Using your scale, here's a quick rearrangement. I moved the pantry wall forward, to provide space for a full-depth fridge in the kitchen, with a second fridge in the pantry. I also added a small sink in the baking area for hand washing and rinsing. If you use the MW for cooking, a drawer can be included in the island. If used more often for snacks, it can be kept in the pantry, where it will also be convenient for melting butter, chocolate chips, etc, for baking.

Posting the plan on a measured grid will help us give you a more accurate layout.

Thank you so much for your help! Here it is on a measured grid with the direction MamaGoose was suggesting. Am I on the right track?

Julie- I admit, the pantry is a big splurge in the square foot department. We truly do store a lot of food and canned goods from the garden. My vision for it is really more like a second work room. The place where I can get messy and just close the pocket door when my inlaws drop in unexpectedly ;)

You've got a good point about the baking center being far away from family. I do like that it is a separate space that I can roll out dough on a floured counter, leave the floured counter going all day long if I have to, leave bread rising all afternoon without having to work around the area while I start dinner. Clean up everything at one time after supper time.

Do you think it would still be too isolating even if I leave that pocket door open most of time?

Thank you for all your help!

Does each square on the new plan equal 1 sq. foot? I'm having trouble deciding the s.f. of the kitchen.

Yes, it should(?). I had a little trouble placing walls properly on this program I used.

Thank you. If you can recess the fridge under the top part of the stairs, that should work--a full depth fridge will give you more storage space, and will be less expensive. I liked the idea of adding a little space to the pantry, since it's more of a work room, and if you have the fridge and freezer in the locations drawn, the extra space would give you more 'step back room.' It appears that you have space to push that wall out a few inches, and still have comfortable seating at the island.

I'd move the sink and DWs down, to leave space for someone to squeak by, if the DW to the left of the sink is open. That would mean a triple window (better than a double any day ;), and I'd make the end counter flush with the wall beside the window seat, to balance the reveal on each side of the kitchen window. Then I'd add an upper the same width as the wall ovens, 30", which will also give you more space for dish storage. The narrow base cabinet between the DW and oven can house cutting boards and baking sheets. The clean-up sink appears to be only about 24", so I'd recommend at least 33"--big enough for baking sheets to lay flat.

With four seats on the long side, the island needs to be only 96", or 24" per seat, which will leave more space in the clean-up aisle. The trash pull-out is on the end, convenient to all zones (except the baking pantry).

The wide drawers on each side of the oven can house pots/pans, bake ware, and mixing bowls.

Just because you have a dedicated baking area, does not mean that you can't knead bread dough on the island, with your kids near, and I'm sure you'll want to cut out cookies where kids can help from both sides of the island.

Will you be able to easily vent the range on that wall?

Thank you so much MamaGoose! I like how the island size allows for ample Dw door clearance and your trash placement is perfect. I will shop for 33" sink to place. I'm rather ruthless about what I put in the DW but my baking sheets won't fit so I'm always hand washing those. 33" would be great for that.

The vent question is a bit of a sticky wicket. The architect has been great about providing us with some options on venting, and we are still working on that.

Question- should I attempt to place a seating place directly across from fridge in order to make seating on all three sides around that island corner? Or would doing that push the prep space down too far? My biggest goal is basically avoiding us all doing (quick meal) eating all lined up in a row.

I wouldn't put a seat on the side across from the fridge, due to conflict with the fridge door. If you feel that you have enough space between the kitchen and sitting area, you could have a 48" deep island, with two seats on the short side.

I drew a pony wall for support, but you could add a few more inches and have some cabinets on the back side, to store infrequently used items, holiday decor, or kid's art supplies. I also included another cabinet on the end, where you could store flatware, placemats, kitchen linens, etc.

Thank you MamaG. I hadn't thought through the fridge door issue. One of the many reasons why I so appreciate all the advice on here! So just to clarify, on the island, if I had a standard depth with drawers that open to face the stove, and made the island 96" plus a few inches like you suggested, then how deep would the cabinet storage be that faces the chairs? I like the idea of art supply storage so I would love to make that work! Thank you again!

You need 24" for the standard-depth cabinets, plus at least 1" overhang. Add 15" seating overhang for comfortable leg space at counter height. You're up to 40". If you use standard uppers, 12" deep, that would be 52" for inset, another 3/4" for overlay doors. So, at least 53-54" deep. But, you'd also need to make sure the 15" counter overhang could be supported without brackets, since you'd have cabinet doors. You could use filler between cabinets, with bracing behind, to attach brackets to support the top, or if brackets are thin enough, attach them to the cabinet face.

This pic was posted in the KT last year, in a 'hidden storage' thread--notice the brackets between the cabinet doors. Pressure sensitive opening would be helpful, to avoid using pulls.

If you're using custom cabinets, you can choose the depth of the extra run.