Is that rectangle that looks like a table the island you're asking about? What about the rest of the Kitchen? Is it supposed to be part of the Kitchen or is it really a dinette space with a counter-height table/island? If the latter, I suggest a table instead of an island b/c you will have more flexibility.

If the former, then we need a lot more information - you cannot design a Kitchen island in a vacuum! We need to see the rest of the design.

In the meantime, here are some basic seating guidelines:

Counter-height seating (36" off the finished floor):

• Linear space per seat -- minimum 24"
• Seating overhang (clear leg/knee space) -- minimum 15"

Bar-height seating (42" off the finished floor):

• Linear space per seat -- minimum 24"
• Seating overhang (clear leg/knee space) -- minimum 12" (if you plan to eat meals at this type of seating, you need a surface at least 18" deep)

Table-height seating (30" off the finished floor):

• Linear space per seat -- minimum 24" to 30"
• Seating overhang (clear leg/knee space) -- minimum 18"

If you have seating on the ends, don't forget the seating overhang & spacing for that seat as well - so the seats on the side will need to start 18" (bar) or 15" (counter) or 18" (table) form the end.

Please check the following resources:

Kitchen Design Best Practices/Guidelines threads - These threads explain best practices/good design guidelines for items such as work zones, aisles, island/peninsula seating, etc. These threads will help you understand questions/comments you will receive.

Layout Help - FAQ for asking for layout help. It has a sample measured layout as well as a description of the other information we need

Read Me thread - Other, helpful information for using and navigating the Kitchens Forum. Especially useful if you are new to the Kitchens Forum!

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New to Kitchens? Read Me First!

• http://ths.gardenweb.com/discussions/4306041/new-to-kitchens-read-me-first

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Layout Help:

How do I ask for Layout Help and what information should I include?

• http://ths.gardenweb.com/discussions/2767033/how-do-i-ask-for-layout-help-and-what-information-should-i-include

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Kitchen Design Best Practices/Guidelines threads:

Kitchen work zones, what are they?

• http://ths.gardenweb.com/discussions/3638270/faq-kitchen-work-zones-what-are-they

Aisle widths, walkways, seating overhangs, work and landing space, and others

• http://ths.gardenweb.com/discussions/3638304/faq-aisle-widths-walkways-seating-overhangs-work-landing-space-etc

How do I plan for storage? Types of Storage? What to Store Where?

• http://ths.gardenweb.com/discussions/3638376/faq-how-do-i-plan-for-storage

Ice. Water. Stone. Fire (Looking for layout help? Memorize this first)

• http://ths.gardenweb.com/discussions/2699918/looking-for-layout-help-memorize-this-first

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I don't understand the comment:

"...don't remove the load-bearing wall but instead keep it and build a non-load bearing wall 18" behind it, thus basically bumping it back to create a wider walkway past the island. "

Two walls? How will that help? You're now removing another 22.5" from the walkway (18" behind the wall + 4.5" thick wall). I must be mis-reading it...

OR, do you mean move the load-bearing wall back 18" into the DR? That would mean building the new wall and then removing the existing wall. However, you're saying build a non-load-bearing wall...

Ok. Let me try this again. I have color-coded the drawing to help explain what I am asking.

What I am trying to accomplish is to have the benefit of extra space without totally removing the load-bearing wall. With the island I would like to put in, I won't have a wide enough walkway if I line the load-bearing wall with cabinets. However, I was thinking that I might be able to keep the support from the load-bearing wall, place a pantry, closets or cabinets around the supports for that wall, and create a non-load bearing wall behind it. Sort of bumping the wall back without losing the structural integrity it provides and without the cost of removing it, especially because I would need to put up another wall between the dining room and kitchen, even if it is not as long. Otherwise, there is nowhere to put the fridge.

This means I would lose some space in the dining room, but we don't use it more than 1-2/times per year.

I am attaching some photos of my very ugly current kitchen to give you a better idea of the current layout.

At this point, I am wondering if this idea has any merit before I move into other floor plans for the space. I really, really want the big island but am not sure if it is feasible.

1. View from dining room into kitchen:

2. view from front hallway near stairway
   

3.kitchen from family room

You absolutely can do what you are considering, as long as the studs are left intact, but they are probably 16" on center, which means your cabinets will be only 14.5" wide. Every stud won't be perfectly plumb, so I maybe 14" cabinets, unless you are building each cabinet sized to each stud bay. If you remove every other stud and build new headers, you can have wider cabinets.

I have a shallow pantry built between studs and a beefed up support post for a laminated beam. It would be the same for your application, although your wall is longer. This pic is in progress, before doors were added:

cindyandmocha used deeper cabinets for her stud-bay pantry--I post this pic often, because I think it's a stroke of genius:

Mama, I love your between the studs pantry. Every time I see it. And recessed *anything* is awesome.

@annie, your layout is so similar to mine! Except our peninsula is at the back side by the garage instead if the family room side. Here's a pic of my fridge wall. In order from left to right: dining room door(not shown), microwave area where crap piles up, fridge and pantry. My neighbor with the same floor plan has a desk like you we had an empty space we had to find furniture for.

If it helps you at all, here's my original Request for help. And the final layout we are going with. We actually took floor space from the kitchen so we could recess the fridge and create some much needed storage in the dining room, and kept the peninsula, albeit further down.

If the squares on your floor are 1', it doesn't look like you'll have the room for an island. We had to give up on the dream too. if your proposed pantry area is 18" deep, therefore completely flush with the wall, and not even taking the fridge into consideration, you only barely have room for a 24" deep island. That's allowing 42" for each aisle and not allowing for countertop overhang on either the island or the perimeter.

Best of luck to you!

mama goose_gw zn6OH Thanks for the links. They are interesting and I plan on studying them to see if they might work in my space.

townlakecakes, thanks for sharing. The kitchens do seem to have similar features. Here is what I am hoping to do:

158"-26" for cabinets/counters under window = 132"

132" - 42" walkway between cabinets and island = 90"

90" - 42" island and counters = 48" remaining for walkway

If it works out where I can recess things between the studs of the load-bearing wall, I *think* my calculations will work out okay. I can probably use 24" of the (unused) dining room if necessary.

I still am unsure about the load-bearing wall--putting cabinets between/around the studs and recessing the backs--but have a GC swinging by today to float the idea past him and see what the costs would be. My big hangup is the fridge and also what it will look like bumped into the DR.

Do you agree?

We don't need the kitchen table since we also have one in the dining room. We want to end up with one. Unless we absolutely have no other choice, the table and peninsula are gone.

It's no big deal to alter a load bearing wall; half a day job. Support the existing, demolish the existing, install a header, make sure the load path transfers to footings or beams below. No engineer required; a good framer with a relationship with the division of inspection is it.

My concern is about the cost of removing it.

I had a similar kitchen, with similar space issues. However, in my kitchen eating area, where you have windows, I had french doors to a porch. I needed to keep the load bearing wall between kitchen and dining for my refrigerator and double ovens, but I moved it 18" into the dining area. This allowed me to have the refrigerator and wall ovens flush to the entryway into the kitchen and enough room for a 24" island.

Once the wall was down and I could appreciate the "openness", I decided to keep the rest of the area open by installing a recessed support beam. The pantries that I had ordered for that wall were moved to the dining room. I love the result.