Thank you again, everyone, for your excellent suggestions. I updated my drawing to have the microwave next to the fridge. I also changed a few other things. Would you please take another look? So I moved the microwave to the left of the fridge, and added a shallow drawer between the shelf and the countertop. The shelf needs to be 24" deep due to the microwave depth and clearance requirement. I probably could get rid of the countertop under the microwave shelf, and make the top and bottom cabinets into one unit, like a pantry but 24" deep. The drawers under the microwave shelf (probably 30"-33" wide) can be used for storing utensils, plates, and bowls. I also moved the 30" sink towards the range. It now centers on the left pane of the 60" french casement window, to allow more counter space (approx. 30"-33") on the right side of the sink. The trash pullout remains on the left side of the sink, so it's now closer to the range but further away from the microwave and the fridge. The dishwasher is now in the island. I think the dishwasher should not overlap with the sink and the dish drawers. Otherwise they will interfere with each other when loading / unloading dishes. Alternatively, I could move the dishwasher back to the right side of the sink. But I am concerned that if I move it back, that area will become too crowded, given that the dishwasher, microwave, and fridge are all near each other. I read in a couple old threads that it's generally not recommended to have the dishwasher across the isle from the sink. But I wonder if my loading / unloading habit could make a difference. For dirty dishes, I usually scrape, rinse, and stack them on the countertop, before loading them all together into the dishwasher. When unloading, I usually stack plates and bowls nicely on the countertop, before moving them all to their final destination. Which placement of the dishwasher do you think is better for our situation, in the island, or between the sink and the microwave? Thank you very much! This post was edited by ILoveCookie on Wed, Apr 16, 14 at 15:42

If you have a basement with a center support beam and this wall occurs above above that beam, either parallel or perpendicular with the floor joists, it could be load bearing. If your house is single story, in the attic, if the ceiling joists continue over it, end over it, are spliced over it, or you have roof bracing landing on it, It's a bearing wall. If the ceiling joist are parallel with the wall and you have roof bracing landing on it, It's a bearingwall. If there is a 2nd floor above the wall, you have two options. You can remove a section of ceiling on both sides of the wall to determine if the 2nd floor, floor joists, cross it or end over it. If so, Its load bearing. Or you can use a stud finder to determine the location and direction of the joists.

If the contractor was licensed, you wouldn't be on the internet after the fact asking if the wall was load bearing. He would have pulled the plans as Renovator says, and if it was unclear from the plans, he'd have gotten a structural engineer in to create the construction documents that would be needed to be filed with both the condo association and the local municipality in order to get the permit to alter the wall, the electrical in the wall, the HVAC in the wall, and any other changes that you are making in this renovation. But, I'll also bet that wasn't done either. Neighbors have been known to turn each other in (Not to mention the people on the condo board!), so the thing to do is to march down to the local codes office and throw yourself on their mercy pleading ignorance and swear that you won't be using that contractor who didn't do things correctly. Then, do things correctly by hiring someone who will do the job with the correct sign offs and permits. When you live in a multi family dwelling, that means contractors who are licensed and insured to work in a multi family dwelling and approved by your condo board. DIY is strictly prohibited in multi family dwellings due to the liability issue. If something is done incorrectly, it can affect more than just your unit. And boy would the neighbors love to sue you then!

Ditto to bluekit: Don't know how old your house is, but that also may complicate things. Based on our experience of the last week, we'd definitely pay the modest amount needed to get an engineer in. Don't trust a high school educated contractor to be able to calcuate the solution. Obviously very old houses are a real challenge. Ironically, I think that relatively new houses can also be a problem, as they are built in an era of "slap them up fast and cheap." You can't count on things being as they should be. That was the case with our 13 year old house. We are trying to move a short section of exterior wall out about four feet. Only after demo began did problems start to become obvious. First, the existing beam, built from three LVL's, is actually inadeqate. Second, the %^&*(% builder's electrician hogged out multiple 1-2'' holes at the end of the beam to run his wiring. This means that we can't just move the supporting column out to the end of the existing beam as we had hoped. So now we have not one but two engineers working on solutions. Currently it looks like we will need a roughly 24' steel beam running perpendicular to the existing beam. This in turn is too large to get into the house. Architect suggested having it welded on site. Contractor refuses saying fire hazard is way too high to allow this. He is hoping to be able to bolt two 12' beams together using gusset plates. Waiting for engineers to confirm bolting OK and (gulp) to estimate price. So...our advice. It may seem simple but you won't be sure til you open it up. I'd definitely have an engineer located and ready to take a look and confirm that your plans won't lead to all of the walls on the second floor cracking due to inadequte support. That may be the best $500 you'll spend on the renovation.