Since you are the only cook, I think you will probably prep to the left of the sink on the island, which will work with the fridge as drawn, and if you eat in the breakfast area more often than in the formal dining room, the fridge will work well in that location.

The only suggestion I have is to make sure that you have at least 48" counter-to-counter in the work aisle, and 60" between the wall oven and seating on that end of the island. If you posted the aisle widths, I missed them. Good luck, and please come back to show us progress pics.

@mamagoose - I think there is a 48" walkway between the wall cabinetry and the island. There is about 100" from the edge of the range to the end of the island with seating. I posted some of this on another discussion and a few people seemed to think that the layout is terrible, but didn't really give any specifics. So I am now trying to understand why it is not a good layout and what could be improved. Thank you for your feedback! Makes me feel better about it!

There is about 100" from the edge of the range to the end of the island with seating. I misunderstood the seating--I looked at the first plan, and thought that you had wraparound seating on both short ends, but now I see that is the original layout, with butcherblock sections that stick out. Taking a closer look at the new island plan, I see that it will not have seating on the end by the ovens.

I can imagine one of the reasons others thought that the layout could be improved--if you have space for two sinks, it's better to have the clean-up zone completely separated from the prep zone, where a helper can load or unload the DW, or gather dishes to set the table, without crossing into the prep or cooking zones. Also, many here prefer having clean-up on the perimeter where dirty dish mess is less noticeable. I suggested, on another thread, having the DWs side-by-side, and although that option is not as aesthetically pleasing, I think it would work in your case, too, with both DWs to the right of the island sink--no one will see them from the living areas. If one is to be used primarily for pots and pans, it would still be close enough to unload to the large drawers below the cooktop.

Prepping on the island will be more pleasant than prepping on the perimeter (IMO), even though you have a window over the prep sink, because you will be more connected to someone sitting at the island, and more connected to those in the living area beyond. In this plan, it would be better to have the prep sink between the fridge and cooktop, if it were being used primarily for prep functions, but I think you will probably use the prep sink, as it's drawn, for the beverage station more often than for prep. Maybe it should henceforth be referred to as the 'beverage' sink. Having the beverage area, and a sink, on that end will also keep folks out of the main work area, and it's fairly close to the formal DR, with a fridge drawer below, which also makes it OK to have the fridge on the other end of the kitchen. You can have a small trash container under the beverage sink, if you feel you need one closer than the trash/recycle pull-outs on the island.

If you keep dishes in the drawer base between the beverage sink and cooktop, and on the open shelving above, I think that will work to keep the clean-up zone separated from the prep area on the other side of the island sink. The 15" cabinet beside the cooktop could become a drawer base for flatware and linens, with a matching drawer base on the other side of the cooktop housing utensils (spatulas, whisks, etc.) and potholders. I think drawer bases would look fine, but if you prefer the look of solid doors beside the cooktop for aesthetic reasons, you can have a door with drawers hidden behind. (See pics at end of post.)

I like the fact that the freezer and ovens are separated from the main work area, since those appliances are not used as often as a fridge and cooktop--they are convenient, but not taking up valuable space in the main work zones.

So, that's my constructive criticism. If this was a kitchen in new construction, I'd have different suggestions, but considering existing windows, doors, and hallway, I think you have a functional plan. The whole layout might be better if the island and top wall were flipped, with the butler's pantry dividing wall made short enough to accommodate the fridge door swing. (See flipped layout at end of post.) But with dining areas split, you have to choose which one is more convenient for the fridge, beverage area, and dish storage. I'd like to see some pantry-type storage near the fridge, but you can keep baking staples and other pantry items in the drawers between the fridge and cooktop.

It's often suggested that it's better to live in a new house for a year before starting a large-scale remodel, but my preference would be to get the mess out of the way before moving in, especially with small kids in the family. BTW, I hope you find a suitable new home for the killer range hood.

I got a chance to look at this on a bigger screen and read your post. It's better than I first thought.

