How wide is the aisle behind the island? It looks a bit narrow and I wonder about opening the oven doors. They're probably shorter than the DW door, which you already open there, but the range will protrude into the aisle farther than the pantry is now, so will the opening space be OK then? I know it's a one-woman show, but I worry a little about the range and dw opposite each other...But that's for you to contemplate for yourself.

If anyone needs to pull the range out and work on it or replace it, will there be room? I think of that after having 3 ovens replaced in 2 1/2 yrs, and noting how much room it takes to maneuver, move things, and how I watched the cabinets like a hawk to make sure things weren't marred up.

It seems you could fit a wall oven on the fridge wall, but maybe not in 'an elegant way'...as I'm not sure what you mean by that, or what your priorities may be for the look of that wall.

Where does the doorway lead that is currently to the left of the fridge?

Thank you so much Rhome! I didn't know how exciting it would be to get up in the morning and see an answer to my first ever GW question. LOL, I need to get a life or something, eh?! :-) To answer your questions:

You are right that the aisle is a bit narrow. It's currently 42" from the edge of the island overhang to the pantry doors. I was thinking about 27" deep stove run cabinets (re. the deeper 48" range) so it would only give 39" to the cabs and probably about 36" to the range handle.

The dw opposite it (to the right of the sink) is a single drawer. On the one hand, when we laid out the island I had it put close-ish to that back run intentionally so as not to encourage extra traffic walking through that path ... but on the other hand I'm really second guessing myself now for not pushing it out maybe another 3 to 6 inches!

I'm thinking it will be okay and I'm used to working in the aisle now with the current fridge clearance of 39" which is totally fine. But if the range and dishwasher clearances prove problematic I could have the island moved back about 6 inches afterwards. Not the simplest thing, but doable in a day or two's work if I find the clearances too constricting.

For the ovens, I'd like them on the same wall as the cooktop, and by elegant (lol that does sound goofy now you point it out!) I just meant a way to have the cooktop, two ovens, a microwave, a decent pot drawer or two, and small uppers each side of the cooktop that I can use for spices and oils all on that same wall ... and have it look half decent.

The doorway currently to the left of the fridge leads to the mudroom, basement stairs, and garage. It gets a lot of traffic re. hubby going in and out to his workshop (in garage) and dogs hanging out with him every time he moves. :-)

One thing I hadn't thought of until just now is the possibility of having a 36" range with a single oven to the left-center of the new stove run, with perhaps a single wall oven and microwave to the right-center side? The single wall oven wouldn't be super convenient re. the larger dw door opposite, but as it would only be used occasionally that might be a good tradeoff.

That could allow for a smaller range hood over the cooktop, with smaller ducting and therefore smaller bulkheads. And maybe a nicer look vs. the 48" dominating that short-ish wall?

What do you think?

Thanks again for your feedback.

42" is better than I thought it looked. And 'elegant' wasn't a bad choice of words, just subjective, and I wasn't sure what it meant to you.

You have a lot of centering going on in your design...Will you be OK with the smaller range set off to the side? I actually kind of like the 48"er dominating that wall ;-), but could see some advantages to the separate oven with a broader expanse of workspace when you have something big going on for which you need the 2nd oven.

What about a 36" range on the back wall and the extra one on the side wall?

I could see island-moving maybe taking a day without electrical or plumbing involved, but when you figure those things, plus the granite.... It seems like a pretty big job to me!

Thanks again Rhome. I'm glad you think the 48 on the back wall isn't too much ... it does dominate, but if it's in an okay way and not too overbearing that's good to hear. I was mainly worried it would look like just too much.

I'm not sure about the extra oven on the side wall. The two 21" pantry cabs flanking the fridge are the only food storage we'll have, and we'd like to keep big bins of dog food in there too.

The only other idea I have is to put the stove right against the wall. I don't ever see this done in any new kitchens, although my dad's kitchen is like that (with the backsplash wrapped around the side) and I've cooked there without noticing any problems. It's kind of tempting since then we could vent the range hood out the side behind the mudroom without needing a bulkhead on the rest of the run.

These are both options from a similar angle (the first one looks like double ovens since it's the only pic I could find, but it would be an oven with microwave on top in real life):

But I think the 36 is likely a no-no re. current design trends, so therefore the 48 is probably the safer choice. Do you agree?

Thanks again!! Any other opinions also gratefully received. :-)

I don't think that the 36" is at all a no-no for design trends, but you said you weren't worried about resale anyway, so I'm not sure why that would be consideration...Like you said, it's all in what's best for you. BIgger issues if you worry about design trends are lack of zone separation and lack of obvious dish storage, but you have said that this is for you, and this is the way you want it...No trends that matter in that. (By the way, where are you going to store dishes, glassware, and serveware? In the separated glass-front uppers?)

A powerful gas range up against a wall? Not even sure that'd be safe or OK with code, plus there are problems with room for pot handles, etc. I would hate it. It's much nicer to have clear space to work with on each side of the range, if only to set spoons, pan lids, a sauce you're waiting to use, etc. To me that is the most 'inelegant' solution you could choose. ;-) My opinion.

Where will you stand when unloading the range oven? I don't think you'll have room to stand in front of the door when it's open. Off to one side works for most things, I suppose, but a heavy turkey or something might do better if you go at it straight on to have equal support on both sides of the pan.

Hi Rhome,

You're right I'm not worried about resale but I would still like it to be nicely designed. I guess what I'm trying to say is that I don't want to spend all this money and then have something stick out like an obvious amateurish move, if there's another better way to design it that will still function and look nice.

And I totally take your point re. the pot handle clearances and nowhere to rest a spoon, if the stove is against a side wall. That would have been a rookie move so thanks for the feedback -- you saved me from designing the antithesis of elegance. :-)

I guess it's the 48" stove for us then. Not sure why I don't totally love that yet but maybe I just need to find a more understated hood than what's in the mockup, to tone down the look a bit...

I think the ovens will be okay. I just tried unloading a pretend turkey while standing behind my dishwasher and that worked well anyway ... there's room enough, but I do wish real-life turkeys were so light, lol!

You asked about dish storage. That is somewhat problematic. I'll store dishes, mugs, and most glasses in the 39" upper to the left of the pantry on the fridge wall. It's a fair haul from the dishwasher but I'm used to it now as it's the same in the builder design we've been living with for a year. It has its pluses too though: close to seating for setting the table, and will be at the beverage and snack area so my husband won't need to get into my space when he's making a snack or having a drink. At least I'll have my pots and pans and cooking utensils close to the cleanup zone, so maybe the walking will somewhat even out. :)

You also mentioned lack of zone separation as a potential issue. I'm curious about that since I've been reading about zones on gardenweb with much interest over the past months. I confess I thought I'd done okay with it in this layout though (other than the dish storage thing). I figured that since the cleanup zone (left sink and left side of island) was separate from the prep zone (right sink and right side of island), across from the cooking zone (back wall with range and pot/pan/cooking utensil storage), with a separate food storage zone (fridge and flanking pantries), and separate beverage and snacking zone (coffee, sink, bread drawer, snack making surface), that I was home free. Wrong?

I know I have no right to ask for more of your help -- you've been so helpful already! -- but if you could, can you suggest which zones I'm missing and are there tweaks or more serious changes I should consider to make the flow better?

Thanks you so much again; I really appreciate it! And Merry Christmas to you and yours! :-)