I like it, for the most part.

1) I'm concerned that there doesn't seem to be dish storage near the dishwasher.

2) I'm not a fan of diagonal-front corner cabinets, but now I see you might want to eliminate the corner by framing it in, which is just what I did.

3) That is a nicely huge pantry, but I'd reduced it back enough to get rid of the angle and allow more room on the stove run... So that it's approx flush with the face of the fridge. (It will still be huge)

That would enable the oven to move left and open into the aisle space. This will allow you to move the island MUCH closer to the stove. My island is 3 ft from my rangetop and I love it. I prep on the island and turn to the stove... No extra steps. We have multiple cooks at times, and even large dogs, and the 36" aisle is still not crowded. But we have 4 ft in the aisle in front of the oven and I probably wouldn't want less, since, if for no other reason, we've had to have our oven replaced, and it was good to have the room to pull it out and maneuver it around. But moving the oven so it faces the adjacent aisle, as I said, solves that problem. That 4 1/2 ft aisle in front of the stove is wiiiiide, in my opinion, and not necessary if you don't want it.

4) The freezer, as placed, in the pantry will really inhibit the space's organization. Any chance of insetting it into the wall on either garage or mud room?

Here is my framed in corner:

Here is my 3 ft aisle with multiple cooks and dogs:

PS... I like your idea for the dining alcove, but don't know what the housebuilding folks were seeing or objecting to... Is there maybe not enough room where you might move the table? I sure like the idea of a sitting area in the view spot. I'd love something like that!!!

How exciting!

I had the same idea as rhome - get rid of the pantry angle and have it come out at a right angle from the fridge alcove so that you can elongate the cook top section. You could even do a pocket door into the pantry so you don't need to deal with door swing.

Freezer ... I like rhome's suggestion to steal a little space from the mudroom or garage to recess the freezer.

And yes, if you change the pantry wall and expand the cook top zone, I think you can definitely move the island closer to the cook top wall. Actually, even if you don't do that I still think 54" is overkill (is that because of the angled pantry wall?). I know rhome likes her 36" aisle but I'm more comfortable with 42", others prefer 48". You'll have to try a mock up and see what feels best for you. Moving the island closer to the cook top wall will also mean that you won't have to walk as far to plop fridge stuff down on the island. Rhome will likely disagree with me but after 17+ years of having very little counter space next to my ovens, fridge and pantry, I'd move the prep sink to the other end of that island. But that's my beef about my kitchen (and I can't wait to change it!).

What is that closet next to the mudroom closet for?

How are the island cabinets configured? If you're doing 1.5" counter overhang and a 15" seating overhang, that leaves you with 43.5" depth for cabinets. Take away 24" for standard depth cabs and you have 19.5" left for cabinets backing up to them. That's an odd depth and I can't make sense of this.

Do you already own a toaster oven? If so, read the owner's manual. It should spell out clearance requirements. Ditto for any you haven't purchased. There may be general rules but it's best to go by whatever a mfg specs for a specific model.

And no, all 30" ovens don't require the same size opening. The openings can vary in width and height (I think it's an evil plot by appliance makers). Some 30" ovens can be placed in a 30" wide cabinet, others require a 33" wide cabinet. You will need to chose your appliances - and better yet, have them on hand just to make sure that the specs are accurate - before you finalize cabinet plans.

Exciting to find this forum. Sorry nothing to contribute at this point to your question but hoping to soak in all the great responses you get. :)

Couple of other small thoughts...

You might move the prep sink. With a sxs or french door ref, the sink is exactly where the landing space would be for items going into or out of the ref. If you are planning that type of ref, you might be able to scoot the island over another few inches. It would help when the dishwasher door is open.

Does the door in the everyday nook lead to outside entertaining/cooking space? It would be kinda klutzy getting food to and from the space - particularly when you have helpers or chatters sitting at the table or at the table AND the stools.

I would consider moving the freezer into the garage instead. Or possibly take over the little closet in the mudroom. This is for several reasons. A freezer creates a lot of heat, not the best thing for food storage. It'll be hard to open the freezer door all the way and park it - kinda helpful if you buy in bulk. And as others have noted, it makes mincemeat out of the pantry - little available for storage given the floor and wall space.

This is kinda a random depiction of some of these...

You really need a half bath in this family entry area. I'd take out the fridge and put it on the stove run, with it being the tall object the the left end of the run, and the wall oven being the tall object to the right. Rework the mudroom/pantry, and fridge space until you can get a half bath there. Your pantry is HUGE. It's too big actually for the amount of actual storage it gives you. There's a lot of open foot space (wasted space) that could be utilized better. Step in pantries actually hold more per square foot than walk in pantries. If the whole end of your kitchen was a step in pantry, you'd have room for a full sized powder room with dog washing station! LOL!

