Do you need the door that's swinging into the kitchen from the mudroom area? That seems to limit what you can do with the island. I'm assuming the range is on the same wall as the fridge? From the picture I'm not certain on island clearances. If you have enough clearance on either side of the island, it might be nice to have it wider near the range with a prep sink. Also, you could put seating around the end rather than in a row facing the window. So rather than just rotating the island, you might want to consider what shapes fit the space best and provide you with ideal seating and prep space. I agree with GauchoGordo that you might consider eliminating the sink wall cabinets as they might not be necessary and could really open up the space. And that you might need some space between your fridge and the wall. Regarding finishes, I think a craftsman style home with oak cabinets sounds lovely. If I were aiming for craftsman, I'd look for a dark matte countertop like soapstone, slate, or honed granite. This post was edited by pricklypearcactus on Tue, Oct 29, 13 at 14:46

Just commenting on the right side of the plan. Regarding the Master/kitchen relationship, I tend to like them in close proximity having lived with my master in very close proximity to our kitchen (but no shared walls), I have to say it is one of the things I love about living in this house. It's a quick stumble for my morning coffee and easy trip for a midnight snack or to refill my glass of water. It's also easy to be sure the kitchen is in order before retiring. However, we don't have a shared wall bewteen the kitcen and master and I can see some noise issues. If you kitchen shares a walk with the master, you might consider extra sound-proofing. As an empty nester particularly, I really like a central living area in which all the commonly used rooms are in close proximity. Others may differ, but that's my feeling after 32 years in this house. Our retirement house will incorporate much of what we like in this house and hopefully eliminate those parts that are less workable -- like formal dining and living rooms. On you plan, I think I would shift the Master Bedroom to the back corner to get light from two sides and perhaps with an entrance at the back end of the kitchen for a bit more privacy. I also don't like the bath and closet on separate sides of the room. If you rework the the bath and closet in the middle of that side, you can still find a way for clost laundrey access.

this is the only "major" change we want to make (*aka move cabinets around.) We are happy with the builder just want to redesign the kitchen. Originally we were fine with the pantry but want to maximize our budget aka look at alternatives (aka if we can make the change great if not we are not crazy worried .) And ty for everyones points its beyond helpful. we can't find anything even close in our market for this amount. (been looking for a long time now) plus we love the lot and the neighborhood (small city)

I completely agree with you about placement of the dishwasher. That's only one small part of your dysfunctional kitchen idea. This will be our retirement home, and I understand what you're saying about the prep% vs. cook% for the average cook. I guess I'm not average because I do stand in front of our stove much more than 10% of the time - it's just the way I cook - lots of pots/pans going at once. I'd still wager a guess that prep takes up more time. I do the majority of my cooking at my cooktop too. It's why I only went with a basic oven and didn't spend for a top of the line one. I rarely use one. However, most of my time is still spent cutting up meats, vegetables, spices, etc before bringing them to the cooktop. Cooking and standing in front of the stove actually takes only about 10%-12% of my time. Maybe you really need to clock several meals to see what the reality is. And remember just because you now prep next to the cooktop, doesn't mean you will always need to. I currently have about 32" between the cooktop and the prep sink for my prep area - are you saying that isn't sufficient?. No it's not. I don't think I'd mind losing the prep sink since the main sink is pretty much right behind me, and that would give me more prep space, and less expense. See my comment in my post above about thinking in terms of future ability. Another thought. Eventually my Mom needed help with the prep work but could still stand at the cooktop and cook the meal. Having that extra sink would have been so much better because Mom could have done some of the more simple prep tasks while the aide did the major cutting, etc. As far as the landing spot for the coffee/MW area - that's something I struggled with too... Where we live now, there also isn't a counter right next to the microwave or oven - the landing space is our island right across from them. Humans are quite adaptable. Just because you live with poor design now, doesn't mean you should when you're dropping 6 figures of your hard earned money on a custom built house. The idea of custom built is to get exactly what will work for you and your family and that shouldn't be taking hot food or beverages out of an appliance and having to pivot to put it down somewhere. Also know that pivoting is a major cause of accidents for the elderly. I'll read up on this and will work the plan to make a more convenient landing spot. Good idea. The only thing that I'd push back a bit on is your comment about angles... If having non 90 degree angles in a home is a mark of an architect who doesn't know what they're doing, then nearly all of the homes in the resort community where we have our lot were designed by architects that don't know what they're doing. Are you sure the homes were designed by an architect and not a "designer"? In reality most people don't know the difference. My guess is they were not in the majority of cases architects. I see plenty of million dollar plus homes with angles in my area and when I ask it turns out that none were designed by an architect. Thanks again for your feedback, and I'm always open to feedback that will help improve the design. Again, this isn't a plan that I intend to give to an architect & builder and say "build me this home" - it's more about conveying ideas, our likes and dislikes, etc. The best way to convey ideas to an architect is to put together a wish list of wants and needs and wouldn't it be nice to haves. Make idea books to show what style you want and like. Then put together a bubble diagram to show adjacencies of rooms. You can do a search here on this forum for bubble diagrams. Also do search on this forum for working with an architect. Then read up. Do you have your land yet?