Looks really nice. Couple of comments - can you flip dw and sink? The sink looks too far away from the action (fridge and cooktop). Also not sure if this shows your cabinetry but i would recommend more drawers.

How much overhang do you have on your countertops for the seating?

Hi, Belle :)

I like the overall plan, especially the baking area. The oven looks good there and is that the beverage/snack center in the other area?

Where exactly is the entry to the garage, going to be? On the left side of the seating area (closer to the laundry)? Are the mudroom lockers going to be across from the washer/dryer?

Also, if you're walking through the keeping room, to get to the laundry and garage...will you have room for a coffee table or are you just planning to have end tables with the sofa and chairs across?

Overall, it looks very inviting and very family oriented. I can imagine you having a wonderful time cooking with friends and family :)

Sophie - I am a little concerned about the sink being a smidge too far from the prep area also. I actually had the dishwasher on the left side of the sink but moved it to the right so it would be closer to where the everyday dishes are going to be stored. My thought was if I am still unloading the dishes, while my DH is starting to rinse the dishes, he won't be in my way, blocking access from the DW to the drawer. I don't know which is more important - having the DW close to where most of the dishes will be unloaded, or having it closer to the prep area? Can anyone give advice?

The overhang is actually crazy big (like over 25") for most of the island. It is a little small on the 'north' side, at the very end, only 6'' but it quickly widens and with the curve, I think it will be closer to 12'' where someone is actually sitting. That will probably be the least used chair of the four.

Drawers - The only other place I might be able to put drawers is to the right of the cooktop and I didn't b/c I thought it should match the trash pull out cabintrey on the other side. Do people think symmetry is warrantied here or does having drawers trump? The cabinets to the far right of the cooktop is actually only 12" deep for both the uppers and base cabinets. So I think drawers would be very costly to do there and not neccesarily add a lot of benefit. Has anyone done drawers that are only 12'' deep? I'd love to get their advice. I'm going to store small appliances there though so I don't think drawer would even be helpful for that. It does look like there are lots of cabinet doors though. I can see how you would think I need more drawers.

Lavender - thanks for the encouragement. The lockers will have doors and actually be in the keeping room. They are going in the 36'' and 48'' space on the sides of the door to the laundry room. They aren't in any of the 3D or elevation renderings though b/c I haven't finished designing them yet. The door to the garage will be on the left side of the couch but, the couch has to be shifted down to the right toward the kitchen and overtake space where the drawing is currently showing the door.

There is a quasi-snack area: dry snacks, sippy cups and bowls will be stored in k2. But the small fridge in the far corner, under f2, will have some cold snacks for the kids. I certainly hope it will be inviting and family-oriented. It won't be worth the hassle if it's not!

It's hard to tell what the dimensions are in the keeping room, but I'm guessing about 12' x 10' with the bay? It looks like you have your family entrance there, from the garage, which makes the lockers a great idea. If it gets a little too cramped (just a suggestion) maybe trade in the sofa for a built-in bench with more storage and cubbies...and have two overstuffed chairs with an ottoman, in the bay. Maybe something like this?

Here is a link that might be useful: Link to mudrooms

Lavender - you just about got it. The keeping room is is 14.5' wide by 11' to the bay. Granted, I will lose 1.5' for the mudroom-like lockers. Thanks for the link. I hadn't seen those but that is what I am after. I have 38 similar photos in my mudroom idea book on Houzz. ;)
I should have said earlier, the lockers will face the island. They will be on the outside wall of the laundry room in the keeping room. And to answer one of your earlier questions, no I don't think we will have a coffee table but maybe an end table or a small side ottoman-like end table between the chairs. Sitting will be a priority so I'd rather a small couch than have to scrap it altogether.

I really like it. It looks well planned and should function very well for you. As mentioned I think changing some cabinets to drawers will improve the function of the space. I would make K1 and K2 drawers and merge q and r into one drawer. How wide are the drawers on the island? There is a lot of wasted space having multiple small drawer banks vs one large one. My dish drawers are 36" with an interior dimension of 33". At this size I can fit most of our daily dishes in one drawer and I LOVE that.

I think in general the plan is solid. It will be lovely, congratulations!

