Benjesbride, what you say regarding dining/island makes sense, but unfortunately I have ~11'x16' space to fit in the kitchen. If I decide to rotate the kitchen the way you say it, then my kitchen island will be quite small. I too started out thinking of a longer island and thus came up with option 2, and am not able to find pictures to tell me if that would look ok or not. Secondly, currently the plan is that the Great Room will be mainly conversation area. TV will be in a separate room, so no need to consider TV-watchability. Mama Rachel, your idea of spice kitchen is great! That's the kitchen I started out "wanting". I had to abandon it halfway, however, because of space constraints. My whole house is ~2200 sqft, therefore allocating disproportionately large amount of space to the kitchen would have meant I gave up on some other priorities. Mama Rachel : regarding powder: we decided to ditch the powder because of the availability of full bath on that floor, which otherwise will be guest bath. We also wanted as much storage as possible, therefore decided on having a storage rather than powder. Anyway, here's the original plan. Note that we added ~5ft towards the courtyard and some square footage along top wall (which is facing backyard). I am working on sizing of the entry right now, because I think it's a bit too big for the house, but that space will NOT become available to the kitchen again due to the building rules.

THANKS FOR THE PHOTOS, I WOULD NOT RECOMMEND A BIG AREA RUG IN THE CENTER BECAUSE IT WILL UNBALANCE THE DINING CHAIRS EVERY TIME YOU USE. YOU CAN ADD A RUG UNDER THE CHAIRS IF YOU HAVE ENOUGH SPACE A FOOT REST WOULD BE NICE IN FRONT OF IT. SOME INSPIRATIONAL PHOTOS MIGHT HELP

I like a lot of light as well. I think everything is well lit except for your family room. Definitely not enough light in there (especially if you want the option of a brightly lit space. There is no center lighting and everything has been arrange around the edges of the room. IMO, what you have is a HUGE span with zero lighting which is not at all adequate. Some people prefer room edge lighting and that’s what they’ll recommend. But if you like a lot of light, I don’t think the way your designer set things up will satisfy that need. If it was my home, even though the ceilings are only 8 feet, I would want a center fixture (small chandelier or semi flush)...something pretty. If you are not sure about your furniture placement they can always install the box with lots of extra wire looped in the ceiling so you can adjust it later. Just take pics of your ceiling joists when it’s all opened up (if it is opened up) so you know where everything is located. Makes it easier later. You’ll have a little sheetrock repair, but completely manageable. I would add more cans/wafers around the center of the room and put them on a dimmer. You can always turn them off or dim them if it’s too much light, but if there’s nothing there, you’re stuck with a dark room and no real way to fix it (other than having your electrician return and hack up your ceiling). I’m not a fan of LED, but some people love it. Just make sure you like the type of light they put out before you bite the bullet on them.

Okay - did the corrections and think I have a close approximation of your space. Each block represents 1 foot. The gray area is the space needed around the island for walking with people seated - should be clear of furniture. Can you take a picture of the full wall where the fireplace and tv nook are - not sure I got their placements right. Do you plan on using the tv nook for the TV? How did you envision the living/seating areas when you designed the kitchen? How many people need to be seated - do you need a dining space and how many people need to sit at the dining table or are you just using the island for meals?