Things I'd consider though

1) making your unit with the ovens a dedicated clean up zone with a sink and 2 dishwashers

2) putting ovens where bev center is, freezer where ovens are and bev center (with adjacent small sink) where freezer is. I wouldnt mind the big oven over there but you'll use your steam oven a lot, I wouldn't want it so far. I see the bev center being moved away from the work area a plus. I'd also probably rearrange the island a bit to keep the MW closer to freezer instead of the opposite end.

Also where's your laundry? Mudroom?

mamagoose - this is all extremely helpful, thank you so much for your insight! I am planning to have more drawers than cabinet doors on the lower cabinets, but I just haven't had the kitchen planner draw them in while we are still debating general layout. I definitely prefer drawers over cabinets. People always say the cabinets with adjustable pullout drawers are better because you can change the height, but I would rather have a fixed height and the convenience of drawers!

I agree on the second sink description - maybe people don't like that I am calling it a "prep sink" when it is really a "beverage sink" that can also be used as a second prep sink if needed. Since I mainly cook by myself, I just use the regular sink as my "prep" sink currently - I rinse off vegetables in the main sink, and just use my current second sink for draining pasta or beans when I have dirty dishes in the main sink. I really dislike when people try to fill up their glass of water at the main sink while someone is trying to do the dishes - this seems to happen frequently, which is why I wanted that second sink for water.

I think most of the dishes/bowls will be stored on the open shelves to the right of the range hood, and the glasses/mugs will be stored on open shelving to the left so that they are near the beverage center.

I completely agree on your comment about living in a space and wish I could do that, but we think that it will be better to renovate this house while we are still selling and living in our current home. I don't really mind not having access to a kitchen, but I can't deal with trying to keep my 1yo daughter out of the construction zone on a daily basis!!!

Also another thought, if your main gripe about the sink is people getting water, you can get a dispenser in the freezer column. It comes out cold and filtered. I have the Thermador (although it doesn't come in a 30" version just 18" and 24"), my kids love it and drink much more water with it than from a sink.

DrB477 - thank you for the follow-up! The laundry room is on the second floor near the bedrooms. The mudroom is off of the butler's pantry (see first floorplan on my post). That's maybe a little odd because the butler's pantry is typically used for formal entertaining, but you're walking through it daily from the mudroom - so it's a bit of a combination space rather rather than a pure entertainment space. I have a feeling we will be dumping bags and groceries and whatnot in the butler's pantry as we walk into the house!

Regarding your suggestions 1 and 2 - do you think it would be annoying to have the glasses so far away from the dishwasher if you move the beverage station to that far wall? I just envision carrying glasses and mugs all the way over there frequently. Same thing with moving the dishwashers over there - not having your main big sink by your cooking area means you have to carry pots over there for cleaning, and then you have to carry all of your plates/flatware/glasses/mugs/bowls back over to the other section for storage after removing from the dishwasher. This was my train of thought!

DrB477 - didn't realize they had water dispensers in freezer columns, thought it was just in fridge columns - thank you!

DrB477 - I had also placed the microwave close to the fridge because I do a lot of quick reheating for the kids - reheating some pasta, turkey dogs, etc. But I have been struggling with that because I also use the microwave for some frozen foods, and also think we will use the steam oven for reheating. I envision the kids sitting at the end of the island, so just thought it would be convenient to get food out of the fridge there and microwave it quickly for them.

Every decision has a plus and a minus in kitchen design - drives me crazy! :)

I suppose one option would be to put a combination fridge/freezer by the microwave, and then another fridge/freezer by the current area with the ovens - then I could keep stuff in the freezer by the microwave that I use regularly. That just seemed a little confusing to try and split up everything between the two units!

You'll have to make some compromises somewhere. If you move the clean up sink over there you can store plates and glasses in the uppers above. That's my setup, it works well. Flatware location could be an issue perhaps on the island right behind?

I like option 2 better though, I don't think taking the glasses to bev area would be bad. I keep our coffee mugs above the coffee maker but glasses are across the room never found it to be a big deal. Keeping the storage close to sink and dw is this though.

