Here's our latest and greatest that draws on several of your great ideas. This is way better than what we were going to do! We would love your thoughts on optimizing cabinet and appliance layout in this space! Some decisions we have made: We are going to shrink the first floor laundry room and stub in for a second floor laundry for next year's second story remodel. At that time, the smaller laundry would convert to a pantry. We are opening the wall into the DR ad using that space for the kitchen. We are not adding windows on the left wall of the kitchen (would only see the side of our neighbor’s home, north side of home so we would get no direct sunlight) but will invest a little more in lighting to compensate. We will partially wall off between current DR and LR and use either french pocket doors or barn sliders for office separation. We don't want to block off any of the current windows along the back of the house and will do a little window shuffling to fit best use (the boring details - swap multiuse and DR windows so multi use stays current height but 1' narrower to center, DR 1' shorter to fit over cabinets). We aren't going to make any changes to the FR layout or the first floor half bath. We have spent a bit of time looking at appliances and are sticking with what we had previously picked - 36" induction cooktop, wall oven/MW combo. Not (yet) replacing our fridge or DW. We’ll have space for small to large dining table in the multi-use area for us or future owners if desired (current plan shows 1 table in two different configurations). Here's the current plan - We'll probably shorten the island 6" to give 48" to cooktop and 45" to 1/2 bath corner. Also, my original measures post with DR was off by 5", corrected here.

Benjesbride, thanks for the words of encouragement! We are excited to see the possibilities and hope for a great outcome. If you want to tinker with the kitchen any more (I don't have a kitchen planner program - wish I did!), I'm curious about flipping your drawing around to have cabinets on the left wall instead of the right wall. You would still have an opening to the dining room which might push things too far away... but I'm wondering about keeping the large opening on the right wall so that here is more of a direct route to the kitchen for groceries etc from garage. Just a thought. But I don't know where the work triangle, etc would go. Thanks for all of the input!

Working blind, not knowing what walls are loadbearing. Here are some pet peeves about the layout: 1) I hate the opening between dining room and kitchen, which sends through traffic by the sink and presumably DW; 2, hate the stairs coming down right in front of a wall; 3) most of the foyer to me is wasted and down the road I would try to reallocate most of it to the BR; and 4, Not fond of both a breakfast nook and dining room. What I would do: 1) Close current opening between dining room and kitchen to provide a large L-shaped area. 2) Create new opening at extreme left side of that existing wall. 3) Remove part of the wall between laundry area and breakfast nook. End the wall aligned with the stairs so they will be visible from breakfast nook and kitchen. 4) Move fridge (counter depth if possible) to the left of the sink. If space permits, steal a couple of feet from the breakfast nook but ensure there is room for a small table and chairs. 5) By moving the opening between the dining area and kitchen, and relocating the fridge, you now should have room for a decent sized island in the most popular kitchen shape: an L shaped island with a working (no seating) island. The island would be a great landing zone for the pantry and fridge. Given the structural changes, I would use a design-build firm that has a kitchen designer and a civil engineer or architect on board.

Here's what you could do if you changed the windows: Two Prep Zones: Both Prep Zones have direct water access Both Prep Zones have a nice expanse of workspace next to the sink Both Prep Zones are next to the range Both Prep Zones have at least 43" of prep workspace b/w the range and sink Both Prep Zones are separated from the Cleanup Sink and Dish Storage . Other notes: Wall ovens are protected from traffic and are on the end of the cabinet run with landing space next to them Tray storage (cooling racks, cookie sheets, roasting pans, muffin tins, etc.) is above the ovens. Glass/heavy Casserole dishes can be stored in the drawer beneath the ovens (that's where I store mine). Pot/Pan storage is under the cooktop. If needed, a cabinet on either side could also be used. The Refrigerator is next to the Tea/Coffee & Snack Center, which provides ample landing space for the refrigerator. It's also directly across from both Prep Zones and the Cooking Zone. The Refrigerator is also located near the Garage entrance for ease of putting groceries away. The Snack Center counters provide not just landing space for taking things out, but also a place to put grocery bags while unloading into the Refrigerator. Tea/Coffee & Snack Center is located near both the Refrigerator and Pantry where most snacks come from. It has two 18" swinging doors (swing both ways) that provide a 36-inch entry. They don't have to swing both ways, but I thought they'd be more useful. I debated pocket doors, but they take a greater effort to use and might be a problem when trying to enter the Pantry with your hands full (ingredients or grocery bags). A built-in MW drawer is in the Tea/Coffee & Snack Center next to the refrigerator and out of the way of prepping, cooking, and cleaning up. There's a large step-in pantry across from the Prep & Cooking Zones and next to the Garage entrance, which makes it easy to put groceries away. No walking across the length of the house with heavy grocery bags. The shelves are floor to ceiling on 3 sides. The long back shelves are 12" deep (the "sweet spot" for pantry shelf depth) and the shelves along the sides can be either 12" or 15" deep, your choice. They could also be 18" deep, but at that depth things begin to get lost (experience speaking...my old pantry had 18" deep shelves and things always got lost!) The Cleanup Zone and Dish Storage are next to the Dining Room -- easy access to dishes for setting the table and to counters for dirty dishes when clearing the table. Someone loading/unloading the DW will be out of the way of someone else prepping/cooking Finally, there's a shallow closet for your husband's "new" office where the door used to be. . The aisles are wide enough to accommodate a busy path b/w the Game Room/Garage/Powder Room and the rest of the house. The placement of the doorways, now, are actually beneficial. Traffic is directed away from the primary work zones: Prep, Cooking, Cleanup. Work Zones: