It would be helpful if you could include a drawing of the whole floor.

The kitchen is open to the dining room which is open to the living room. The area between the pantry and refrigerator leads to a main hallway (garage and laundry room are close by).

where's primary prep?

Primary prep is on the island. Do you think there should be a prep sink in the island?

I think you want a sink on the same counter run as primary prep, yes. Otherwise you'll find you're dripping on the floor between them all the time as you go back and forth, which is annoying.

Good point, gaucho_gordo! Do you think the countertop height area of the island should be deeper than 24"?

I would make the island countertop all one level--my island is 5x3, and I find it very convenient. Although I think a 5' island is long enough for a small prep sink, if you put the DW and sink on the back wall, with all windows as you mentioned, your primary prep area could be in the corner between the sink and range, or you could make that secondary prep for a helper:

Most of the time, I see 36" deep islands recommended when there is a sink in it. This will catch splashing and accidentally spraying the floor on the other side (and someone standing/sitting there). You would also want it deeper if you're using it for prep. 24" is very narrow for prepping. If it were me, I would constantly be rolling tomatoes off the back and losing lettuce leaves. :)

How wide is that island? Is it wide enough for prepping? You should have at least 15" on one side of the sink (and that is the bare minimum, more is better) and at least 36" on the other side of sink for good prep space. So that is at least 51" before you've included the space for the sink. Anything smaller than 18" usually generates complaints in being too small for prepping. I would suggest at least 21" 51+21=72" plus 3" for normal overhangs (1.5" each) so that would ean a total of 75" for your island. It doesn't look near that long.

How wide are all your aisles? If you could turn the island and still have good aisles, I would do this. See how it gives you different working zones? That is great. Especially when you don't have to cross-over them to do other tasks.

Oh, and if you don't need any uppers on that window wall for storage, YES, go without uppers there. Enjoy the light and views.

Thanks mama goose and funkycamper for the encouragement to do a window wall! The island is five feet wide. The aisle between the island and the range is five feet. The other aisles on either side of the island are four feet wide. The bar height side of the island opens to the dining room (which opens to the living room) in a very open layout. So the bar height was my attempt at screening off kitchen clutter. That's why I would not want to turn the island sideways as funkycamper suggested. Thank you, funkycamper, for your detailed specs on room needed for a prep sink, it looks like there won't be room in the island for a prep sink but perhaps I could do prepping along the view wall. :-)

You have nice, wide aisles. Your kitchen is going to feel so spacious with wide aisles, no uppers by the windows, and lots of windows with views and light. It's going to be wonderful.

Well, MamaGoose said she has a prep sink in her 5-foot island. So it can work although it doesn't meet recommendations. I know MamaGoose cooks a LOT so if it works for her, I'm sure it can work for you. I think it's better to have a sink there for prep even if it's a tad short than no prep sink. A prep sink in the island will really make your kitchen so much more functional and efficient.

If you have to take everything over to the main sink to prep, you're adding steps and, as noted previously, you will have to carry wet items over to the island to prep. It's messy and adds more steps. And, if you're like me, I'm constantly rinsing my hands or my knife off or something else that requires water when I'm prepping. Walking back and forth would get old quick! And then you'd probably end up doing most of your prep in the space between that sink and the cooktop anyway. Which means you are in a short stretch of counter with that island going little used and it would be hard for someone else to clean-up while you're prepping/cooking.

So, definitely go with a prep sink in the island. Seriously.

Alternatively, you could turn the island as I suggest but still have a privacy screen from the dining area.

Something like this:

Poorly altered from this:

Just to give you the idea. You could put pretty things there and even have glass doors on it, or regular storage behind solid doors, or open like here. Whatever serves your needs best. If you have glass doors with pretty things, it would look especially nice with puck lights and glass shelves to show off your pretties.

