Could you post a more zoomed in version of the top picture so the dimensions are legible?

There's no water between your ice and stone, under the window. Can you install plumbing there for a prep sink?

ETA, you could move the fridge to the other side of the kitchen, put in a prep sink and ovens on the window wall, and make that side a baking area. That would allow you to have a smaller cooktop and a tiny bit of counter between it and the walkway.

You would then have your choice of two prep areas with water, and when your kids are older, train them to help. When you entertain, there is also space for a helper, now.

You have no counter space on the left side of your range. You'll have to carry your prepped food from the window wall to the right side of the range to cook. And, there's no sink on your prep wall.

Is is possible to place your range on the window wall, but instead of one large window, use a window on each side of your range hood? No upper cabinets there, so you'll still get your open feeling.

Then, place your fridge agains the chimney wall. You'll then have a work triangle and your sink remains tucked where you have it.

As a bonus, I think you could then fit a small prep sink on the same wall as your range.

I like the range/cooktop in front of the brick--I think that will make a great backdrop, and also, it keeps the range in a more protected area.

Can we see the layout of the whole floor? I'm wondering if it would make sense to swap the kitchen and the dining (unless of course there are original details that would limit it.)

Have you seen what the brick behind the wall looks like? The mortar may be sloppy looking and require a lot of work to make it look decent. It's common for brick that wasn't originally exposed to be structurally sound but not aesthetically pleasing.

Thank you so much for all the comments! In answer to the questions,

- We have thought about a prep sink, and plumbing anywhere is straightforward because we're over a basement. But we have a second house with a similar setup and a prep sink, and we never use the prep sink, it just gets in the way. We are thinking about adding an undermount prep sink that could be covered up with a cutting board if we wanted to.

- Unfortunately, we're pretty limited to the space we have. The original footprint of our house has 100 year old heart pine floors throughout and our historic district regulations wouldn't allow a massive reconfiguring. We don't mind the space limitations, we're an old house people, just want to be sure what we have is well planned-out.

- We have seen what the brick looks like and it's great. The chimney was originally exposed in the kitchen of the original house and the former owners covered it with a soffit when they remodeled the kitchen.

- I know there is no space on the left side of the range, but if we get the 48" range, I would have a griddle on the left hand side, and the griddle cover would serve as a staging area. That said, not having a staging area on that side (esp. because I'm right handed!) is a big concern.

This has given me plenty of food for thought. I'm going to think today about putting a second oven in on the window wall.

dyhgarden - I also like your idea. It would make a lot of sense to have the range on the window wall, and we could definitely add a second window instead of widening the window (window work can't be done until next year anyway so we have plenty of time to adjust the plan). I'm worried the range would be in the way on that wall, though. But I think I'm a little scarred by having a cooktop peninsula on the hallway side that forces a bottleneck in that walkway.

Here's a larger layout with hopefully readable dimensions:

looks like a wonderful space: on the large size, really. With only a dining room for your seating mentioned, I would sketch out a U kitchen with a peninsula or an L kitchen and put at least a bistro table with chairs or small banquette...something like lower left or lower right....the connection between family room and kitchen would be so enhanced with a place to sit.....it just seems a nice big space[windows..brickwall..etc]....curious why you've ruled that out.Of course it might mean a range to condense your cooking setup....good luck...certainly whatever you do will be great.

I almost suggested an integrated cutting board for the prep sink, but I suggest that so often, I think everyone might be tired of reading it. ;) My all-time favorite pic of one is circuspeanut's, with the water running:

Man, that is an awesome cutting board. Was it custom cut to the sink?

herbflavor - thanks for the compliments! We currently have a U-shape with the cooktop in a peninsula in the lower right, and it makes the kitchen really cramped. It doesn't help that our oven is on the lower left and opens into the narrow entrance! What I haven't really thought through is putting a small peninsula on the lower left. It might give us just enough space to replace the bar/pantry with a curved upholstered bench and small pedestal table -- that's my husband's dream. We'd have to do a upper cabinets on the right side to make up for the storage, but that wouldn't be the end of the world.

(but just fyi, seating isn't that much of an issue to me because we have a breakfast nook-type seating area at the far end of the family room. it's surrounded by windows & looks out over the city, so it's a great view but it's kills my husband to walk across the room with his cereal to eat there.)

Not only is circuspeanut's cutting board custom, but the copper counter tops are DIY. Her former kitchen is vintage style in an older home, but she's since moved on to another older kitchen. This thread has a pic of the counter with the sink cut out, but you can search for other pics of the kitchen.

I had this idea. Turn the kitchen entrance into a pass through and move the kitchen opening to the hallway. This creates counter seating as well as an expansive prep space for you that faces into the family room. The work flow is nice... Dining room is close to both the range for serving and the dishwasher for clean up. Refrigerator is nearest the family room and the likely dish storage so folks can grab quick drinks and snacks without crossing the prep area.

Sorry for the rough drawing to explain my thoughts. I have a kiddo on my lap :-)

Something like this maybe? If you ever want to close the kitchen off from the family room, maybe you could do some kind of sliding doors...

French Bistro Inspired Kitchen (Riverdale, Toronto) · More Info

Hi benjesbride - thanks so much for taking the time for that drawing! I love your plan and it would definitely give us more working space, but there isn't room under the stairway to make an entrance to the hall -- the stairs on the diagram are our basement stairs, but there's a longer set overhead going to the 2nd story.