Thanks for all of the suggestions everyone! I spent the long weekend debating all of these options with my husband and researching options. We came to a few conclusions and it was so helpful to have all of your suggestions to sort through. We definitely want the counter-depth separate fridge & freezer columns. Probably the Miele or Thermador models. We don't have space in the garage for a spare fridge or freezer. Right now we have one of each in the basement but the way the house is laid out it is a really long walk down there to retrieve anything. We generally have to go down there at least once a day so more space in the kitchen would save us that annoying trip. After much debate about moving the opening in the wall between the kitchen and dining room we decided this is our favorite layout. This layout means we could have people walking through the workspace. We tried to pay attention as we were cooking this weekend and we noticed that doesn't really happen. Since the kitchen is in the corner of the house, people don't really walk through there to get somewhere else. So that isn't a big enough issue for us to justify the expense of moving the doorway over to the right. Plus moving the doorway left us with 2 corners. We don't want 2 lazy susans and we want to avoid leaving a dead corner. I spent a lot of time trying to fit wider cabinet & drawer units in the space, as cpartist recommended. I was able to get 2 36" drawers on either side of the range, with a lazy susan in the corner cabinet. I am thinking the trash/recycling center would go in the 24" cabinet to the far right of the range. We definitely want the counter-depth separate fridge & freezer columns. Probably the Miele or Thermador models. We don't have space in the garage for a spare fridge or freezer. Right now we have one of each in the basement but the way the house is laid out it is a really long walk down there to retrieve anything. We generally have to go down there at least once a day so more space in the kitchen would save us that annoying trip. Right now we have 20" of fridge space and 15" of freezer. In the layout above there is 30" of fridge and 18" of freezer. Those fridge & freezer choices allowed us to put a 36" and a 30" drawer in between them. That should be plenty of counter space for the microwave & coffee maker and as a landing space for taking stuff in and out of the fridge. We decided we liked the 15" pantries in the eating area. We could fit the 24" ones but I am worried about losing stuff in the back and never using it. I think the shallower cabinets will be more functional for us. QUESTIONS: There is about 12" of space between the dishwasher and the wall. I was thinking that I could put a vertical storage space there for cutting boards, cookie sheets, etc. Is there anything else I should consider doing with that space instead? We decided to go with a range in this layout. Originally we wanted to separate the micro, oven & stovetop. Which is better: (1) the range pictured above or (2) a separate cooktop and under counter oven like this? In this layout I would exchange one of the 36" drawers for a 30" under the cooktop. And the 24" cabinet on the end that I was going to use for trash/recycling could be 30". Should the trash go somewhere else? The only reason I like this option is that someone can be cooking at the stove and not be in the way of another person getting something out of the oven. If it makes a difference I really want an electric oven and I am willing to have either a gas or induction cooktop. We currently have gas.

The scale of your furniture will be immensely important. Loft/apartment sized pieces will save you a lot of space and heartache. Personally, I would try to use the kitchen as the formal dining space, making use of the long wall for a settee, a trestle table and chairs. A round dining table is going to require 36" of space all around for chairs to scoot out and to navigate around. Taking advantage of the wall and a slim table will make a big difference. Then you'll have all the rest of the space in the front to make two seating areas; one for TV up front where there is a wall for the TV on a credenza, a 3-seat sofa and a chair. The middle area by the stairs would be for cocktails, conversation, reading with a nice pair of chairs, floor lamp and area rug.

Can you post pictures of the room? Thank you!

Hmmm. It looks to me like you are planning to buy two lounge chairs and put a round table between them. Instead, I would buy 2 swivel chairs, and eliminate putting a round table between them so you can easily swivel the chairs all the way around to face the windows. In each window I would put a chaise lounge that has bench storage. I'd put the two chaise lounges facing each other. The idea here is that the kids can sit in the lounges and read by the windows of they like, and have conversations with whoever is sitting in the swivel chairs. here's my idea for an affordable stain resistant swivel chair Here's some storage chaises at the opposite end of the room I'd build one long activity table, wall to wall, something very simple. I'd add chairs for the kids so they could sit and draw, or do puzzles. I'd put shelves and cubbies nearby for them to put their stuff away. trellis curtains maybe this rug