Our 24" integrated thermador freezer with water/ice. It kills the cabinet look a bit but the trim is stainless, looks nice imo.

Speaking as someone with two dishwashers, flanking the sink is best but next to each other wouldn't be terrible.

Your island sink, if it's the only "real" sink and is used for prep and cleanup should probably be 36", you might need a 39" cab for that depending on sink and cabinet choices.

Thank you! Regarding the dishwashers, I agree that next to each other might not be too bad. Our current house has trash, then sink, then dishwasher on the outer perimeter. Then behind you to your right is the 2nd dishwasher on the island. That seems to work well for us - it isn't far to just turn around a little and put stuff in there.

Definitely getting the biggest sink we can!

Do you think it might be better to put the steam oven where the microwave is currently located and move a wall microwave or speed oven to where the steam oven is currently (or at least on the island, if not in that exact spot)? Then the microwave would be closer to the freezer, but not as close to the fridge. But then the steam oven is close to the fridge, and I have a small convection oven near the main cooking area. I currently have a large oven and small oven under my Thermador 48" range, and I use the smaller oven very often because it preheats so quickly. I just thought it might be nice to have it at eye level instead of bending over.

Water and ice in the freezer is a great idea. I like having the MW next to the fridge, because we re-heat a lot of leftovers--but it depends on how your family uses one.

I considered the suggestion to move the clean-up zone to the short wall, but traffic from the hall and traffic from the garage, heading to the hallway, seemed a non-starter. I estimated the available space at 90", counting 30" each for freezer, oven stack, and counter between, which would put one of the DWs opening partially across the hall entry. Exact measurements for that area (including width of hall) would help with the decision.

If you have a steam oven (have you had one before?), it does a much better job reheating most things from both fridge and freezer. It's slower though, a typical reheat takes 10-15 mins (from the time you turn it on). Undercounter installation isn't an ideal height for either this or a speed oven (just a little too low), but it would be usable enough.

When you say you want a built in coffee maker, are you talking about something like the Miele in my picture? If so, is there a reason you want to hide it with pocket doors?

Assuming you get a water dispenser in the freezer and drop the beverage sink, you could have the coffee maker and CSO stacked like I have mine in that corner. You can put them side by side too, but I think you would be a little too tight on space with the window. You'd probably want to move the beverage drawers over, starting your stack at counter height will put the coffee maker probably a little higher than you want.

Gahhhhhh I hadn't even considered all the foot traffic going past that area - you need to go down that hallway to get to the staircase to upstairs. (The stairs shown on that floorplan both go to the basement)

i will try and get some more measurements!

An installed Miele coffeemaker, yes. I was planning to put it above a countertop where I could put the toaster and maybe blender and then I could just close up the whole thing and hide the appliances on the counter. And from a visual perspective, it would match the refrigerator panel down on the right.

I don't like having my toaster oven sitting on the counter...I feel like you have this beautiful clean new kitchen and then plop a random toaster oven down in the middle of a countertop by itself and it just looks sort of odd. So wanted to hide it behind doors, or at least have it off to the side where it isn't so visible on the pretty wall with the two big windows (that you see from the family room).

I keep a 4 slice toaster and vitamix blender in a drawer. There's also a Cuisinart that fits in there. Underneath is a crock pot, waffle maker, and rice cooker. Pull it out when needed. The blender is used pretty much daily, the rest not so much. Hiding the coffee maker seems unnecessary to me and might add clearance and ventilation complications. Have you had a Miele coffee maker before?

DrB477 and others - do you think this is a better layout? I realized that I probably don't need a freezer column and can just get a bunch of freezer drawers. That frees up some precious upper "eye-level" space and gives me more flexibility of where I can locate things. I also realized I can get a fridge column with a hidden water dispenser to keep the look clean, but still offer cold filtered water from the fridge.

This layout puts the prep sink near the fridge so it can be used for drinks or prep. I can add freezer drawers next to that sink and have ice. Can also store frozen items I use while cooking, such as frozen onions. Can store microwaveable frozen meals here too so they are close to the microwave. Trash can is located close to both the prep sink and the main sink. I can easily put away glassware in the open shelving and have it next to the fridge for drinks.

