WHOA! FREAKY! My kitchen is almost the EXACT same size (12ft. x 13'-6"), AND I am INSISTING on separate fridge and freezers - I've been to hell and back making it work! Also L-shaped, fully open on North into family room (continuous floor) and West into dining room. Imagine the front of your house is the backyard (but my house is straight across), and my family room is where your hallway / pantry is, but there is no wall where you have pocket doors - the kitchen/ family room has no partitions. My sliding patio doors start about where your front door is, and my fridge and freezer will be on the wall where your ovens are (12 ft. from South corner to a narrow cabinet that will face family room to hang coats and stuff next to door). Now, I also have two cooking units (that is if I put the ovens in the pantry - HOPEFULLY future baking center), and this has been a very tricky design endeavor. In fact, my insistence on having BOTH the fridge and freezer IN the kitchen is causing consternation, BUT, I know it works - having the freezer in the pantry (the current original 8' long galley kitchen - next to (west of) the dining room and behind the new family room - so diagonal from new kitchen) will DRIVE ME CRAZY! The separate fridge and freezer I want are each just over 32" wide, so take up 33" each or 66" if put together. Everyone else is INSISTING that we put a window facing the backyard (EAST) to pass food out to the deck (yeah, right!), so I am separating the units. The South wall will have 2 windows facing into the kitchen / family room. This is my layout: Sorry, I don't have a computer layout program - I do all my work by hand on graph paper and right now I'm on a new laptop without a scanner / camera hooked up (house is under construction, old computer got killed). First, these are my appliances: a vintage Chambers Range 37-1/2" wide, a 51" wide extra electric cooktop (27" 3 burner) / pot and pan storage unit (Fagor - waiting for this to arrive - was supposed to be in stock, but apparently it is on a ship in the Atlantic coming from Spain), and the fridge / freezer units I want are Frigidaire 33" wide, 26" deep. 24" wide dishwasher drawers (probably FP), and if I get my way Frigidaire double ovens will go in the pantry / baking center - otherwise we must get a single oven and install in kitchen under the counter (annoying and a major waste of storage space). I opt to keep laundry in the basement - the major bone of contention - I'd rather have a serious baking center than laundry in the pantry area (there is a breakfast room on the other side of the original galley that will become obsolete once the kitchen moves to the other side of the house, but the table is where we currently do baking prep, so it makes sense to turn the galley into a baking center / pantry). The East wall is 12 ft long (length limited by sliding door / outlets) and the South wall is 13'6" long (ends at studs holding up header between new kitchen and dining room). This is my plan for the South wall starting at the dining room (162" long): Base cabs: 24" dishwasher, 36" sink base (with smaller 24" sink to leave some counterspace next to range), 39" space for Chambers Range and countertop edges, 18" drawer base, 45" space to corner for 42" blind cabinet. Wall cabs: 18" wide cabinet (custom height to meet window ledge that will float beyond window under what-not shelves), 12" space between cabinet and window for trim and what-not shelves (probably 3" trim, 9" shelves), 24" wide window, 3" window trim, 45" space above range for custom range hood (another bone of contention - I want to try and build the hood cover myself to fit the odd space), 3" window trim, 24" window, 3" trim, 30" space to corner to be filled with 27" corner unit (either full-height tambour or upper cab with garage below) extra 3" to be filled with either wider trim or by pulling corner unit out 3" from wall. Note that I want small 15" high pull-up cabinets at the ceiling above the two windows (lining up exactly with 3" trim each side of window = 30" wide cabinets), and another matching one 18" wide above the wall cabinet above the D/W, with the what-not shelves custom built to fit the space between. Note that I will need 27" deep countertops - in order to support the 27" corner unit that sits on the counter because the counter will not wrap around to the other wall. My Chambers range is 26 " deep, so this actually works out well. BUT, we are tall, so reaching the back of the counter will not be a problem for us; my only worry is how an undermount sink will look set back 6" from counter edge (I'd install an apron sink, but because the sink base is right next to the range I need an undermount to get at least 9" of counter between the range and actual sink). East Wall starting at South corner (145" long to a 12" deep tall cab that will face family room next to door): Base cabs: 24" blind corner (same cabinet from above), 3" space for counter overhang, 1" thickness fridge side panel that above fridge cab and countertop corner units will attach to, 33" space for fridge, 51" space for cooktop / storage unit, 33" space for freezer. Upper cabs: 27" wide corner units (same as above), 1" thickness for floor-to-ceiling fridge panel, 33" wide 21" high above fridge cab (24" deep), 10" wide 36" high shelving unit (starts at ceiling, flanks