When not full of junk (i.e. mail being sorted, calendar I have not found a place to hang, my kids leftover drinks and other breakfast detritus, registration forms for new appliances, tile samples, unfinished homework, toys) it will have either flowers or a green pottery bowl with fruit or veggies that aren't refrigerated (lately tomatoes.) If the flowers are nice enough (or large) they sit on the dining room table. I go for chaos, function or complete beauty. Or you might find one or both of our two new kittens running across the island (at 9 weeks they run across every surface in the house.) Yes, I could not help myself. It seems that many GW posts include adorable pet photos, particularly cats so I thought I would chip in :) The funny part is the kittens are so fast I have taken at least 20 photos since we adopted them and this was the first one that wasn't a blur. Any yes I wiped the island down after this stunt.

Yes! Do it! I'm just screaming that at you since I *just* got off the phone getting a quote for a walnut block island top for my own kitchen. And, as strange as this is - I swear I happened onto your blog last week or the week before. I have no idea how I happened onto it, but the name is totally familiar. My quote was for a hard surface finish (no food prep or cutting and no maintenance required) which the person likened to a kitchen table. Wipe it up and go. I'm just hoping I can budget it in. Lovely!

Actually, "almost seems" is the important part of what Shanghaimom said. The vast majority do not do their islands in a contrasting finish. They're just more noticeable and more likely to read this thread. It has been trendy recently, and that's probably where the seems like comes from, but by far the majority do matching. I agree that contrasting is as normal as anything else, though. What I'm hearing from you, Gsmama, is that it's not so much that you want a contrasting island, but that you're unsure of having too much white. Regarding the bench, if you intend to put cushions on it, I'd reconsider making it wood. I think it would have more continuity if it was all one tone, with a vibrant cushion to set it off. If the bench area is open to another room, however, I do see the point of doing the wood to ease the transition, and delineate it as separate from the kitchen proper. Before I saw your elevations I thought matching the island to a contrasting bench might be a mistake. As it is, I think it would look fine any of the four possible ways: all white, all white with wood bench, white perimeter with wood island and wood bench, or white perimeter and bench with wood island. Any of these would really look fine!! What do YOU like best? Not which do you think will do this or that to match whatever, but which makes you happiest? Because, really any of them would be nice. (Or you can just wimp out and say wood, because it's a lot easier to refinish wood with paint than vice versa.)

Interesting how people looking at the same picture see something different ... Take away the doorway and this is the classic U layout. Maybe you could call it a Broken U, but a U is uninterrupted and keeps everything within reach of a single cook -- that's the strength of a U. An L is better for shuttling traffic through /allowing multiple cooks, and that's the functional style we have here. The hood should be six inches wider than the stove below so that it really catches all the odors and grease rather than allowing them to be deposited onto your cabinets. I know this is common advice here, but I've never found a need for a wider hood /never had a problem with odors or grease -- maybe my hood is stronger than average? A related issue: When your stove is on an interior wall, you have to figure out how you're going to vent. It's certainly not an insurmountable issue, but it is one that you need to address. Like others have said, you probably want all drawers in your lowers, rather than a mix of drawers and cabinets. Yes. Inventory your current kitchenware, then assign everything a spot -- that'll allow you to accurately determine whether you have an appropriate number of drawers and cabinets. Personally, I'm planning for my base cabinets: 3 cabinets, 3 three-drawer stacks, 1 four-drawer stack, and 1 pull-out behind a cabinet drawer. I could not have predicted these specifics without having "assigned" items to specific places. The island looks very large. Will you be able to reach the middle of it to clean it? Always a concern for me. A prep sink in the island would do a lot for the layout, that's the biggest change you need if you want to keep the basic layout here intact. I'm not a big fan of repetitive items, but I agree that if the OP's going to keep this layout, a prep sink on the island would be helpful. Realistically, though, adding a prep sink is expensive and would eat prime island storage. I'd rework the plan rather than do this. Other thoughts: I agree with the idea of moving the oven(s) to the side near the sink, and I agree that this area appears to be a potential clutter magnet -- perhaps go with a tall cabinet here instead of countertop? You need to flip the pantry door. Imagine you bring in groceries, set them on the island to organize them ... you have to walk around the pantry door. Best would be a pocket door, but I'm not sure you have the space. You're going to serve beverages from the area near the refrigerator ... but the dishwasher is on the far side of the room /with the island in between. Since you wash so many glasses, it'd be better if the dishwasher and beverage area could be closer. The dining room looks fairly far away from the kitchen; plus everything's going to have to be carried around the island. Any possibility the family room could go into this area (if you rework the mudroom, it could have windows on two sides) and place the kitchen directly in front of the dining room? Overall, it'll be a pretty kitchen, but it could massively improve in terms of function, work zones, placing things in convenient places. "Walk through" mentally and imagine yourself doing everyday chores: Putting away groceries, making your favorite casserole, fixing coffee or a soda, cleaning up after dinner, etc.