The ovens are then moved closer to the main cooking area. I could even put freezer drawers next to the ovens to store frozen items that get cooked in the oven (such as kid's chicken nuggets) or heated on the stove top.

Then the coffee area moves to that side wall with an appliance garage for toaster and refrigerator drawers for milk.

Some thoughts

I don't see the point of a prep sink here. You probably want to prep on the island, right? Seems like it would be rarely used.

You have fridge drawers, a bev fridge, & a 30" all fridge. That's a lot of fridge.

Have you had a Miele coffee maker before? It's nice but requires a few regular maintenance routines that involve trash and a sink. Basically you dump the dry waste every few days, empty and rinse the drip tray every few days, and clean the milk pipes (which requires two fills and rinses) weekly. In particular, hauling the full drip tray (which is full of dirty coffee grinds and water) across the kitchen every few days is less than ideal. If you don't get the plumbed version you also have to fill the water tank. A sink nearby is definitely nice. Having a place to store milk nearby is also handy.

Do you have enough seating room? Each seat requires a 24 wide X 15 deep space that doesn't overlap with another seat.

The appliance garage seems best off in the prep area? Maybe a toaster would be okay off to the side if that's where you keep bread?

I would stay with maximum a 48" range. That's plenty. We upgraded to a 48" but have produced massive amount of food from our old 36" range for parties up to 60 people and 10 course meals.

DrB477 - Thanks for all the feedback on the coffeemaker! I haven't had one before, but those are excellent points! I just have my Keurig currently.

I thought it would be helpful to have the second sink near the fridge instead of near the freezer? But you think it would be better to have 2 sinks on the island and none on the perimeter?

I am not concerned about the space for seating - my drawing isn't to scale, but we have enough room to fit the 6 people comfortably.

I would have refrigerator drawers underneath the coffee area to store milk. I was also planning to have bread and jam and peanut butter over there so they would be close to the toaster.

We need a lot of fridge space...my husband constantly fills up our fridges with soda and beer!! In our current house we have two 27" columns with fridges on top and two freezer drawers on the bottom - so basically a 54" French door fridge. We keep mostly drinks on the left and food on the right. Then we have a backup 36" French door fridge with a freezer drawer in the garage to store the giant packages of stuff we buy from Costco (extra loaves of bread, extra milk for the kids). All of the fridges are used, so I can definitely see us wanting a lot of fridge space.

You will not use the warming drawer like you think you will. I would suggest getting a nice oven/microwave and an oven/combi oven instead. Set an oven on the warming function,and you've get something better than a warming drawer.

Small fridges suck for milk. They don't keep temp as well as big ones. The milk spoils much faster. Have you looked at the whole fridge/freezer by Electrolux?

The microwave under the counter is awful. It's at toddler level. The door microwaves are impossible to use like that, and the drawer ones are better but obnoxious.

I love the two dishwashers and will have them myself. But I will have one in the cooking zone for pots and pans as I cook and one more for dishware by the secondary clean up/beverage sink, near the dishes. My primary sink is going to be my prep sink, galley style: http://thegalley.com/ My "wet prep" area will be that sink. I have a second dry prep area for baking, plus the clean up/people grabbing food area and a food staging area, and my kitchen is much smaller than yours.

You don't want to prep with your back to the stove. If you've ever done it both ways, you really will realize how much better it is to prep next to the stove.

This means that if your intention is to face the dining room and the breakfast bar when you prep, ypu need to move a cooktop there, too. I would also suggest induction over gas.

There is a huge amount going on in the kitchen, but all the traffic lines are confused. Given that your room is enormous, it doesn't have to be this way. Even the elevation of the cabinets looks chaotic. Like really expensive chaos. The before doesn't have much light, true, but it is visually coherent.

