twogirls... if I remember correctly, your dining is to the north and family room to the west? If you're willing to forgo the overhand in the dining area and half wall in the family room area; why don't you do an L on the left side with an island? I think that would give you the look more like your inspiration photo. IF you like that idea, we can work on appliance placement.

twogirls, I was thinking about you the last few days wondering what you had decided. I feel for you.

Let's hope the Amish company comes in at a workable price for you and you can get your dream cabinets and the kitchen you want. I know we found better prices going out on our own than we did w/retail establishment. By the way love your inspiration pics and margieb has a great kitchen plan to follow. With your perseverance, I'm sure it's going to work out for you. Hang in there.

remodelfla - Here's the big picture. Dining room to the north, family room to the east of the dining room. Great room is to the west and will get the most use I believe. I would like to have a view into the great room from the kitchen ;)

plucky - Yeah, Im hoping they come in reasonably. I have a feeling we wont be able to afford painted and glazed white and may have to do a natural maple with maybe a darker stain for a choice few of the cabintes.

AHHH... yes... family room AND great room... big space... lucky girl! Don't fret about this (like I should talk ) you'll come through with a plan that gives you the function and aesthetics you want. There will always be compromises along the way to get what fits with your space and lifestyle. What do you think about the L idea on the right side with an island? And... if you want painted cabs; have you considered MDF? Supposedly, they are extremely sturdy and take paint great. I'm assuming the cost is less in the material but makes up the difference in painting equalling it out to wood stained.

remodelfla - Well I could just do a complete L on the right, but you would have to walk around it to get from the garage entrance/mud room to the kitchen. The second plan I drew is basically an L with a break in it and an island. I havent thought about painted MDF. Im not sure what it will come down to. Going to have to be creative. Ive had to do that throughout this whole process. Wine taste, beer budget :)

do you need to get the cabs from builder? why not price out a local custom shop in your area? you may be surprised. i got estimates from five different cabinet makers; one "supply house" type place offering "semi custom" (what is that, really?) and another large custom shop (royal) and the rest were local guys. my custom cabs are coming in way below what the "semi" custom boxes would have cost.

kateskouros - I am definitely shopping around. I went to Lowe's, this Amish place that I really like, and if Im not happy with any of those I may try another. I never thought this would be so difficult. My only fear is that if I go with some "Bob's Kitchens" place because its cheap enough, the quality wont be there.

I was also wondering how you made out. The Amish shop sounds great! Hope it works out.

Funny about the book--my contractor took the same approach, except I lived with "the book" for weeks.

Others on the forum have much more design experience, so hopefully they'll chime in. The only two things I noticed about you second plan are the location of the fridge and DO. Do you have a logical "landing area" for things coming out of the DO? Perhaps it's the spot on the island behind you. It looks like you may have a traffic pattern from the great room past the range to the fridge and back. Perhaps consider swapping the range and the fridge?

Your KD's will likely give you ideas on placement of the appliances. The space looks incredible! Hang in there!

I don't have any answers but boy can I give you my sympathy. Right now my plan is $14K over budget for just the cabinets.

seaglass - So funny you got "the book" too. And you ended up going with someone else didnt you? Yeah the landing space would be the island or the counter beside the fridge with the dish storage.

justmeinsd - 14K over, AACK. How does this happen? I mean am I really planning that fancy of a kitchen? Am I only suppose to have 3 cabinets? Then there's the appliances. Too scary to think about....

Throw those books away and go with someone else. I can't stand to be pushed. The only man that I let push my buttons at all are my husband...and then I keep my finger lightly on his. :) I am positive you can beat those prices and praying right now you can get what you want with who you want to work with and come in on time and within budget! Don't expect to get if you don't ask specifically.

Thank you sherilynn :) I really hope it works out and we get something we are happy with, having no regrets.

So, does anyone have a preference on these two plans? Or are they no good?

bumping for layout help please :)

Some cabinets are much more expensive than others for sometimes not really good reasons.

This is an implementation similar to the last one, but using less cabinets and the cabinets aren't at all "special". I'd also maybe "build" the oven enclosure and drywall it instead of using an oven cabinet. Or moving the oven into the corner next to the ref and using more "plain" cabinets on the other side.

When you recover from your build, you can buy a contrasting island.

{{!gwi}}

I guess I worry about putting the sink in the peninsula like that if its only 3 - 3 1/2 ft deep. That's a thought though about the island. If its going to be contrasting I could get it later.

So you dont like the 2nd plan I posted with the big island?

Won't an island added to the last plan cause problems by being a barrier between the fridge and sink-stove areas?

In the 2nd plan above, the stove is protected, but the prep sink is at least 10 ft, I think, from the fridge...If I look at a 10 ft wide room in my house, that'd be a long way to tromp back and forth with handfuls or armloads of veggies to prep. At least it's a fairly straight shot, but ideally, I'd sure prefer to have the prep sink between the stove and fridge, not go past the cooktop to prep then back to it to cook. What would be to the right of the ovens...framed pantry? I'm wanting to move the fridge down this way so that it lines up with the aisle to the stove, but it will decrease that possible pantry space.

I'm not a fan of the 3x3 island. It seems too small to be useful. Also, I would find a general plan you like - ie placement of the sink, stove, fridge, dw, and prep area and then play with the specific cabinets to fit your budget.

The aisle space at both the prep sink and the room entrance on the ref side isn't very big.

At the prep sink, it's about 33 inches - er, with a stool in it or partially in it? The other side at the ref is about 40" but the straight-through distance is 36".

The main traffic "hallway" passes at the clean up sink and in front of the ref.

rhome - I could maybe move the REF down. But then I would probably have to cut some of the counter space beside the cooktop. The cabinet to the right of the CT would be a 21 probably and then on the left it would be a 9 and LS. I didnt really have a plan for the space right of the DO. I was kind of leaving it open for walkspace. I could move the prep sink somewhere else? Or I could just slide the main sink down south on the island and use it for prep? Then that would leave a nice space for seating with no splashing? But might be a weird space for prep and it would kind of invade my landing space for the REF. Why cant I make this kitchen work?

I really like the coffee center in bmore's last plan. I can almost envision making it table height and putting some chairs there (if you can do without the storage underneath) It would be like a built in table that would overlook the great room. Great spot to enjoy your morning coffee and read the paper.

bmore - yeah, your right about the paths. They are big in some areas and a little tight in others. Now as far as the main traffic, I though I wanted it to be away from cooking, so thats why I put the Sink and REF there?

remodelfla - A coffee center is very important. Mama needs her coffee ;). Im just wondering if it will look weird from the great room with a coffee pot, etc sticking up over the backslpash since its open?

acc0406 - yep, I wonder about the 3X3 too. Ive tried laying out my appliances, etc all different ways. I just cant make it flow right or fit right for some reason.

rhome - I have been looking at your kitchen. I dont have the space you have, but I love how you have different stations. Baking, cooking, food storage, dish storage, prep. Thats what Im wanting, but nothing has really clicked yet.

I don't think I have a lot more space in the main kitchen than you do, but it takes walls...I couldn't have gotten as much out of my kitchen if it had to be open to other rooms. It's pretty independent so, other than making sure it connected to the path for bringing in groceries and the dining room, I could concentrate on it only...Not what it looked like from the living room, or what I could see in other rooms from it. Every requirement complicates things...Every additional need doesn't add, but seems to multiply the challenges.

You've had some plans that have gotten you close. Which ones are your favorites? Maybe we should concentrate on them and how you might decrease the cabinet bill to have them, like the use of framing around the fridge and oven as Bmore suggested.