window), 30" wide 12" high (ceiling) cab with 30" under cab range hood above 24" wide x 28" high window with 3" trim each side centered over 27" electric range top, 10" wide 36" high shelving unit (starts at ceiling, flanks window), 33" wide 21" high above freezer cab (24" deep). Next to the freezer will be the back of a 12" cab that faces the family room, probably framed out 30" into kitchen with 2x4's so a switch panel can control the main lights from either here or on the dining room side of kitchen. This cabinet can be made even narrower if required to allow freezer door to open (space limited by existing outlet and switches to outside lights next to the patio door). Island: There will be an 8 ft long x 5 ft. deep 2-tiered island in the kitchen that goes lengthwise from South to North towards the family room. It ends about where the patio door switches start, so it does not block the patio doors, but it does go in front of the doorway to the new pantry / hallway (that is the existing galley kitchen - the doorway is the old back door) - this pantry / baking center (or laundry) will be the main hallway / entrance to the kitchen / family room from the front door - through the living room and breakfast room, right turn into pantry / hallway, left turn into kitchen / family room (or straight into dining room). The alternate route is from the front door down an 8 ft. hallway on the other side of the staircase from the living room, through the dining room and into the kitchen. The doorway is really the separation between the kitchen and family room areas (no partitions between them, and one continuous floor). I replaced the old 32" doorway with a new 40" headered opening, extending the studs between the corner where galley meets dining room load-bearing wall that goes towards front of house. There is now a 13-1/2" solid mass of 2x4 studs between the pantry / hallway doorway and the large opening to the dining room from the new kitchen (this was created by the original load-bearing wall - 4.5", the 3 studs holding up the new LVL between the dining room and new kitchen, and the 3 studs holding up the 40" opening I built - I added an extra stud because the original door was literally in the corner - it drove me crazy because it could not have full-size trim on the galley side (it is still a corner on the galley side because that is an opposing load-bearing wall between galley and dining room). So, the new doorway from the hallway / pantry will be about 38" wide after trim, and next to that will be a 36" wall (solid studs then extended 24" between dining room and new kitchen to have a small separation from kitchen) and then a 6.5 ft. opening between kitchen and dining room with another matching 30" wall protruding from the South wall between dining room and kitchen cabinets (so you don't view the sides of the cabs from the dining room). The dining room is only 11 ft. wide because of the load-bearing walls / 1" thick plaster. On the 36" long wall between the 2 doorways I will be putting a 24" wide floor-to-ceiling dish cab with doorway trim butting it on either side. The framers royally screwed up and installed the LVL header INTO the new space, as opposed to inset between the two dining room walls, so the stupid header jets out into the kitchen a good 1-1/2", so I MUST build a custom cabinet with one side deeper than the other to hide this mishap. (the bolts holding the steel inside the LVL require firring out, so that's why it sticks out so much - it "floats" off the family room wall. Because I need dish storage it must have 12" deep drawers, so that means the cabinet itself must be 15" deep - the absolute MAX I can get away with - this only leaves 21" of walking space between this cabinet and the island bar counter. This cabinet will face into the kitchen between the two doorways, so if you are standing at the patio doors looking in you see (from the south) the range wall, a 6.5 ft. opening, a 36" wall with dish cab, a 38" opening and then a solid wall to the end of the family room (I might put in a pass-thru above the old sink if I get my baking center). The island actually continues beyond where the doorway to the pantry / hallway begins, so you kind of have to walk around it to get to the patio doors. It extends about 18" beyond the start of the 38" doorway, and the bar counter begins 36" in from the doorway wall. I had no choice - all the ceiling lights were already wired, and as it was I had to re-do all the outlet wiring, so ripping out all the insulation and ceiling wiring just to shift the doorway was not going to happen - I did get lucky that there was enough slack to shift the wires that dropped to the switch box to the other side of the stud and then I ran a new homerun - that was the only way to enlarge the doorway at all. The island workspace starts 42" from the cabinets on both the South and East walls. The workspace part will be 7.5 ft. long and 36" deep. This will be a 24" deep cabinet facing the Chambers range (or single 30" under cab wall oven and 6" wide spice pull-out facing Chambers if I don't get my baking center), a 42" sink base with a large sink facing the cooktop / fridge wall, and a 24" deep 36" wide compost / recycling cabinet facing the family room (the side of the cab will be next to the sink with a towel bar mounted). Both side cabinets / counters