Plan 1 is very nice, especially with the prep sink in place. I was watching your other thread, and echo the others that this plan works much better with the prep sink (Silgranite + disposal will make it cleaning friendly). I'm a H.S. mom, too, and can tell you that you'll love having a 2nd sink! : )

Put your long range glasses on and look down the road a few years. The 6 and 8 year old will be able to work much more independently in a short time. Choose the better functioning kitchen for the long haul. Even if the kids don't work exclusively in the homeschool room for the next year or two, it's wonderful to have all that dedicated storage for the myriad school supplies in the mean time.

If you can spare the pantry storage space, a door could be put in from the pantry to the school room. Would that be direct enough access? Maybe some shallow storage racks could be attached to the door so that you don't lose quite as much storage.

What an exciting home to be building! : )

Here's an enlarged version of the kitchen area on the original plan:

How do you feel about this plan to provide an opening into the computer room? The access will be directly behind you as you prep, and the range wall retains some symmetry for your husband. The trash is a pull-out under the sink.

laughable--great minds. ;)

What is the scale of the graph paper layouts? Usually perimeter counters are 24" deep -- are yours 30" deep, so 1 sq. = 6 sq. inches? Either way, it looks as if your walkways are too narrow.

Yes, I can see that the prep sink makes sense. I had never seen that before and the idea just seemed weird to me. I'm over it :)

laughable - I think you are right. I should look at the long range plan. And plan 1 looks and works much better - for a kitchen. I LOVE the peekaboo door idea. I checked out the August Field's kitchen and really like how she incorporated that into the design. I think being able to look into the room and answer question from "the hole" would work just fine :) I'll have to see where I can place that.

With plan 1 where would be the best position for the trash pull? I labelled a couple of choices but ideally I would like to have it in the prep area but also easy access for clean-up. Any suggestions? Also, I was thinking, would it make sense to put the second dishwasher drawer (single drawer) beside the prep sink?

one square is 5 square inches. I've kept the range side isle narrow because I like to prep on the island and be able to swivel and cook. I'm the only one cooking usually. My girls like to bake but I figure the island is big and they can scoot over to the other side :)

I probably should increase the width on the other side though since it's where the fridge and pantry access would be. Would 42" be wide enough do you think? I have it right now at 35"

If it's really an issue not seeing the kids (or them seeing you), consider:

• A wall behind the cooktop that's a foot wider than the cooktop

• A range hood that's 6" wider than the cooktop

• Pass throughs flanking the wall into the other room

• How do you plan to use that room once the kids have outgrown homeschooling? (Either HS or College age)

As was mentioned b/f, children grow very quickly - so plan for the future when they're older and, possibly, have flown the nest!

What about something like this?

I don't know about this one opening behind the cooktop, but just for fun....

Could you just flip the pantry and computer rooms for now? As the kids get older you can just flip back so they become a little more independent.

Can you leave out the wall between the computer room and pantry and use cabinetry in the computer room for storage?

When the kids are older, add in the wall to create a separate computer room and pantry.

I know nothing about homeschooling, but I do know kids don't stay the same age for long! I like plan 1 and agree with everything laughable said.

Aw, thanks Lori_inthenw_gw.

I want to get back to you on your questions of aisle width and trash location.

Minimum aisle width is 36" for a one butt kitchen with an officially recommended width of 42", or 48" for a 2 butt or more kitchen. This is something you may very well want to lay out and feel for yourself to see what is the right width for you and your family. We all have different space needs. Take into account appliances, drawers, etc, opening into the space. You can practice in your current kitchen with boxes on chairs, a table on blocks, etc. to mimic an island and slide it until it feels like a comfortable working distance with enough room for others to pass by.

I have to tell you, I was in our neighbor's spankin' new kitchen yesterday. She had 36" and 38" aisles on either side of her island. It felt fine. In her kitchen. That made me want to see if that spacing would work in our kitchen, since this would let me put some more cabinets in on the other side of the room. So, today I slid our table that's functioning as our long term-temporary island so that it was 36" from our counters. I made supper while the kids hulled a gigundous batch of strawberries. I was ready to "kill" my sweet, dear children after about a half hour of working in there together. So. Since homeschool moms murdering their children is frowned upon, I recommend that you do aisles wider than 36". ; ) Just sayin'.

Trash: You can have your cake and eat it too. Or you can throw it in the trash, from either edge of the island in plan 1. One side can be a roll-out, and on the other edge, you can have a swinging door. Beaglesdoitbetter has the trash cabinet built this way in her island. It looks very handy. You can see how it is made on her blog here.

Oh, and for the dish drawer, most folks on here would recommend keeping it by your cleanup sink so that you don't have to run items back and forth from the prep to the cleanup area to see which dw they'll fit better in. It's easier to just take the things to be cleaned all to the cleanup area.

I've decided to go with the peek-a-boo window to keep an eye on the kids in the computer room. It's not too drastic for hubby and I think it will do fine until the kids can work more independently.

Laughable - I tried the isles out for space and have decided to increase them a little bit. Murdering little children won't do at all!!

I love that trash bin! I'm going to ask the builder if they can custom build it. It's perfect. Thank you!