Prep sink location: I'm wondering why things from the fridge can't "land" behind the prep sink if they have to land at the nearest counter, or just go a little further beyond the sink or to the counter to the left of the cooktop? It's not that much further to avoid the sink. From my own experience I know how handy it can be to use the sink from the island side or the island end, and I wouldn't lose that option for more landing space a little closer.
-- You can see a bit of my fridge in the photo above. Since the door hinges on the right, it's especially ill-placed in terms of landing, but I don't have a problem getting things to the island for setting them down...even with the sink on the corner. ;)

Otherwise loving Bmore's drawing, except I'd keep the oven by the pantry and put a nice dish storage unit where she has the oven stack. I totally agree about the freezer. The mudroom is a better place, although I'm pretty sure it's now messing up whatever nice storage you'd planned for that.

Thanks for your suggestions everyone. Instead of answering individuals I'm going to try to respond to the ideas that were brought up since several of them overlap.

Rhome: I appreciate you showing me how you framed your corner in. I am going to snag your picture so I can show our designer.

I was going to put a dish drawer and a flatware drawer in the island and use the upper cabinet above the dw for glassware. If I push the island a little closer to the fridge and pantry wall that leaves me with 20" once the dishwasher door is open for loading and unloading. I've never used a dish drawer, is that sufficient space?

Do all the island cabinets have to face the same way? I was planning on having two face the large sink and dishwasher, two or three (depending on where the prep sink ends up) face the cooktop and one face the fridge. That way instead of having an odd depth for the whole row of cabinets in the back (with limited access) I just have several different widths to support the size of the island. This does leave one odd sized cabinet in the middle of the island, but my thought was the cabinet maker could just make a simple box to support the middle of the island and face it. I've never built a kitchen from scratch before so this may not work at all.

I like the idea of taking out the angled wall in the pantry. And I like the idea of having the oven door open into the aisle. That seems so much more practical on both counts. And I love the idea of a pocket door. That is so much more practical than having a door swing in and out. Knowing me, I'll leave the door open half the time anyway.

The freezer has always lived outside in our previous homes. DH saw a freezer in our builder's model home pantry and thought it would be practical to have access to it right in the house instead of going in and out. I was never sold because I access the freezer maybe once a day at the most. I will talk to him about the heat issue and see if we can't get the freezer back outside. I would be fine with that and it would be cheaper than creating a wall insert for it. I will show DH the possibility of moving the freezer to the mudroom. We'll have to think about and discuss that option. At first glance I'd rather have it in the garage like we have in the past and keep the indoor space for shoes and coats and a landing zone for stuff that usually ends up in the kitchen.

Lisa a: I will get out my measuring tape to see if I want 42" or 48" inches between the cooktop and the island. I feel silly I didn't think of doing that myself. So, you'd have the prep sink right across from the clean-up sink? I was trying to get it between the fridge and the cooktop. I know it shouldn't be directly in front of the cooktop but offset a little bit. Is one foot of landing space at the corner sufficient, or could I turn the sink so it is in the cabinet facing the entrance from the mudroom.

Oh, the little closet in there is a Broom Closet. I forgot to label it.

I will have to see if I can dig out the owners manual for our toaster oven. It may be in storage with everything else :(

It's good to know that we need to get out and do some serious appliance shopping. DH was thinking we didn't need to worry about that until a couple of weeks before they were actually going to be installed. It will be nice to explain to him why we need to make those decisions first.

bmorepanic: I LOVE the idea of adding a dining sofa to the little bumpout area! I'm SO excited! It's like creating a window seat and a banquette without the permanence of either. It's genious. And I like how you added the different table configurations too. I wonder if I can sell DH on that (he is such a traditionalist sometimes and it was his idea to have the entrance to the deck from the dining area. We will definitely be having a conversation about this option. I also like how you put in the pantry shelving. That was kind of the concept I had floating around in my head so it is nice to see it drawn out.

