I brought a KD paid her $300.00, she assured me a 3D plan. Her fees would have been around $5 -10 thousand. When she presented the plan, it was MY plan!! She took everything I said and made a plan. I was so frustrated as i had communicated to her I wanted her ideas and input. Long story short, I fired her and did my own plan. I was my own KD. I think everyone is capable of doing this. You know what you need, want, and your style. With the money i saved, i purchased high end appliances and custom cabinets. Please think realistically, do you really need a KD. If you bring custom kitchen designers, they draw up the plans and don't charge for them. I spoke with 4 different custom caboinet makers and eventually decided on one. He was my KD. he listen to my needs and planned the cabinets accordingly. Just a thought.

Hi may_flowers and jams, thanks for your suggestions! jams, I think I'm with you. Although I might still keep small containers in the kitchen and larger ones in the mudroom. may_flowers, thanks so much for your suggestion on the tile. The beauty of the photocopy is that I can try it both ways! I did try the tile on the sink wall but it looked somehow a little off to me, especially because I have a big switch and stuff there. And the Moroccan tile looks a little nicer next to the warmth of the wood. The rest of the BS is plain glossy white 4x8" 'subway.' Although I like the tile a lot, I don't want to run it throughout as it starts to have a wallpaper look that isn't what I'm going for. This post was edited by robotropolis on Mon, Feb 24, 14 at 13:17

The attached layout I did days ago but didn't post it because it didn't seem applicable to discussions. Here's my thinking. I would run the countertop all the way along the top wall, around the corner, and down to the fridge. Cabs underneath. You could easily bring a 15"or so wide x 12" deep cabinet all the way down to countertop height on the far left of the stove. That space is not prime work area. I really like the idea of a glass-fronted area there that is shallow enough to find things easily--which your present 24" deep pantry is definitely not--and which would be a lovely accent that could be adjusted to the colors you prefer and even seasons. Center the range on the top cabinet run as I sketched it here, not between the two walls. The area to the right of the range will be the main cooking area. The cleanup will happen to the right of the sink, opposite the island. The island will be your work area, as you say it now is. I squared the island and slightly enlarged it. I really urge you to put in a prep sink. I know it seems redundant so close to the cleanup sink, but it isn't. Mine, like this one, is very close to the cleanup sink, but I use both, piling dirty dishes into the cleanup sink and keeping the prep sink clear for work. Of all the changes I made in my new kitchen, I think the inclusion of that sink was easily one of the most important. I think your cleanup sink should be large enough to hold your biggest frequently used pans. It does not, IMO, need to be as large as it presently is. Making it smaller will leave you room for more drawers. If this is an idea you can consider, you can solicit input with a query thread here on GW. I am not sure of the size of the window on the sink wall. I would love you to have 15" cabinets on that wall and on the left corner. On the range wall, 12" cabs will be fine, and will leave easier work areas. (Although I find no problem with 15" cabs flanking my range, because most work on that wall is really done ON the range itself.) Finally, I played with the idea of moving the fridge toward the sink, putting a shallow 15" or so wide cabinet facing the kitchen on the right of the fridge. If this is 8" or a bit less, it will be wonderful for storing your baking goods, spices, and cans. Then, behind it, facing the family room would be a 15" deep, 20" or so wide pantry for whatever you chose to store there. Hey, among other goodies, it could hold the ladder you will need to access the top of your ceiling-height cabs! This is just idea playing--not a hard proposal. Actually, all of this is just playing with ideas, of course. As I have said before in other links, this is like playing with paper dolls as I did as a child. Just plain fun. This post was edited by Bellsmom on Wed, Mar 26, 14 at 22:28

And now for something completely different. :-) (not to scale) Here's what I did. Since you want to keep the sight line from the front door to the fireplace, I removed the peninsula lay-out in favor of a galley-style lay-out, shifted the hall door way a bit over, enlarged it and centered it on the front door. This additional bit of wall to the right gives your wall oven column a safety buffer, too. (You can add a coat closet to the left of the doorway, facing the hallway to the right. Or you could purchase an armoire, perhaps more in keeping with your home's vibe.) Some people aren't keen on seeing the sink (and quite possibly dirty dishes) from the front door but you already have that view in your current and proposed lay-outs so I assume it must not be a concern of yours. You could, if you wish, install glass double pocket doors at the hallway entrance like this: [[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/druid-hills-master-bedroom-remodel-traditional-bedroom-atlanta-phvw-vp~76261) [Traditional Bedroom[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/traditional-bedroom-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_715~s_2107) by Atlanta Architects & Designers Soorikian Architecture I incorporated the seldom used closet into the kitchen, creating a gigantic pantry with additional storage space for other items. This also allowed me to set the full size fridge back so it mimics a counter-depth model. The pantry doors would work something like this: [[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/farinelli-construction-inc-traditional-kitchen-phvw-vp~622305) [Traditional Kitchen[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/traditional-kitchen-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_709~s_2107) by Mechanicsburg Design-Build Firms Farinelli Construction Inc Or this: [[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/teri-turan-traditional-kitchen-atlanta-phvw-vp~216308) [Traditional Kitchen[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/traditional-kitchen-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_709~s_2107) by Tyrone Kitchen & Bath Designers Teri Turan One wall of the galley holds the pantry, recessed fridge, 36" cook top and wall oven/Advantium column (I saw your other thread) with plenty of counter space for prep and small appliance use. I calculated counter and overhang depth at 25.5" (24" deep cabs, 1.5" counter overhang). The island is huge, admittedly, but it had to be in order to hold the DW, 36" sink cab, 18" trash pull-out and counter seating for 2. I angled the very end of the island across from the fridge so that there would still be plenty of room to move past the fridge even when the door was open. The island is 30" deep - 27" cabs with 3" counter overhang total (1.5" on each side) to provide a bit more clearance between back of faucet and counter edge. If you can't afford to do custom depth cabs, do 24" deep cabs and add shallow storage to the back like this: [[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/wood-and-color-kitchen-traditional-kitchen-phvw-vp~45952) [Traditional Kitchen[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/traditional-kitchen-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_709~s_2107) by Other Metro Interior Designers & Decorators Polly Blair or this: [[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/utensil-rack-traditional-kitchen-chicago-phvw-vp~44160) [Traditional Kitchen[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/traditional-kitchen-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_709~s_2107) by Glen Ellyn Kitchen & Bath Remodelers The Kitchen Studio of Glen Ellyn I also removed the half wall between kitchen and stairway. You don't have to do this - there is sufficient aisle between island and wall - but I thought that widening the hallway doorway and the stairway doorway would encourage people to walk to the left of the island and not through your kitchen work zone. NKBA recommends 44" aisles behind seating but 1.5" shouldn't make a huge difference, IMO. However, if you want a bit more aisle on this side, you could steal that 1.5" from your work aisle. A tighter work aisle will encourage people to walk to the left of the island but you need to make sure it will work for you and not make you feel cramped (NKBA recommends 42" aisles for 1 cook kitchens, 48" for 2 cooks but many here go with slightly narrower aisles and have no issues with that set-up). Or you could go with 24" deep cabs and 3" total overhang for the island. There is a bit of flexibility in this plan. You'll notice that there are no corner cabinets in this plan. That will save you some money - corner cabinet systems are expensive - which will help you stretch your kitchen remodeling dollars. Anyhoo, this is what my brain envisioned when I looked at your first floor lay-out.