I like that newsletter, too. I particularly like the gardening topic since I'm not knowledgeable about plants.

Houzz did an "up-date" on Dec 20th which is causing all kinds of issues. There is a discussion where the problems are being posted as houzz is following this post and keeping us somewhat apprised of what they are doing to address them. It appears that different devices are having different problems in addition to all having common ones. Here is the post so you can check it out. I'm also going to add this post to that other post. [https://www.houzz.com/discussions/another-houzz-update-dsvw-vd~5033309[(https://www.houzz.com/discussions/another-houzz-update-dsvw-vd~5033309)

If they make the print any smaller, I’m done. If I expand the column on my iPad so I can read the print, the pictures are so big when I click on them to see details that they are beyond the edges of the screen. If I leave the advertising column visible, the expanded photos stay nicely within the screen boundaries, but I can barely see the words that describe the image. It’s just getting less and less user friendly.

My island is 9' long, curved on the seating side, and 6' deep at its longest (yes I reach a bit to clean the 2" that are farthest from me). Some thoughts from my experience: i just never ever ever would put the sink in my island. Rinsing and loading dishes is he least glamorous job in the kitchen and I prefer to do it looking out the window, pretending I am elsewhere and surveying my garden. Plus all of the dishes on the island, where 5 people are presumably eating. This would make me miserable. My island has 4 seats. With my family of 6 never has every seat been taken at the same time. The island is for coffee and laptop, chatting with the cook, light meals like breakfast or lunch or "leftover night" taken in small groups. My table is a lot closer than yours, though, so it allows many seating options for these meals. Real meals are consumed at the real table most nights. My point is: do you need 5 seats? I thought I did too but I'm glad I didn't bother. 9 is a lot of island but it still allows for easy circulation -12 seems a bit much but idk if I can pretend I would notice 18" on either side. I would be more worried about it looking silly For all that island, there doesn't seem to be much space to the left of the sink im not going to dig in to the specifics of your space but if it were me I would try to orient the kitchen to the right, keeping the sink by the window and making the island shorter. I would also consider if there is a way to fit a table in the kitchen, eliminating the need for so much island finally, while your current set-up seems kooky, I can say that 15 years cooking in a kitchen with an island stove, when set up properly it is great, so don't necessarily let your experience with the current kitchen sour you on the idea if it is in the mix