Live wire: I need to be convinced as to why I need a half bath here. In the meantime, I will try to convince you why I don't. :) DH doesn't have any hobbies that he gets dirty with. I garden but we will have a utility sink installed in the garage so I can use that to wash up when I need to. And I have promised DH that we won't get another dog. (We had pets while our kids were growing up. He put up with them for me and for the kids but I made him a "promise" that we are finished with pets, and again, we have the sink in the garage Just In Case). Our home will have a walk-out basement so when the grandkids are old enough to go out and play in the backyard, they will be coming in and out of the house through the door in the basement. I am planning on putting a bathroom close to the basement door so they will have quick and easy access. I really like my large pantry, especially if I move the freezer out and configure the shelves as suggested by Lisa a, so I'm not thrilled about the idea of reconfiguring that space and I like the size of the mudroom too.

I went to the Building a Home Forum and looked up your original post. With a garage sink there, and a powder by the main hall, you don't need a half bath there. :)

However, I must say that I really do not like how you have the master bedroom sharing a wall with the great room. Ideally, you want closet space, or a bathroom, or something in between the two. Even if you are empty nesters and the only two people in the house, if one of you wants to stay up late and watch TV, the noise will migrate right into the bedroom and keep the other up.

Here is a link that might be useful: BAH post

If your mudroom and pantry were the same "storage" room, then your utility sink could be in there, with a run of counter space for your toaster oven and other small appliances. You could have an interior worktable in the space, much like Allison's pantry has.

I have to comment about the split garage design. It not only increases your costs, but it decreases the actual usability of the garage space itself. It also takes away from the available window space in the structure itself. Instead of having only one wall be windowless, now you've got two walls without natural light.

LWO, Would a built-in on the master wall, or insulation in the wall, as-is,, or insulation in a 6" wall solve the possible noise problem?

Lisa and I always disagree on this point, but it doesn't seem practical to me to put the prep sink and cleanup sink almost back-to-back in a plan like this. That would place all the water sources at one end and elongate the 'triangle' for the fridge-sink-stove work area. I think it makes the kitchen less multiple-worker friendly.

You can have the cabinets all facing different directions to get the most function out of the island. You will just want to be careful with panels or fake drawers and doors to make the faces all even and looking attractive.

Nice houseplan! DH and I would never fill that much closet space, so I'd open the bottom part into the laundry for household storage, of which I'm short. But I'm just daydreaming from my own point of view.... :-D If I have time after being envious of your seating area/bfast room, I will be jealous of the roomy laundry room, too!

It's not just fridge landing space, it's pantry landing space. There's no counter immediately nearby. I like bmore's suggestion to move the prep sink in a bit from the corner - maybe put trash/recycling pull-out at the corner? - that would solve both concerns.

bmore, love your idea for the dining area!

We saw a home with a split garage just like this in the recent Street of Dreams show. LOVED it! It minimizes the hulking face of a 3 car garage and lets the house have a bit more presence at the curb.

Decisions, decisions.... good luck with yours!

Check into QuietRock drywall for the MBR wall. There are ways to minimize sound transmission. Holmes on Homes did an episode on this subject. Quite informative. It was some time back but maybe you can search HGTV's archive to find it.

Ooh, a dish storage cabinet might be a nice addition on the cooktop wall. It would look nice to balance out the wall oven. I'm going to sketch that up and see how it looks. It's a little further away from the eating area, but not significantly.

LiveWireO: I see your point, I just don't know how else we could reconfigure the space for the master. The view is stunning from the back of the house so I would hate to lose that. I will talk to the builder about adding insulation between the great room and the bedroom, or maybe doing an offset type of stud wall to increase the privacy. That's a good suggestion, and, I think, a better alternative to switching out the bedroom and closet space. I really don't want to change the footprint of the house , which I would have to do to put the closet or bathroom between the two rooms.

GreenD: I've not thought about combining the mudroom and pantry area. They seem to serve such different functions I can't picture them combined. Do you have a link to the space you are referring to? Re: the split garage, our builder seems to like building them that way (most of their houses we've walked through or driven by have the split garage) because it makes the impact on the lot a little smaller and increases the curb appeal. It also allows us to position the house on the lot better to maximize the views. The advantage is that the garage will actually block the hot west sun and as we are building on a mountain bench it will keep the main house a little cooler during the summer. I probably wouldn't have included many (if any) windows on that side of the house anyway (hence the pantry and the cooktop on that wall) because they become a heat trap.

Rhome: Thanks for the nice words. We are excited about this house. We've been saving up our favorite ideas from all the houses we have lived in and visited over the years, and have been lucky to find a builder who is excited to have our input. I'm a little embarrassed to admit that we actually do fill up that whole closet. I keep thinking I am doing well at purging, but when it was time to figure out where to put our clothes in this tiny rental I realized I still have a long way to go. I'm almost as excited about my laundry/sewing/project room as I am for my kitchen. I am tweaking that room too as I received an excellent suggestion about adding a door between our closet and the laundry room. Isn't that genius? DH was initially sad to lose three feet of hanging space, but once he walked through the idea in his head he was on board.

