We're a family of four (and often 5, 6, 7, or more, depending on how many friends & family are visiting!) My children are just-turned 15 and 16. Our evenings go like this: Someone is emptying the DW and clearing out breakfast and after-school snack dishes (and lunch dishes if there's no school that day). Two or three others are prepping and/or cooking. Yet another person is setting the table (going from dish storage to DR). Meanwhile we have a dog underfoot (just waiting for someone to drop something!) We do not have an island as our kitchen isn't wide enough for one (started out 11'1" deep, now 10'6" deep or so b/c we had to "build-in" a wall to accommodate venting in a wall that didn't have enough room b/w the studs to fit the ductwork and to hide most of the waste pipe from an upstairs bathroom). Instead, we have a wide "U" with two short peninsula legs and a row across from the "U" with a corner pantry off to the side. Not only does it work wonderfully well for us, but it also worked great when I had sixteen 12- and 13-years old girls working on their Girl Scout Cooking badge in my kitchen (twice)! We no longer have seating in the kitchen-proper, but we do have 2 stools at one peninsula. We opened up the wall b/w the DR and kitchen and now use our DR for all our meals. Not only is the DR now being used year-round (instead of just at Easter, Thanksgiving, and Christmas), but it also has given us a bit of "formality" to our meals and my children's manners improved quite a bit! (Plus there's more room around the table and it's nice to eat away from the dinner meal prep mess.) The combination of taking down the wall and converting the entire kitchen to a "kitchen" has made the DR/Kitchen area look & feel much more spacious and both are much, much more functional! I'm not saying eliminate the island, what I'm saying is think about alternatives. As to the cooktop in the plan I did for you, it's on a wall segment approx 12" wider than the hood on each side with the rest of the area open to the Great Room. I show the counter going into the Great Room to the depth of the wall (it could be deeper if you wanted seating there). Is it difficult to vent from there? It depends on the direction your studs run. As to the comments about the "raised counter" in your plan, I agree wholeheartedly with them. Plus, a raised counter reduces the functionality of the peninsula area a bit b/c of the counter overhang into the kitchen (usually 1.5" to 2") and over the workspace that's counter-height. Having the peninsula all one height would give you another deep workspace for large projects such as baking, homework, science fair, gift wrapping, etc. with the added advantage of being able to sit at that counter while working (your current plan does not appear to have seating at the island). [Your most recent pic is much too small to see and I cannot access the pic to see if I can see an enlarged version. I recommend putting your pictures on a true photohosting site such as Photobucket, Picasa, Webshots, Flickr, etc. and putting them in a public folder so you can upload a bigger version and others can navigate to it w/o putting a huge picture inline here.]

No, I think extending that wall would really cramp circulation space. If I've got it measured correctly there's only 4.5 ft between the edge of the counter and that post as it is. I think it would be unacceptably awkward to make traffic go around the end of that wall if it were extended. (Also, we wanted 1 freestanding post somewhere in the design of our home, but that's just a silly personal choice, not a requirement for any real reason.) Also, I think the interior views re better to be able to come into the house and see through to the stairs. That range wall is an interior wall, and can move, or be mostly removed. (Obviously the post, however, can not). The other side of that wall is the main front entry. The closets/bench will not be built as drawn. (The upper closet will go, and probably the lower closet will be a bit larger) I want a closet in the entry, and I need at least a little of that lower closet, because I have to hide some HVAC ductwork to the upstairs in a couple of places, and that's one of them.

We are a family of 4 (well, 3 now that one is in an apartment). Both parents work from home. One dishwasher. Typically run it in the evening, but occasionally also in the afternoon. My storage is close to the dishwasher so it takes under a minute to unload. The one dishwasher is fine unless DH cooks dinner (which he does more frequently now that he works from home), and he is very good at using every pot. I will actually decide which tools I'm going to use based on how much space is left in the dishwasher, or will wash or rinse a used tool. ISometimes I wish I had an additional dishwasher drawer for the overflow. So it all depends! I'd kind of like a "cooking" dishwasher and a "dishware" dishwasher lol.

consider the number of sq feet. and your budget . best to visit a flooring store or does the GC have a place to send you..sometimes they give you a budget . do you know? what ballpark are you in???. here's red oak stained early american....2nd is clear coat white oak I believe. the first one is pretty standard/ nice option /wouldnt be terribly costly/ and never go out of style......but you can find a "feature" floor if you want..... .