will be 36" wide (from sink front to raised bar), and I want a back-channel behind the sink. Then I will have a 12" deep cabinet with 1/4 round shelves on each side to support the 8' long bar counter. The bar counter will overhang 10" or so and bar stools will pull under; butcher block with curved ends. So, as you can see, even in a small space you can have a LOT of appliances, sinks, prep space and seating for guests! Granted, this design REQUIRES a separate pantry for dry goods - mine will be in the old galley kitchen / new hallway, just like yours is in your hallway. I just would go crazy if the fridge and freezer items were so far away. There are just enough cabinets to store the pots and pans (cooktop storage unit; cast iron in storage area in Chambers) and dishes (dish cab and above D/W) and glasses (corner upper cabs next to fridge), coffee mugs (narrow shelves above cooktop), small appliances (appliance garage) and rarely used appliances (blind corner), stock pots (above fridge deep cabs), food storage containers (drawer base next to range) and rarely used stuff that you don't know where to store - pull-up cabs near ceiling. My extra dishes will be stored in cabs facing the dining room (in the narrow "partition" walls I plan to install 12" deep cabs). In the old galley / new pantry / hallway / HOPEFULLY baking center will be a decently large dry goods pantry and a cleaning supply closet. If I don't get my baking center the pantry will be even bigger (then the 30" oven space will become just more storage) with laundry on the other side. Function - the best part about this layout is that two cooks can EASILY work as if in their own kitchens because of the locations of the two sinks in relation to the cooktop and range. The Chambers has a sink right next to it on one side, prep space on the other (this is why I am considering two compost drawers - the one in the island and another next to the Chambers, but that could get icky, so I might just go with a Bain Marie dropped into the counter next to the Chambers instead of a pan in drawer that can be forgotten about if not used often enough). The cooktop has built-in space on each side, and the big main sink is behind it (offset 2 feet from center of each, so one person at cooktop, one person at sink will not bump butts), plus two people can prep veggies at the compost counter - one next to the sink, one standing on the family room side. So, easily 5 people can actually cook / prep and clean all at once - one at the Chambers, one at the cooktop, one washing dishes, two people chopping. In theory you can have someone else at the other sink and yet another at the other prep space, but now we're getting a bit too crowded ;)

I love lots of pantry space. I also love a butlers pantry. So I really like these changes. I suggest putting the door to the pantry on the side closer to the dining room and flipping the shelves from the dining wall to the kitchen wall. Use 6 inches of your pantry space 36" wide to recess the fridge into the pantry. Then you can have counter depth look fridge for the MUCH cheaper price of regular fridge. Plus, the interior will be deeper so you can fit that large pizza box. Lots of people on GW recess their fridges. You will still have shelves behind the fridge, but not quite as deep as the rest of the shelves. Do away with the pocket door into the dining room. On the dining side inside the pantry, have "1 can deep" shelves built between the studs. This would only be sheetrocked from the dining side, but not inside the pantry on that little section. There are so many pantry items that can be stored one deep !!! Gotta love found storage by using the space between the studs. There is lots you can do between the studs with open shelves or hooks or built in medicine style cabinets such as ... beside the toilet for spare toilet paper roll, toilet brush, comet ... In the master closet for jewelry, hanging scarves, belts (think behind the door where it swings open or at the end of hanging facing hanging or shelves) ... In a bath for a full height version of a medicine cabinet ... Under an upstairs bedroom window for a chain ladder which can be rolled out the window for a fire escape ... I've even seen a between the studs mini liquor cabinet ... For a wall safe or gun cabinet ... For a cute little display niche ... I could go on & on !! I would recommend doing at least a small overhang (7-8"?) on the back side of the island so you have the option to pull up a little stool if you ever want to. Personally, I ALWAYS want to be able to pull up a stool to the island or peninsula. Even if there is a table right next to it. When we have people over and when we go to other's houses, everyone always seems to gravitate to the stools at the counter rather than right next to it at the table. You certainly have enough space for an overhang. Also, when I decorated a wedding cake for 300, I was on the stool !!! No way I wanted to stand for hours. You have a lot going on in the last plan with the range, sink, and DW all opening up into one little space. I would like to see these spread out some. Like putting the DW on the other side of the sink and moving the range a little ways down the wall toward the pantry. Dishes could be stored to the right of the range - easy access unloading the DW and easy to access from