Follow up--here's the plan for the cabinets on the range side.

And here are the cabinets on the sink side.

Personally, I'd find that butcher block cart more of a nuisance than a help. It will need to be moved regularly to get to the cabs at the end of each counter run.

I think a U-shaped kitchen would be a better use of your space. There's no rule that says you have to use the corner space. You can, as I and other GWers have done, void the corner and go with drawers on each side of it. See the thread below.

If you don't want to do that, then yes, reduce the aisle between sink and range run to 48" to 60". And ditch the cart (sorry).

Then make sure you have at least 42" between peninsula end and fridge door (48" would be better) so that this area doesn't become a pinch point.

Are you trying to salvage the cabs to save on costs? Or do they have historical value for your home? If the former, are they well-built and worth saving? Are you putting stone counters in and if so, are the cabinet boxes strong enough to support the weight of stone counters?

If the cabs were built-in place, you may not be able to salvage them or if you can, it will be difficult and time-consuming. If you're hiring someone to do this work, it could easily cost you as much or more than new cabinets.

Lastly, think about how much storage these cabs offer. Your sink run has one 15" cab, two 15 1/2" cabs and a cab even skinnier than that. That's a poor use of storage space, IMO. You'd have much more usable storage if you combined the two 15 1/2" cabs into a 31" wide bank of drawers instead used for dish storage. If you want a cab between DW and wall, move the trash pull-out there and gain much needed, useful storage to the right of the sink. Or put the trash under the sink (yes, really) and add in a 24" bank of drawers between wall and DW and a then a wide bank of drawers to the right of the sink.

Where do you plan to store glasses? In the uppers on the range run? You could also store them in drawers on the sink run like GWer ElizPiz did in her gorgeous, well-planned kitchen in a Victorian home.

Here is a link that might be useful: My KD high-fived me!

You have a lot of empty space between range and fridge wall. I would extend the office wall a couple of feet.

Have you considered an L plus an island? Range stays in place, sink goes under the window. Move the range to the right (with the extended wall) to provide at least a couple of feet between sink run and range. Yep, it does force you into a corner - but you don't have to use a susan or anything else. In your case, you could even access that dead space from the office side (a cool hidden cubby, perhaps). You'd also gain upper cabinet space.

Since your main prep zone will be between sink and stove, the island is for storage and seating. Put stools on two sides for more comfortable conversation.

I agree completely with Lisa about your existing cabinets. You might save a little money now by re-using, but no way would I sacrifice a great layout for the sake of reusing inefficient cabinets. Save money elsewhere to get the bones right. And if the best use of space requires a 33" sink base, so be it.

Alas, my poor cart. Well, if I can't have it I'm going to buy the best and biggest cutting board I can find. That might be the better choice anyway.

First, the urge to save the cabinets is based primarily on costs. They were either custom or semi-custom made about 12 years ago by a previous owner (I know they're not stock cabinets because the sizes are all weird). I'm going with Corian countertops, so they don't need to support granite. But there's no reason not to play around with other options and cost out any solutions that look promising. We won't really know about how movable they are until we actually try, I guess. My takeaway here is that I should know what it would cost to buy new so I can make the smartest decision.

I read the thread you recommended--thank you!. Honestly, it had never even occurred to me to block off the corners. Duh. So simple, so brilliant.

That glassware storage drawer is lovely. I was planning for glasses to go over by the refrigerator. The microwave will be there as well, so it will be handy to make hot tea or get ice. It's a little more of a walk from the dishwasher, but livable.

Thanks for the insights! Any other thoughts are welcome. I may be back with a new drawing!

I was replying to Lisa when you posted, annkh, sorry. You know, that extra space by the office door *is* wasted. It's part of the original house, so I was ignoring it.

I marked the existing walls in yellow on the floorplan so you can see what we're starting with.

You're giving me a lot to think about!

I took annkh's idea of creating an L kitchen with island and ran with it. :)

I completely missed how wide your kitchen area is earlier and how much wasted space you have by not using more of the area between window wall and fridge wall. So I added more wall to the office area to give you a longer range wall.

Then I moved the fridge over to the window wall with the DW and sink next to it, creating a good work triangle. I moved some of your existing cabs to fill in the space left behind when I moved the fridge so you're still using them.

And then I gave you a nice-sized island with room for 3 seats and lots of storage. You can even top it with butcher block, either all of it or just the end closest to the range.