I suggest you do some pretend cooking sessions where you imagine in detail where you walk to get this and what drawer you use to get that, and where you'll wash things and chop them, etc. Where you imagine where you'll reach for spices/seasonings/sauces/oils and for pots, pans, colanders, bowls, and other kitchen tools. Where are your knives? Do it for different kinds of meals that you generally cook. Do it for baking. Do it with the different configurations of sink and island.

Imagine it for when you're working solo. Imagine it for when someone else is cleaning up while you're cooking or baking. Imagine it for when someone else is baking while you're cooking. Any common scenario you can think of.

Yes, this will take time.but I think it's the #1 best way to fine-tune your layout for how you work. As much as possible, you want your cabinets to be able to store what you need where you use it, i.e. use-in-place storage. You don't want to have to walk across the room every time you need a colander, for example.

After doing this, I think you'll figure out which way you'd prefer the island to be turned and where you want your prep sink placed. I'm sure you'll also realize how valuable that prep sink will be.

Hope that helps.

Oh, most people here prefer bottom cabinets to be mostly drawers. They hold a lot more stuff, are easier to organize, and are easier to access things from.

I sooooo appreciate your suggestions and time, funkycamper. Thank you for posting the photos. I will definitely do some pretend cooking sessions to work out the prep areas. At this point I've definitely decided on that wall of windows! With thanks, Terry

Thanks, Mama Goose

Terry, a fold-up section on the end of the island would be a great idea for you if you go with the shorter island. It would give you extra space when you need it. Also, you can have a cutting board that fits across part of the prep sink to give you extra room. There are ways to make it work if you decide not to turn the island.

When you're done with your kitchen, please come back and share photos. We love reveals! Especially when there are nice windows with views. :)

Thank you for your advice and suggestions, funkycamper! I will post the reveal -- we're expecting the home to be completed sometime in fall 2016. It's quite an adventure!

I have never built. I admire those of you who do. I get overwhelmed with simple remodeling/redecorating projects, lol.

Please also come back with your final plan so we can help you if it needs further tweaking.

I like mama_goose's suggestion to move the sink to the wall instead of the corner. I didn't like the way the open DW would squeeze the person at the sink. Since this is a new build, you don't know exactly how it will work for you - but I think if there was room on the counter between sink and stove, you would prep there instead of the island. I would put trash and recycling in the corner.

Hi Anna -- Thank you for your ideas! Sink is in the corner to try to screen it in this very open layout -- and -- I had a corner sink previously and really liked it. I'm thinking there will actually be a 24" wide cabinet between the sink and the dishwasher (although that isn't evident on the mini-floorplan I posted). We have a kitchen with that type of setup right now and it works fine. Trash will be under the sink. Recycling (my husband's hobby) will be in the nearby Laundry room cabinets.

I think you should quit worrying so much about screening your work spaces from view. A kitchen is a work space. People expect to see work and the tools and other items needed to perform that work there. If you do a deep, single sink, any dirty dishes waiting for the DW can fit in it and be hidden without cluttering your counters. If you have hand-washed some dishes, they can drip dry in the rack in the sink still hidden from view.

However, if you nix the prep sink in the island and just do the one sink, this won't work as well as you might need to do prep work while dishes are waiting in the sink and, thus, you have now created a wee bit of chaos needing to move dirty dishes onto the counter in order to prep.

Also, while your kitchen isn't huge, it is still a bit of a trek to the sink on the perimeter from the fridge. More steps means less efficiency. If it was my kitchen, I'd want the prep sink on the island but might sometimes use the space between the range and main sink for secondary prep. Best of both worlds, imho.

Thanks for the ideas, funkycamper! I lived in a house for over 10 years where every visitor at my front door could look through the foyer and view my kitchen sink (during my kids' toddler and grade school years) -- so I, admit, I have a thing about partially screening work areas. :-D But -- I love open layouts in homes! At this point I've decided to increase the working side of the tiered island to 5'x3' and with a small prep sink.