@milly rey - thanks for your feedback! Can you please explain why you think the cabinets look chaotic? I actually feel like the current kitchen feels chaotic, so that is interesting commentary. The current kitchen has a bunch of sections pushed back, other sections bumped out, the weird cut-outs on the island...it all feels very busy to me. I felt like the new design was much sleeker! (We actually have pocket doors over that middle section with the coffee maker on the side wall, so you don't see the countertop there. And the island will be a little shorter than what is shown in these drawings)

I have a microwave drawer at our beach house and spent the summer there with a 3yo and 1yo and they never tried to play with it, so I'm not worried about that. The little one opened the wine fridge and the beverage fridge constantly, so we had to put cabinet locks on those. We have an undercounter door microwave at our current house, and I agree that it is awful AND my 1yo hangs on the door all the time and plays with the dials. But I like the drawer ones and find them easy to use! Just wish they made combination convection oven drawer microwave!

I agree we won't use the warming drawer frequently, but on big holiday meals we will be using both ovens and the microwave, so that is why we wanted to add it. I chose to get a regular convection oven instead of a microwave/oven combination because the combination ones are much smaller and I need the large oven for some meals.

Are you located in the US? I don't see any panel-ready refrigerators on the Electrolux website. I tried googling to find issues with undercounter refrigerators not cooling enough, but I didn't find anything about this. We have an undercounter U-line beverage fridge, and we actually had a problem with it getting TOO cold and our drinks were freezing and exploding! I know that Sub-Zero fridges have their issues, but I have to imagine that they keep the proper temperature when they are working properly?

We aren't able to move the range top and hood to the island, so it has to stay on that outer wall. I agree it is good to prep next to the range top when possible, which is why I was considering putting the sink on the left side of the range top instead of the right side. If we have the main sink on the island, where would you put the second sink (which will be a 24" or 30" sink, not a small prep sink). Thanks!

@milly rey - also want to note, that the tall column of cabinets all the way to the left of the range top is now just a stack with cabinets on top, then combi steam oven, then convection oven, then warming drawer. No cabinetry in front of it - I agree that the cabinets there look very disjointed. I am trying to post the picture, but it doesn't seem to be working right now!

Cool! I'll check back!

Not sure what's going on, but haven't been able to post any pictures on here for the past two days! Tried my phone, my laptop, and even tried it at two locations with two different cable providers...not sure if there's a problem with the website

@milly rey - was finally able to upload these. If you feel that the cabinetry is still chaotic, please let me know. As for the traffic lines, I am pretty much the only person who cooks in the kitchen on a regular basis - so I want to try and keep most of my "everyday cooking" stuff in the area by the fridge/sinks/range top so I don't have to walk all over the kitchen to do everyday tasks. I also want to try and stay towards the end with the tall fridge because my kids will be sitting on the stools at the end - I think I will probably do most of my prep work near them so I can help them with their food or homework while I'm getting dinner ready.

Here is the updated wall with the ovens on the left, range top in center, and 36" fridge/freezer on the right. The shelves in front of the windows look kind of awkward sticking out right now, but they are actually going to look like they are hanging from the ceiling, not attached to the wall. Sink under window will be moved to the left slightly so it isn't beteeen to cabinets.

New wall with coffee and appliance garage between 2 center pocket doors. Beverage fridge and fridge drawers below in center section.

Empty Space above garbage can pullout is for paper towels

If you don't really cook on the cooktop but mostly the oven, it doesn't matter which way you face. Ditto if you're not doing any stir fry, sautéing, delicate browning, etc, but almost all boiling, simmering and other insensitive cooking methods, you won't mind.

Additionally, if you don't really cook the way you're supposed to with a cooktop, meaning that first you stand there and cut absolutely everything for your meal and then you cook it, having a cooktop behind your back also won't bother you.

However, if you usually cook using the cooktop, and if you, say, cut your onions and soften them as you cut your chicken and then brown the chicken as you cut your vegetables, in the pattern that the vast majority of cooktop recipes call for, having the cooktop behind you is incredibly annoying if you don't have a helper.

