April, I understand your goals - get the most kitchen you possibly can with your reno dollars - but I think you're crowding too much into your space, reducing ease of function with these versions. My feedback is blunt, sorry, but I want to see you get the most functional kitchen you can for your money. Versions 1 & 2: You've lengthened the table and right hand bench to 58" or 60" (is that grey thing a 2" spacer?), which means that there's only a 12" or 14" gap between table and 24" deep pantry for someone to slide into the left hand bench. That's tight. I can't determine the width of the table but I recommend one no wider than 42" to give you enough room for benches with padding or pillows. These two versions also only give you a 34" to 36" aisle between peninsula and right hand bench and the full sized fridge across the aisle. I'm assuming your fridge is 36" deep - box, doors, air gap and possibly handles included in that measurement. Even if your fridge is slightly shallower, that's still a pinch point, potentially impassable when the fridge doors are opened. You wrote that one of your beefs with your current kitchen is that traffic jams up in the narrow aisle around the fridge. You're going to recreate that same frustrating scenario with versions 1 & 2. Version 1: I'm not sure what purpose a 12" side cabinet will serve on the left side of the fridge, other than to take away valuable counter space between fridge and range. Because you're opting for a 33" Susan, not a 36", you will only have 9" between sink and open oven door. In other words, no one can be at the sink when you open the oven door. That limits your kitchen to a one-cook kitchen. I thought one of your goals was to create a kitchen that could accommodate multiple cooks during family gatherings. Simple fixes: Move the fridge to the left end of that run and add the 12" from that cab to the cab between fridge and range. Shorten the right hand bench and table to 48", eliminate the peninsula, move the oven cab to the left of the DW, change the 33" Susan to a 36" Susan and put a 30" cabinet where the oven cab was. Hmmm, one problem with this is that you now have the oven doors opening right behind anyone seated in the right hand bench. If someone leaned back or flung their hair back ... well, that could be a problem. You can address this issue with a high backed bench. Version 2: The sink/DW area has ample room but it's at the cost of the fridge/range & oven side. 9" on either side of the range doesn't provide enough room to set a pot down or enough clearance for many pot handles, nor is 9" wide cabinet space that useful. I think you'll find this a frustrating set-up. Simple fixes: I've never used corner Susans but I've seen enough posts here that one with too small an opening is frustrating to use. If you eliminate the peninsula in this version, you have enough room to swap a 33" Susan for a 36" Susan. However, that does not address the space issues of the fridge/range, oven wall. I don't think this plan is a viable option. Version 3: Part of your sink will extend beyond the window. Will that bother you? Based on comments made here, it does bother the majority of people. They want to see a sink under a window or not under a window, not partially under a window. If I'm following your key correctly and doing my math correctly, the banquette is version 3 is only large enough for 2 people, one on each side of the table. Is that your intention? I fear you're trying to make this large enough for 4 people but it really isn't. The corner is unusable, which means the bench along the sink wall is only 52" long. That's enough room for 2 people - each need 24" of room - but that leaves only a 4" gap for people to slide onto the bench. Unless you're really, really skinny - skinnier than Twiggy (that dates me) or Kate Moss (for the younger crowd) - that's not possible. Easy fixes: Move the fridge down, eliminating the 9" cabinet. Exchange the lazy Charlie (never heard this term before, funny!) for a 36" wide Susan, which puts the sink under the window. Put a 30" cab where you show a 24" cab in your plan. Go with a 36" square table to create a banquette for 2 with room for people to slide onto the bench. To seat 3, reduce the pantry to 36", lengthen the bench on that wall to 94", and opt for a rectangular table, 36" x 52" - an odd size so likely custom. I realize that in one of my earlier plans, I had suggested a 60" long table but that was when I was incorrectly remembering that a table can overlap a bench by 6", not 4" or 5". I also suggested that 18" was enough room to slide onto the bench because the pantry in that plan was only 18" deep, not 24", which does make a difference. You may be able to make 18" work between table and 24" deep pantry - you'll have to do a mock-up. None of these plans show the doorways moving. Is that beyond your budget? That's understandable but it does make squeezing everything into your space a challenge. ;-) Here's an idea to try: This pretty much reflects the changes I suggested for your version 1 and for the banquette area. The key thing I did in this plan was to move the ovens to the top left corner with a 26" cab next to it. You can store baking supplies, pans, etc in this cab, plus the counter gives you landing space for items coming from the ovens. I moved the pantry to the left of the DW, which means it shrinks from 48" to 32", unfortunately, but it no longer has to house the MW - that's in an upper cab on the DR wall - so that helps. Plus some of the items you may have stored in the pantry can now be stored in the cabinet next to the ovens. You should end up with about the same amount of storage as before. This lay-out will allow more than one person to work in your kitchen. The 42" x 48" table overhangs the bench by 4" on each side. You can add additional storage if you add a drawer to the right hand bench.

