I'm more concerned by the position of the refrigerator.

A child getting ice, or someone putting condiments on the table, will have to walk through the cooking and prep zones.

I'm confused - where is the range going and where is the sink going?

Are there children in the house? If so, a microwave in an upper cabinet is not a good idea (it's bad enough for a short adult)

I only see the closeup of the kitchen, not an "entire floor plan"

Too many crossing workzones. And dangerous traffic routes. This would keep the through traffic out of the cook's way.

Sorry! Here is the whole floor plan!

To clarify: In the original layout I posted, the sink would be centered with the island. The range is on the wall by itself. The notes on the floor plan read differently because we were shifting appliances around. Sorry for the confusion!

GreenDesigns: That is very close to our original design! The original design is in the whole floor plan that I posted above. The biggest problem is that the only place for the dishwasher to go would be to the right of the sink, which means it opens up in the doorway to the hall/butlers pantry. By the time you center the range on the wall (which will be visible from the living room, so I feel this is important), there is not enough space to the left of the sink (it would be right next to range). I don't love the idea of the range and sink being next to each other (aesthetically speaking), as there would be two bump ups, etc., but if it were a much better layout, I could live with that. But I really feel like that dishwasher would constantly be an issue. Is that a prep sink you added? That makes a ton of sense!

And yes, we do have little ones. But would an upper cabinet microwave be any different than an over the range one? We had one over our stove at our last house, and it seemed to be fine... and I am not even 5'2" :) But I guess I am just used to it! We could put it in a lower cabinet (maybe in the island?) but would it have to be a drawer microwave to do that?

I'm new here and don't want to step on any toes.I owned a custom cabinet shop for 14 years and did this daily.I really think it is a bad layout.Your idea of making the pantry 24" is a good one 18" is tight for a pantry and a 24" pantry would give you a lot more option for hardware that would make it more useful.
I can't read the dimensions on you're drawings but don't know why you would place the stove so far from the sink.
Try to look at your work area as a triangle keeping the stove,sink and frig configured as such.This makes for a good flow while cooking and everything is at hand.

No worries about stepping on my toes! I really have not had much feedback from the cabinet maker on layout. They do great work as far as quality and style, but I feel like they really just want to build whatever I want and not give a lot of feedback with layout. They did mention that they were concerned with the dishwasher in the doorway on the first layout and that 10 feet is a little over the recommendation they give between the sink and range (they recommend no more than 9 feet) but they didn't think 1 foot would make a huge difference.

Do you have any suggestions? We really do not want a sink in our island (although a small prep sink at one end would work as it would not disrupt the big work space), so that is kind of limiting to the work triangle.

We use our island ALOT. I make iced sugar cookies (hundreds at a time), my boys do their homework, we eat, etc, at our island so we really use it a lot and do not want to put a sink or stove top on it to interrupt the work space. I feel like that would be very detrimental to how we use our kitchen.

DO you think the original layout (I posted a close up below) is any better? Any ideas on the dishwasher?

Have you considered making it a galley kitchen, without the redundant walkway to the family room?

You have a lovely house in the making, with such light! I wonder what direction the eating area door and window faces? Is your island position based partially on view?

I see one door into the kitchen (by the DW) and another from the porch in the eating area. Am I correct that the family room and eating area connected?

I think the kitchen is a tad small proportionally to the eating area and family room, although don't see measurements which help design experts with proportions. You do mention 10 feet from range to sink, so perhaps I'm wrong on proportions.

I've been wondering if you could use some of the eating area for kitchen as well as flip your island 90 degrees. For the kids, having a refrigerator near to both the eating area as well as the family room is pretty essential, as well as a small sink for a quick hand wash or spill clean up. Both of these perhaps could go on/under the island.

I'm concerned about the range being what is first crossed behind from the eating area: could it be swapped with the refrigerator for reasons mentioned above if island not turned? I'd put the dishwasher on the other side of the sink (as well as add a small island sink and electric socket) if possible so no one walks into the open DW from the hall.

I'm sure others will soon come buy with great suggestions. These are just a few based on my experience.

Hmmm. I'm not able to read the details on your image, so I can't see exactly what all that "flex" and "butler's pantry" space amounts to . . . but my instinct is to make the kitchen awesome, then worry about a butler's pantry or flex space, or whatever that is. 24" wide pantry seems PUNY to me if you have kids and cook. My new walk in pantry is 5x7 feet and I plan to maximize every square inch . . . (shelving going in this weekend). So, in general, I'd say re-consider your space plan with a focus on maximizing the kitchen space and quality, and perhaps drop some of the less-critical things such as the butler's pantry, etc. (What exactly is a butler's pantry vs a regular pantry? I thought a butler's pantry divided kitchen from dining, but yours is not there, is it?)

