Several things. It seems to me you have alot of counter space that within the layout you posted is not set up for optimal use. Why not out the frig at the end of the run by the family room. If you use the MW as part of your cooking process... I would not want it over where you show the frig now. you can easily define a space with an area rug or brining something like that plant over to the other side of the doorway. I would not change the hardwood in the kitchen... it's lovely.

I like the uper and lower cabs next to the fridge, but I would not put an end panel up. Maybe another set of angled cabinets, upper and lower?

I think we nixed moving the fridge near the family room mostly because we were concerned about boxing in the sink too much since "counter-depth" still sticks out and there's no way we're paying for true built-in. I'm also concerned about the door swinging out into that busy entryway and staring at a big expanse of metal every time we come in through the garage (our main point of entry).

Maybe reconsider the RF on the FR end. If it has an end panel, you won't be staring at a big expense of metal but rather your cabinet material. The door might or might not project as much as it seems to vary with brands, but you will likely see the edge and the handles.

Then you could consider moving the DW to the end of the DR peninsula, the sink next to it and the stove central on the long wall. A 6" return is the least you'd probably want on the DR side to protect from splashing water and hide clutter.

The space between the doors would be nice for uppers and lowers if you need additional cabinetry and/or counters. One idea is that makes sense there is glass uppers and use that small run like a butler's pantry. Good luck!

Could you reverse the fridge and counter/drawer combo? Putting the fridge closest to the dining room would allow you to frame in a ~30" wall to close off the fridge to make a separate room, or at least do a nice gable panel.
You've got a landing site for the fridge on the penninsula, you could even make that cabinetry a deeper pantry to match depth with the fridge.

If you want a defined separation between the spaces, then you should rework the half walls instead of taking them down. The whole reason to open a space up is to remove the barriers and create one single space. In your current layout, the fridge is too far, and the rest of the layout isn't optimal either.

@Abundant blessing- I hadn't considered putting the sink/DW on the peninsula. I liked the thought of a clean counter so I can use it as a buffet/serving station, but that's definitely something to consider.

@CoCo - I think if I swap the fridge and cabinet placement, then the peninsula becomes a block to the fridge.

@GreenDesign - I am thinking of building up the one half wall. The other would have to come down to gain a peninsula and I need the counter space desperately. I agree that the fridge is a little far, but wasn't really coming up with alternatives. I'd love to hear any other suggestions for the rest of the layout.

With a 6" minimum raised edge, you can still have a serving counter above the sink. Solves a lot of problems. HTH!

If you were to put the fridge at the end of the cabinet run by the family room with an end panel, then the spot where it is now, put upper and lower cabinets with a counter run and that could be your buffet area or another prep area, or perhaps it could double as a baking area. It would be cleaner and less bulky than with the fridge and, I think, a nicer area next to your dining area. You could play with the position of it, maybe balanced between the DR and hallway door so that it is pleasing to the eye and still gives you the space for the DR without infringing on it,.

Also, if you switch the sink and stove, you could still put the DW in the peninsula (and yes you can put a DW around the corner from the sink, and No, you don;t have to twist and bend and do a billion contortions to load your DW) and still keep the peninsula counter clear. Dishes from the table would go straight on to the peninsula, scrapped and then put into the DW. The way you have it set up now is that you have to walk through the kitchen to the sink and DW. I think it might help to clean up traffic patterns abit.
It also gives you some space to put drawers between the sink and stove for your cooking stuff and the DW won't be in the middle of your prepping. It seperates cleanup and prepping.

Okay, I can see the open counter peninsula and the sink on the return, small counter, range, counter, though I prefer to look out when possible instead of facing the wall. If it were my kitchen, I'd actually place the cooktop on the peninsula as I spend way more time at the stove than sink and having access to the family room activities would be a plus for me. In either case, whether you have the peninsula with a clean counter or a working counter topped by a 6" backsplash and buffet ledge, is your choice but either will make your design much better.

Blfenton and I agree about the preferred use of the space between your doors, so that's a good sign. HTH!

Didn't mean to confuse you with that last post. I'd put my sink, not cooktop, in the peninsula in your layout. It's true I like to look out when I cook, but in your case, the DR sink makes much more sense as I originally suggested. Obviously, it's getting past my bedtime. Sorry!

I never would have thought about moving the sink/dishwasher to the peninsula. That's definitely something to consider...
What's the narrowest the ledge should be, while still being useful?

Although I might not need the ledge at all, if I do the butler's pantry...

Decisions/decisions!

If you like the sink in the peninsula, you'll want to consider a small backsplash even with the butler's pantry, simply to prevent overspray. Many have a 6", topped by a horizontal ledge. My breakfast bar backsplash is only 4 3/4" and is high enough to prevent splashing. I like the option of having a generous ledge for eating or buffet staging, so mine is 18" wide, but I think 12" is still the minimum standard for counter height and 15" for bar height. Be sure to radius edge the corners, whether bar or counter height, to ease passage. You will not need to put regular stools there if doing so will crowd your dining space, but small backless stools tucked under the overhang might come in handy.

Take a dinner plate to your current knee wall ledge and you'll be able to gauge what would work best. Think about serving dishes also, and err on the generous side. Doing so will give you or future owners the option to use stools there for homework, a glass of wine while the chef is at work, etc. and you'll have a close platform to keep serving bowls during dinner and transfer dirty dishes once the meal is complete.