So for cooks who use the cooktop heavily, prepping with your back to the cooktop IS a major issue. I know that a lot of people don't really cook, but if you do, it matters. You have several options: prep next to the stove as soon as you start using it and turn your back on the people at the island that you put there so you would face them; prep everything on the island before you start cooking and add 20 minutes to your cooking time every night; or turn your back to the stove and either burn things or switchback and forth a lot, also wasting a lot of time.

But I suppose CPArtist is a special person with eyes on the back of her head. Or she doesn't really cook.

I like the looks of the new kitchen a thousand times better! I find the layout way better, too.

I would realistically end up using this kitchen by cleaning on the island and cooking on the back wall about half the time, when I'm doing any multi dish or multi step thing on the stovetop. But it's a very usable setup, nevertheless. I like the big landing space next to the ovens. You can prep on the island and use that for landing or prep there for the stovetop, either way.

@Milly Rey - thank you, this makes a lot of sense. I am the type of person that tends to do most of my prep beforehand and then start cooking, so that's probably why I didn't understand why it would be difficult to have the range top behind me! And I use the range top frequently, but not for anything that requires a lot of oversight - mainly for browning ground turkey or making stews or cooking quinoa (although now I can make the quinoa in the steam oven!). So I'm very infrequently standing at the range, actively monitoring something while also chopping. Also probably why I don't mind having the range top on the outside wall where I don't see people while I'm cooking - I would rather see my kids while I'm standing at the sink doing dishes, I feel that I spend more time doing that than standing at the cooktop. For the times I'm still actively prepping while cooking, I think I could bring all the ingredients to the left of the cooktop and just not face into the room for those more infrequent occasions. I despise chopping, so I use frozen chopped onions and frozen garlic cubes for everyday meals! I've had too many incidents with cutting myself while chopping, so it's probably best that I don't socialize while chopping anyway!

@Milly Rey - also, in my current kitchen, I usually prep on the island, and then the cooktop is on the perimeter around the corner of the island. That probably isn't ideal, but it has never really bothered me before. What does bother me, however, is that there's very little counter space on either aid of the cooktop so there's not a lot of room to place ingredients while you're cooking or take something off the stove and put it on the counter. I never understand when people put their cooktop against a wall and then build tall cabinetry all around it so it's in a little alcove - that would drive me crazy!

I prep on my island and move the to my cooktop which is on a perimeter wall. Most of my cooking is fast. I cook from scratch daily and could not imagine doing it any other way. It allows me to socialize while prepping and focus when using high power burners.

hduns,

You have the warming drawer really low in the oven stack. It will be non functional. Can you move it to the island next to the warming drawer? What do you intend to store in the small cabinets next to the range? Most don't find the spice cabinets functional if that is what you were planning. You may be able to get larger drawers on the oven side. Also, a little bit of a challenge with the drawer under the sink - That would have to be a custom drawer unit to give enough clearance for the sink.

The coffee maker looks too high in that cabinet, you want it at counter height. In the diagram with the coffee maker, #8 and #9 are the fridge drawer and beverage fridge? One thing to mention about the coffee maker is that they let out a lot of steam and heat. I am not sure I would enclose with doors. You may want to read the user manual for the one that you are interested in to make sure that is an acceptable installation. I don't have a built in both a Double boiler Espresso machine and I would not enclose it.

The redesign looks good so far.

Good luck!

homepro01 - your point about the warming drawer location is an excellent one. I was originally thinking that I will just use it for big holiday dinners or occasionally when my husband works late, so location wouldn't matter too much. And I could use my microwave keep warm function for a lot of everyday stuff. But perhaps I ditch the warming drawer that matches my ovens and get a panel-ready warming drawer and install it in the middle of the stack of drawers next to the microwave. I think I would use it more actively in that spot. As I type this, my daughter's chicken nuggets are sitting on the counter getting cold because she didn't finish them before leaving for ballet class, so I'm obviously not using my microwave as a warming drawer too often right now!

the two narrow cabinets (10.5" wide) on either side of the cooktop are for trays and cutting boards. I have spice pullouts now, and I don't really think they're necessary. They're also impossible to babyproof and that drives me crazy!! The number of times my kids have dumped garlic powder out all over the floor! We ended up just putting them all in a box and storing them in our basement. I don't need quick access to my pumpkin pie spice and garam masala at all times - can just keep a few spiced that I use regularly near the oven and store the rest in the pantry.

