This is my FAVORITE FAVORITE GW kitchen. It has soul and personality. I look at your pictures and just want to wander in there and linger, feeling the coziness and healing properties of that welcoming and nurturing space. It feels like a li'l ol' soft grandma with arms outstretched waiting to hug me. It does NOT remind me of so many cold, hard casket like fancy kitchens in the pictures. This one has a warm heartbeat throughout. Fantastic job, and I'm sure with the elbow grease/blood/sweat/tears you put into her you'll love her all the more over the years!!

I also think the prep & cleanup areas should be switched. If the island seating is counter height, then, ideally, you should have at least another 3" in the overhang (total 15" overhang). However, with the current layout it would mean either reducing one of the 42" aisles to 39" or perhaps make one 40" and the other 41". Do you need those 1'4" wall sections on either side of the DR doorway? If not, could you take out the one on the west side and also remove the 12" cabinet that appears to be there? Then, move the island west 9" or so, add 3 more inches of overhang, and expand the east wall to 2'6" to help hide the dirty dish mess from the DR. You would have on the southern end: 45" aisle + 39" island + 42" aisle + 30" wall (included in the wall would be 24" cabinets + 6" additional aisle space but with a wall) Does that make sense? For dish storage, have you considered silverware & dish drawers in the island directly across from the DW (if you move the DW) in addition to the glasses in the upper cabinets over the DW? Not only would it be convenient to the DW, but also to the DR. No trekking the entire length of the kitchen to get dishes to set the DR table. I would leave the refrigerator where it is since it needs to be accessible not only to the kitchen work but also from the DR and the FR/LR....BTW, where is the FR/LR? If you feel you need additional cabinet storage, could you make the small counter area in the northern end of the bottom portion of the kitchen (south of the refrigerator, north of the island, west wall) into a tall cabinet? That would give you a lot of extra space. You could then put in a diagonal cabinet b/w the refrigerator and this tall cabinet to give you a little extra room and to "finish" off the corner. The only thing you have to worry about is the clearance b/w the island and that corner. Ideally, you should maintain a 42" aisle there, especially since it appears you have a main traffic thoroughfare from the top of the kitchen where the mudroom is through the entire length of the kitchen. Hmmm....perhaps you should move the ovens over to the east wall along with the range & prep sink. It can be dangerous carrying hot dishes across an aisle that is also used as the main entrance into the house (unless you don't use the mudroom entrance that much). But, it would also make that cabinet run crowded. Maybe moving the prep sink to the refrigerator & pantry side would work. If you've moved the ovens to the other wall, it would give you another 30"-33" of counter space on that side. I think it would have to be drawn up to see if/how it would work. Is that a 48" cooktop? If you have a hood (recommendation is at least 6" wider than the cooktop), the upper cabinets can run up to the hood. As to a mixer lift...I would put it in the prep area if you don't have a baking center. But, I think they take up an entire 15" or so base cabinet. Can you afford the loss of cabinet space? Could you store it either on the counter or in your pantry? Where do you plan to store your other small appliances? Perhaps you could use some of that tall cabinet I suggested as your appliance garage. BTW...it would be helpful if we saw where the other doorways lead and the arrangement of the other rooms on the first floor. I hope this gives you other ideas to work with...good luck!

palimpsest, I didn't mean to offend you if I did. Everybody's experience is different. I come from a large family. My step mother has exactly that setup with the island, the size, the seating, the relationship to the range. Every time she entertains for any number - every single seat is filled and the person in the center behind the sink has to stay pulled back. There are people and dogs running up and down every aisle and clogging everything. And I'm talking about the adults! The bar flys wish the island was deeper. In her setup, the appetizers end up on the island while the rest is cooking and the bar flys would like to be able to reach all of them without moving. As kids grow, they get playmates and perhaps siblings. They all hang around the kitchen - get drinks and snacks, make their own sandwiches and become independent chefs. I regularly splash all over the my 15" tall backsplash. If I had that type of island - a permanent pond would develop back there complete with tadpoles... And I right now have a sleeve damp to the elbow and damp places across the tummy zone - prep for split pea and ham soup. This doesn't mean I think everyone splashes water everywhere (altho dh is actually worse than I). It's a simple statement for the op to hear or ignore. It's the same thing with prep time. If I entertain, nobody sees me do more than a last minute thing - like whipping cream. (might mean I'z control freak) But others in the same family do most things after the crowd arrives and usually with one or two others helping. The thing I like about this kitchen is that all that is possible. I never know if its possible to for anyone satisfy all the needs of whoever is posting until stuff is suggested and the poster accepts it.

M, So great to hear your take on form following function. I think we share a practical streak. On the one hand, I'm not a preservationist, on the other I do want to be true to the spirit of the house. I'm not aiming to make it something its not, and I don't want to "over improve" either. I agree that its entirely possible to "design a modern functional home and have the original vintage design-spirit prevail". In fact, thats precisely the balance I'm striving to achieve. In my situation, honoring the vintage design spirit means keeping certain elements intact: --the cottage windows --the china cabinet --the built-ins in the living room flanking the fireplace I'm not as attached to keeping the kitchen and breakfast room spaces separate as my partner is. In the spirit of cooperation and domestic harmony ;-) I've solicited feedback on how we could fit everything in the footprint of the kitchen proper, and posters to this thread stepped up admirably (THANK YOU!!) Reading the comments here has allowed me to feel more comfortable with merging the kitchen and the breakfast room--that this might be the right place to "modernize". Considering the two spaces as one is beginning to feel…well…more practical to me. Your point about it being possible to botch both the form and the function strikes a cautionary note---Sheesh, that would be awful. Aiming to avoid this, on both counts! Thanks so much M, for your always incisive comments.