Lisa: I agree that the prep sink needs to be moved over so I have landing room for both the fridge and the pantry. But I do want to keep it closer to the fridge and cooking zones. Do you all think it should stay on the side of the island by the cooktop, or moved to the side by the fridge? I'd appreciate your input on this. Either way, the trash/recycling pullout will be next to it. Thanks also for the QuietRock suggestion. I will do a little research and see if my builder has any suggestions.

Thanks again everyone for your thoughts and suggestions. I'll be checking in again on Monday. Our youngest turned 20 this week so we are going to celebrate by spending the weekend together.

Just wanted to let you know your original picture that you didn't know whose kitchen it was is from buckheadhillbilly.

It was posted in the Set. how is your build going thread.

Just me to rhome -

I don't know about ovens and the handles, etc. Its going to be a tight doorway.

If the oven is there, there isn't any other place that can be reached in one step - the ref part of an sxs is beside the pantry door and an sxs door doesn't open flat to the wall. Same thing with a french door. If the oven isn't there, then it's possible to land on the range run, but then stuff would need to be transferred back to the island.

If the sink is 12" over, why can't it be used to wash hands?

Bmore, I was speaking mostly to Lisa's plan to move it to the other end of the island. I really wouldn't choose, in most cases, to 'land' anything on the range wall, but sometimes things get busy/messy, and more options are needed. ;-)

I think that with the prep sink on the corner, a handwasher can reach the sink from the end of the island without getting in the cook's way, but at a foot over, likely means they walk to the stove side of the island to use it instead. Just feeling the corner is a better way for more people to be able to use it without standing in the same spot or crossing paths. I still see the point of your move, but wouldn't choose the tradeoffs for myself.

Bmore, Like you and I have things we often see opposite sides on (aisle widths and dw locations), Lisa and I often have a prep sink placement argument... but all good-natured, because we know it's going to happen while we agree on almost everything else... So I should've been more clear about what I was arguing about. Hope you didn't think I was trashing your idea, and I hope I explained my slightly different viewpoint above.
:-)

After some of the contentious threads around here lately, I have no confidence in knowing how to write and get my point across any more, and have it taken in the same spirit as I mean it. The frustrating downside of written communication. Anyway, I know I didn't want to have you aggravated with me, too! :-D

Not addressing the kitchen issues... I didn't study them. BUt one thing that did jump out at me is I would consider splitting the master bath and WIC. For the way we live, I'd put the MB up at the top of the bedroom and swap with the sitting area. I love having an access bath from the outside without traipsing through the bedroom. THen again, I live in Florida and we are out back and in the pool all year long. I don't know what that faces toward but I assumed the backyard.

@rhome - together with all the other peeps with whom I am aggravated or together will all the other peeps who are aggravated with me or with you? :)

I haz got flold (combination of flu and cold) and am stunningly stupid today. I did not realize you were talkin' to lisa.

@rhome - together with all the other peeps with whom I am aggravated or together will all the other peeps who are aggravated with me or with you? :)

Ha...Maybe all of the above? My brain is spinning, too. I don't have a cold to blame it on.

I'm sorry for your illness, but it wasn't the flold that confused you. I was unclear.

Sorry for the hijack of your thread for our little conversation, Shmeal.

Back on topic for a sec. Looking at the MB and closet situation, because of Remodelfla's suggestion... Is there not a door between the bath and closet? I've always worried about moisture getting in the closet when bath and closet are connected. I, too, wouldn't necessarily want to have to go through the one to get to the other.

Bummer, bmore, get well soon! I just got over a killer chest something or other that required antibiotics and prednisone to get me back on my feet. It knocked me for a loop for more than 2 weeks. I sure hope you're not sick for anywhere near as long.

Shmeal, not sure what code is for you but make sure they put in a really good exhaust fan or you may have moisture concerns with the bath and closet connected like that. And hopefully you aren't dealing with the stupid code in place when we built - exhaust fans vented into the attic, not outside. Uh, can you say mold? Yeah, had to have the rafters scrubbed and the venting redirected, what a headache.

You asked, "Do all the island cabinets have to face the same way?" Nope! However, if they don't, you'll likely have cab seams to deal with so talk to your cab maker about how to make it look pretty. Panels or bead board work. Look at islands in the FKB for examples.