[Contemporary Kitchen[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/contemporary-kitchen-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_709~s_2103) by Rehoboth Beach Home Builders Echelon Custom Homes

[Traditional Kitchen[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/traditional-kitchen-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_709~s_2107) by Louisville Kitchen & Bath Designers Kenneth Fromme

[Traditional Kitchen[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/traditional-kitchen-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_709~s_2107) by Atlanta General Contractors Blake Shaw Homes, Inc

This plan still leaves very generous aisles between island and run of existing cabinets and between island and W/D closet but you won't be running around the kitchen to make a meal nearly as much as you would with your proposed plan.

btw, I had to guess on the length of the fridge/sink wall. Your drawings didn't include the whole length of the space, only measurements for portions of it. I did the best eyeballing of "hmm, it looks like it's about X long" and went from there. Ditto for how much room you gain by lengthening the office wall. Obviously, you'll need to double check my numbers. This is just to give you an idea of what is possible.

Oh, I forgot to note that the MW is a MW drawer in the island across from the fridge run.

WOW. I was sorta messing around with L shape, but this infinitely better. Thank you so much.

I've got to run now, but I'll be back after giving this more thought. Thank you again!

The L shaped plan looks so much more functional.

We have a set-up somewhat similar to the drawing that Lisa_a posted (with the island) and it's been great for many years. My only observation is that there is a lot of potential storage missing by not using any uppers, especially along the wall with the stove. Seems like that would be a good place to run uppers to the ceiling.

Also, and this is just a random thought from looking at that drawing, with the corner blocked, you could make a great hidey-hole/bookcase/niche on the office side of that wall in that corner. In other words, access the blocked corner from the office for some extra storage. Are there any windows in that office?

I'm playing with the measurements and details right now and will probably show you guys more tomorrow. Thanks so much for all the great input!

Sippimon, I'm definitely having upper cabinets on the wall with the stove as well as on either side of the window over the sink. I couldn't figure out how to show that with the free floorplanner software! If you look at the pencil drawings on graph paper you can see how I was envisioning it.

The office is almost all windows right now. It was the breakfast nook back in 1925 and has windows on three sides and a door on the other, which has made storage interesting! With the remodel it will still have windows on two sides. I'm excited about having more wall space. I also love the idea of a cubbyhole/bookcase.

Good suggestion about how to use that corner, sippimom.

I didn't draw uppers in either but I saw them on Elizabeth's other drawings so I knew she intended to have uppers at least on the range wall.

WOW. I was sorta messing around with L shape, but this infinitely better. Thank you so much.

I've got to run now, but I'll be back after giving this more thought. Thank you again!

OK, I've incorporated lisa_a's suggestions. The more I look at it the more I like it:

* It has better workflow.

* Extending the office wall not only gives me more kitchen wall space, it also lets me put a door into my office, something I was hesitant to do before since it's such a small space. But a door will be awesome--since sometimes my office gets kinda trashed. (I have to work with every surface covered with paper.)

* I can put a tall pantry cabinet where the refrigerator used to be next to the laundry closet. I wanted more pantry storage but was worried about where to put it.

I'm playing with having a smaller island with a table jutting out from it. I've seen this look on Pinterest and various other places and I like it. Not sure yet if I'll go with this or with an island with seating on two sides, but I like exploring the option.

I've drawn some cabinet ideas too:

For the pesky corner, I'm thinking dead space for the lower cabinets (with maybe sneaky access from the office side--love that idea--although my husband suggested a time capsule). For the upper cabinets, I think I'll have open shelving that turns that corner. Kinda like this:

Or this:

I can put pretty bowls and cups there, and since it's open I won't be tempted to cram it full.

Thanks again for the input! I'll be interested in feedback for round 2.

Meant to add that we'll see about the old versus new cabinets. The two 15 1/2 inch cabinets could easily become one 31" cabinet, and we'd put the trash under the sink. I'll price out the options, and we'll see how well the old cabinets are holding up.

I think you'd be much happier with trash under the sink, and a nice 30" drawer stack next to the sink. Or you could do a trash/recycle pullout in the island.

I also recommend drawers on the left side of the range, instead of a standard cabinet.

Now is the time you need to figure out specifically where things will go in the new layout. Flatware, cooking utensils, potholders, plastic containers, towels, baking dishes, cake pans, cookie sheets, cutting boards, stock pots, roasting pans, small appliances, bags and wraps, plates, bowls, glasses. Baking supplies - sugar, flour, measuring cups and spoons. Spices - I have a spice rack built in on the door of one of my upper cabinets next to the range - the shelves inside are narrower, at accommodate the spice rack. What will go in the kitchen proper, and what will go in the wall cabinets opposite? Measure things, to see how much room you truly need for each thing.

Drawers are fantastic - but useless if you wanted to store cake pans on their sides, and the drawer isn't tall enough.

An efficient kitchen has things stored near their point of use - pots and pans near the range, dish storage near the DW, etc.