unusual with entry to utility and master bedroom off living room. I would make entry to bedroom from foyer....close that existing entry to bedroom. Use that bottom part of living room then for a dining set up and do an island kitchen. Large island that seats the six of you, yes for day to day, I think you would congregate there. Well actually, when the oldest is gone to school is when the youngest will be at a chair it seems. So you're at five really. So you go L shape with the long and short wall and get a large island with sink, and go very stylish and play up your open plan.... you'll be eliminating that peninsula sort of section with sink and dishwasher. Can anything be done with utility, like place the w/d elsewhere in home.....or get stackable w/d , so some shelving can go in for stored kitchen goods-at least paper and wraps etc as you are eliminating that other pantry. If you make a nice looking door to the utility that morphs well and can really be closed and forgotten about, I think the dining table which will be used more sporadically will be ok down there. But the bedroom entry needs moving likely....but I think might be preferable off foyer. I just think the very tight U with the sink jutting out like that is not playing up your space as a whole. I'd want it more open and get an island with some presence that is really used.

Did the wall between the kitchen and L R get bigger in your new plan? Simce you will be prepping in the space to the left of the sink (as you stand facing the sink), if you could leave that wall shorter (or eliminate it entirely), you'd be able to see into the LR while you are doing prep. Prep is where we usually spend most of the time in the kitchen.

I f you just cant loose that upper cab space, how about dropped from the ceiling open shelves for dishes? Convenient to the DW, and you could still see thru them.

We actually really like the rest of the layout of the house and how it flows. We removed the breakfast bar a few years ago and now have a nice sectional backed up to that knee wall. They are going to cut the knee wall down and run the counter flat with just a small overhang to give me more work space. We'll still have the couch there and plan to make a narrow table to run the length of the back of the couch as a buffer to the counter. We've played around with several configurations for the living room layout and this is what works the best by far. We love our little house.

I love love love your blue wall paint!

Weaver2, yes we are adding about 20" to that wall so that we can get another upper cabinet in there. I have actually wondered for years why they didn't make that wall just a little bigger to fit another cabinet.

I'm so excited to be rid of that pantry. They didn't have a light in there so it was like a cave. Whenever I was cooking everyone would be in my way getting stuff out of the pantry/fridge to set the table. I really like the idea of being protected from all of that traffic. My view of the TV might be obscured a little more but I'm usually so busy that I don't see much anyway.

Oh that wall color. It took over 8 different sample before I found the right one. It's BM Champion Cobalt in Flat. We love it. It's definitely a bold color. I can't wait to see how the 42" white shaker cabinets look next to it. I'm thinking we'll do a white subway tile backsplash.

My biggest concern about the new layout is that the pennisula is going to be elongated by about 6" which narrows the opening to the kitchen. I talked to the KD this morning and he said that they might not need to do that. I was actually hoping they could leave it the same length it is now and since the knee wall will be gone it would effectively open up that entry by 6" instead.

I have a similarly bold color in my LR/DR which also have vaulted ceilings. Mine is a dark green...an old Ralph Lauren color whose name I forget. I love it too! Bold color people unite!

Have you considered painting your ceiling while you have the opportunity? After a lot of convincing, my husband finally agreed to painting our ceiling a color in the same family as the wall, but just a hair off of white (so a very, very pale version). It is great because you dont see it as not-white, but it softens the line between the intense color and the ceiling so the eye doesnt jump up to that big expanse, and instead stays on all that glorious color.

Enjoy your new white shaker cabs! I bet they will look striking on all that cobalt.

I like it, too. I don't think you have the width for an island and the lack of uppers over sink already gives you a nice open feel. Since your home is small, I thought it would be nice to have the kitchen be a bit more open to the rest of the house.

Here's an idea. Since we work from fridge-->sink-->prep counter-->cooktop, this gives you better work flow. I think it might give you a few extra inches for your prep counter as well. I think your kitchen is a good candidate for the range being angled in that corner (to right of current range placement). My software isn't sophisticated enough to allow me to do that. Doing that would give you a few more inches for your prep counter.

