I like the second drawing much better. On a whole different level of better.

We have a similar layout. Here is some feedback you may find helpful.

If you move your prep sink further left to almost the end of the island, you have a longer stretch of counter for prep. More functional. Also you have room to plate up the 6 plates from a pan for your family at mealtime.

Make sure to have handy outlets on your island for laptops.

figure out what you want in the different drawers, and tweak the size to make sure they are big enough--example is I wanted a drawer wide enough for big box of foil. It fits perfectly.

You may want to consider a wider pantry, and narrower drawer stack next to the fridge.

I like your trash, and wish we had done that. We opted for smaller under the sink cans and then had some mice issues and have gone to a stainless with lid that is out all of the time. Not my favorite.

I like your plan and if the flow works for YOU, then it's all good. I might think about sliding the sink and dishwasher closer to the stove and put the 3-drawer cab on the dining room side of the DW. My island is similar to yours (only flipped). I played and played with the configuration of the island to get the biggest cabinets I could. I put my trash cab on the opposite side of the sink. If you do that, you could have a 36" 4-drawer cab to the right of your sink. (That would also mean you'd have a 12" cab on the Great Room side.) I will say, if I had the trash where you do, it would be easier to swipe the prep discards right into the trash. But that was a trade-off I was willing to make for the larger cab. May or may not work for you. Just putting it out there for consideration. Open shelves are great, but will the kids have a tendency to use the shelves as footrests? I thought mine would!!, so I just put closed cabs there.

My only other comment (having 4 children as well), I might fiddle around with the 1/2 bath/laundry room/mud room area to make it a bit more efficient and all for some more food storage. I allowed for one smallish pantry in my kitchen but found that I wish I had more space for food. I had an empty "sort of a closet" down the hall that I put shelves in and it's my 2nd pantry.

Thank you both so much for your comments! This is what I was hoping for.

You are right about the prep sink closer to the end. That's what I was thinking at first, too, but I lost it along the way. The island design certainly needs some work. Good point about the closed cabinets under the island. My kids would quickly destroy my lovely baskets, but in my fantasy world I was ignoring that fact. I like the idea of laptop outlets on the island. I've seen popup outlets and would welcome any other suggestions.

I know the pantry is narrow, but I think that will be all right because I tend not to hoard a lot of food. The mudroom/laundry room has not been designed yet, but I will make sure I have plenty of space there for bulk items like paper towels, light bulbs and batteries, and food overflow. I was trying to maximize the size of the cabinet and countertop area between the refrigerator and range. I may change my mind when I choose my cabinets and see how much useable space there would be on the pantry shelves.

I've been going back and forth over the sink/dishwasher/dish cab layout and would really welcome suggestions. I went with this to center the sink somewhat, put space between the DW and range, and because ultimately I thought I wanted the dishes a little closer to the workspace. For example, if I'm making a sandwich, I'll grab a plate to put it on or a knife to spread peanut butter. If I'm cooking I'll want to grab a spoon to test the chili.

I was thinking more about having space to make those cookies my 10-year-old says we're going to make, and I will want a big space for making pies or putting together a lasagna. My 10-year-old thinks like I do, and she's always right. When I first looked at the house we live in now she was about 4. Her review? She took one look at the kitchen and said it's too small, and she was right. It isn't tiny (probably about 11' x 11') and it's not that our stuff doesn't fit or that we don't have enough counterspace, but the configuration and lighting make it seem more cramped than it is. We bought the house more for the yard and neighborhood, and I will not miss the kitchen.

I would leave the sink and DW where it is and keep that big counter area between the range and sink. I suspect that will become your main prep area and the more counter between those two appliance the better. That bank of drawers will be great for your cooking utensils and for your pots/pans/fry pans.
Given where your DW is, where will you keep your eating utensils, dishes and bowls? Your DW is convenient for loading after a meal but what about unloading after the load is finished?