the breakfast nook. What do you have planned for the section of cabinets across the aisle from the end of the fridge ? You could have an appliance garage there for the coffee maker and things you want to keep hidden. Agree with evening up some of the jogs around the sides and back side of the house to save money on construction costs. Also, continue the living room wall that is shared with the master BR all the way to the hall/living room bath wall. Having the door into the master opening there gives you a little ante-chamber into the master BR and a place for the door to swing so it doesn't use wall space swinging into the BR. It also gives privacy from the sounds of the toilet in the master bath. Can you give up a foot or so for the shower to recess into her closet so you can have a larger master shower ? The back side of the shower could be shelves in the closet which take up less room than hanging clothes. I think the garage is deep enough at 21' but I would add to the length to make it 35 or 36 or 37' long to allow storage on the sides. I am at the football game ... Gotta go !!

Thank you all SO very much for your thoughtful comments and time. I will post some layout pictures here (just met with our Kitchen Designer yesterday again.) We are going on Year 5 of living here this fall, and I have given constant thought as to the space & use since we have moved it. We have had a project going 100% of the time since we moved in due to the original state of the house. Now it's time to upgrade vs "fix". We are overdue! I've toyed around with ALL ideas (removing walls, extending the bar/not pictured-discussed, etc). For the most part, we like the layout and decided the pantry/2nd Kitchen are functional as is, although I love ideas, thank you all for your thoughtfulness. To answer other comments, I don't need 2 Kitchens + Butler Pantry. But that is the existing layout and it's easier to leave as-is than remove any of these large walls or areas, and I do use the space. I don't need 10K sq ft of house either, but it's what we have. (FYI it was a foreclosure we got for $360K on 25 Acres in Rural Indiana; about $100K put in initially to make liveable, and now we are just slowly chipping away at projects). I am going to reuse a lot of these cabinets in a basement storage room & garage. I hate to get rid of them! The Corian should hold up well in the transition too I think. Here is a picture from standing at the Main Island, looking OUT to the rest of the eat-in kitchen. We'll be adding a furniture-style cabinet piece where the additional cabinets are on the left. This bulkhead we may remove. They are big aren't they..? I have no clue what the $-tag would be to remove all of them (this one cheap likely.) I'll get a quote out of curiosity. My gut feeling just says it will be $$..... Just through that hallway to the left is where the 2nd Kitchen & Butlers Pantry are. I can't wait to get rid of this ugly dark red color. Existing Kitchen. Proposed is moving the Fridge from where it is now (right picture, where proposed Wall Oven & MW are - across to other side). Adding 36" rangetop. I can't go much bigger given the space there and existing gas line. We'll be moving our existing GE Induction, Wall Oven, MW to the 2nd Kitchen so did decide to just do 1 Wall Oven + MW in the Main Kitchen. Thanks for your comments on that! You're all right - as we grow/change, we will need that in the kitchen for sure. I was torn on leaving the 48" Fridge in the Main Kitchen, but it helps me avoid re-doing cabinets in the next picture..... as I have a 48" slot with non-working Fridge. Having a 42" and 48" seems to be plenty, vs adding two 48"s. See below. Here is the before of 2nd Kitchen (Please Excuse the Mess - this was previously a child craft room/nanny area). We would paint these cabs and re-do the ugly hood. Existing Wall Oven + old MW would go in here too on the far left replacing that cabinet. And the other side. Little pocket glass door to the bar. Non working 48" SubZero. 2nd Dishwasher, 2nd Trash Compactor, and Sink. Everything in the existing MAIN kitchen will come into here which is nice. No appliance worked when we moved in but I wasn't ready for a full remodel then. But glad to not be wasteful with those purchases. I have always loved the cabinets/style despite being so wood-heavy, so we are just going to paint these to match the main kitchen, new countertops, new backsplash. PROPOSED: And the Butler/WD/Toilet Room. This is on the other side of the Main Kitchen (behind Range/Wall Oven Area). There is a single toilet behind that far wall. And the other side. Here I don't need a 3rd Dishwasher but am struggling to figure out what to do with that space. I could add another Wine Cooler but seems odd to have in the Laundry/Butler area when we have a Bar. Trash Compactor will become pull-out Trash Bin. Ideas for filling the DW space? Again this will be all painted cabs, countertops, backsplash. But see the big bulkhead in here too? I don't want to take that out. We have 6 Bathrooms to remodel in the near(ish) future. I have to be frugal in some areas if I want other areas to pop more. Layout for these 2 pictures: Comments/ideas/suggestions are all ultra welcome. I will put a separate post about some of our semi-final decisions to our next steps in the remodel and would love your criticism.

