You must be excited to build this and have things just the way you want!

Are there stairs going down under the stairs that go up? How do you feel about refrigerator drawers? Will you be here forever or do you need a resale in 10 years or less?

As a start, I would do the sink on the view wall, the stove on the left wall, close enough to the main sink to utilize it for prepping/draining pasta etc if you aren't going to have a prep sink. I'd use fridge drawers near your prep area and have the big fridge on either the stove wall or the back wall. (Trying to avoid putting it along the view wall next to the great room so you don't lose any of the view and so it doesn't hulk in the doorway and close the kitchen in, but functionally that's otherwise where I'd put it. You should know that I had a fridge hulking in my doorway for years and moving it was one of the best things we did!)

If you can utilize the storage under the stairs, I'd put cute cabinets stair-stepping down, for less-used stuff.

The back wall, by the entry, would be nice to have open so you can see what's happening out there. For that reason I'd put the fridge on the stove wall, perhaps with a pullout pantry next to the wall side of it, or a hutch/coffee area (something so that the fridge doesn't sit in the corner, far away and unable to be opened all the way. I'm having trouble balancing the bulk of the fridge in that area with the rest of the room, but someone else can tackle that if needed!

And I think I'd do an island. I think a peninsula would block your entry into the kitchen even without folks perching, unless it is small and on the view wall with seating on the end of it (maybe rounded like a "J" so you have a little more room for a couple of stools). The seats probably ought to face the view.

With an island you'd have a second prep zone if the space between the sink and stove isn't enough or the other side of the stove isn't working for you. You could have an overhang on the "south" side of the island, so folks could look out upon the view. You probably have room enough for a third seat (in a 42-48" wide island,maybe 5 feet long depending on how much clearance you want/need on the top and bottom aisles) on the aisle side so people can look at each other. (We have a similar situation in our house, with the main aisle along that side of the island, and that aisle seat is everyone's first choice!)

Ok, that's all I have for now. Some of the really clever space designer's will sign in and help out soon, I'm sure!

Wow- That was quick! More info- this will be our forever home (we hope) and we really don't care much about potential resale. There will be no mortgage (which is why the budget is tight) so we don't have to worry about being 'upside down' if we had to sell. There are stairs going down under the ones going up, and we have an antique Hoosier cabinet possibly going on that wall, if it doesn't impede flow too much. I've thought about having a smaller sink on the island, if there is one. Then the stove could be further away. Our main sink always seems to be 'occupied', which is why I'd like a second sink. I wonder if two work triangles could be made, with the fridge in the center of the left wall, and the stove to the entry end. One cook would have fridge/prep sink/range; the other would have fridge/main sink. If only one cook, they could use the prep sink, leaving the main sink strictly for clean-up.

Oooh, I like that idea. We debated the second sink for a long time in our first re-do, and didn't think twice for the second. A prep sink would definitely increase your flexibility with location of stove. That said, if I had the option, I would put a prep sink along the wall, connected by cabinetry to the stove. In my current house that wasn't an option, and I drip stuff (water, pieces of food, etc, good thing we have a dog) between the island and the stove.

Is the foundation poured, or can you still make a few changes to the plan?

No foundation yet- I'm still working on the floor plan! I started with a plan I sort of liked, and just kept changing things, so it's really pretty much my own design now. We probably won't break ground for at least a year, so there's plenty of time to change anything and everything. I want to get the kitchen lay-out established so I can get started on window placement. I have a draftsman that's going to put it all together on paper (and disc) once I have everything finalized. It's a small house- 1200 sq ft or so- and it will be in the middle of 7 acres of woods. We have views and privacy on all sides, but the back of the house (in the direction labeled 'view') there is a mountain view in the winter.