Could the eating and kitchen areas be swapped? That'd eliminate the need for that through-way in the kitchen to that hall area . . . So you could do a more traditional U or L shaped kitchen lay out with an island . . . and probably tuck a decent size pantry back in the corner, too?

Sorry I am not much help. I'm sure others here will be more effective in offering good solutions, but I hope I was at least a little helpful. :)

If I understand the plan correctly, there is a doorway from the hallway into the kitchen next to the refrigerator. If I had a choice I would keep the doorway on the same wall, but move It over such that somebody walking into the kitchen doesn't have to walk through any of the space used for cooking. They would walk past the other side of the island not through the kitchen. This would also give you an L-shaped kitchen. You could then put the refrigerator on one end or the other of the L so that if someone wants to get a glass of milk out of the fridge they can do so without interrupting your cooking activities.

We had one over our stove at our last house, and it seemed to be fine... and I am not even 5'2" :)

I'm also 5'2" and I NEVER got used to having the microwave over my head -- I actually think it's dangerous to be taking out hot items at that angle. Also, to stir anything, you have to remove it first. I do have a drawer microwave now, and I like it so much more.

In your 2nd layout, I would switch the range and sink.
So fridge on short L and then range, trash, then sink, and DW (on long L).
Because I would hate people walking past me (as I cook on the hot range) from the dining room table to get to the sink or trash.

I like the fridge on the short L: people from familyroom or (even DR can walk around the island) to get the ketchup or juice from the fridge w/out being near me at the range.

I prep/cook between range and sink, so I would make the space between nice and big.

next iteration.
Good luck,
Amanda

Does the door into the hall need to be there? Even if you need it, does it need to be in the work area or could you move it over so that it isn't people coming right into the work space? If you could either get rid of it all together or move it all the way to the end of the wall, it would make more sense.

Good luck.

Yes, move to door from kitchen to hallway, further to the left. Give yourself a good L-shaped working area.

Just a quick idea...I'm at work :)
{{gwi:2142001}}From Kitchen plans

I have a very similar space and tried and tried as you are to locate the sink and stove on the same run and it just couldn't happen without cramping and majorly sacrificing function.

We ended up with our main and only sink in the island. I was hesitant I really was but it really has allowed effecient use of space and keeps the auxiliary traffic out. We have 2 boys and use our island all the time for all sorts of things - snacks, wrapping presents, homework. Having the sink in there has not impeded any of those things. I know you said you really didn't want to do that but to sacrifice functionality to avoid it you might want to really think hard on it before you get too far. On the other hand if you can squeeze more length in maybe you can do it - but then I'd want a prep sink on the island, a water source there somewhere even if it's a smaller one.

Our island is 9' long and has room for 4 stools on the long end and one on the short side. It houses the sink, dw, trash and a 4 drawer stack. We have a decent over hang, about 16" which makes seating comfortable.

I like green designs - our MW is right by the fridge and that works well and usually those 2 appliances are used right in succession - no crossing zones to get to them.

Good luck! It is so tough to get everything just so! If only I'd have analyzed the rest of the house as much as the kitchen! ;O

I really think you need to eliminate the door to the hallway in the kitchen. Either move it to the other end of that same wall or just not have a door at all. It doesn't look like it would be a big deal to walk around the family room to get to that hallway. Not having the door eliminates a traffic corridor through the kitchen and opens up a lot of possibilities for improved prep, cook and clean-up areas.

Could you do this? As others suggested I eliminated the door directly into the kitchen work path, giving an L-shape.

I moved the range down to the bottom of the L. You get a small work triangle from fridge to counter or island to cooktop; often when I cook, I don't need to use the sink, I'm adding something directly from fridge into the pan, like liquids, or veggies I prepped earlier.

Then I put the sink is where the range was. This puts the dishes and dishwasher closer to where they are used most often, and gives a nice big prep space between sink and cooktop.

Some will question the fridge right across the from island. My mom's is like this, and it's actually quite convenient. Once in a blue moon someone wants to go past while the door is open, but rarely, and besides, they can go around the island if it's that urgent. It's not that far.

In the end, you still have a nice, clear island, and no traffic through the work area. If that corner cabinet bothers you and you don't want a super-susan or the like, you could give it access from the other side.

and this is how it might look in the context of the whole house.

I like how the kitchen works with the doorway closed off. If you did this, you could incorporate a pass thru doorway under the cabinet at the end of the run to simplify getting groceries into the house.

Good idea, function_first. They could also omit the wall behind cabinet on the left of the refrigerator, like a peninsula, to ease the transition to the kitchen and to provide an easy pass-thru to the dining room if that's what the flex room will become.

As Marcolo said: Ice, water, stone, fire...try to make sure your plan has this flow.

The biggest problem with the kitchen is the location of the garage. It forces the long hallway for ccess to the bedroom that wouldn't be needed were the garage pulled to the front and the bedroom to the rear. And that hall is a LOT of square footage to be able to be recouped into living space.