It really is the whole chicken/egg story all over again. When you say site built, do you mean site sanded and finished? When I sold hardwood, *we* preferred to go in after cabinets but before toekicks. This was mainly to protect the floor from the cabinets getting installed. In new home builds it was usually careless trades coming in after us that damaged the floors. Floors first, pros; --you can change base cabinets easier at a later date --the cabinets won't get dinged by the flooring install (and finishing equipment in site finished floors) --you don't have to deal with the sanding dust in your new cupboards (site finished) cons; --the floor is likely to get some damage with cabinet installation. You can do the final site finishing after the cabinets to hedge your bets. --you're using extra square footage of wood --you can't easily change your mind on the floor after the cabinets are in things to consider: if you install your cupboards first and run the hardwood just under the toekicks, you'll need to remember the 3/4" thickness of the wood when installing your cabinets. some people install their base and wall cabinets, do hardwood and THEN install the island. With small/midsized non-plumbed islands you can just lift and move them slightly to install underneath *if* you don't have multiple electrical coming up form the floor. HTH!

I'm not against cook tops or ranges in islands, provided the island is large enough to allow for ample work space on either side of the cook top or range. Your first plan allowed for 24", about 7" more than I currently have on each side of my island cook top. I hate it with a passion because there is so little room to prep and work next to the cook top. It's one of the driving reasons for completely reworking our kitchen (remodel to start soon, yay!). And the pop-up downdraft is a joke. That said, new pop-up downdrafts are much more effective but, as has been pointed out, island venting is more expensive than perimeter venting. So I'm glad to see that your later versions moved the range out of the island and eliminated that odd sink wall jog by bumping the whole wall out. Of the 2 latest plans you posted, I prefer Option 2. There is no zone crossing between clean-up and prep/cooking functions, unlike what will occur in your Option 3. I think Option 2 could be made even better. I moved the sink out of the corner. I'm not sure what you gain by going with a corner sink, other than mirroring the other angled corner. (I have a corner sink under corner windows; I've always been happy with this set-up. The main downside is that it's very difficult to clean behind the sink.) Eliminating these 2 angled corners gains you longer stretches of counter, which is always a plus, IMO. Here are images of sinks against walls, not under windows, so you can see design options for this type of set-up. [[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/kitchens-by-julie-williams-design-traditional-kitchen-san-francisco-phvw-vp~114198) [Traditional Kitchen[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/traditional-kitchen-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_709~s_2107) by Novato Kitchen & Bath Designers Julie Williams Design [[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/kitchens-traditional-kitchen-san-francisco-phvw-vp~1994291) [Traditional Kitchen[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/traditional-kitchen-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_709~s_2107) by Los Gatos Kitchen & Bath Designers Kitchens of Los Gatos [[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/contemporary-kitchen-contemporary-kitchen-dallas-phvw-vp~574875) [Contemporary Kitchen[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/contemporary-kitchen-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_709~s_2103) by Dallas Interior Designers & Decorators Denise McGaha Interiors [[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/island-view-traditional-kitchen-boston-phvw-vp~696524) [Traditional Kitchen[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/traditional-kitchen-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_709~s_2107) by Boston Kitchen & Bath Designers Dalia Kitchen Design btw, I made an assumption about the size of your double pantry doors, basing its width on the integrated fridge (also assumed this was 42" not 36"). If it's larger or smaller, you'll need to adjust the sink wall accordingly. Putting a range in a corner is a tricky thing to do. You have to design it very carefully to make sure it works, plus it eats up a lot of space on each wall. A 36" cook top will require 51"-54" of space from each wall. Because a range sticks out beyond the counter edge, you'll need wider spacers next to it in order to be able to open cab doors and drawers without bumping into the range. That's not saying it can't be done but you should know the pros and cons of such a set-up. Read the following articles written by Kelly Morisseau, CMKBD, for more information. A reader asks: A cooktop or range in the corner? A Design Reader Asks: Help with range in the corner? btw, the same cautions apply to placing a fridge or an oven in a corner, too. Plus, there's the awkward placement of a tall thing breaking up stretches of counter. I wouldn't do it.

Sorry, just getting a chance to look back at the thread. Thanks again for the comments. Regarding the spare bath down ~ yes, we are changing the tub to a walk-in shower with a seat for ease and safety. Front hall closet - actually, there is one immediately when you walk in to the right. It will actually curve back underneath the stairwell. "Steph" - your design looks good and it is something we played with but I didn't want to take away from the space in the pantry (my last 2 homes have had them and now I'm spoiled! lol!) We also are going to move the covered patio to start at the end of the LR wall and extend to end of DR wall, which will help with sun exposure (actually considering making it a fully screened porch but will have to look at budget). Also, instead of French doors, I'm looking at putting sliding glass doors in the large windows in the DR/LR. Regarding cathedral ceilings - we had those in a home and I thought I'd love them but in the end I really didn't - a lot of wasted space upstairs and less energy efficient to keep cool/warm. I would like to put a tray ceiling in the LR with wood beams. ;) "Ellen" - thank you for your comments. Unfortunately, we would have to have 4 BR upstairs to give each kiddo their own space. The BR 4 downstairs is for our aging parents who come to visit and stay 3-4 weeks at a time (and come 2-3x/year - which we love having them and are grateful, which is why we wanted to give them a room and bath downstairs). I thought of putting in a Jack-n-Jill bath upstairs but thought it might be better (when we have 4 teenagers at the same time) to at least have 2 BA upstairs that all 4 can share. Christopher - "Columbus Custom Design" - please feel free to add your thoughts. All appreciated! :)

Thanks for the feedback on this everyone. Just wanted to update in case anyone else has such a dilemma. I DID find the material I was looking for (grey with white veining) after searching inventory systems all over the country for weeks. The material is a marble, and called Blue de Savoie. I ordered a sample of from a slab and fell in love. Sadly, the slabs were only available in NYC and I was outside of their delivery range. I tried everything to get the slab or something similar sourced through local vendors and could not make it work. I ended up going with a Carrara marble instead which wasn’t exactly what I was looking for but did turn out very nicely. I think the fireplace complements the kitchen and other finishes we chose well. Please see attached for initial Savoie de blue marble I found, how our fireplace turned out and a photo of our kitchen which is located at the other end of the room that the fireplace is in. The house is still under construction hence some incomplete finishes. Thanks everyone for the feedback.