I agree with Malhgold. You have plenty of symmetry in the kitchen. You don't need it on the baking center. In fact, I like it open! You could put a decorative bracket or something at the open end to "support" the upper cabinet and make it look finished, instead of just stopping. I think this looks really functional. Cooking on one side, baking on the other, clean-up, prep, and seating in the middle. The one thing more I might want in the baking area is better access to the sink. 15" isn't too much to reach over, there in the island. If it were me, I might put the faucet in a corner to make it easier reaching across. It's not that far to the clean-up sink, anyway, though. :) For your drawing, however, your chairs are too small. Try drawing them 18" to get a better sense of how big they are. Not pushed under. Those napping ones will be teenagers! :D

Just some little things... The narrow pullout bases can be very pricey - check with the cabinet maker. Remember that with framed cabinets, the pullout itself will be at least 3" less wide than the cabinet. With frameless, it will be 1.25 to 1.5" less wide. So if you want to stretch dollar bills, simply do larger cabinets. As an example, the 9" cabinet by the range can be married to the 22" drawer cabinet and produce a 30" cabinet with a 1.5" filler. It sounds ridiculous, but that alone can save a couple of hundred dollars. Having a filler is important when both sides of a cabinet run are up against a wall. Walls are rarely completely level, or square and the filler "takes up" those small differences. You need to allow some air space on both sides and the back of the ref - generally, its an inch or two. Corner pantries right beside a ref are difficult (not impossible) to do correctly. Unless you are getting a fancy ref, the doors of the ref need to be in front of the side wall of the pantry. If they aren't in front, the doors won't open at all. Also, if you need to pull the doors open past 90 degrees to clean, you need to insure the entire door depth can fit in front of the pantry and its door trim. Another small issue with corner pantries and ref huts - The counter should die into the side panel. The counter will be roughly 1.5" deeper than the base cabinets. But the over the ref cabinet needs to be mounted flush with the front of the side panel (or so the cabinet doors are flush to the front of the side panel). I'm not saying "don't do it". I'm saying be very careful and thoughtful about it because its very easy to get wrong - even when done by professionals. As drawn, you wouldn't be able to open the ref door all the way and the ref door and the pantry door have high probabilities of running into each other. There is no possibility of having the side panel turn out in the correct place or be the correct depth for the counter. Personally, I would make the cabinets the same heights - either 42" or 48". The every-other-one pattern looks cluttered. I'm a little bit wondering where you're going to keep the ladder.

I wish I knew how much of the bigger drawing is new. I can't quite tell about the powder room, laundry, etc. on the real wall, the wet bar - if they are new with the kitchen? Given that, I like layout 2 of buehl's without the seats or with only 4 seats. A somewhat thinner island and the sink moved over from the corner a bit more so people can approach the cleanup sink from both sides. I think the ideal island doesn't exceed about 60 inches of depth. There isn't a lot of difference between that and Sena01 at Thu, Jan 2, 14 at 6:48 except for the position of the refrigerator. Having had that exact position of the ref, tho - right next to an entrance, - I would not do i again. It drove me crazy not to be able to see who was going out or coming in. A crazier layout and just something to think about (doodles are free) is perhaps something a little more old school - sort of along the lines ye old table in the middle of the kitchen. Trades the laundry to the wet bar, the potty to the laundry, runs cabinets on two walls. Almost leaves the lower right hall door where it was. Adds the wet bar to the kitchen, but lets it double as a snack bar or breakfast bar (meaning toast, juice, cereal, milk, microwave) plus an in kitchen place for an undercounter ref. It has more places to prep - the table, barville, both sides of the cleanup sink and the counter by the bigger ref. I think both the ref and the pantry are drawn at about 42" but meant as a 36" ref and a 48" pantry. None of this is measured or precise. There may be other reasons why you might not like it, and those reasons might be plentiful :). But it values togetherness more than absolute efficiency. It puts all the seating together so latecomers aren't excluded. It envisions that family and friends sit down to do some things - peel and chop a lot of veg, squeeze lemons, make meringues, roll out cookies, etc. In that set up, I'd likely get a 2-3" deep board, maybe with short legs, for a little more working space when pressed into standing work, but still at the table... Lastly, I think the best kitchens take at least a couple of months to think through all of the issues and feel comfortable with the solutions you choose. Try not to hurry the process. We all know that feeling of pressure to get started and get it done. Try to ignore it and take as much time as you need.

Trying to put more thought in lighting on my kitchen remodel than I have in years past. Open shelving and wall cabinets will have under the counter lighting. Two wall sconces will be above the sink and a hanging pendant above the small cafe table. Input or guidance would be appreciated!! David