The drawer under the sink shouldn't be an issue - everything will be custom cabinetry. It was actually cheaper to go custom than go semi-custom!

i was planning to install the coffeemaker around eye level - that is how they have it installed at the Miele store and in my friend's kitchen who also has one. I want the pocket doors to hide the countertop below with my toaster and blender and whatnot. I checked with Miele and they said that it was fine to install behind pocket doors as long as the doors are kept open while the machine is still hot. I don't drink hot coffee all the time, so I think I will just leave it closed most of the time. Who knows, maybe I will become a coffee fanatic once I get the machine! Then I will probably just be lazy and leave it open most of the time. I think it will still look nice when open, I just prefer a cleaner look and don't like to see a bunch of appliances sitting on the counters if it isn't necessary.

#8 and #9 will either be fridge drawers and a beverage fridge, or two beverage fridges - all 24" wide. Fridge drawers are easier to access, but beverage fridge gives you more storage in same amount of space. if we do fridge drawers, the drawer panels will be designed so that the two drawer faces come together to create one large panel with a seam running horizontally through the middle, so the look would be similar to the single panel front of the beverage fridge.

hduns,

If you get a warming drawer, you may as well use it. I have the keep warm function in my speed oven and I don't use it very often because there is always something else to use the speed cook for. Consider moving it to a place you will most likely use it. In the current configuration, even during the holidays, you will not want to bend this far down to reach things.

Regarding the two narrow cabinets, consider moving one next to the oven so that you can use it for oven racks and such items. For the one on the other side of the sink, is this where you would normally pull a cutting board from or a tray? I would think the trays would be a better fit in the pantry space or something like that. My chopping board stays on the counter because it is large and bulky so you want to make sure the cutting boards are easy to lift if you put them in that location. You may want to consider a spice drawers. Many of us on the forum use these and love them. You do have to invest in jars that are uniform and purchase spices in bulk (which is cheaper than from the grocery store). If you do a search on the forum, you will find quite a few examples.

For the coffee maker, if it has a separate frother, it would be hard to use at eye level rather than counter level. I am not sure what maintenance activities you need to perform on the built in units but if you need to remove components, in may be easier at counter level than at eye level. Showrooms seem to have this configuration at eye level but the majority of pictures of installation appear to be at countertop level.

For fridge drawers or beverage centers, you should check these out in a showroom. Either one will work for you needs and either can be paneled to your specifications.

Regarding the range top, make sure you have a way to child proof the knobs. I know one of the posters on the appliance forum was coming up with something on kickstarter a few years ago but I don't know if it was ever produced (Eurostoves Range Safety Knobs). If you are in a position to do it, you may want to consider an induction cooktop especially with active kids who you want participating the kitchen.

homepro01 - all good feedback again, thank you! I will research more about the pros and cons of placing the coffeemaker at eye level and will ask Miele if there is an accepted range of installation heights.

I typically use lightweight plastic cutting boards, so they should be easy to get in and out when stored in the vertical position. We have a cabinet like this at our beach house and it seems to work well - just wish it were wider to fit more cutting boards and baking trays! When i said trays, I mainly meant baking trays, not serving trays - those serving trays would be kept in the butler's pantry.

I have a Thermador range now and have these plastic covers from Safety 1st that I used with my first daughter: Safety 1st Knob Covers

This is why I would never recommend inset cabinetry for families with young children. . .it's nearly impossible to find baby locks that work!! I wish I could just use this kind like my parents had growing up: Cabinet Lock

My coffeemaker's top is at 63" (bottom at 45"). Its perfectly fine there. Putting where upper cabinets would normally start (top @ 72", bottom @54") would be a little higher than I'd like it.

homepro01 - I decided to move the warming drawer to a more usable location. Hopefully we make the most of it!!! Thanks for your feedback!

