Kathy--do you think your family room was grimier because of the opening? I worry because I have to regularly clean the grease off the range backsplash in my current home. I do think the wall behind helps direct everything up to the vent. I didn't think about a pop-up backsplash. I did have the idea of having a tempered glass sliding door to pull across when needed but was concerned that the bottom track would be a grease collector. bmore--it's not a completely open wall...more like a 5foot wide window in the wall that divides the fr & kitchen.

Hi Rhome, Thanks again for your support. Our house is a split foyer style with a two storey at back. Here are a few answers: 1)Our family enters through the basement mudroom where there will be lots of space and lockers for all, sports cupboard etc. The basement is a walk in through garage. 2)After parking stuff in mudroom, the family will likely choose to go up the two half staircases and enter the kitchen when they arrive home. They could go up the back staircase if they prefer, or stop in the teen rec room that is also at the basement level (as is an office). There will also be powder room off mudroom, so really no rush for anyone to come upstairs. 3)Guests will enter via the door that is at the landing between the two half staircases. There will be no family jackets, stuff etc in this area (thank goodness for that). Guest coats can either go on hooks in this area or in the closet at the top of the half stair case. 3)Re: fridge location. Currently we are have our dining room furniture in the framed in dining room space as we are living in a shelled in house. We are using bits and pieces of our leftover kitchen from before demo. As it would be, currently our fridge is probably where Bmore shows it as the alternative location Believe me it is a long way from the table (23 feet from dining room chair nearest china cabinet to fridge). Such a pain to go and get milk, set table with items from fridge, etc. Having the fridge in a straight path from the dining room in the location Bmore shows it near the living room makes it a foot closer at 22 feet. I really like it as close to the dining room table as possible. 4)Re: my alternate plan of Nov 5 23:04. It is true that the island seating is far from the fridge in this location. We don't need to use the island seating for eating -- the dining room table can take care of that. Have seating at the island can be used for homework, using a laptop, chatting with cook, for cook to sit at after a long day to say peel some potatoes. I also see my 7 year old drawing a picture there and visiting with me while I cook. Again, I would be just fine with all eating happening at the everyday dining room table so for me it is not crucial that the seating island is near the fridge. Of course in my first plan both the island seating and dining room table were both close to the fridge but that also put the seating all together and as discussed redundant. 5)Yes, I hear you about the idea of placing a sink on or very near the lower seating island if I went with my Nov 5 plan. Lavender mentioned that idea and I believe if I went with that plan I would have to have a prep sink in this location to facilitate baking. Hope that clarifies things a bit. Thanks for all your thoughts. Carol

"-if you increase the landing space on the right side of the cooktop, I'd suggest doing the same on the left side for balance, and omitting the pull-out beside the hutch" Mama Goose, do you think it'll still look off balance considering the corner base cabinet has 12" on that run (super susan) + the 18" cabinet (30" total) which is the same number of inches as what lharpie suggested adding to the right of the cooktop? Oh, wait, I think maybe what you adjusted next to the cooktop was the uppers and the size of the appliance garage. That's totally do-able. If I did glass cabs to the left and right of the range hood I could put serving dishes in them seeing as the oils and spices have places in the base cabinets. Then the hutch can house stemware, barware, and decorative pretties. I like that. It brings the serving dishes closer to where they'll be needed. I agree with not adding seating at the prep island. If they want, and I expect they will, friends can pull a stool over to that space and hang out. Or better yet, they can set their wine glass down and pick up a knife. ;) If I put seating there I'll end up with iPads and whatnot on my prep island. Must give my best attempt at thwarting the hoard of children! LOL I think I can do without the pullout pantry.

thanks everyone for chiming in. A small commitment, the front side! Never considered that, Wilson853! Agree with "busymom"--work with accents rather than making a huge change. Right now, the painted island is what we might call a trend but it has some classic appeal. But I know me--will I want to stay with this color scheme for 5-10 years? I don't see us moving as we've downsized and built a home to fit our retirement needs. I really like some of the photos I've seen of painted center island. Instead, I think I'll have the great room re-painted from builder beige and see how that affects the space. Thank you so much. You have all helped me sort this out! I did paint the guest bathroom cabinet and it looks sensational! That's how I caught "the painting bug."