If you still have time to rework your kitchen I strongly recommend you post it in the kitchen forum for their review. I see you have an island blocking your fridge from your sink, and your dishwasher is in your prep zone.

Your aisle space between your fridges and your island is not wide enough, especially if you have oversized fridges.

Your kitchen is not quite as efficient as it could be.

Plus every time you want something from the pantry you need to go through the mudroom?

The rest of the house looks like it's well thought out

Yes, we want to have direct access to the pantry as quickly as possible when you come in from the garage. This was intentional. We thought about having another door from the kitchen but my husband (the main cook) didn't want to give up kitchen work space. I have checked the clearances with the fridge/freezer, and with the doors open it should still clear the island (just barely but it will). The ones I've seen are not quite counter depth but very nearly that according to their specs. The island is strictly a work island, so it won't have a big overhang as it would if there would also be seating there. The peninsula will have seating which will allow the island to be kept strictly as a work zone.

I'll try posting in the kitchen forum, but given my husbands desire for counter space I think this is a good use of space.

The dishwasher is next to the sink, which is in the "cleanup zone" so that works. Visualizing it, we would have the island to put things down on from the fridge and possibly a little bit to the side. Husband doesn't really want more cabinets next to the fridge because he wants to allow open space there for future storage of pet food and pet bowls. (The kids will want a dog- the begging has begun).

I'm glad you think it's well thought out in general, we really did put a lot of thought into it. :)

The dishwasher needs to be on the left side of the sink the way you have it now. Not in the work zone. There's also a large thread about asking for help in the kitchen forum. Please read it.

BTW: Having lots of counter space can be good if it's well designed but counter space just for the sake of counter space is just a dumping place for anything and everything everyone brings in. A well thought out kitchen is much more valuable than a large kitchen.

It's going to be on the right - so we need to move it to the left? Is that what you're saying?

In the house where we live the dishwasher is to the right of the sink which works very well for putting things in it.

Yes so it's out of the work zone so that when someone has it open, and someone else is at the cooktop and needs to get past, the dishwasher isn't in the way. In the kitchen forum, I linked you to several threads about good kitchen design

Make sure to put in lots of windows to highlight your view of Russia.

Gee thanks! I just spewed my seltzer all over my computer screen laughing.

When I saw "Wasilla", that's all I could think about! :)

Good job, Laurel!

Minor quibble: It would have been nice to have the secondary bathroom on the same side of the house as the secondary bedrooms -- not to have kids walking across the large open play area. In my experience, only very young children will share a bathroom at the same time -- maybe just one sink there.

My laundry is in my 'back hall' between Garage and Kitchen (your 'mud room'). I use the laundry sink to dump mop water, clean muddy boots... and to clean paws (or wash the whole DOG)! haha Where will you do these things?

I prefer a half-bath where family doesn't have to walk through the house from the family entry.

My dish drawers are to the right of my cleanup sinks. A pull-out for garbage and recycling is to the left of the sinks. I, too, think your Kitchen is *large*, but maybe not as well organized as it could be with some help from the Kitchen Forum gurus.

Is the only family entry through the Garage? Will your children play in the back yard?

(Groan. I wondered how long it would be before someone hit on the "Wasilla" connection.)

Our original plan called for there to be a bedroom immediately above the "library" area to be the same size as the one above the "flex area". However when the first floor was framed up I saw the size of the "flex area" on the first floor and said "the bedrooms for the girls are too small!" So we had to completely redo the top floor. There used to be a bathroom and laundry room in between the master and the bedroom which is above the living room.

We didn't want a downstairs laundry very deliberately.

The original plan had a half bath opening into the mud room, with a coat closet opening into the entry hall. However that was coupled with a much smaller dining area along with a formal dining area, which I very adamantly did not want. So I expanded the dining area, which meant the half bath disappeared entirely. I put the bathroom where it is so that there is still a downstairs bath. It was going to be a 3/4 bath, but our builder hates dealing with shower doors so it became a full bath.

Yes the only family entry is through the garage. We don't ever use our front door. Only guests do. There is a sliding door to the back yard in the dining area, as well as a door to the outside on the side of the garage. (Those things are all framed up now and in the house).

I posted the kitchen in the kitchen forum, but my husband has very specific desires which do not conform to "good" design because he has a different set of priorities so we are most likely not going to be able to implement most of their suggestions, though I did post an updated layout there today. I don't know if the husband is on board with it. He's the main cook so he needs to like the kitchen.