I would probably stick with one color for both rooms, if it were me. I instantly thought of BM Grey Owl for what you are describing. It is slightly blue-green while still being a warmish grey. I love it, but it was too blue to pair with my pinkish carpet in my house (didn't want a pastel color combo going on!) I also like SW Passive, but it is a little cooler. If you do the blue kitchen, I would caution against a warm grey with too much pink in it (the baby room effect). I'm definitely no expert, but I just bought my first home too and have spent MONTHS researching grey paint! I ended up selecting SW Useful Grey. It is a greenish grey, which I never thought I'd pick. I guess I'd just suggest taking your time and keeping an open mind when looking at colors :) And definitely buy samples to test in your home...

You may feel disillusioned with your existing pantry because the access is narrow and the shelves are too deep. I imagine stuff gets lost in the back, and some things are a pain to reach. mdln's suggestion would make better use of your existing space. If you go with the pantry cabinets, how will you use the old pantry space?

Hello, we have the following open floor plan and the position of the pantry looks awkward. Yes, you're right to be concerned about the pantry: it is poorly placed because you have to walk allll the way around the future elevator and through the kitchen. And then the pantry is blocking what could be a window on the exterior wall. Moreover, the space to the left from the kitchen island is wasted and we would rather have the bigger dining area. Agree, that's wasted space We do not drink wine so the wine room is not an option for us. Yeah, I don't get why people are so crazy over wine. We are obsessed with coffee and need a coffee station, its location is wherever- no real preferences. The coffee station is currently placed in an awful location because anyone who wants to use it has to walk through the kitchen ... ideally it'd be on one edge of the kitchen. This would allow one family member to make coffee without walking through the kitchen ... if better positioned, the coffee station might also house a cookie jar, a bowl of fruit, or a cake under a dome ... or could be a drink station for parties. Random thoughts about the plan, mostly the kitchen: - This kitchen is huge. I think you're falling for a common mistake: thinking that bigger = better. Or, I really want a nice kitchen, and that must mean a BIG kitchen; in reality, more is much more expensive to build (and you don't want to be forced to skimp on cabinets and countertops) and ends up being more space for clutter. It's better to have a moderate-sized kitchen and an adjacent large pantry for storage. - Ideally you'd be able to walk through the mudroom to the pantry, store your groceries, then enter the kitchen. - You want to get the refrigerator out of the corner ... as it's placed now, the door won't be able to open completely. Perhaps the coffee spot could go on the other side of the refrigerator, or you could have a tall-thin pantry cabinet for small appliance storage. - Everyone likes natural light, and the pantry /optional wine room are robbing your kitchen /dining area of that natural light. BUT you have essentially a whole wall of glass on the back side .... this is too much of a good thing. Moderate light coming from two sides would be superior. - The rest of the house looks reasonable in size ... but you're looking at an oversized refrigerator and range. I'd go with standard sized appliances. - I do like that you have good circulation around the dining room table, and the table is ideally located next to the kitchen. - With no bedrooms downstairs, why the shower in the downstairs bathroom? That'll cost 5-7K. What I think I'd do: - Move the mudroom (outlined in black) between the garage and the kitchen ... this allows natural light in the mudroom. I'd go with a pocket door between the mudroom and the kitchen. The mudroom and pantry are larger than they were in your original image. - Place the pantry (edged in green) between the garage and the kitchen ... this gives you a larger pantry and gets it into the middle of the house, where it isn't blocking natural light. - The coffee bar (edged in blue) is now outside of the kitchen area. It's convenient for people in the living room or guests at the dining room table. You could put in an undercounter refrigerator for canned drinks. - Ideally the range would be on the exterior wall for venting. - This could get you a great closet (or two smaller closets) in the foyer. Coats? Cleaning closet? - You could have windows on two sides of your kitchen, which would bring in great natural light. - This makes the kitchen, while still large, a little more reasonable in size. Other things to consider: - Where is your trash can? - What's the pathway for taking trash out? - Where's your fire extinguisher? - Where's your microwave, if you plan to have one?