when coming in from garage to mudroom then to narrow area, I would make a change. this is off your first plan from june 5...place the door from mudroom into kitchen at the lower end of wall [a move to the left] with a walkway that will be wider as the cabinets will be removed on left side..... the main work surface will be the window wall and order this setup at increased depth which is better for"baking", anyway. You will have one deeper run of counter and storage and a wider walkway behind. A family friend did a reno with such layout and the kitchen itself went into a long rectangular space that used to have a small table...it worked-it was cozy-this was their complete workingarea of kitchen mind you, BUT, there was no passage of traffic thru the space to other side to enter/exit. That is my concern with what you show-a lot of criss crossing with 2 walls of storage and work surfaces-a kitchen person or 2, and a "travelling through" person down the middle on this narrow aisle. With deeper storage you may still need to compensate some, so i would flank storage furthur down the wall around hood. The aisle wall that gets a clearance could have some shallow depth shelves between studs-not imposing on the walk aisle -can be done later with local carpenter.Is the island all you want it to be-the circle and all? I wouldn't segment your kitchen up anymore-keep as open as possible, and I wouldn't go into garage. You have separated rooms-as in formal dining/living/family room/etc so as open as the kitchen can be as in your 1st plan is how i would try to do it. Nice move with bath features yet set back thru a bit of passage-sustainable living for "getting mature" phase of life. Not sure about laundry upstairs tho-never lived with that. I need a lot of "piling and folding" space and drip dry/etc.It's in the basement.

Thank you all for your comments. annkh-we are replacing the cooktop/wall oven with a gas range and putting on the outside wall--opening up the space with the idea the island will replace the storage I will lose. Truth be told (hate to admit on this forum), I rarely use a vent (but do plan to start)--but one of the biggest reasons I plan to go with a larger hood is I did not want a cabinet with two doors opening into the hood. By increasing the hood, I have only one door opening away from the hood. I tried to come up with alternatives (bifold, lift ups) but no one seemed to think they would work. I have lived with this kitchen for 35 years--raised two kids and while I did not love it, particularly around the holidays, it was not a big concern until both my spouse and I retired and ended up in the kitchen at the same time. srdesq--I did not know there was a different hood size recommendation for outside walls. We do not use a microwave. We do use a toaster oven and plan to keep in a drawer (left of range)--not sure if it will end up living on the counter but my hope is I will put it away after each use. blfenton--the 9 3/8" space is a wall. There is the same amount of space on the other side of the bay window and I thought it would look better (symmetrical) like it was centered. We did consider taking the cabinets all the way to the window but KD says it could be problematic with frameless cabinets in an older home--no flexibility to make them fit, so went back with my original symmetry. My cabinets are semi custom and I am told "they will do anything"--the 13 1/2" upper cabinet doors are my way of taking into account the filler needed at the corner--not sure what I will end up with there.

The cabinet boxes are 24" but you have to add for the doors/drawer fronts which typically stick out another 1". Then you also have to add an additional 1/2" to 1" for the countertops beyond the door. You have to do that on the cabinet side of the island as well. For example, my counters are 25 3/4" from the wall. If my math is correct, I'm getting an isle of 44" to 44 3/4" at the most on the main sink side. On the fridge side, it will be a few inches less because even with a counter depth, it will stick out passed the countertop in order to open. This brings that isle down to maybe 40" or 41??? I am sorry, but I see no way you can fit seating on the sides of your island. If you skipped the seating and make the island about 48" wide, then you would have very nice sized isles!

The layout is pretty good, with only a few issues. It's very good for a first layout, btw! . Wall of Tall and Barrier Island... Your island is a "barrier island" - a barrier b/w the refrigerator and the Prep Zone on the island as well as a barrier b/w the refrigerator and Cooking Zone. To fix it, I'd rearrange the wall of tall to be: Utility (where it is now) Refrigerator Ovens Pantry cabinets This helps with the "barrier island" effect. You no longer have to run around the island to get to the refrigerator. . Hood... The hood should be 6" wider than the cooktop - especially if you plan open shelves anywhere in the vicinity. You want to minimize the spread of grease, steam, etc., so you don't develop a layer of grease or "gunk" on whatever you store on the open shelves. . Open Shelving... Anything you store on open shelves will need to either be used every day or two or you will need to dust/wash them b/f using - each time. Also, keep in mind that the shelves themselves will definitely need to be frequently dusted and, if near the cooktop, washed frequently to reduce the grease/gunk buildup if your hood is undersized and/or under powered. (And please be sure to follow the manufacturer's recommendations for installing it - don't install it higher.) Just so you know - the advice I'm giving you about the shelves and the dust comes from personal experience. I have two open cabinets with open shelves (not by design, long story) - one on each side of the cooktop, but not directly adjacent (there's another cab b/w the hood and open cabs) - and I have to dust the shelves frequently. It seems no more than I dust them, the dust starts accumulating again! I don't have grease/gunk build up b/c my hood is 6" wider, I use it every single time I use my cooktop, and I have that cabinet b/w the hood and open cabinet on each side. I also put my electric kettle under the hood when I boil water to reduce the steam on my cabinets and the open shelves. . Trash Pullout... I would place the trash pullout on the end of the island closest to the Cleanup Zone (and cleanup sink). This puts it in the Prep Zone (where it's used/needed the most), near the Cooking Zone (where it's used/needed the 2nd most), and near the Cleanup Zone. . Island Seating and Aisles... If you plan seating on the end of the island, in front of the wall of tall, then you need more aisle space. Right now, you have 36" b/w the refrigerator and island. Ideally, you should have 54" tor a decent aisle b/c it will be a work aisle as well as have seating. If you rearrange the wall of tall as I recommend, you can probably get away with 48" - but it may be a squeeze to use the pantry when someone is sitting at the island. If you don't need that beverage refrigerator, I would forego it if you want seating on that side - or forego the cabinet to the right of the prep sink in favor of the beverage refrigerator. . Island Seating and Overhang/Linear Space... Seating overhang...The minimum recommended overhang is 15" of clear leg/knee space - after accounting for the cabinets + 1" decorative door/end panel on the back and/or sides of the cabinets. I can't tell for certain what you have, it looks close for the seats on the long side, but you don't have that much for the seat on the end. Remember that two seats cannot share leg/knee space on the corner. Linear space...Each seat needs 24" of linear space, again, the two seats on the long side have enough space but the one on the side does not. . Keep in mind a few other things... If you are going to have 30" wide ovens, your tall oven cabinet will need to be at least 31.5" wide. Normally, they're put in 33" wide cabinets, but you can get away with 31.5". If you're using IKEA, there won't be a 31.5" wide cabinet. The refrigerator will need a bit of air clearance around it, so be sure you have room for that. It is going to be difficult to access items in the 36"W x 24"D cabinet under the overhang. Normally, I would recommend no more than 15" deep when under a seating overhang. You won't be able to do a drawer on the top b/c it would be inaccessible. You will need to do roll out tray shelves as best you can to be able to get to anything. Blind corner cabinets are the least efficient types of storage in a Kitchen, as well as the most difficult to access/use. Personally, I'd rather void out a corner than have a blind corner cabinet. What does work well is a corner susan. Corner susans provide excellent storage for pots & pans, small appliances, and anything else heavy or bulky. Items on corner susan shelves are easily accessible b/c they're always in front - just rotate the shelf until the item is in front and lift it out. Vs a blind corner that required either crawling into the cabinet or using swing outs that can fail and allow things to fall off (which then require a small child to crawl inside to retrieve b/c the fallen item will prevent the swing out from closing). .