This is what I had in mind: The big window is centered between the upper cabinets and the fridge. The dining table is centered on the french doors and the wide doorway to the kitchen. The island is meant to be your kitchen table/homework space. This also fixed what appeared to be pretty tight clearances around your dining table and too many seats for a table that size. For you, since you have such a tight budget, I would recommend not actually doing an island but a table of the same size for now. If you are so inclined later down the line, you can build it in with cabinets below and a counter on top and maybe even a prep sink. Since it will be so much later, you might plan on the get-go for having the island be of contrasting materials from the perimeter. Similarly, there is a logical spot for double ovens in the future, but for now you might want to save the money and just make that a pantry. Perhaps with cabinet door sizes that are cleverly chosen so a set of them are the perfect size and place in the stack to be easily removed later and ovens put in instead.

If what you like is a one-wall kitchen with an island, that is possible. You'd have a super long island that is 3' deep and way roomier walkways (4') around the island. If you did that, I'd just make the nook a straight windowseat. Like this: The island has legs on one end for seating like this: The bay window provides extra space needed to walk comfortably behind the island seating. I'd add another doorway into the dining room, since that is now your primary eating area. You want non-cooking traffic to be able to get back and forth without entering your kitchen work zones. And I think you'll generally like the greater visibility and circular flow between rooms. If you orient the island drawer stack closest to the dining room so it opens toward the dining room, you'll be able to unload the dishwasher directly into that. And glasses can go in the pantry, which is just a step or two further. The pantry is floor-to-ceiling cabinets and around 12" deep. That's great pantry storage - stores a ton, and it's easy to see everything with nothing lost in the back. Note that the downsides are: - You lost a hallway closet and deepened the other hallway closet in order to elongate the one-wall part of the kitchen. You wouldn't have to do this if you lose the wall ovens, but I assume you don't want that. - It's going to be complicated to vent the range hood. - You'll need to get a fridge with one door and drawer freezer so they don't bang the open dishwasher. Or make peace with not opening the fridge and dishwasher at the same time.

The things I liked about your original plan were the fridge and second sink were at the edge of the kitchen. I find there is a lot of traffic to the fridge and second sink by my family. Everyone in my house uses the second sink as a handwashing sink. It is also closest to walking in the house from the garage at my house. Your current fridge location is ok, since people can access it from the right without walking through your work area. In your layout, people can use the main sink to wash hands or veggies if they are helping cook if you are working between the fridge and stove. To me the second sink placement on that corner of prime work space in your "work triangle" is not ideal and seems like it would get in the way and only be usable by one person. But if it has a garbage disposal, perhaps it is a great prep sink location and won't be used for handwashing as my second sink is. With your current plan, I like that the dishes and silverware are at the edge of the kitchen, assuming they are in the drawer and cabinet closest to the dishwasher. That is the other thing people go to grab a lot so you want at the edge. Though it is a bit far to grab a plate or then go to get food or drink through the work triangle from the fridge in this layout................. The bottom line is that you need to think about how you live and use your kitchen. I do not mind the fridge being visible from other areas, and I am with you on the bigger it is the better!! There is no such thing as a too big pantry or fridge to me, and if you have the space, go for it. Everyone will give you slightly different opinions on what to do where. If you are getting multiple contradicting opinions, it means there is no "right" answer and you have to go with what you like. You have a lovely interesting ceiling and room around the kitchen. I am sure whatever your final layout, it will be nice and work for you! The less plumbing,gasline changes you have to make moving things around, the less cost. Imagine how you all will use the space and do what is best for you :) lafdr

Thank goodness for drawers, full extension. Love them. If it weren't for that development, my very favorite kitchens would still be ones retaining vintage repainted built-ins from earlier in the last century. Warm fuzzies. I love my little area that keeps the coffemaker, microwave, etcetera separate and so on out of my work area, and you keep mentioning that, so I think you might miss having one. One-foot-deep (as opposed to wide) shelves hold a LOT, in fact the vast majority of what goes in a kitchen could fit on one. Drawers lose a lot of space to mechanisms but can still hold a bunch of coffee cups and other smaller items in convenient position. We have both. Our main kitchen works wonderfully, but the one big "if I could do it over" is I'd get rid of the lower corner cabinet, just abandon the space in the corner itself and save money on the cabinet and expensive mechanisms. Much of what's given up would actually be taken over by wider and far more efficient drawer stacks extending all the way to the corner on each side. I did that in a vacation kitchen, and it's incredibly more convenient and permanent-nuisance solving. I wouldn't find the refrigerator's current position to be a problem worth sacrificing something else I wanted and would love working between it and the stove. I do wonder about that width, though. Not because 33" isn't perfectly good for us, but because of what may come next in appliances. What other functions might be incorporated into refrigerator, stove, wall oven area? It's possible they'd might become most affordably available in the ubiquitous 36" width, which does have some room to give over to other use for a lot people. If the big touch screen on smart refrigerators becomes as valuable a center as they tout, will that be a good place for it? Probably could be installed elsewhere and smaller for an extra price. :) But where will you want it? Can't tear ourselves up over this, but it makes sense at least give some thought for flexibility for new technology so hopefully the choice wouldn't be complete remodel or do without, as the larger refrigerators once did. And then decide with eyes open. Have fun. I envy you your older home. It's going to be nice.