So you're talking about putting both desk and cabinets along the wall with the cubbies on it now?

First, I would think hard about whether a desk area really would be useful. Many people find they end don't end up sitting there. The desk top ends up being used as the drop zone, place to stash bills, mail, etc...but because they don't sit at that space (especially when I nice table is nearby) , the knee holes space is wasted instead of put to use for storage. ,

Second, if I had that space and your needs what I would think about doing is tall china cabinet (not necessarily for china) type thing along the wall with the cubbies on it now. Something about 18-20 inches deep. If that wall is long enough, you could consider doing a tall piece, a counter height piece and another tall piece.
Then put a shorter, shallow piece where the low coffee table/bench thing is now. I'm thinking of the sort of thing Pottery Barn has for entryways: A console table for the "drop zone", with a mirror above or a cubbie type thing with hooks for jackets,and a place for baskets or bins to stash keys, library books, mail, etc.

I don't think you really need or want to put cabinets, per se there, but more pieces of furniture that function in the ways you need. And as for color/finishes, etc. I'd seriously consider making one of these pieces painted red to add some zing to the room and pick up on the red of your pendants.

Well, we need a desk sapce for the kids to do their computer homework. We have a space in the living room, but my husband and I find ourselves with little computer time since the kids want/need to be on it plus I want to have a computer station away from the TV. ANd we don't want computers in our kids rooms..this way we can still monitor them (they're 6 and 7 and do have homework on the computer). I had thought about a tall piece for that wall, but we'd like to have a counter height countertop when we first walk in to drop off mail, books, bags, cell phones etc etc. And I don't want the room to feel too closed in.
I found a couple buffet/sideboard pieces that looked nice, but wasn't sure how that would look with a desk next to it that most likely won't be the exact same style....

I really like the idea of a place outside their rooms for the children's computer.

What are the dimensions of the dining space?
From garage door to exterior wall?
To the left of the sliding doors?
From the garage door wall to the peninsula countertop?

Offhand, what about a desk immediately to the left of the door with hooks for keys on the wall above it and open shelves above that for books and mail. This would mean you don't have to move your light switch. And it would be much easier to get in and out of a desk here than one in the corner by the sliding doors.

Then, to the right of the desk, cabinetry. I personally would probably match the kitchen cabs with a hutch sort of arrangement of two tall cabs 18'' to 24'' or so across, a cabinet height series of drawers between them, and cabinets above the drawers to the tops of the window trim.

This ''hutch'' could be shallower than 24'' cabs. Maybe 20''? if 24'' would crowd your space.

Maybe the same marble on the top of the hutch drawers as on your countertops. Then an open space of 15'' or 18'' to the row of cabs above.

I would put file drawers in the lower sections of at least the tall cabinet next to the desk. Two drawers with hanging files, one for each child where they can park their school books and working ''stuff''.

Incidentally, in our house books always overflow all areas. I would serious consider 8'' to 10'' deep book cases along the blank wall opposite the sliding doors. It could hold cookbooks, decorative kitchenware, all sorts of that ''stuff' that tends to accumulate.

The kids will very soon be on laptops and the desk will not be used ever except as a dumping ground. Desktop computers are mostly dinosaurs except as work stations in larger companies. Every small business person I know of has a laptop. So does every student in school, including the ones in elementary school, starting from 3rd grade on. There's even a local foundation here that funds that for inner city kids if they can't afford one.

You need some organization in the actual garage itself to act as the mud area, and then you need more versatile effluvium storage in the breakfast area. To me, that says exactly what it said to melissastar, a china cabinet/buffet looking space that cans house paperwork cubbies and a small printer and later be repurposed as kitchen storage as needed.

I have the large, beautiful desk that has become the dinosaur that everyone speaks of but I insisted on it 6 yrs ago (I say that as I sit on the couch with my iPad).

My 10 yr old twins use the notebook on the island with the wireless printer.

I don't own a desktop computer anymore.

But my desk is nice and I hope it helps sell me sell in the near future.

Pic taken during construction.

This desk is big. Maybe you can do something smaller and less bulky.

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We do have a laptop and plan to put a laptop at that desk location also. We want a desk for it so that it is stationary and the kids have to sit there so we can monitor what they're on. It will also house all school paperwork (websites, passwords etc etc) Our other desk area is used constantly. It has a laptop, 2 dry erase monthly calanders, a mail holder to hang on to important info, magnetic strips and is basically home base to everything. That is why we want another area because if the kids want to get on the computer we can't use it for our day to day lives. And again, we want a quieter location away from the TV for kids work. The garage area is not heated and we don't like cold jackets/shoes etc etc in the winter. We have a very small closet you can kind of see in one of the pictures. We then hung a coat rack for sweatshirts and backbacks. And also have an ottoman to sit on for putting on shoes. So this area has turned into our mudroom.
I think the eating area room dimensions are about 13'x 14'. The slider is 6'. We have enough room to put in 24" deep cabinets if we wanted and the slider opens from the right so no worry about a chair in the corner area being in the way of the slider.
I like the look of something like this but don't know how to match a desk next to it....

