Hello GW'ers! I'm new to the forum and have been so amazed by all the helpful advice that you are willing to give each other. My husband and I are newlyweds, and have gutted our kitchen when we installed new wood floors throughout our 100 yr old bungalow last fall. We are going to knock down the walls throughout the main floor which will leave us with approx 10Wx14L walk-through galley kitchen (which is in between LR and DR). I have spent countless hours designing potential layouts and have narrowed it down to 2 very different designs. I'm looking for advice on which you believe will be more aesthetically pleasing without sacrificing functionality, as our kitchen will be in the middle of the house and wide open when you walk through the front door! Will be ikea cabinets with custom painted fronts.

Design A: Sink and Stove are across from each other with a slight offset. I'm bringing the stove-side bases out 6" to make the CD= 30" as we have the floor space to allow for this. I've also added a peninsula to give a little more separation between the kitchen and the living room which it opens onto. I do not like eat-in peninsulas, so have created open shelves and a 18" drawer to store dog food on the livingroom side. On the kitchen side, it will be a 15" deep open shelf at top to hold microwave, with a shallow drawer underneath. On the sink side, the 24" pantry will have a glass door on top to store all dishes and glasses with drawers underneath for cutlery. The dishwasher is next to it for easy unloading access, but the downside is that it will be a barrier in the middle of the kitchen when fully open (which is why I created design B as an alternative). The 30" cupboards and drawers on the right side of the sink will hold all our food and preserves. Please have a look. Uppers are TBD, but will be minimal, if any, on the range side.

Design B: Designed with the DW in the corner and out of the way of walk-through aisle when open. This design was also created with the sink and stove on the same wall which seems to be a popular recommendation on GW. This design did not allow for a peninsula, but I have flipped a shallow base cabinet at the end of the run facing the LR to hold books, etc. I will need to create uppers surrounding the sink and DW area if I choose this layout as this is where all my dishes and glasses will be housed. The opposite wall will be fridge and all food storage including a coffee station, little snack prep area per say. You'll also notice a chimney in this design which was taken out of design A. We are still waiting to hear from our GC about the price tag of re-directing our furnace and removing the chimney that runs through our house. If budget does not allow, the chimney may need to stay in which case I'm not sure what to do with it. Maybe paint a chalkboard on it and extend the countertop across the front of it... any ideas?

Please let me know your thoughts on which design will look and function best. Thank you so much - your input is greatly appreciated.