Glad to add my two cents since we are finishing a very similarly designed remodel that has turned out famously. We ended up flipping the fridge and the pantry. It looks much better to have it on the end and we had a cherry frame to enclose it.
We put a dual fuel slide in stove in the island opposite the sink, which like yours is centered under window. This gives us a great place to cook. We put a Flotera hood vent over it which looks amazing. This also frees up counter next to the pantry.
We made the bottom of the corner cab a pull out drawer which holds 2 trash cans for recycling and trash. Above it we put glass fronted cabinet with3 large shelves and an appliance garage below it
The island was our real coup. We have a 7 ft by 7 ft square with seating facing the fridge and facing the sink. We cut a notch out of the square for the two stools facing the fridge to leave go around room. We love having the seating split so two groups are actually facing each other.
We bought a microwave drawer and put it next to stove. It is amazing and frees up counterspace.
We got the idea for the size of the island and the placement of the stove from Michigan friends and it is a huge hit with everyone.
Good luck!

I've sort of lost the spatial direction of your kitchen but would it make sense to put your island the other way so that the long way is against the sink.

I'm assuming your silverware would go in the top drawer next to the DW?

Your layout is a lot like mine. (The shape, island and placement of appliances, except our fridge is elsewhere...) One thing to consider is combining your 2 trash areas into one (larger cabinet.) We put ours in the bottom right area of the island... with doors opening from the DW side and the range side... There is a trash can in front of each door, with recycle bins and trash bags in the space behind.. This way, we still had easy access to dump trash from our island prep area/sink and from our DW/clean up sink. Functionally, it's easy to monitor and use both cans. It also lets us have a bit more flexibility with that space. [In your layout, you would use your island trash cabinet, but add the cabinets to the right of it.... to create one, large cabinet. Then, just have doors to access both sides.)

If you did that, you would then have the possibility of another stack of drawers to the left of your DW. (I'm trying to think of how you can put away all your clean dishes, silverware and perhaps even glasses/cups without hiking to the range area.)

Just an idea. Certainly not for everyone, but this has worked very well for our kitchen layout.....

Also, RE: moving your prep sink to the left..... I don't agree. We have ours in the middle of the island, and I really like having landing space on both sides of the sink. Also, during prep, I use both sides of the prep sink.... For example, on the left, I have the dirty veggies, on the right I have the landing space for the clean veggies. Just something to consider..... trick is figuring out what works for you :)

Thanks for more great ideas!

To try to answer some questions, right now I'm thinking of putting flatware, dishes, and some pots and pans in the cabinet to the right of the sink. The glasses could go in the upper cabinets on either side of the range or in the island cabinet that opens toward the sink. I like the idea of having everything low so my kids can get to them easily. Right now only two can really reach upper cabinets. I may just put their extensive collection of Ikea plastic cups, plates, and bowls there and put the glasses and mugs next to the refrigerator. They would be handy there because they are right next to the refrigerator, but it is a hike from the dishwasher to there. Or I could compromise and put them in the wall cabinet to the left of the range. Really I'm open to suggestions on this!

blfenton, I thought about putting the island the other way, but I think I want the long way facing the stove and refrigerator. I might rethink that now that you bring it up. Or go square like jomama did.

jomama, do you have pictures of your island? I'd love to see it! I'd also love to see the fridge/pantry area.

lolauren, do you have pictures of your trash? That's an interesting idea, but I'm not sure I understand how it all fits together. I just saw analysisparalysis' kitchen with pullouts for garbage and cleaning supplies below the sink, so that might be a great option for one of my trash bins if it's available in the cabinets I choose. I'm not sure if those pullouts would work with a big humongous garbage disposer, but maybe if the drain is in the back there would still be a lot of useful storage in the front of the cabinet.

I love that I'm getting a lot of island suggestions because I know the design needs a lot of help!

I like your general layout just the way it is!
The Prep Zone in the island so you can face others or just look out while you prep (70% of the work & time spent in the kitchen).
The Cooking Zone very handily nearby on the wall where it's so much easier (and less expensive) to adequately vent (and where you only spend 10% of your time).
The Cleanup Zone (where you spend 20% of your time) in front of nice big windows with plenty of counter space on both sides for dirty dishes as well as a secondary Prep Zone when needed.

I would leave the DW and sink where they are. Even if you prep mostly in the island, if you have two prepping it will be very useful to have two nice Prep Zones...one on the island and one b/w the range and sink. It will also be better if you have one person prepping and one cleaning up...no collisions!

