lascatx and rhome: many, many thanks for your comments and the picture, lascatx! I had originally had a wall there and then my GC mocked it up and I really tried to live with it. It is a side entrance off the drive way and detached garage. I wanted a place to put shoes and other stuff as a catch all. I have then reduced it to a 5 ft long (or so) 1 ft. wide cabinet, about 42 inches tall. I want to have something as a catch all and to separate the informal dining space from the side entry. It actually looks a lot like the picture link lasctax sent (thanks again!) but the bookshelf would be about a ft. taller. I have mocked it up without the island, but now the island mock up is in so thanks for the reminder to remock it! (is that a word??) Also, the stool--back would be to the aisle separating island and said dining area. Not the best, but mostly will be for a visitor or light eating (i'm guessing) and that area has at least 4 ft wide aisle. Again, many thanks for your comments--I feel so blessed to have people, strangers!, thinking about my plans and commenting on them and watching out for potential mistakes, regrets! This is such a costly, overwhelming adventure and it helps to know there are people out there who care! (What do you think of the changes? :)

The room that holds the kitchen here is not small, at 14 ft x 17 ft. But the ceiling is only 7 ft, and the working part of the kitchen is concentrated in a 14 ft x 10 ft area on one side of the room. The other side is a traffic corridor -- between the dining room, the back door/laundry room, and the bathroom. Before our mini-reno three years ago, the only real prep space was the 30" stretch of counter between the cooktop and the sink. The old double enamel sink was functionally a small single sink, since the far side was given over full time to a dish drainer. Behind and to the left of the prep counter, several steps away, a worktable against the wall offered about a foot of space along its front edge -- helpful for assembling spices or putting aside prepped items, but a little too narrow for any real preparation work. An expanse of work surface materialized -- just under four feet square -- when that long worktable was turned short side to the wall to form a peninsula. A bit more prep surface was tucked in by moving a rolling cart from the other end of the room into the space between the worktable and the wall oven and topping it with a big cutting block. Now, just by turning, I can put aside prepped ingredients, and do tasks that need a lot more space or a bit more leverage (a benefit of the worktable's lower height). This arrangement also makes it possible for both of us to cook at the same time despite the snugness of the kitchen's active-cooking corner. I can slice on the cutting block on the cart or mix/assemble on the worktable while the SO's at the stove, or the main prep counter, or the sink. Neither of us realized how how dramatically the new sink itself would expand that primary prep space -- effectively doubling it. The big single sink fit perfectly into the cutout for the 50-year-old double sink it replaced, but does a lot more with the space. The stainless grid rack that sits on the base of its vast interior provides a level, dry surface. With the drain set well off to the right side, the grid makes the sink base a real adjunct to the prep counter. All kinds of tasks happen right in there, at a more convenient height and in an environment made to handle mess: straining and quick-chilling stock, using the food mill, buzzing things with the immersion blender, wringing the liquid out of yogurt or salted vegetables.. The grid is also a space for hands-off prep, such as thawing frozen items in water or draining salted vegetables in a colander. There's room for these things to go on undisturbed while someone washes produce or fills a filtered water pitcher at the drain end of the sink. When there's not strenuous faucet action, cookware and utensils can drip dry on the grid, leaning on the sink walls -- a powerful aid to washing as you go along. That's not prep, strictly speaking, but it happens during prep.

First time poster but EXTENSIVE reader of the forums. I'll start by thanking all fellow garden-webbers who read this post, and those who don't, for the many tidbits of wisdom and advice I've gleaned over the past few months while planning my kitchen. My question, too, pertains to "prep sink or not". I've gotten advice from several who have "been around the kitchen block" to try very hard to include one. I had written it off, not thinking I could forgo the counter space, but I've recently panicked and am reconsidering. My main sink is a large-ish single bowl -- because the Franke with integral ledge with double bowl wouldn't fit -- and is in the island along with DW. There is 2' landing on either side of sink, so I think it's a decent prep area even for 2 people. The back of the island is a raised bar, 6" higher than the prep portion. The rest of the kitchen is an L shape, about 13' on one leg and 11.5' on the other. Counter does not run fully because fridge subtracts from one end, the pantry/wall oven from the other, leaving about 10' and 7' respectively. On the 10' leg, there is a cooktop in the center, and my hood has towers that sit in the back 14" of the counter, straddling the cooktop - another counter interruption. This leaves my largest expanse of counter as the entire 7' leg. If I add a sink to that, it, too, is interrupted and hence my dilemma. Now for my solution, but I'd love feedback. I thought I'd put a trough style sink along the back half, 23" long and 7" wide. To the right would be about 2' counter, to the left 3' to the corner of my L, and in front of sink I'd still have at least 12" of counter. What's more, my carpenter can fabricate a cutting board to fit exactly inside the trough, giving me uninterrupted counter when desired. I've even thought of a wall-mounted faucet here, but that's still undecided. What do folks think? Beware, I've already purchased all of my cabinets and I'd have to retrofit my 24" base cabinet to receive the sink (which won't be an issue).... point here is, I don't have a ton of flexibility at this point in the game. Thanks in advance for and and all input!

It does still look a little tight for a second sink. That said, I'll reiterate that I LOVE having a second sink - but my space is about 3' wider between the two sinks. In previous threads about whether to add a prep sink, some comments have suggested adding a second faucet to a single large sink - which allows two people to access water. Another consideration is how you use your sinks. In my case, I really like all of my coffeee/beverage stuff right next to a sink, and all the other stuff that typically sits next to a sink (drain board, dirty dishes, etc.) made a single one too crowded. So even though I said I think it might be tight for a second sink, if you really think it will make your kitchen easier for 2 people to work in, it might be worth it. Keep in mind that allocation a base cabinet to a sink affects the size any trash pullouts vs. drawers or other storage. If you do put a sink on the peninsula, I'd suggest moving it away from the edge so you have a landing zone for things coming out of the fridge.