Segbrown I love the granite backsplash and I wish I had seen if before I ordered the subway backsplash. Nice design. Oic - I have handscraped antique walnut and I love walking on it. Where it is scraped it gently and I mean slightly cups your feet. Handscraped has its own look of course. I wanted more character which I got with the antique walnut not a flat matte look and the handscraping allows more of life to happen and not be as noticeable as a mat finish. Least that is what we think.

Sadly each of us seems to be recommending a modification to your footprint. If possible, I would put more space at the front of the auto slot adjacent to the kitchen and I would move the pantry and the mudroom into that new space so that the mud room faces the staircase that way people coming out of the mudroom can go straight to the stairs and it would also it would give you the shortest walk with your bags of groceries. I completely side with those who insist that there must be some kind of a bed/bath downstairs. Even though you don't intend to age in place anyone of you or your children could have an accident that makes it impossible to go up and down the stairs for some months and assorted older relatives may visit and be unable to do the stairs as well...or they very well may be able to do the stairs but you don't want them upstairs. I personally would flip the locations of dining room and the kitchen. You have indicated that the dining room is to take advantage of the views but the person doing the work in the kitchen is the person most in need of the views. The cook could look out over the main kitchen sink to the outside and the people sitting at what would be the new breakfast bar area on the island would also be facing outside if you flipped the island and dining room table. Also it would put the kitchen between the dining room and the covered porch which probably will also have a table for eating outside when the weather is fine. I also think it will look strange to have an island that is bigger than the dining room table and to step through this relatively large front entryway into the kitchen. Usually kitchens are accessed from the back door only. Of course the drama of the views and custom cabinetry may make this a moot point. This is such an open plan it seems to me that even with a great hood you run the risk that the living room will always smell of cooking. One miscellaneous note, with these views you may anticipate having no window coverings and it may make it difficult to see any television set which I presume will be located in the living room because there is no family room. Just something to think about.

Rocky, the counters are normal depth and the isle width from counter to counter is 41". I can definitely see something similar in your house! Kiwi, I saw some photos of you home on the building a house forum. It looks incredible!!! I cannot wait to see more pics. Regarding the faucet. I am having a hard time loving it as the sprayer does not have much pressure. My other faucet in the main kitchen's sprayer is great. I am wondering if it is a problem with the faucet itself?

This is the kitchen our architect has come up with for our house design. Fire him or her. so the sink and counter was added in after the initial design. What I don't like about the sink area: The sink is the most-used item in the kitchen, yet it's set apart from the main work area -- this will add many steps to every meal. Also, the person working at the sink will have to stand in the walkway between the kitchen /pantry /dining area. This'll be a constant irritation. We also want the cook top to be on the island. I'm kinda ambivalent about this, but it's a generally disliked thing on this board. What are your reasons for wanting your cooktop on the island? If you keep it here, do consider you'll need to consider to add a vent hood. For example the dishwasher and refrigerator is in the pantry. Yes, I'd hate-hate-hate this. Does anyone have any suggestions for the set up? Should we have the fridge, dishwasher and ovens in the main kitchen and only use the pantry for; coffee, appliances, etc.? I think you need to define your wants /your kitchen habits. With a big pantry (more of a scullery), do you see yourself doing most of the dirty work of cooking in this pantry and then serving in the front-half? That's kinda what I see from this design ... though if that's the case, I don't see why the dining room is on the right side; it'd make more sense to be able to serve from the scullery straight to the dining room. the architect has only put the appliances in those places as a potential example. Nooooo, without the appliances you don't know if the kitchen is an appropriate size /don't know how many cabinets you'll have. Appliances aren't something to pop in at the last minute. @traci_from_seattle Thank you for your help. The reasoning for the butler's pantry is extra space/storage and was potentially meant to be a clean up area No, it works for storage but not as a clean-up area; you'd have to carry things a long way to the pantry /then clean them. That's not functional. This arrangement places the dining room far from the kitchen, meaning that many steps will be required to get the food to the table. If you're going with a loooong pantry, I'd consider opening it on both ends. It would make picking up an item from the faaaaar end more convenient. That's a monster-sized wine fridge. Do you really need that much? I'd consider placing the wine fridge IN the pantry. Patricia, why would the toaster, and for that matter the coffee maker, go in the butler pantry? I like the idea of the toaster and other small appliances being stored in the pantry. Depending upon how you use your microwave, I'd consider putting it in there too. It'd keep those "always outs" away from view. The coffee maker is especially well placed in the pantry because it means that one person could make coffee without interrupting the cook's space. how does thi kitchen relate to the other spaces surrounding it? Yes this kitchen is dysfunctional as you realized but if you want our help we need to see how it relates to the surrounding spaces. Yes, please. Of all the rooms in a house, the kitchen needs to be placed conveniently to other parts of the house. People are using the term "butler's panty" to sound "special". GRRR..... We also see the term "butler's pantry" used to mean "walk in pantry", which is not correct. That wasn't necessary. The OP is here asking for help and is probably repeating what she has heard from the architect. That sounds likely.