Is the placement of the window on the east wall set in stone? I would be looking to maximize my water view with more windows along that wall, plus a long stretch of counters with my sink and prep area so that I could enjoy the view while working. No uppers.

With 14' you have just enough room to do a U shape with a narrow (3') island if you are okay with narrowish aisles, but IMO an L shape with a larger island is probably a better bet. The island in your first plan should be flipped so that the long side is parallel with the 16' side of the kitchen - you could accommodate a 3x9 or even 4x9 island that way, with lots of seating facing the water.

I agree with biondanonima - turning the L-shape makes sense. Below are two example layouts. In both cases, the island is ~104" so nice and big (enough room for another sink - yay!) with 18" deep counter for seating and ~46" of space between the wall and the start of the island

In both layouts, technically the island should prolly be shimmied 'down' a few inches to maximize the space between the fridge and the island. The island-sink aisle is 48" in both. In layout B, the window is ~7'!!

i like rebunky's plan, which keeps the fridge near the dining area, and gives the cook the nice view. :) You could even do a whole wall of windows facing the water.

ondanonima, damiarain and rebunky,

WOW! I am so glad I submitted this to Houzz - I am totally impressed with your ideas. Thank you so much!

ondanonima, we are still in the design phase so we can still
choose most of the window/glass locations. We want that east wall to be mostly
glass. We will probably have one or two French sliding doors covering the
entire space (kitchen – living room) with floor to ceiling glass as an option. There's even an option to install a corner window in the NE corner and have the sink as close to that corner as possible. There's not much to look at out a window toward the west end of the north side wall - just the least attractive side of the neighbor's house.

I never would have thought of leaving the west wall completely blank. I have to mull this over for a while. We like the idea of lots of floor to ceiling glass on the east wall and it might be hard to give that up.

rebunky's idea is appealing in that it frees up the east wall for floor-ceiling glass but I'd need to have the sink more toward the east end of that wall which spoils the pantry in the NE corner! Also I don't know if we'd ever want to sit with our backs to the view :(

Your ideas have made me excited that there can be a really good arrangement for this space!

Ok, new thought based on moving sink more east for better view. I know corner sinks are not always a hit with people, but if theirs a beach view with a corner window, tell me why not?! Plus, I like the deeper counter behind the corner for an herb garden or flower arrangement. Bar stools now get the view as well. Two huge pantries next to fridge.

The orientation of the L shape on the west wall vs east wall is really a question of how you use your kitchen and what you want to look at while you do it. I cook a lot (which often means a lot of clean up), so I would want my main prep and cleanup areas to face the east. For me, that would be a priority over floor-to-ceiling glass. I would also want any kitchen seating to face east.

Regarding the U vs. L with island debate, my current kitchen is about the same size as yours (basically a 14' square) and it is set up as a U. The very first thing I did when we moved in was buy an island. The U is just large enough that it feels inefficient and that there is nowhere to sit things between the two sides without an island. Again, how you cook and use the kitchen will be the deciding factor, but I know that I would not be happy with an island-free U in that size room. I'm also not a fan of the peninsula above for the same reasons.

I appreciate all your ideas - thank you!

I really appreciate the urging to put main work area facing view and I also love the idea that seating at counter could face view too. It would be good, as damiarain shows, to have a dish storage area to right of dishwasher instead of ending that run with the dishwasher.

Right now I'm liking damiarain's Layout A with some changes.

1. smaller island - 3' x 5' with 12" overhang. Just drawers & a cabinet in island. I want the storage & work surface but also want to be able to have people walk through kitchen comfortably

2. A shallow pantry on west wall - just not sure where & how to end it at north end where because of corner that might interfere with refrigerator. I'm thinking 16" deep and at least 8' long with doors and shelves. Maybe drawers in lower section if that's an option with the shallow depth.

3. Microwave will be above range & will also serve as vent/fan (no hood).

4. No upper cabinet to right of range - upper cabinets would end with microwave built in over range.

5. Corner window starting just east of range.

Also - important note** I initially gave the room measurements as 14' x 16' which was in error. The usable space is actually @13' (outside meas. 14') for north wall and @ 12' for west wall. I would like to keep east length to no more than 12 feet too. I apologize for this rookie mistake!

Here's a very rough drawing of what is evolving...

ignore what is labeled as pantry at end of west wall. My proposed pantry would start at that end and be 16" deep, extending for 8'.

"P" is pantry "Ra" is range (w/micro over) "Tr" is trash pullout - I don't know how wide this will be.

Hi Ann, please read this article in the new to kitchens post on isle widths.http://ths.gardenweb.com/discussions/3638304/faq-aisle-widths-walkways-seating-overhangs-work-landing-space-etc

Your idea of the shallow pantry will not work if you want people to be able to walk passed the seating.

If you only have 13' of depth, I would lean toward an L shape with a deeper island rather than a U shape. There will be just 9' of depth inside the U with standard cabs on both sides, less if your pantry is deeper than counter depth as shown. This means you'll have the bare minimum 36" aisles on either side of a 3' deep island, which is okay for moving around but not enough if you want seating on one side.