My freind had one when we were kids, and it was super. Two sided so you could view it from the dining. His mom hung pot and dried herbs above the kitchen side. Gave a wonderful, homey glow.

I was going to do something similar at my new house, but couldn't work out the venting because of a finished upper floor.

Please post a more detailed layout of the center of your home where the kitchen, dining room and fireplace all come together, as well as your current layout. Do you use your DR for formal dining? How many times a year? What is the main traffic flow into the home from the family? Does the family hang out in the living room or family room? What type of snacking pattern does your family have?

The problem isn't your fireplace, it's your current layout.

oruboris: oohh: that does sound warm and homey.

live_wire_oak: thanks for those thought-provoking questions.

This is my current layout; kitchen is small U-shaped.
Because of the flow of traffic from the family-room (right) to the bathroom (left), we don't have room for a breakfast table, so we use the dining table/room for every meal (8am, 12noon, and 5pm)/snacks (~10am and 3pm).

- We (2 adults, 2 toddlers) live mainly in the kitchen/familyroom/DR area.
- I use the office/LVRm after kids go to bed.
- We never use the front door. The foyer has the stairs that goes to 2nd floor.
- We use the door from the garage about 70% of the time; rest is the door from front porch.

I would appreciate any help.
How do my answers help you critique the layout?

What are the dimensions of all of the spaces, the windows, the doors, the ceiling height? I see that you're willing to replace that set of french doors with a window in your first design. You're also taking down the wall between the family room and kitchen? Is your goal to have it one large "family style" open space, or would you prefer to retain the formality of a separate dining room even if you had room for the family for everyday eating in a new design?

My initial (without the dimensions) idea is to flip the usage of the space and put the family room where the DR currently is and the dining room where the family room currently is located. It would make for a more intimate space, but there would still be plenty of room, and you'd get to enjoy the fireplace a lot more. I think that would redirect the family room/bathroom traffic out of your kitchen to going through the foyer and into the bathroom. You already use your dining room every day, so embrace that way of living by putting the dining room to the back of the house with the views and traffic to the exterior. Maybe carve out a little space from the current family room for a "mud room" between the garage and the dining room. That would allow for coats, sports gear and other family effluvium to stay out of the main house but also stay organized.

You're also showing a 48" range in your drawing. Are you sure you want to dedicate that much space to a range? What are your other "must haves" for your kitchen? What size and type fridge are you thinking about? Sink size and type? Those are the 3 main "space hogs" that have to be designed around.

oruboris: and it was super. Two sided so you could view it from the dining. His mom hung pot ... the kitchen side. Gave a wonderful, homey glow.

ROTFLMAO! I'll bet you all found it super with a homey glow! ... but methinks that unless ya'll are in special conditions in a handful of states, that may no longer be an acceptable configuration. No?

Reminds me of a tale I heard about a Canadian power retail company making a drug enforcement sweep at a farm because they noticed that this farmer guy was pegging the needle on his electricity consumption at night. Called him up and he said that he had tomatoes in his green-house and he was forcing them under the grow-lights because the daylight was so short that time of year. Well the power company didn't quite believe his tale, made a trip out to him one night when his needle was whirring, and found that his "tomato greenhouse" was actually a marijuana hot-house.
This was OT, but the friends' mom hanging "pot" over their fireplace had me dying of laughing and reminded me of this story which I also thought hilarious.

I caught that too mindstorm. Just grinned and kept on ready (g)
Monica

If you knew my friend, the 'pot' wouldn't surprise you. In this particular instance, it was a typo on my part... better than most jokes I make deliberately, though.

oruboris: "pot...herbs": don't they look alike? So easy to mix them up.... :)

live_wire_oak:
I really appreciate your energy on my situation.
Thank you.

I added some dimensions.
- ceiling height = almost 8Â
- ?normal window/door size
-- Kitchen: w=18.5' x d=13.5'
-- family: w=17.5' x d=13.5'
-- diningroom: w=11'x10.5'

We would like a large informal family style open space area. We host many family dinners/BBQ, with a lot of kids/family, so we need a lot of room to run around.

I really like the idea of switching the DR w/ the family room and gaining space for a Âmud-spaceÂ.
IÂm not sure if the DR would be large enough as a family roomÂ

Appliances:
- all-freezer, and all fridge
- single sink: 36"
- range: I want 6 burners minimum, but donÂt want a griddle/grill. I want the 2 different size ovens, and I donÂt have wall space for wall ovens.

I had started this layout thread.
If you are still with me, this thread may answer some more questions.
http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/kitchbath/msg1208194324795.html