What a delightful surprise to learn of this book! I'll have to see if my library can get it for me. I've always liked to be able to see through a house to the lawn or garden from the entry. Is that discussed in the book? We wanted a small house with big rooms. Our 2900 sq ft house has nine-foot ceilings. It faces north. Our covered entry porch is 11' wide X 6' deep. The entry door is a 42" wide archtop in an archtop sidelight surround. (The book probably doesn't cover the need for a Westie to be able to see who is at the door.) Our foyer is 11' wide X 16' deep running from the entry door and in front of the stairs that go up to the right. It widens to 16' beyond the stairs, where there is a 12' arch to the LR. From the entry, the eye travels through the LR to a south wall of French doors, and beyond to terrace and lawn. There is an arch to the kitchen (SE in the foyer) and an arch to a bedroom hallway (SW, beyond the stairs). So...our foyer may seem large, but it has a lot going on! There is also a door to our library immediately to the right of the entry door. The library (14 X 16 plus built-in wall of bookcases) projects about 12 feet in front of the house.

That is great you put a hold on the island cabinets until you get it all worked out. I looked at your drawing more closely. I do think it could work as it looks like you are planning a 15" overhang so final dimensions will be very close to mine. See mine is 57"x58". You do not need the angle cabinet I have to the lower left. I just chopped off that corner (sometimes I wished I didn't so keep what you have). For that back corner, you can either fill it in with a panel or have your cabinet maker make a little 12x12 triangular cabinet with a single door. If you take that option, have the door open to the right--otherwise you'd might need a bit of filler like I did on my left door. This is where my island got complex (see the note about the 1-1/2" extended style), but with a single door I think you can avoid it. You can show your cabinet maker my drawing and see what he suggests. If you go that route, let me know as I can give you more precise details. It may be easiest (and cheapest) to just fill in that corner. Putting something there allows for better suppoprt of the counters--what are you putting in? Keep in mind with an overhang over 12" you need to have couter supports and need to plan out where you are going to put them. Do you want corbels or will your rod your countertop? When you have cabinets opening off both sides of your island you then leave no place for corbels. That was OK with me as I did not want them so have 3 steel rods put on top of the plywood to support the granite.

Comments on table shape: As you know, an oval table and a round table with leaves in are different ovals. An oval table is, as far as I can remember, NOT a hemisphere on each end. More pointed than that. I would look at them carefully, because your banquette will probably be hemispherical. I think a 54'' or maybe even a 60'' round will work for you in the space. With two leaves when you need to extend it. The style I would look for is a five foot round double pedestal or trestle table that could be extended with leaves. Be certain that when the leaves are inserted, the base spreads to provide a balanced top. Or, in a few tables, both circle halves move apart on glides, the leaf is inserted in the middle, and the base stays centered. (I think a pedestal or trestle table will provide better entrance clearance into the booth than a table with four legs, like the last one in the pics you posted.) I have seen antique ones like this., but not any modern ones that I can recall. Maybe someone will have suggestions. Maybe you can try out some tables in a good furniture store and see if the lop-sided extension on only one side of the pedestal is a problem. It sure is on mine. I am eager to see your finished kitchen. This is going to be lovely. Sandra

I'd still rather sit in the DR. We eliminated the Kitchen table b/c there just wasn't enough room for comfortable seating and now everyone sits either at the peninsula or in the DR...but we don't have to go through another room to get to our DR like you do - it's directly off the Kitchen. So, if that's what you want and it fits in your space, then that's your choice - it's your Kitchen! :-) So, a couple of other questions... Have you finalized this layout? I'm asking b/c I see a couple of issues. Barrier island...The island, for example, is what's known as a "barrier island". It's a barrier b/w the refrigerator and the two primary work zones that need access to it - the Prep Zone (b/w the sink and range) and the Cooking Zone (around the range). To fix it, I'd move the refrigerator to the other side of the door to the Butler's Pantry. Island seating...Your island does not look deep enough for seating - it should be 41.5" deep (40.5" if you do not have a decorative door or end panel on the backs of the island cabinets). The minimum recommended overhang for counter-height seating is 15" of clear leg/knee space. (I hope that's counter-height as counter-height is much more useful and looks better than bar-height.) So, the island's depth would be: 1.5" counter overhang on the front + 24" deep cabinets + 1" decorative door/end panel + 15" clear leg/knee overhang = 41.5" If you want a row of cabinets under and facing the overhang, then add in the depth of those cabinets. (The 1" for a decorative door now becomes 1" for an actual door.) BTW, if you do, then I recommend pullouts facing out on the ends b/c that's more accessible/useful storage than having to reach under a seating overhang. The middle section would still be cabinets facing out - so whatever the length is minus 48" would be cabinet storage (24" deep pullouts facing out on each end = 48".) Some will argue that less is OK, but unless everyone in your family (and all your friends) is quite short, please do not skimp on the overhang! People usually skimp b/c they think it will help with aisle space - but it doesn't - people take up just as much space as they would with the minimum overhang - they just are uncomfortable while sitting there! They have to lean forward to reach the counter, or they have to twist to sit there or they have straddle the cabinets in an attempt to squeeze themselves into a smaller space to reach the counter - all positions that are not comfortable for more than a few short minutes. This comes, usually, from trying to cram an island into a Kitchen that cannot accommodate one. I think your Kitchen is fine - so you don't need to skimp. (I don't have measurements, so I cannot be certain, though.) If you have tall people in your family, then having an 18" overhang is better - I wish that's what we did! (We have 15" and it's too shallow for my DH and DS - they're 6'5" and 6'7"; it's fine for the rest of us who are under 6'!) . Aisles...how wide are your aisles? Without measurements, I cannot tell for certain. Just as reference, the following are the recommended guidelines: Work aisle with only one person ever working in it...42" Work aisle with more than one person working in it...48" Between two sets of seats (e.g., b/w island and table)...54"