I think the proposed layout does a good job of giving you more counter space around the stove. I can see how cramped you are for prep space in your current layout.

I also like how you are getting the table out of the refrigerator-sink path. Will non-cooks still be able to help themselves to drinks easily?

Will you put the dishwasher to the right of the sink in the new plan? Make sure that you have enough clearance for the 24-inch wide dishwasher door so that it will not bonk into any of the cabinet knobs or pulls on the stove wall when you open the dishwasher. You might have to nudge the sink just a little further to the left to make it work.

Another question is, where does the trash go?

The one part of the proposed plan that I'm confused about is how the traffic pattern to the staircase works. Are you really going to be able to run countertop all the way down to the right of the new stove position? It looks like doing so would cut off access to that side door, which is problematic, if that's how you currently bring groceries into the house. I must be misreading the visual, or something...

welcome to the kitchen forums, by the way!

Dear Eastbaymom,
thanks so much for your answer and for welcoming me to the forum!
I have not thought about non-cooks yet...We are only 2 in the house (empty nesters, yah!). The dishwasher fits comfortably next to the sink. The trash will go under the sink and we will have an over the range microwave. These last two options are compromises because it is a relatively small kitchen (overall dimensions 12ft 6" X 9ft 6").

Yes, we are planning on running countertops all the way to the side door. Thus, we will access the side door from the living room. This side door is only to take the garbage out. It will not be as convenient but again it is a compromise between more cabinets/countertops and an extra door in the kitchen. The way we enter the kitchen is from the entrance next to where the refrigerator will be.
I will try posting more (better) layouts this weekend. Thanks again!

We took out half the wall by our stairway many years ago (have rebuilt it during remodel, but now we have much more space to play with). It definitely allowed us a visual depth that the room actually did not have--to this day, people swore that the kitchen was bigger until they were actually standing in it and experiencing its tininess. We mounted framed pictures on the deep full wall of the stairway and hung a hard-to-access-but-useful cupboard over the stair. The half-wall was about 4.5 feet high with the refrig alongside it, sticking up over the people as they descended. We put a wide board on top of the shortened wall as a place designated for houseplants--once an overtall amaryllis heaved itself down the stairs! In time, the board was used more for junk collections--objects ready to go somewhere else, but then, that was also my front hall. We built a gate on a piano hinge that opened into the stairway so that we could corral the dog when necessary. Most of the time the gate was open and lay against the descending side of the stair housing. ( I suspect that bldg code wouldn't allow this today.)

Thanks Florantha! This is just what I wanted to hear, that the construction will be worth it because it will visually expand the kitchen! Love the idea of an overgrowing plant!