There are several aspects of your kitchen that I like but you weren't asking for confirmation but possible negatives.

No one else said anything but the asymmetry of the island really doesn't sit well with me. IMO it looks like it was crammed in because it curves on one area and the the reason it does is because it couldn't fit. You look like you have achieved your goal and then some with enough countertop space. Having the island 53" on one side and only 30" on the other further accentuates the non symmetry. Would you be open to shortening up the length by 1 foot or so (on the30" edge). If you did you could then possible make the entire island a rectangle with a 36" deep. That said, how much of a clearance do you have between the island and that corner - it appears extremely tight.

I am putting drawers in in everywhere but the trash pull out and the sink (but I'm still thinking I'd like drawers for my sink). It's all about convenient storage for me.

Muskokasp - Thanks. I'm glad to hear you think it's pretty solid. I wish I could have even just a 27" drawer but the drawers in the island are basically all spoken for and I'd rather compartmentalize and just have one sort of thing in a drawer than having a large drawer with several different things inside.
The cabinetry in the island from left to right measures and what will be in each section/drawer are below:
15'' drawers (batteries, dish towels, kids dishes)
33'' sink (cooking oils, DW detergent, fire extinguisher, etc)
24'' DW
15'' drawers (prep knives, baggies, foil/saran wrap, water bottles or lunch boxes)
3'' with two shelves for cutting boards
24'' drawers (silverware, everyday dishes, tupperware)

Aloha - Actually, I'd love some confirmation (which I am getting). This is a scary process and huge undertaking so some hand-holding and encouraging along the way is needed.

I did start with an island that was a rectangle but it evolved. I really like curves. I tried doing just a symmetrical slightly curved island, kind of like this one, which I love, but needed more space by the door.

So yes, in some respects you are correct it was crammed tight on the top end but I like asymmetry and it works better for my odd/difficult to configure space. So now there is actually 4.5' between the corner of the island and the edge of the door going outside and 3.5' to the back of the chair. I know some people will hate the assymetrical island but I'm good with it. I read curves are supposedly more welcoming in general (not just in kitchen but everything even like jewelry). It also gives me a work space and storage across from the baking area. Thanks for the feedback.

I too think curves are welcoming. What if you took a foot off the island and made the ends 36" deep and spanned out to 42-48" at the deepest point. For me the way the island is just seems to say "I had to cram the island in". Every angle that you had, just screamed it for me. Just my opinion though.

Normally I would rencourage NOT having a desk. I've had one (even designed it in) and mine fell into the same category as most everyone else who had one - UNUSED except for junk. Being so far from the main kitchen working area, and having a great expanse of windows, I would find it quite pleasant to work there. That combined that it couldn't be used for much else, warrants the desk IMO too.

Belle- Thanks for the measurements. You have plenty of room for a sofa, which is going to be wonderful to relax and enjoy your view! I was concerned you wouldn't have enough room for the sofa, with the lockers and garage door, but there will be plenty of space :)

As for the island, I really like the shape and I think it works well with your angled door, out to the deck. Aloha makes a great point about the desk...maybe you'll be the one to figure out how to place a desk in the kitchen...that works! LOL

What kind of cabinetry are you using ? frameless, inset,framed? This will impact the final interior dimensions of your drawers. Could you find a home for the cutting boards under the sink or somewhere else? I would like to see you take those 3 " back and give them to your dish drawers.

OK, after commenting in your other thread, I searched to see if you had a whole kitchen layout, and here I am. You're talking about spending a lot of money here to rearrange things here. And, you're getting caught up in the small details before ever getting the big picture correct. You've got a lot of duplication of spaces that doesn't really add anything to your goals, and some of the spaces that you're creating are too small and awkward to ever really be used. You say you want to open things up because you entertain, but you've actually closed things off between your DR and kitchen by creating a unneeded butler's pantry. They're cool, yes, but it's a waste in this case. You have a table stuck at the end in the former sunroom, but you have zillions of seats at an awkward island that will not serve either your prep or cleanup functions sufficiently. It's a pretty shape, but that shape isn't a workhorse. You're going to be stumbling in each others way here.

