You are right! The kitchen is 12' x 12'- I had subtracted the 4 foot stairs in my mind, to 12' x 8'. So embarrassed. So I spent this morning checking the measurements-pretty sure it is correct now. robotropolis: to the side of the 36" refrigerator is a 3" plaster wall which helps incorporate the 4" square spiral stair case the previous owner installed. Ha, someday you could replace it with an elevator. AnnieDeighnaugh and smaloney-great pick up by you both, thanks. I hope the dimensions make more sense now. The kitchen sink/range run at 144" is cramped. Thankfully it is not limited by distance to the corner wall (48" is the narrowest, range directly across to corner wall edge by opening to the pantry) nor to refrigerator (82"). There are 3 doors: one to hallway by the stairs, and a pass by kitchen route from back door to the dining room. I did want to make the pantry sink a clean up sink, separate from the prep sink. If I replaced the current DW location to the pantry base area, this could be accomplished and I still am giving that serious consideration for precisely what you noticed, smaloney. Thanks. Here are the new photos with updated measurements. Kitchen 12' x 12': Kitchen stairwell wall: L Corner wall dimensions: Pantry: I started a "help with kitchen/pantry design" thread before this (and have updated it's photos too). I understand it is best to keep it all on one thread, but this "L" corner wall, like them all, is truly design challenged.

I think your choice (b) is your best option. I have a friend who installed a duct after-the-fact, and it turned out not to be as big a deal as she had feared. Regarding your choice (c), it makes no difference in your exhaust needs whether you are cooking with gas or electric. You will generate the same grease and smoke. What makes a difference in your exhaust needs is HOW and WHAT you cook, not the type of energy. I.e., if you never stir-fry, or cook steaks and hamburgers, or fry anything, then your exhaust needs will be less. The rough rule of thumb for calculating the number of cfms you will need for your new hood is to add up the btu's of your rangetop, and divide by 100. E.g. if you have 4 burners, each with 15,000 btu's, totalling 60,000 btu's, you will need a 600 cfm hood. Furthermore, when installing your new ductwork it is CRUCIAL you install a big enough duct. It should be either 8" or 10" in diameter. Don't let a contractor tell you "6 inch diameter is fine". A duct that is too small will make your hood noisier, and be less efficient. That is often why two different people will have the same hood, but only one will complain it is noisy--the duct is too small. Also, the majority of hoods on the market require an 8" duct. You can find a few hoods that only need 6", but they are harder to find. HTH.

Annette - we use it multiple times a day in various ways. DH "steams" veggies in it, I use it for last minute thawing of items, reheating left-overs and making cups of tea. Traffic will mostly go through the fridge aisle, I've attached a whole house drawing that should clarify traffic patterns. mama - you definitely have a point there. While I'm planning on using the sink (Kohler Prolific?} as the primary prep area, I'm pretty sure, that I'll use the island for prepping on lovely, sunny days, or when we have company, as that allows me to see people and see through the oversized family room windows into the backyard. The windows on each side of the cook top look out at the neighbor's house, so no view. practigal - that was my 2nd choice, before moving it closer to the fridge. The concern being again, that it is too close to a person working at the sink. But yes, if I turn it towards the stove, it might work. Once I have made the decision to put the MW in the island, I'll be able to make a last minute decision as to where exactly to put it, while everything else is already in place. We're using Ikea, so last minute changes are not a big deal and I imagine, the island will be the last thing that'll go in.

On the top right the distance is 64.5" and the bottom right the distance is 52". Yes! After much thought my husband and I agreed that 'getting rid' of two doors makes the most sense. In this design, the refrigerator will be placed where the former door to the front porch was. We decided that it was fine to get rid of this door because the porch it opens to has another access point and faces a road.