I have a similarly sized space... You might post on the kitchen forum, or you might want to have a look at this thread that they recently spent a lot of time with many iterations of a layout that fits in this space to see if any appeal to you... As for 36" range or not... I can't answer that. For me, it would be too big for my 11' wall. I'd rather have those extra 6" (and burners) as cabinets and counters. Only you can decide. Here is my kitchen forum layout question link Here is a link that might be useful: kirkhall layout

christamarie, any room you design, you need to work from outside in at the same time you design inside out. The extension you put on your house has to go with the existing look of the house. Right now, I envision an ugly nose stuck in the middle of your current house without other information to go with. The window over the sink is not even centered on the extension as is. The roofline of the extension has to tie in nicely with the extension. This can be quite expensive depending on what you do. If the rooflines are not tied in well, you can conceivably create leak points. If the additions are not done well structurally, they tend to sag and fall apart from the existing house over next several years. You can see this when you look at old houses that had 'suboptimal' additions put on them. First, the esthetics of the extension from the ouside has to look harmonious and well designed with the existing house. This is what makes you look at the house and say 'that house looks ugly' or 'that house looks nice'. People will have a gut response to the exterior of the house immediately. A well-done extension will improve the look of the house. If not well done, it looks like an ugly sore. You also have an opportunity to improve the way the house relates to the natural light coming into the house. I see tiny little windows added to the extension. This is a wasted opportunity IMHO. Ourside corner windows can be used beautifully to add wonderful architectural interest to the house. In your case, you have put a pantry there. Try to get some 3D software and try to envision the exterior of the house first. There will be many iterations as you work the exterior as well as the interior at the same time. This type of design is NOT EASY...

Westsider, Thanks for jumping in here !! Your place sounds great. I sure wish I was on your family list. ;) I also appreciate all of your comments. You have given me a lot to think about. More below to you (and anyone else who wants to comment)... I really appreciate everyone who is helping me with all of these ideas. Our builder said last week "That new layout looks good, sometimes it takes another set of eyes to see something, especially after you look at something for so long". That's what you guys are doing for me ... being my extra set of eyes and helping me think what is important to different groups of people. Good news from the builder ... he said yes to the bumpout behind the lower cabinets over the stairs ! That makes design #05 (a few posts up) officially ok from the builder. 1. have 2 or 3 outside beach showers ... do you mean hot & cold showers or just cold for rinsing sand off from beach ? We have planned 1 cold on the walk over the dunes and 1 hot & cold enclosed shower. 2, 3, 4. do you have some ideas for layout in these areas ? Would love to see what you are thinking. 5. weddings are probably not too frequent 6. Grilling - this is an issue. We will not be able to control if people ignore with portable grill, but rules will not allow a built in grill or homeowner provided grill on the deck. We have plans for the ground floor grilling area to be a fun gathering place though with a tiki bar, picnic tables, pingpong and foosball, horseshoes, in addition to the grills. Two grills is great idea !! Good idea also to plan storage for grill tools and mitts near the grills. 9. Will review to make sure stuff stored on high shelves is rarely used stuff. Looking like some of the high shelves will even be empty. Who knows - once it is unpacked, stuff has a way of filling the available space. LOL !! 10. Lot is 50 x 150 ocean front. With 7 foot setbacks for each side of lot, neighbor houses are 14 feet away from each other. 11. two washers & dryers - yep ! 12. elevators - will ask about property insurance - a neighbor has an automatic gate operator (which cost a lot extra) and had problems with renters messing up his door and lots of service calls, so he eventually disconnected his auto opener. We know now to not spend extra for the auto opener. 13. your property taxes are outrageous !! Luckily, we are on flat rate here ... approx 1% of home value. lakehouse, leaving now to go meet a friend for movie, but will check out your plans later. Looks like you are remodeling kitchen for a lakehouse you already own ? Thanks !! Keep the comments coming on all areas of the home !

I also disagree with Gravitas. 48" is the minimum I'd have since it sounds like you will have a 2-person Kitchen. 42" to/from the items sticking out into the aisles the farthest is the minimum for a one-person Kitchen, 48" is the minimum for 2 or more people working in the Kitchen at the same time. If there's seating on the aisle I would recommend even wider (54"), but you don't have any seating on the aisles with appliances and/or counters. It becomes even more important when all three primary work zones are in one space rather than separated to allow more room for working. (Remember, aisles are measured to/from the items that stick out into the aisle the farthest -- counter edges, appliance handles, etc.) I do worry, though, that you don't have enough workspace on the Prep Zone side of the island sink. 36" is the bare minimum recommended, but from experience, 42" is much better. You'd be surprised the difference 6" makes! Consider a 30" wide sink base to add 6" to the prep space. I wouldn't bother with a small sink & DW in the pantry. First of all, you shouldn't have moisture or heat (or light) in a food pantry. Ideally, the pantry should be cool, dry, and dark. I don't know if you're planning to put a window in the pantry, but I would not for all the same reasons I just listed (windows let in light and heat). Second, having 2 DWs separated from each other is not recommended -- you'll be running back & forth b/w them trying to find things. You may plan/say only certain items in each DW, but the reality is that people will put things in the closest DW or the one with the fewest amount of dirty dishes. Regarding the refrigerator & freezer -- for the same reasons above, you shouldn't have a refrigerator or freezer in a pantry. They put out a lot of heat and moisture (to keep it frost-free). Instead, I would put in 30" all refrigerator/freezer columns. I think you will find that they will be enough -- unless you do a lot of food or meat processing and need the space for many pounds of food/meat. If so, consider putting it in the Mudroom - maybe recessed into the pantry. That way it won't take much room from the Mudroom and the walls would protect the pantry from the heat & moisture put out by the freezer. The "pinch point" -- I think you'll be fine. Most doorways are only 32" wide and they're wide enough. If you have around that amount of space you should be good. Remember, it's a "point", not an extensive aisle that narrow. Keep the 4' b/w the island and wall in the bumpout and no seat on the North West corner of the island to compensate for the pinch point.