(With no actual layout posted, it's hard to tell.) It looks like you will have close adjacent counters across from the fridge for a fridge landing zone? In that case, pick whichever scenario gives you the most room between the sink and the range. That is where you'll spend 90% of your time in a kitchen and you need to have the most space there. If the sink is not around the corner on the other leg of the L from the range, then do your best to center the range between the fridge and wall as that is what your eyes will focus on. If the sink is on the L, and you have at least 48" of linear counter space between it and the range after shifting it to the left, then that would be fine. Just don't go under 36" of linear space between adjacent sink and range.

Great news for us Mac users out there: Ikea has just made their kitchen planning software available for the Mac!! Check out their website - you download a plugin and you are all set. It is web-based and you need Leopard and the latest versions of Safari or Firefox. It does everything that the in-store planner does (with that annoying 'snap in' feature) and it also lets you select flooring, backsplash, wall colour and even the view from the windows (garden or city lights?). There are a few bugs (some appliances and dining tables and chairs come up as options but then don't select) but the basic cabinet planning part all seems to work well. The 'snap in' feature is annoying, though, and might cause problems in a tight layout because it doesn't let you set small distances for clearances. Or at least if you can I haven't figured it out yet. I guess you could use a filler strip as a substitute, but sometimes I couldn't even find the filler strip in the layout once I selected it: they are virtually invisible and the software often drops it into a spot next to a cabinet edge so you can't see it. I'd end up with filler strips in odd places which I only found when I couldn't move a cab into a particular spot. So I'd advise people to allow for those small clearances in their own measurements and not rely totally on the software measurements to lay out everything precisely.

For learning SketchUp there's a pretty decent series of books called "Google SketchUp for Interior Design and Space Planning" or some such. I bought them last winter when I was first learning it. The books ended up being a bit too basic for me, since I learn computer stuff quickly -- it's what I do for a living. By the time the books arrived I'd already learned most of what was in them. But for someone who's just starting out I think they'd be good. The series has 3 books. They're all pretty thin and fairly inexpensive. I bought them on Amazon. I agree that graph paper is a good place to start, though. Or go buy a cheap architects' ruler at Office Depot. I think I got one for $5 or so. Laura still annoyed that Google got rid of SketchUp

Sorry, I ad to leave town for a few days and didn't get to immediately check I had a few more replies. To answer your questions, sena01, we do intend to buy a new counter depth fridge to help with space issues. I love the 3 seater layout that you posted there, although I'm not sure I can remove the entire end wall of the dining room. We were going to possibly keep a half wall there due to a thermostat and switches being on that wall. We do need at least a corner post because the portion of the wall adjacent to the living room is load bearing, so we'll need a beam and post. Below is a layout of the kitchen, DR, and LR so you get a better idea of the total space. I think we are pretty much stuck with the door where it is unless we remove it altogether. We are considering an "outward swing" door to minimize the impact, but our contractor is worried about security on that. The layout is missing that we do also have a sliding door on the back wall of the dining room that starts 20" from the kitchen entrance and takes up most of the 119.5" wall on that side.