haha rosie, I wish! we're definitely not from a handy family (hence my cry for help here ;) We purchased a new house with this floor plan (they've just started building it). Everything looked fine on paper until I got to see the model home in person recently and my heart dropped when I realized how crammed the kitchen/bf area looked. Unfortunately the builder we purchased the house from is not very flexible (think borderline difficult). Many suggestions we offered were rejected (they won't even quote us a price), it seems any small change (especially structural changes where walls are involved) will meet huge resistance. lavender_lass, I too think they're just making up excuses regarding the french door. They first told us it's against code to have the doors open out (they have to open in). With the limited space before it wouldn't have worked anyway. Then they added the snow will somehow ruin the doors & the seal so they'd recommend against it either way. The only other door in the house is the front door. But because there is a porch, the door will be sheltered from heavy snow in the winter. Looks like not moving the fridge might not be an option due to limited space on the right wall (assuming the plan is to scale). and I try to keep the wall & features (like the sliding door) as much as possible just so the builder wouldn't get overwhelmed and give up on me ;). Here's what I think would be my best outcome. Anything more (e.g. changing the sliding door to a garden door, move the DR/kitchen door up as rosie suggested) would be bonus. Out of curiosity, would it be difficult to add the wrap window after the house is built? The builder might refuse to add windows :( Any recommendations on how big the island should be? e.g. with 3 or 4 stools? I'm assuming the bar stools will be stored under the breakfast bar most of the time, hence hidden from the FR. Any caveats on their placements as shown? i figured it'd be nice to be able to watch the FR TV (above the fireplace) from there when they're used. Thanks again for all the advice, I really appreciate it!

Thank you everyone so far for your input! It seems that this dilemma isn’t as clearcut as I thought. @cpartist “The space needed between an island and perimeter if you're a one cook kitchen is 42" i Have considered this. I have 6 people in my family—4 teens—and I always love to have more help in the kitchen. So, definitely not one cook kitchen if I have a choice. I’m also slightly claustrophobic, in the sense that I need some open space in my home. Some see wasted space, I see breathing room. I know I would prefer a 48 clearance. I have a tendency to run into things with my hips. I guess I forget they are there sometimes.

Lucky you! Your house is beautiful! If it were mine, I would put a very long dining table behind that long sofa instead of that small round table. Then I would create a long island to leave the 4 feet of walk-through space needed in your kitchen. If possible, I would use the solid wall for tall cabinets to house all small appliances, pantry storage and counter depth refrigerator. On that island, I would put in the sink and 2 dishwashers, plus pull-out trash bin. You can see that gorgeous view while doing cleanup and food prep. In no way would I lose those floor to ceiling windows! Just my humble opinion, but in this case, form trumps function! But I feel the function is there in this plan. You will still have plenty of prep space on the island, plus there is some counter space on either side of the stove. But it would seem that that view is the reason you are building there. I wouldn't compromise on that.

yes. I think you could easily do an island. but, is that one wall on the peninsula a support wall? did you want to take that down? what about if you straightened out the current one, and made an L out of it? would that work? however, why not do the countertops? How do you plan on removing the peninsula, making an island and keeping the Corian? you'll need a new top. (you could look into pre-fab countertops. you don't have a lot. maybe 4K for everything you'll also need to run your plumbing and electrical into the island. (not a big deal once your floor is torn up. (the time to do it, if you're going to do it, is now. you don't want to tear up new flooring to do an island down the road) The other issue, are you keeping those dated open niche/shelf thing? (I hope not). I'd take it all down (at least on your living side). If you could take it down on the kitchen side, in the future when you get new cabs you could get something taller and maybe do a bulkhead or just leave it open. But those dust catcher shelves should go. Are you painting those cabs? yourself or hiring a pro? I ask because a pro paint job (and I mean a pro cabinet painter, not random joe blow house painter) would be about 5K or more to do those. let me show you what they'll look like painted (by a pro) they also put in some glass in a few of the uppers. new countertop/splash The other issue is matching this island you want, w/the current cabinets. How do you plan on doing an island? hiring a cabinet maker? If you get something new, then how will it look w/the current wall cabs? maybe you'd have to reface the ones you have? Are you keeping the appliances? (if getting new ones, don't over look craigslist, or even HD or Lowes w/their deferred interest payments) is the white door a pantry? will the floors be done before you move in? If so, you may want to see about running electrical and plumbing to the center in order to prepare for this island. or not. You need to seriously think about a layout and what you want. Anyway you can work in some extra cash into the mortgage to give you a bigger budget for redo? what exactly were you planning on spending to update this kitchen? some other updates. this was a early 2000 kitchen. look at the after. The doors were refaced if you take out that large shelf, you could do something like this above the tops. much better looking