Glad to hear, I am sure you will use it more. Did you select a model yet?

By the way, let me expand upon my frustration with undercounter fridges and highly perishable foods. Because my frustration comes from owning one!

So you put drinks and snack foods in the undercounter fridge so the family will mess with that and leave your main fridge alone. And they do. But the volume of air is so small in these fridges that they warm up a ton when they are opened and can't keep as tight a tolerance on the temps even when closed. So milk lasts 3 days less than inabig fridge.

The drawers are better because of physics--the heavier cold air doesn't immediately fall out. But you still have the small volume challenge.

I have frameless cabinets from the 1960s in my current old kitchen. I just store non kid friendly stuff high. Nothing else is practical. :P

My spices have labels on their lids and are currently stored alphabetically in two different 18" drawers, vertically. This works perfectly and takes up so much less space than putting them on their sides. I will have a much bigger drawer in the new kitchen.

If you don't have the cooktop on the island, then it's a good idea to have a second sink with prep space between it and the cooktop, so you can choose to turn around.

I chop alllll my veg myself, and I cook with a ton of veg, so I go practically bonkers with my current set up, which has not only my back to the stovetop while I prep but in fact a WALL of cabinets on one side of the stove.

The original owners installed a designer kitchen in the 60s that is totally stupid.

homepro01 considering the 30" panel ready Miele warming drawer

http://www.abt.com/mobile/product/82296/Miele-30-PureLine-Custom-Panel-Handle-Warming-Drawer-ESW6380FB.html?Miele-30-PureLine-Custom-Panel-Handle-Warming-Drawer-ESW6380FB=&utm_source=google&utm_medium=sc&utm_campaign=ESW6380FB&camptype=cpcUSGooglePLA&pt_source=google&pt_medium=sc&pt_campaign=%5BADL%5D+%5BPLA%5D+%5BUS%5D+%5BDesktop%5D+Manufacturer+-+%28Medium%29&pt_adgroup=%5BADL%5D+%5BPLA%5D+%5BUS%5D+%5BDesktop%5D+Manufacturer+-+%28Medium%29&pt_keyword=

However, if you usually cook using the cooktop, and if you, say, cut your onions and soften them as you cut your chicken and then brown the chicken as you cut your vegetables, in the pattern that the vast majority of cooktop recipes call for, having the cooktop behind you is incredibly annoying if you don't have a helper.

So for cooks who use the cooktop heavily, prepping with your back to the cooktop IS a major issue. I know that a lot of people don't really cook, but if you do, it matters. You have several options: prep next to the stove as soon as you start using it and turn your back on the people at the island that you put there so you would face them; prep everything on the island before you start cooking and add 20 minutes to your cooking time every night; or turn your back to the stove and either burn things or switchback and forth a lot, also wasting a lot of time.

But I suppose CPArtist is a special person with eyes on the back of her head. Or she doesn't really cook.

I do cook, although not frequently. And if you had spent lots of time on this forum like myself and most of the other regulars, you'd know that Kitchen work studies have shown that you spend the following amount of time at each major kitchen activity:

Prepping - 70% (some studies put this number higher - more like 75%)
Cooking - 10%
Cleaning up - 20%

So based on that study, most cooks spend the majority of their time prepping the food, not cooking it. And most people prefer to prep while they are facing their guests, family, etc.

So once again, prepping with your back to the cooktop is not a problem. And quite honestly, most people I know, including the chefs I'm friendly with, will tell you to prep everything in advance and not as you go.

Nice choice hduns in the warming drawer.

homepro01 - glad to hear that since I haven't researched it at all! I have no energy left to research any more kitchen appliances haha

You still have more things to research. Colors, counters, flooring, lighting, oh my!

Oh I've been doing all that, believe me. At least the flooring is ordered!! No turning back on that. Oak herringbone.

I've made every possible iteration of the kitchen in Planner 5D...the program is a little funky so I can't get everything exactly right, but it definitely helps to get a feel of the space and do a virtual walkthrough!

Looking good. I like the herringbone floors!