I don't understand the reason for the slanted wall on the fridge wall. Your original floor plan does not have a slanted wall, so why would you take down the dining room wall and then build it on an angle? Its seems like a pantry could be incorporated in this plan without having to have a slanted wall. "***Instead of a range, we plan on a 36" rangetop and microwave/combo wall ovens to the right of the rangetop." This is going to change the look of the range wall and I am not sure how it will look with a wall ovens / mw stacked between hood and window. IF I were you, I would mock this up in your renderings to see how it looks. "If you look at my main floor plan, we are removing the foyer closet and opening up that space for a foyer table of some kind (possible built ins)." As someone who has no closet in the foyer, I dislike this idea. When you have guests, it is nice to have a place to hang coats, etc. (assuming you use mudrm closet for daily use). Unless you live in a warm climate, consider this decision carefully. IMHO, I think your plan to squeeze in a small coat closet that is walled into the kitchen space but opens to the foyer is less than ideal as well. Do you really want a quirky little closet instead of your nice tucked away closet that exists now? If you take out your existing closet will you have the banister for stairway showing? That is the only possible reason I can think that this change could be beneficial. But again, just my opinion. Your layout is somewhat similiar to mine. Where your fridge wall is, my DH wanted to slant the wall as well for optimum tv viewing. I am so glad I won that battle. Good luck. I think you are going to love the openness you your new kitchen.

Or if hubby prefers the original, maybe with this change. I think I still prefer your original or the changes that mama and I made, but wanted to throw this one out to you. To give the fridge enough room, I moved the cooktop over more and made the laundry room a bit narrower. Then added a pocket door between the fridge and the cooktop leaving counters .

You can have a 10 car garage if you want! It just shouldn't be smack dab on the front of the house, calling all attention to it, and not your house. If one is on a lake, of course, one doesn't want the garage in the back, but it could be set back a bit from the house, allowing the emphasis to be on the house, and be side-opening. No, very few people want to walk the entire length of their house to bring in groceries. There are better ways to get exercise! And spills and leaks DO happen in grocery bags, hopefully not on the LR floor! I'm assuming that if you are on a lake and on 1.5 acres, you are not close-in to town and the grocery thus a good sized pantry is a big help. Personally, I hate those pullout pantries in kitchen cabinets. Too much kitchen cabinetry, hard to load/unload, restrictive on the size of what's stored in them - I could go on... A pantry closet - even a very small one such as I had in our little house in St Louis, is wonderful! I'd kill to have one again, but alas, that storage has to be in my basement. It's very difficult to not feel overwhelmed by choices, decisions and to worry if one has the right person doing the design job. And we on GW are not much help as we immediately tell you to "get an architect"! One quickly learns on here that designer, draftsman and architect are NOT interchangeable terms! An architect would be an idiot to spend all those years in school if all he really needed was a CAD program and a short course on how to use it. Yes, architects cost money. A big "name" architect costs a LOT of money, but you're not looking for Frank Gehry to design your house. My parents had 2 houses designed for them when I was a child, so I'm well aware of the time and effort that goes into this, all the while having to factor in cost, for most people. Your instincts are right about this house; you want to take every possible advantage of that glorious view of the lake from the back of your house. And since you are facing north, light is going to be a big concern - it would be quite easy for a room to get dark in the center of the house. Take a deep breath and consider starting over. I know - you want to get this house built and move in - we ALL understand this desire as we've all felt it at sometime, even if it was a small remodeling of a powder room. But you'll never regret taking the time to "get it right", and you will deeply regret many decisions made when doing it in a hurry. Good luck with your house!

If you don't do as Mama Goose suggested on either end of the range wall, I would advise against the 15" cabinets you have shown. 15" uppers are marginally useful (I do have one for mugs and glasses), but a 15" base cabinet is pretty useless for anything other than cookie sheets and cutting boards - and yours aren't really in a great location for either of those things. Please take the time to develop a storage plan for your kitchen - before you finalize cabinetry. Go through a whole meal, from bringing home groceries to prep to cooking, serving, and cleanup. Mentally load the DW and put away leftovers. Think about the spices, utensils, pots and pans, potholders. Where does it make sense for you to reach for each of these things? Are they close to their point of use? As you go through your own cooking style and the things you have, the cabinet plan will be developed around what YOU have, and what YOU need.