Nadine - Here is our unfinished area - We will have 2 cabinets with a bench in between - the pillows are only temporary until we get the new cushions and then the back will be added - using a piano hinge so it can fold down when we don't want the windows blocked.
Each cabinet has an upper pocket doors with 2 shelves and 2 drawers (and power inside). The lower part has 2 large drawers, then the 3rd drawer is a cutting board desk and the to drawer...

Measure carefully. Perhaps cut paper or tape is out and definitely put a chair in place to see how that feels. Your space isn't that deep and that fifth chair is going to be moved around ALL the time. We have almost identical layouts. Instead of the garage door though, we have a slider, so it's a lot less use. But with a narrow desk, the chair, the table and all the homework that happens on ALL surfaces, it's very busy in that area. I think the idea of lots of different storage options tall and short with places to set things immediately to the left of the garage door would be perfect. Then a desk that turns the corner by the slider(?) would work really well.

Drop zone to die for!

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Source: houzz.com via Deborah on Pinterest

Small desk space:

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Source: Uploaded by user via Deborah on Pinterest

Now that desk space is functionally too small. You really do need space to the right and left to work properly, but the area above and around it is so nicely done I can't resist it.

I thought this was pretty nice too:

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Source: [houzz.com[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/charging-station-phbr0lbl-bl~l_170?fi=56) via Deborah on Pinterest

I've been studying these spaces for a long time. Unfortunately, we weren't able to add to our kitchen budget, so we're in limbo at the moment also.

One more:

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Source: [houzz.com[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/office-traditional-home-office-san-francisco-phvw-vp~215287) via Deborah on Pinterest

O/T Where did you get the table??? I love it!

The table is custom from Canadel. Very $$$ but totally worth it.

If you feel the need for a desk now, put in a free standing second hand one from Craigslist. That way you won't have too much invested in it and it won't be a permanent fixture.

I've done a good portion of projects lately with people ripping out their kitchen desk because they never got used. Popular retrofits include china hutches, coffee bars, wine bars, and baking areas. I've only done only a few desk areas in the past two years in kitchen remodels and none in new builds. The remodels tend to be multi use spaces rather than just a dedicated desk area. Most are counter height so that they can use their bar stools at it and still count as counter space. Later on, a wine cooler and ice maker can be placed in the space if a retrofit is desired

Computer area is not just about the computer. You need a printer, storage for printer paper, fax/scanner and other stuff that goes with the printer. Most people need these things unless you have an office near where the family spends most of the time.

We actually have 2 printers in the house, 1 in the baseement office which is printer/scanner/fax, then another one under the kitchen desk. These get used all the time. We have a nice color laser printer, and when the kids have projects for the school, this is an essential part of the 'stuff' that we need to have in the house. I can't imagine going to Kinkos to print because our printer is not good enough to print out a school paper... (been there and done that!)

Another thing that you need is a place to store kids junk: pens, markers, crayons, colored paper, scizzors, glue, glitter glue, etc etc. Where will that go?

What about a place to charge stuff? we have 4 cell phones, ipad, 2 laptops, 3 ipods that get charged nearly every night. So far, these get charged in respective bedrooms. It would have been nice to charge these at a central station. I don't. I sure wish I had designed them into the house.

I also like having a desktop in addition to my laptop. I like the large monitors to do some stuff easier. If you are working from home, this is more of an issue. I am not ready to trade my laptop completely for my high res 24 inch flat panel screen that I use with my desktop. I also like working with my feet on the ground which means 'desk height' not countertop height.

Most people still need a phone station with a personal phone book, pens, paper, calendar, message board, grocery list, mail sorting etc. I have met very few people that have completely transitioned to a no-paper household.

What about the storage for your stereo system? No one has the stereo amp out in the open these days. They are hidden behind a door/elsewhere and the controlled from the laptop/iphone.

LOW: if they are ripping out their desks, it tells me that they are older folks that have already raised their kids. I can't imagine running a household without a central work area. However, the kitchen desks do not work when they are smack in the middle of the kitchen because having it in a bad place obstructs the work flow both in the kitchen and the desk. I often see desks that are too close to the work area of the kitchen and WAY too small to be useful. So what the family ends up doing is to use the dining room as the de-facto work table and it gets covered with projects and paper. The family never eats in the DR and use the kitchen table to eat. In many of these homes that I have seen, the DR is a poorly designed office (since it is subpar as an office) and the kitchen desk is the drop-zone. This is the reflection of poor design rather than the idea that the kitchen desk is not useful. Each space that you design has to be done well enough to be useful.

IMHO, the kitchen desk has to be big enough to work as a small office. You need to be able to store just about all you need in that little space. Then it has to be out of the way of the workflow in the kitchen. You current location is a great location for the small desk because it is NOT in the kitchen proper. If you had put it next to your current refrigerator (which often were in the 80s and the 90s), it would have been useless...