This looks like a really nice kitchen. You have enough room to allow all your zones to be separated nicely. I'm jealous! I would consider a prep sink on the corner of the island nearest the fridge, as it's nearly 12 ft between fridge and cleanup sink. It would definitely help during prepping meals. You also say you like to bake. You could keep all your baking materials by the MW/walloven and prep sink there would serve you very well. A prep sink there would also be a great place for drink dumpage before refilling from the fridge - much handier to the LR than the cleanup sink is. It looks like your MW/wall oven stack is breaking up that counter into two small chunks. I would consider scooting it all the way to the end, or pushing it right next to the fridge. You do have a lot of counterspace elsewhere though, so you may wish to ignore this. It looks like you do not plan seating at the island, correct? Your aisles should be 42" for one cook or 48" for multiple cooks, and more if you plan seating. By my math, on the 16' wide section, you can have two 46.5 aisles between sink-island-Fridge. That is workable if there is no seating. This also assumes that your fridge is truly counter-depth (25" deep) as you show. Standard fridges are around 36" deep including doors - you can see how that will jut into the aisle. I am not sure what the aisle is between range and island but it looks comparable. Finally, make sure you have at least some counter space on both sides of the laundry room sink. My former kitchen sink was right up against the wall and it was the biggest PITA. Good luck!

Thanks for all of the nice encouragement. There are several areas of the kitchen which I feel pretty strongly about, and then there are the ones I am uneasy about. I think the Marcolo / rhome concern of too many steps for something as simple as a bowl of cereal is certainly worth considering, and I am going to work to tighten up those functions which are common for us. I have one of those little "planning desks" in my current kitchen and at any given time it is piled with papers, bills, kids pemission slips, and mail. If I have somebody coming over, I quickly dump it all into a basket which quickly becomes a black hole! My little room behind the cooktop (Rachel's space) is to allow my mess, keep it close by, but keep it out of the kitchen area. I know this little space will be a favorite, and it is really there only to handle a roofline issue. The home planning area, is where I was thinking the kids could do homework --- they would be close by, but not in the loud main room --- I knew it would be darkish, and would have no windows, but that is a bit by design as the computer will not have a glare and the printer and all of that stuff can be tucked away in here. The butler's pantry will likely house the more formal china, and it is where guests can help themselves to wine, beer, drinks and a food buffet, though I think it will mainly function as a bar during parties, and food will likely be on the island. My thinking is the butler's pantry is a good connector to the dining room, and the great room, kitchen and porch. The corridor is wide enough for some milling around, and there will be a sink in there, but the related clean-up area will really be on the island. I'm OK with that. One of the other things that you've all made me consider, is the steps to do things like get cereal. What if the 2 cabinets flanking the kitchen table have a fridge and freezer drawer, coffee maker, mugs, sugar bowl, glasses and bowls on one side. On the other side, what if they have 2 big drawers (size of fridge drawers) filled with the cereal boxes. Silverware is another issue. Would it make sense to keep the daily silverware over by the table? If so, couldn't I just take the silverware basket out of the dishwasher and take it (or have the kids take it) over to that area to empty. In that case, a daily meal (cereal and coffee, and juice) would all be handled right there at the table. Clean-up would involve setting the dishes through the little pass through (I could make this a door, but I think I like the pass-through) and then loading the dishwasher, etc. Not too bad, it only involves the breakfast and clean-up area. Now, things are more complicated for other meals. Setting the table would mean getting plates, etc. out of the "dish pantry" area. In my little baking area, I think the comments are totally on --- I think I need to put uppers here for baking supplies. That would allow me to put drawers below for things like mixing bowls, pans, mixers, etc. The toaster could also go out here as well. I know I have lots lots more to figure out --- but thanks for all of the help thus far. Marcolo, thanks so much for the design and reclaimed wood, etc. encouragement. I have always loved these things and sometimes people look at me like I'm crazy, but I really love them. Good to know that I'm actually going to be current for a little while at least!

Keep in mind that almost nothing in your kitchen is "historically accurate" to the original period, except perhaps any original window sashes and possibly the ceiling if it's the underside of the floors above. This absolves you from any requirement to attempt a restoration or recreation. And also absolves you from any pseudo-preservationist need to have a "colonial" style kitchen, unless that's entirely to your taste. The "colonial" style dates to the very late 1800s through the 1950's. It can look odd in truly old houses, IMO. True 18th c kitchens wouldn't be considered workable by most, if not all, modern users. I live in a period early (almost completely intact) 19th c farmhouse and while I am deeply preservationist about the "bones" of my buildings, the interior fittings not so much. And anyway the "fittings" of 18th and early 19th c. kitchens would have been next to nothing anyway as those kitchens are the definition of the currently-popular "unfitted" look. The most useful advice I can give new owners of older buildings is to delay doing anything more serious than painting until you have been in your building for many months, preferably a year. Most early ideas are products of what you bring to the design, not what the house will teach you about what it needs. And old houses are very vulnerable to exogenous notions that end up being mistakes. If your kitchen seems too dark, then experiment with a lighter color(s) of paint on the cabs. This is the time to take risks with paint alone. It will alow you to feel that you are putting your stamp on the house without putting you (and your building) at risk for irrversible mistakes. And keep in mind that old houses were dark by intention. That lack of external light was inherent in the design, technology, sociology and style of these houses. Many old houses are severely damaged when new 21st c owners move in and start messing around with the fenestration to make modern "light-filled" rooms. If you must have such a space for a kitchen, or principal rooms, then consider building an addition to accomodate it. You can rarely go wrong by going very slow when renovating old buildings. You will save money, time and avoid the dismay that comes from later realizing your earliest plans (and hopefully, not alterations) were mistakes in the understanding and care of your house. I've lived in my 75-year younger house for decades and I am still discovering new facets of its long history. Yours has even more to teach you, if you take the time to listen. HTH, L.

Sena, That wouldn't be too tight and indeed we did consider that layout. However, we ruled it out previously because we want a smooth flow of traffic from the entryway of the house into the kitchen. Having the peninsula there would mean you'd have to walk up and around. I don't see that as a horrible thing, but my SO and my dad (who is paying for the renovations) both dislike that option. Funkycamper, It's not that we don't like using it, it's just after a meal where the only dishes are two plates and some utensils we usually end up washing them right away. That being said, all my plates and such are in boxes in my storage unit so currently we're working off of my SO's stash in his small apartment kitchen so we only HAVE like 4 plates, thus, we just wash them immediately. Once we unpack all of my stuff (ohhh I can't wait! I miss my kitchen stuff so much!!!) we might be using the dishwasher more often.