As to the prep sink location...there are pluses & minuses to both locations! :-)

As it is...there is room on both sides of the sink for you to put things. E.g., putting unwashed veggies/fruit on the left, washed on the right. That does mean cutting down on the workspace you have on the right. But, to be honest, you already have plenty...18" + 18" + 15" 1.5" overhang + 2" or so b/w the sink edge & sink base edge = 55.5" I have approx 42" in my primary Prep Zone and find it sufficient. However, YMMV.

Moving it to the left edge...It will add another 15" to your island prep workspace, giving you approx 70.5". You will also be able to access from two sides of the island. However, you will only have about 1.5" overhang + 2" b/w sink edge and sink base edge = 3.5" b/w the sink and the counter edge...which means it will be easy to accidentally knock things off the edge and, of course, no work or landing space to the left of the sink.

Which is better? This is one of those things that has no "better" option...it's what will work best for you!

A couple of things that I think might improve it...

Trash pullout...do you really need so much trash space? You're devoting a lot of valuable base cabinet storage space to trash & recyclables. What type of recycling do you have? Mixed? Or, do you have to sort everything? Our county went to mixed around 2009, so we must put everything (except newspapers) in the same recycle bin. For your setup, I think an 18" double-bin trash pullout on the right end of the island facing the range will be your best arrangement. That would place the trash & recycling in your Prep Zone and across from your Cooking Zone...the two places they're used the most and for the longest amount of time. It will also place it very near the Cleanup Zone so it can be used at cleanup time. That would free up the left base cabinets for dish storage and, possibly, a dish hutch. Of you need more recycling space, them get one of those "recycling centers with 3 or 4 bins...one for trash and the rest for recycling. I'd still put it in the same location.

Seating overhang...have at least the minimum overhang recommended by the NKBA...15". If you're a tall family or a family with long legs, then I recommend going to 18" (I wish we had!) You already have plenty of linear space for the three stools you show (24" per seat is recommended). You might even be able to add another on Great Room end....just add about 3 or 4" to the length of your island and shorten the 36" cabinet to 27" (assuming you have a 15" overhang already in the layout) and it will be perfect for four! * Width of island: 15" for overhang for seat on Great Room end + 3 x 24" for each of the three seats on the long end = 87"
* Minimum Depth of island: 15" overhang + 1" decorative door on back of island + 24" deep base cabinets + 1.5" counter overhang = 41.5"
* On Great Room end: 24" for seat + 16" for a cabinet + 1.5" for counter overhang
(Your island is already deeper than the "minimum", so your cabinet can be wider than 16">)

One piece of advice: Do not plan your kitchen, storage, seating, access, etc. around small children. Children grow up very, very quickly (as you already know!) and they will quickly outgrow anything you plan for them while they're small. You want this kitchen to last past when they leave the nest, so plan it with adults/adult-sized teens in mind, not young children. That doesn't mean make it a kid-unfriendly kitchen, but it does mean to not design it with small children in mind...unless it's temporary and can either be changed later or adapted for something else.

Good luck!

Thanks, Buehl, for your thoughts. I studied your post on "What are zones and how do you design with them in mind?" and I definitely designed with them in mind!

You are right about too much trash space, and part of that is ignorance. I had no idea you could get an 18" double-bin trash pullout (mine is 21"), so I will definitely put one of those on the island. We do not have to sort so a double-bin is fine. I'm still stuck on thinking I need a single bin to the left of the sink - do you think it's not really necessary? When I picture us clearing the table after dinner it makes sense to me to throw napkins and the larger dinner waste (like corn cobs) in the pull-out trash on the way to the sink. What is the smallest space for a single trash bin?

You suggested a dish hutch and my eyes lit up a bit. That's something I've often admired in kitchens but never saw a space for in mine. Definitely a possibility!

I'm going to redesign that island (and probably more than once!), but I am liking the current prep sink location - it gives me that wide expanse to the right which I know I'll use, but it gives me some space on the left side as well. I'll keep the possibility of a 4th seat in mind, but I'm trying not to let the island get too big or else it will encroach on the walkway between the great room furniture and the island.

Thanks also for the advice on designing around small children. We are trying to keep that in mind for the design of the entire house, but it's good to have a reminder! It's hard for me to imagine a kitchen without the kids (you mean I won't need an entire drawer for lunchboxes?), so I really value the opinions of those who are in that stage of life.