@Yardvaark, yes, the grill will stay. I know it is unusual to do the cooking/dining in the front yard. If we were at any of our old houses, we wouldn't even entertain the idea of doing this in the front yard, but we are in the country on 10+ acres. The road shown on the site plan is a 12 ft wide road with 2-way traffic. The only person that lives below me is my uncle. The area between the porch & driveway is right off the kitchen/dining room, so it is convenient. What is shown on the site plan in the rear yard is a screened-in porch. We do have a patio under the porch, but is at the basement level. To grill back there, would require hauling food down the interior steps and through the unfinished basement. We did this when we lived in the suburbs and it was less than ideal even after we finished that basement. I agree having a master plan would be ideal. I tried doing a master plan and got overwhelmed. (See my response to Fori) I do have a plan in terms of "use" just not landscaping. I thought if I focused on this front area, it would inspire the rest of the design. As for the proposed uses: Back yard: we ultimately want to build a fireplace near the patio for roasting marshmallows and family time. North Side yard: This will be future (5-6 years out) parking for when the kids start driving. We are grading that area now, so we can drive to the back yard if needed. We plan to reseed with grass for now, but will have raised planting beds along the house to protect the house if someone doesn't stop in time. :) South Side yard: Not much to do here. We have 3 heat pumps that we thought about enclosing with a fench/lattice, but the only one who sees it is the propane man. We do need to build our outdoor shower at the end. Front yard: Other than wanting a flower & herb garden between the drive & porch, I don't know what to do. I'm open to ideas if you have any. To extend the thinking a little more, right now, you don't have a solid vision of what you're trying to create. It's a fact that "gardens," at times, can become a bit (or a lot!) messy. While landscaping on the other hand, tries to be always tidy. You've got that right! I don't have a solid vision! LOL! As for the garden, I was thinking more flowers with either herbs integrated into the flower beds, or a separate area with herbs. I wasn't thinking "garden" as in corn, potatoes, beans. I thought herbs were on the "neater" side of gardening and could be incorporated into landscaping easily, no? My previous neighbors had herbs growing in the foundation beds out in the suburbs and it looked lovely. Maybe they spent a lot more time than I thought tending to them?? I can't see that a fence here would be necessary or desirable. Visually, it would represent somewhat of a barrier in an area that is supposed to look welcoming. Being a MINOR barrier wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing. I want this area to be welcoming from the porch/dining room. I don't want guest automatically walking through it. I have 2 sets of doors off my porch. The first set are the teal double doors on the front of the house. The second set are the white, double doors leading to the dining room. I'm hoping the landscaping will help eliminate any confusion on which door to use. Currently, 99% of our guests go to the dining room doors. (One reason is that our temp sidewalk leads to this door.) I want to encourage guests to go to the front door. Building my main sidewalk should help, but my husband wants to keep a walkway from the side porch to the driveway, too. I hope my comments aren't misconstrued as if I'm saying a garden here won't work. In addition to functional appropriateness, gardens typically require more maintenance than landscapes. I'm bringing up these points as something to think about prior to committing to development. This is why I posted. I like to hear pros and cons that I may not think of myself. I appreciate the feedback!