I think you need to go back to ground zero and look at the space that exists there now. If you want to take down walls (5K) and expand into the sunroom, my first question to you is what type of window replacements are you planning to be able to allow that space to become heated and cooled space? Good windows aren't cheap, and sunroom type spaces need very good windows in order to be able to minimize the heat gain that they cause. (At least 20K here for windows and doors) You'll need an all new HVAC system for the new space.(Another 15K) Your old one won't be able to absorb the new. You're talking moving plumbing around and adding plumbing. (At least 7K) All in all, you've got more than 50K spent here before you even start on the kitchen components. And you're creating a more awkward space than currently exists.

Live Wire - What spaces do you view as duplicative? What spaces do you view as too small & awkward? Why do you think the island won't be functional for prep and clean-up? (Clean-up I can understand but not prep - please explain.)

I currently have an almost square kitchen with two traffic path going through the center of it. When we have people over, they are always in the kitchen and no matter where they stand, I have to ask them to move at some point or another. I want a bigger space that allows for guests to interact with me while I am cooking but without being in my space. What would you suggest?

We don't use the dining room for our weekly night of entertaining. The dining room is actually a playroom right now and will be for the next several years. Our kitchen table can hold 8 so that is what we use. We would love to have a small sitting / casual hang-out area and an island with seating. There is no sunroom currently. What you see on the as-is built image is a crappy, old screen porch that will need to be demolished at some point in the future anyway. In this plan we are going to be taking down a wall and adding 14'x16' of heated and cooled space. Yes, it is going to be expensive.

I see the link to the original space, but it doesn't have enough measurements in it to work out exactly what's there now. If you could post some additional measurements, and where the plumbing and gas are located, perhaps more ideas could be forthcoming.

Does this designer actually cook? The reason I ask is that this is a "showy" kitchen with the big island, but I wouldn't want to cook or hang out in it. The wall oven isn't close enough to the cooktop to make those combo sear and finish in the oven dishes easy. The MW is WAY too far from the fridge, making snackers run right through the prep zone dodging the cook. The huge island has a very small actual usable workspace compared to it's size and you can't have someone cleaning and someone prepping at the same time. There's no trash pullout?!?! And this is a large space. It's designed like a small space.

I like some of the aesthetics, but a pretty space that works smaller than it's original space isn't worth doing. And this kitchen doesn't work well at all. That's why I asked if the designer cooks. Because it certainly seems as though the design is all about show with no go.

And, the other details. Awkwardly cramped dining if it's to serve as dinner party space. Enough seating on the island to serve a dinner party but without any real social connection. It's function that is duplicate of the dining and casual dining spots, yet none of it seems roomy enough Mud room lockers not close to any entry way or in any way serving as a mud room. They won't get used. Awkward entry ways into the space from the exterior. An awkward division of the screen room that doesn't give it any connection with the rest of the social space in the home. The butler's pantry to no where. If no entertaining is being done in the DR, then the butler's pantry is an expensive waste of space. There just seems to be a lot of that. Wasted space, that is. And, a lot of money being spent to get wasted space.

Go back to the original space as it exists and throw this design out of your mind. Start over. Clean slate with what's there now and how you use it and why it doesn't work for you. I can see re-purposing the screen room to a casual dining area for sure, but without completely taking down load bearing walls and creating pinch points and awkward spaces.

Please feel free to ignore this post. I'm not sure if you are too far to totally look at going a different direction or not. Let me just say that I like the big island plan, but if you are interested in completely re-thinking things here is a thought.

Could you move the entry from the garage and turn the existing dining room/play room into a true mud-room/laundry room. Then you could take the existing utility room and breakfast nook space and turn that into the kitchen. The current kitchen could become the keeping room. And the new addition could be a new dining room.

I'm envisioning a nice bumped out sink under the window and great pantry space... an island that extends out to the keeping room w/ seating on 3 sides so that people can turn and have conversations with either the keeping room or the kitchen.

I have no idea if this idea would be way more expensive or not, as I think both ideas are pretty expensive.

Belle- When you ask for everyone's opinion...you're going to get everyone's opinion. Some have read your earlier posts, some not...and some will say your ideas are not as good as they could be, or that you should start over.

