I took this evening. It was getting late and the lighting was getting low. Kt

I didn't mean to do that. I worked on the floorplan a while after malhgold posted about two islands and didn't see your response before posting it. So, here is what I think - unvarnished. I would want to have my back to the blank wall at the living room and look out through either window and the morning room while prepping and be able to pop out to greet people who wandered into the kitchen. So I would locate the prep space and a sink in an island that faced the outdoor porch off the morning room with seating between the island and the porch. I think I would place the clean up zone against the porch wall so it wasn't quite as far away from the dining room and the morning room. I would store the dishes in or immediately next to the cleanup zone. Refs are a quandary in that space because of its sheer size. I would be very tempted to close the opening on the living room wall and push the opening to the hall wall two or three feet away from the living room wall and park the ref and a food pantry there. I'm another who doesn't see the need for the frzr to be anyplace in particular, except that its probably your source of ice or if you freeze vodka. Kids love refs and microwaves, so I might start a kids prep with a wave they could use (someday) in the center section that juts out by the hall and have their dishes, dry snacks and paper products there. I wouldn't do the bake center inna cabinet because I would feel too constricted by its sides (like trying to mix in a small closet) and its doors would get in my way when open. (Altho it would do a splendid job of hiding the turbochef.) I might do an under-counter appliance lift for the mixer. I could find enough space on the island to mount one. Eventho I think lifts are really good solutions, I might instead do a deeper counter (30") on one wall with self-storing lift doors on part that disguised a mixer and flour canisters and such like stuff on the countertop because I think it would be easier to keep clean, organized and accessible. A good undercounter beverage ref is only two-thirds of the cost of your faucet:) Icemakers run $500 to $1500. If you entertain a lot, either can make sense. Good luck with your build.

Hi lyfia, all great questions. Love your mudroom suggestion, I had a layout JUST like that in one version! And yes, I have wondered if I'm designing 'too much kitchen' for this house. The island layout (#2) seems especially out of sync with the house size to me but the U shape doesn't have the same "overly large feel" to me. I can appreciate that it might look that way so I will give it some more thought. Yes the dining area is a bit constrained. Do you mean it's not expandable due to island/peninsula barriers? I've thought about that, and right now I don't have a great solution although I think with a banquette and expandable table we should be able to seat 8 comfortably and 10 in a squeeze. Ten people at a sit-down meal is going to be fairly infrequent (holidays) so I felt like the layouts would work. But I'll give it more thought. I haven't really wanted to formally combine the kitchen and living room areas, but do you mean just having a kitchen layout where seating is more-or-less where it is currently, so that it can be expanded into the LR when needed?