I think I'm almost done with the final draft. I'll post it tomorrow in case there are any glaring issues - but I think I've done ok :)

Firstly, thank you! to everyone for all the awesome advice - you guys have been great. I'd never have imagined a kitchen with 2 dishwashers and 2 sinks if it hadn't been for you and I think my new kitchen is going to be awesome to work in because of you :) I even have the peek-a-boo window to keep an eye on the kids in the computer room.

Here's my "almost" final kitchen plan. I still have to figure out where to put the prep sink (I've market two possible locations). I also need to figure out where to place the trash pull.

I was going to put the trash pull in the corner of the island but that spot has been taken over by the microwave drawer. I can't think of where else to put it. The spot beside the fridge would work but I'd like to use that drawer bank for our smoothies. The drawer bank will hold protein powders and add-ons, like chia, nuts, etc. The blender is going to sit on the counter just above that drawer bank.

I also can't decide the best place for the prep sink. Location 1 is closer to the fridge and makes a better work triangle between fridge prep sink and the range. But this location puts the sink a little further from the edge than I would like it to be. I think I prefer it on the far right side as it can be placed closer to the edge and this side also provides easy access for hand washing when kids come in from the backyard as well as when they enter the house from the front door or from the garage. However, it is then far from the fridge.

What are your thoughts? Here's the drawing...

Some final notes... Would one 15 inch upper on each side of 48" range look too skimpy? I don't want the uppers to be flush against the hood. But I'm worried it might look disproportionate. Does anyone have something similar? I'd love to see some pics. I also have sliding cabinet doors under the uppers (see picture below). I was looking for a way to store my Kitchen Aid stand mixer and I think this is perfect. Does anyone disagree?

My range wall isn't quite as big as in the picture. I have 35" of counter space on both sides. So The cabinet/upper would use up about 15" on either side. I plan to do most of my prep on the island and don't think I'll miss that space. Do you think it's a bad idea?

Thanks!

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Where you show the microwave, is a perfect place for trash. Consider moving it to between the DW and fridge column? And I think it is perfectly fine to put the sink in the bottom corner (#2). In fact, I think that gives you more of a drop zone for things coming out of the fridge and if that also makes it a little more multi-purpose, all the better.

I'm not sure I can picture the sliding doors under a cabinet that is only 15" wide. That seems like it may look strange, or just not work the way you envision. As for that size cabinet at all, I would really need to see an elevation image of that wall, and I think it may depend on the style of hood you are going with.

Definitely put the prep sink in the #2 position. It is handier to have your sinks spaced evenly around the kitchen instead of fairly clustered together. And as the above poster said, having the prep sink in the #2 position makes it easier to drop things from the fridge directly on the island counter to prepped.

However, when you put the prep sink in the #2 position, space it about two feet from the edge (as opposed to the 10" from the edge as you have it drawn now). It is nice to have some counter on both sides of any sink so you can pile whatever food you are washing on one side of the sink and as you wash each piece, and pile the clean things on the other side of the sink.

Trash is kind of personal. Depends what kind of trash you create and when in your cooking process. When I cook, the vast majority of what I create is compost and a bit of recycling. So for me, compost is the important thing to have accessible to the prep counter. When I snack, that is when I really produce trash. I'd want trash near the fridge/microwave/pantry area.

But you may be different. Some people split it up -- recycling here, trash there, etc. Walk through several scenarios of common ways you use your kitchen and note where you'd be when you are unwrapping things, wiping things, tossing scraps, etc. Put the trash can(s) there.

One thing it's rare to have the opportunity to do, but you would have the possibility is to have (a) trash can here, pulling out in the indicated direction:

I also think you should shorten your range run by another ten inches to give someone bending over into the fridge some room to do it. It seems really scrunchy in front of the fridge now. You'd have 30 inch cabinets flanking the range instead of 36" -- not a big loss with so much counter on the island in front of it.

Controlfreak and Jillius, I've moved the prep sink to location #2. I agree, it's a better spot for it. I've moved the microwave between the DW and the fridge. I'll make do with one drawer below it and the upper cabinet to store our smoothie ingredients. I've also increased the spacing between the fridge and the range wall. I didn't think of the bending over factor. Thanks!

I've moved the trash to where the microwave was located in the island corner. Since the walk-in pantry is located on that side as well, I think we will generate the most trash over that side. I read somewhere that someone used a plastic shopping bag to gather veggie peels and other compost from her prep area, then when she was done cooking she would just carry the bag over to the trash and dispose of it. I actually do this myself a lot so I'll just continue with that system :)

I think that covers most of it :) Thanks!

Still thinking about what to do about the stand mixer. I don't want it sitting on the counter but if I put it away, it'll never get used. I've seen those pull-out shelf things but I don't think I'd be comfortable with those because then it sits in between the isles and I wouldn't want my kids trying to get around it, or anyone else for that matter!

On the end of the isle where it says hanging fruit baskets...I want to build shelves under only half the side and have seating for one on the other half side. I'm not a big fan of everyone sitting in a row. This is my way of a compromise. I know 2 and 2 seating would look better but do you think it's really odd to have 3 stools on one side and one on the side? I'm not sure how that side would look with and overhang for the stool but cabinetry on the other side for the fruit baskets. Anyone seen any pics of anything like this?

I'm going for a combination of the following two islands :)

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