Thanks, localeater! The thread I'm thinking of asked GWers to post their islands without seating and why they chose no seating - at least that's what I recall - but the two you found are also helpful. We have a 12" seating overhang on our island but we've never had stools there in the 19+ years we've lived in this house. Never had any burning need to have any - not even with my kids were little - nor have we felt that we were missing out either. When my kids were young and helped with cooking or baking, we simply pulled a kitchen chair up to the counter for them to stand on. That's what my mom did for my brother and me so you could say I'm following a family tradition. ;-) The kitchen table is only 43" away so there is nearby seating and with only 43" of clearance, we really don't have adequate aisles for back to back seating. So I've been planning to replace the seating overhang with cabinets (maybe I could gain enough storage to forgo upper cabinets on the cook top wall, which I'd love) but I've had many people tell me I'll regret not having a seating overhang and a realtor friend tell me that I definitely have enough room for island seating (take that with a grain of salt, she's not coming from a TKO perspective and doesn't know NKBA recs). So it has me wondering if maybe I don't know what I'm missing. But it could just as easily be that, as in many other things, I don't fit the norm and an island without seating is the way for us to go. Honestly, I think it's the latter. So I'm hoping to find threads where GWers have posted their reasons for and experiences with going the no-island-seating route.

My thought was to raise it for consistency and to have the ability to have a more face to face experience with a fellow sitter, but your suggestion is definitely a possibility. I've been thinking about that counter to the left and I haven't been able to figure out what I'm going to do there. Prep will be to the right because it's larger and closer to the triangle. Perhaps wrapping up leftovers, but that can certainly be done in the prep area. I'm not sure that we will miss it.

Yes curving an island is a well known "trick" to be able to seat more with less. It's the way to go. Just one comment on the proposed support: I believe most work stations at HD are Corian, not stone. Corian can be supported by a plywood subtop, as it's bit flexible like the Corian is, and not nearly as heavy as stone. Stone is much heavier and not at all flexible. If supported with a central support like suggested, you will want to be sure to have a couple of the "arms" extend back to the cabinet and tie into to it as an anti tip measure. Also be sure the support comes close enough to the edges to keep the top from flexing and cracking if someone sits on it. For a radius like that, you want the stone supported within 6" of the edge, and no portion of it further than 15" from one of the "spokes" of the wheel. U channel or tubing stock is stronger than bar stock, but more visible. You can take bar stock and weld a small "T" to it from more bar stock to create some rigidity and it will beef it up without adding too much visible height. Spray paint the whole underside assembly a dark color and it will disappear. I'd also suggest possibly making the "spoke" assembly bolt onto the center support, and making it out of large tube stock that you have powder coated as it will take the most abuse from traffic and vacuums, etc. Or look at a piece of stainless tubing.

Yes, the KD did put the banquette where we had put it on the 'east" wall. At the top was buffet surrounded by cabinetry. I'll post some of the ideas although my drawings stink and don't look the way she had it. Lavender, I don't understand your last sentence of your first paragraph. Here are pics of my existing LR/DR... excuse any clutter : ) We may move the sofa loveseat to basement b/c with removing the wall we don't know where to put the loveseat. We thought we'd buy a curved sofa or sectional for the living room against the picture window. The armoire to the right of the TV is also going in the basement. I know it's cramped in that corner, but we came from a larger house and didn't want to get rid of it. SO, there won't be much other brown wood once we get rid of DR hutch which is why we are now thinking of getting rid of DR table not only for color but b/c it has the 4 legs if we end up doing the banquette! We also have a secretary/desk that is brown with aqua (similar to the buffet by front door) but again do not have a wall for it. (Unless we extend the kitchen/LR wall by a foot or two-- then it could go past the basement door and still have room to open. I really like that the island is black and thought I'd carry that into DR, but it IS messing up my woods! I thought they still might be able to be mixed to a certain degree. I planned to bring the black into the DR, but would it be too much to use brown in DR and only black in the kitchen? Probably so. (SIGH!)