As long as the chairs on the fridge/sink side of the table are pushed in, you should have plenty of room to walk around. The area around the table feels more open and spacious to me with less crowding against the walls/sliders.

You might look into easy-reach corner cabinets (uppers). Most people here prefer them to the angled corner uppers. In a small kitchen like yours, they will make your space feel less crowded and make your kitchen feel bigger because of it. Plus, people who have them say the storage is much more accessible earing it the easy-reach (or is it EZ reach?) name.

Wow! Nice layout Funky!

The blue is fantastic.

I love a pantry, but your current one is definite a pain to use. I think your new plan works well. You will be tripling your uppers - yeah! Even with normal corner diagonals on the uppers, you will appreciate the space. It appears you have two blind corners on the base.

Would an oval or rounded corner table give you a little more room to move around the table? As it is, you could even extend your counters or the pantry all the way down the wall through the dining area. Your current white bookcase in the dinning area already approximates the footprint of the intenced added pantry - imagine it just longer. Think of all the extra storage!

We don't normally have the expedite of baby stuff in the kitchen but moved it there to get a feel for how it would flow with the pantry there. I would love to extend the pantry all the way down but I think it would really start to crowd the eating area. If we slide the table more towards the living room then the peninsula starts to encroach on the table.

Funky, I like your idea but that layout would throw off the living room. Our sectional would look out of place.

Yeah, I realized that after I re-read your posts with your photos. I do like your current plan but just wanted to offer another option.

I just posted on another thread that my daughter's favorite place to prep is on a large cutting board that we fit on the positive real of the sink. It increases 'counter' space and makes a nice secondary prep area in my small kitchen. It would allow you to have a better view of the LR while prepping.

The white cabinets will look great with the blue walls.

Can I ask where you bought the LR shelving units? I like them.

They are Ikea Besta. We love them.

Have you tried pulling your sectional away from the wall? Generally, having a "floating" seating arrangement looks better than having everything against the walls. Shortening the knee wall and leaving the sectional up against it (even with a small table between) just seems odd to me.

I *really* like funkycamper's layout.

Thank you.

I think we have decided to keep the knee wall. I don't think the extra 6" in counter depth above the dishwasher is worth it. I have been really worried how that was going to look being so open like that. Especially given that we are going with the Blanco Culina Semi-professional faucet which is almost 2 feet tall. Now to decide what to do for the backsplash area on that knee wall. Do we carry the quartz up and over or use two rows of subway tile between the counter and ledge (will be quartz).

Funkycamper mentioned EZ Reach uppers, and you might consider blocking the lower blind corners, then having access to the spaces from the utility room and the walk-in closet. That would leave more room for wider drawers in the kitchen.

Another idea, if you have enough room for a storage bench b/w the slider and the corner.

I like mama goose's layout best. You do not want the fridge or any cabinets opening into the backside of someone seated at the table. I think her layout is not to scale and you won't get quite enough space to have that long run next to the right of the fridge. If you are desperate for storage your cabinets could go higher up the wall.

I think your new layout is good. I have a very similar layout in my kitchen in NY and it works very well.

I posted edenaurora's current and proposed layouts side-by-side so that they were oriented in the same direction, but did not add a new version. I think I might have been mistaken for someone else, who posted an altered layout, in which case I'm flattered.

ETA, oh, that baby! :)

I like your layout, love your blue wall and sleeping baby!

did you consider a wall all the way behind the sectional but with a HUGE opening? Could that give you the connectedness and light , but "move the sofa into its own room without actually moving it! Key would be having it vey large so not a small vintage pass-thru.

Never mind, just saw the pix with your vaulted ceiling. It would look to be hanging in space

We switched to easy reach uppers instead of the angled and kept the knee wall. Cabinets are ordered! We should be starting flooring throughout the house in three weeks. I can't wait!