I'll leave it to others to offer you aesthetic advice but I hope you don't mind my 2 cents' worth regarding your proposed kitchen lay-out. You have a large space to work with - how wonderful! - but I don't think you're making the best use of the space. Is your island positioned as far from the perimeter as the overhead plan view shows? That aisle looks to be nearly 7 ft. That's a ridiculously wide aisle between your cook top and island and prep sink. Move the island closer to give you a 48" between island counter and perimeter counter. That will also make it easier to arrange table and chairs in your breakfast area.How do you plan to arrange a table and chairs in the breakfast area? The door into the space could cause issues. The space looks to be 10 ft wide. If your table is 42" wide, that gives you 39" aisles at the top and bottom. If you plan to position the table towards the left end of the breakfast area, the door's swing will come close to the table (most exterior doors are 36" wide). Whoever is sitting near the door will need to get up and move out of the way. Do you have pantry cabs as shown in the overhead plan? I don't see any in your elevation drawings. If not, that means your fridge is all the way to the right with the oven/MW column to its left. What counter do you intend to use as a fridge landing area? Where do you intend to set grocery bags to unload into the fridge? I strongly recommend that you place the island's prep sink at the end closest to the clean-up sink so that you can use the island counter closest to the fridge as additional fridge landing space. It's still going to be farther than NKBA's recommended 48" minimum distance but at least you won't have a sink in the way. Do you have plans for the wall area opposite of the fridge and oven/MW column? The overhead drawing doesn't show any cabinets here. Seems like a lost opportunity and a great place for pantry cabs, a drop zone and/or a breakfast station/beverage/snack area.

Thank you all for your comments and feedback! I will add some more details here to better define my project. DETAILS: 1. Yes, getting new appliances. A big, french door fridge (35.5 inches wide, SS) Keeping current dishwasher (standard 24", SS) Adding a drawer microwave (27" Sharp SS) Still trying to decide about range or cooktop / oven. If I get a range, it will be 30" with a double oven configuration. If I select a professional range, it will be 36". If I do a cooktop / oven, the cooktop will be 36" and under-counter oven. All SS. Big, deep single bowl SS sink 33" (requires a 36" cabinet) 2. Yes, I definitely want an island that we can have at least 3 stools at for teens to eat, etc. 3. No table. In the lower left corner, we already have a table and eating area. (It's located off the design drawing) 4. Yes, we can move the pantry opening to the left. 5. No, sadly, I am not getting a prep sink . . . darn it . .. hubby won't allow plumbing changes. 6. From the bottom right corner, on the right side wall, the first 9 ft. have been removed to open up the kitchen. The remainder of the right side wall is still there though. DIMENSIONS: * 9 ft ceilings * Top wall is 210" total with 132" of continuous wall space (assuming I shift the pantry opening to the left more. * Right wall is 252" total with the first 108" now gone. (at the bottom of the wall). The upper portion of the right wall has 120" of continuous wall space. * The bottom wall is 140" total. It has a big window on it, so only lower cabinets can fit here. I have two sink hookup options that do not require plumbing changes. I can keep the sink under the window, where it is currently on my drawing. Or, I can put it off of the top wall, about middle of that wall. I don't really like the idea of my sink facing a wall, so I would prefer it stay on the bottom wall, under the window. Things I would like: * A pullout base cabinet that will hold 3 trash cans (21" cabinet) * I would prefer that most or all of my base cabinets be drawers. Is that a good idea? Or, will it look odd? If I have lower cabinets, then I want pull out shelves. * I'd like a big island, and I think I could accommodate that. * I would like to have a hood in my kitchen to help get rid of cooking smells. I like the hoods are are hidden inside cabinetry. (See pictures.) * Off white traditional style cabinet doors. PICTURES: A. . An example of the kind of hood that I would like to have. B. This is a picture of my old kitchen. You are looking at the bottom left wall area (on my drawing, for reference.) This is our eating area. So, no need to make any table fit into my drawing b/c we have this other area. C. We remodeled that dining wall area in Picture B, and it now looks like this. My new kitchen will have the same brick for backsplash to tie it all together. D. This is an old picture of my kitchen. You are looking at the wall that we knocked down (I drew a blue line over the portion of the wall that is missing now.) That window has been replaced with a 3 section window with upper mullions. Again, thank you for taking the time to read all of this and thanks for offering opinions and advice. I really appreciate it!

Think of your yard as two zones--the entire right side for your patio and seating backed up with a wood privacy slat fence with seating attached. The left a small green oasis with some garden beds in front of the fence with a mix of tall and medium shrubs against the fence for privacy. Here's a layout of a gravel patio that could work for you--patio filling the right hand side entirely. If you have the budget, attach a wood arbor/pergola structure to your slat fence either partway or entirely for a sailcloth. Or, if you have budget, something like this for shade: So patio on the right, lawn and garden to look at on the left with a mix of evergreen shrubs as screening on that side. This will give you an airy backyard. Meanwhile, go out and get a can of cobalt blue paint and paint your garage door bright blue. Add a window box in blue to that window to give the illusion of a house, not a garage.

Try a love seat facing fireplace, either up closer so traffice flow would be behind, or against wall where storage door is. Add some type of shelving/bookcase to the right of fireplace for storage and a small tv. Add an extra chair, narrow coffee table and a rug will help define it as a seating area. Accessorize and try Marketplace for some great finds. On other side of fireplace you could add large art and a fold downtable would be perfect for meals, entertaining and a spot for a laptop.