I think you have a good plan. I like that it's different from everyone else's...and I try to be supportive, unless I see something that looks like it will cause someone to really regret a decision, down the road. There are a lot of people here with much more experience, but I know that sometimes we have an 'image' that is really perfect for our situation and family...that others may not understand or realize why it's just right for us.

As far as function, layout, flow...these are all things that 'ideally' would be the most important thing in the space. That being said, I truly want a woodstove in my kitchen, with a little seating area AND a banquette in my only dining area. I don't care about resale (since I live on a family farm and have no plans to sell) and I want something different than what you'd normally see in most kitchen designs.

Now, you have a beautiful plan and there's a few things that could be improved for a perfectly functioning kitchen...but if you like a big island and the oven's location works for you...I don't see a lot of problems. Yes, the seating area isn't necessary, but how many wonderful kitchens include something not necessary, yet it makes the kitchen so much more enjoyable than it would be, without it.

I'd suggest you read through the responses, see what helps, ignore what doesn't and move on with your kitchen plan. If you've noticed, there are a lot of amazing kitchen reveals on this forum that start out...I know you all told me not to do this, but isn't it wonderful??? And usually, it is wonderful and we all say, "Wow, that person DID know what was right for their space and look how well it turned out!" :)

Wow HollySprings - tell me how you really feel. This design is a colloboration between me and the KD, not just the KD trying to make a showy kitchen. This is also after I have thought about, researched, read a lot on GW (on zone areas specifically), posted some intial layouts and gotten feedback and made some changes. Yes, I need to continue to tweak it and incorporate the feedback I am getting - like making the left side of the sink 18" and moving the MW (which I need to change anyway b/c of how much it sticks out it makes the counter top space underneath it almost unusable and that is suppose to be my baking area).

I don't understand why you don't think someone can prep and someone else clean at the island at the same time? I did have a trash pullout in the island originally but moved it out so I would have more storage where I use it daily/need it. Instead, I incorporated 2 trash pullouts instead of just one (left of the cooktop, opposite the island and far left of the oven - but still close to the sink). I don't bake that much and I almost never do "sear and finish in the oven" dishes so yes the oven is far away but that was a compromise I was willing to make. I don't know where a "better" place for it would be.

The door to the garage is actually going to be on the "other' side of the couch so right next to the mudroom-like lockers. Basically where it is in the as-built image below. We already have hook for coats there and use it regularly.

What everyone is referring to as the Butler's pantry isn't that exactly. It is more of a bar area and will be used to store liquor, wine, tumblers and wine glasses - no dishes or silver. We need to have a place for this stuff and this is what worked so it was away from the action in the kitchen but you could still stand there and make a drink for someone who is sitting at the island or in the keeping room and converse with them while doing it. And, someday when the dining room is a DR again, it will work well to have the bar there.

I realize it sounds like I am trying to defend myself and the design. That's not my intention as I am open to suggestions but I am trying to give the rational behind why things are currently designed the way they are.

Here is the as-built with dimensions:

Starting with a "clean slate" what would you do, to open the space and make the kitchen better for casual entertaining and a comfortable place for family and friends to hang out? Would it be helpful is a posted photos of the existing space?

MtHouse - very interesting idea. The thing is it would work well to have the playroom at the back of the house, but I wouldn't want it there once it is a dining room again. It would be a waste of the view and windows to the backyard for a room that is rarely used as a DR. The other potential problem is the current playroom is right at the front of the house so I'm not sure I would want to make it into a mudroom. I hadn't thought of making the current breakfast room into the kitchen but I'll give it some thought. I wonder if it would be big enough...

Lavender - I responded to Hollysprings before I read your post. Thank you. I needed to hear that. Yes, we are doing this remodel for us and not for resale. We love everything else about our house and are just looking to make our kitchen the crown jewel and heart of our home I guess. I feel like I do know how I use the space and what will and won't work for me. There is something about being in a space IRL vs. seeing it on paper. I know the current breakfast room will make a lovely sitting area with the bay windows and we will use it ALL THE TIME. I can't wait to have coffee with a friend there, or to line up 4 kids on the island and serve them lunch or the joy of being able to actually see my DD and DS in the backyard through the large windows while I am preparing dinner in the kitchen but none of this translates onto paper. Thanks again. Some changes are in progress though.