The other option is to place the sink facing the wall and not have the raised ledge as the sink will be 25" minimum from the DR. Then you will likely need a backsplash running the length of the working wall. The other approach some prefer is to forego a backsplash altogether, though in your set-up you would need some protectant behind the stove if your range doesn't come with a built-in backsplash. HTH!

For a cleanup sink, 6" is NOT enough space behind the sink to (1) prevent splashing the nice hardwood floor in your DR or (2) leave space for staging food and/or dishes. You will probably need at least 12" for splashing, maybe 18". When water splashes behind our cleanup sink (in front of an 18" deep bay window well), it goes at least 12"...sometimes farther. When a sink is against a wall, the wall stops the splashes, so of course 6" appears to be enough. While a 42"H pony wall or so behind it will help, it's still not ideal.

A pony wall usually has a small overhang on both sides...including the sink side. No, you don't have to put it on the sink side, but it will look better if you do...and it will give you a small bit of extra room for putting something on it (although, I don't recommend it b/c it will be too narrow). This means that the overhang on the sink side will extend over the counter on the sink side, thus reducing the amount of space available for your faucet, soap dispenser or bottle, etc. Many people have discovered this to their dismay after everything has been ordered & installed. (This affects not just pony walls, but also window sills above sinks and backsplashes if the BS material is thick.)

With a pony wall, I suggest an extra 7" to 9"; without a wall, I suggest 18", if you go with this idea. Even if you add a pony wall, you will still need approx 12.5"...8" for space behind the sink to fit the faucet (to accommodate the overhang on the sink side) + 4.5" for the pony wall itself. If you move the peninsula into the kitchen more, you can fit that 12" to 18".

Keep in mind, though, that you can move the range only so far to the right b/c of the window.

If you want the pony wall to also be used for staging food & dishes, then I suggest a minimum of 15" total top space...18" would be better.

I have a question...how would you feel about closing off the doorway to the hallway from the kitchen? It would mean having to walk through the FR or LR & DR to get to the kitchen, so if it's the main or family entrance into the house, it might be a problem. You have a garage entrance, though...do you use it? If you are open to this idea, you could either merge the old hallway into the LR/Playroom, or you could turn it into a long closet...for coats plus games, etc. (Based on the location of the LR in relation to the Kitchen & DR, I think it would be a better FR. The current FR is isolated and I think it might make a better LR for more formal occasions.)

Something like this:

I'm assuming you didn't like the idea of switching rooms around since you did not respond to the suggestion in your earlier thread. (I had another idea...switching the rooms but instead of a pantry, put in a banquette with seating to make it both a kitchen and Nook w/seating for everyday meals.) Something like this:

Buehl, great to remind about the slight overhang on the faucet side as I've read some frustrations here during or after installation. An ounce of prevention ...

Maybe I'm misunderstanding you, but my granite behind the sink is under 5" tall and then with the thickness of the bar slab which rest on it, I've never had a splash on top of the 18" bar much less to the seats or floor on the other side. Perhaps the types of faucets I generally choose arc far enough that this has never caused a problem.

Moreover, my deep double sink is slightly larger on the main side and thus has a narrow rear strip of granite. I most frequently use the main side so my faucet is usually turned toward this narrow strip unless I am spray rinsing the dishes in the smaller sink. The smaller sink has a 4" granite strip on which the faucet, soap dispenser and filtered tap rest. Granted, I have the main faucet (Kalista) installed so the lever faces the sink as I didn't want the handle or my hand to even slightly touch the backsplash when fully opened, but really have had no problems with my dimensions.

Everyone faces different challenges, but this has worked well in this reno. When I had the luxury of building what I wanted, the set up, while in a larger kitchen, was basically the same. Maybe not optimal, but eminently workable.

I totally agree that the NKBA standards cited, unless they've recently changed, with a 12" minimum table height is not ideal for staging. Chiefy's pony way, if they go that route, would be counter or bar, and those standards are 15" or 18". She still may prefer to have the sink on the same wall as the range if she goes with her latest iteration and only have a counter.

I think she uses the garage entrance all the time as that was perceived to be an issue with looking at an expense of RF metal so I was sticking with her parameters. If she revamps other rooms, then new options are possible but may not realistically be feasible. Ideally, RF are nice for access from DR but they also can be convenient with access near the FR. With that placement and the sink on the peninsula, she'd have what seems to be to a reasonable working triangle and could use the counter between the doors as additional prep or staging spot perhaps. I'm sure there are other ways of structuring this given her constraints.

Closing off the font hall entrance and circulating traffic through the existing FR might work well by providing more cabinet and appliance possibilties, but it likely will block off a good source of natural light. Plus, there may be time when having a clear shot to the front door will come in handy, but it's a trade-off that she can evaluate. You've given her lots to think about.

I considered switching around all of the rooms, but our current family room has a fireplace and that would just be too much to take into consideration.

I want to close-off the hallway as I think that's the best solution, but my DH is not on board. He's concerned about cutting off the hallway of a center-hall colonial. The entry way might be way too weird to have a hallway leading to a dead-end...

I'd probably not mess with the flow of a center hall colonial, but if you want to persuade your husband you could show him pix of dead ends as the focal point for some sculpture, table/art/floral tableau, etc. Others will weigh in and may present photos or other ideas for you to consider. Also check Houzz.com.

You could have transoms at the end of the closed off hall to allow light to flow into your kitchen.

Everything is a trade-off.

thanks for that other layout buel! It helps to have an idea of what our kitchen really could look like with that wall closed off.