Thanks for pointing out the missing aisle dimensions. I'll add them to the floor plan view. These are cabinet to cabinet - we are planning on 3/4" - 1" overhang Range wall to island - 52" Peninsula to island - 40" Both sides of island - 42" When I was taking those measurements I realized that I forgot to mention the current drawing shows the range wall lowers pulled out 3". The range will probably be the CC which is 25" to the back of the door and 27 3/8 to the front. Are there any heat issues if the cabinets come out past the door gasket? If we end up going this route I would rather see deeper cabinets and drawers rather than just pulling them out. It might be better to leave them at 24" deep and against the wall and gain 3" of cabinets on the sink and refrigerator walls. The island will probably be used for serving and sometimes prep when multiple people are using the kitchen. We have never had an island so we aren't sure how it will get used. We currently have a single slide-in 30" range with a OTR microwave and countertop toaster oven. When we entertain oven space is always an issue. Maybe we are overcorrecting with too many ovens. Another option we have considered is the range,steam and speed oven and maybe a warming drawer. With this option we would only need a 24" cabinet and gain 6" of space. I have read a lot of posts about blind corners and still don't know what is best for us. The layout shows 2 lazy susans and a LeMans style pullout at the peninsula. The peninsula might be a good spot to close in the corner and have access from the other side. We could use this to store infrequently used items. Thanks

I know this won't help much, but I think that either one looks very nice. I am doing a kitchen remodel with cherry toned cabinets and we ended up doing brushed nickel, but my sister also just did hers with the oil rubbed bronze it looks fabulous, too. I'm not sure you can wrong either way. Both compliment cherry cabinets superbly.

ditto to what Fun said. even if you can remove the brass fireplace cover (if you can, even better) throw a large painting tarp down, get some plastic and tape off everything, within 3-5 feet, but the brass. use this spray paint in the matte black, and give it 2-3 light coats. It will look perfect. touch up any areas with small artist brush and some of the paint otherwise, mixed metals w/frames and such are fine.

For a kitchen, multiply the square footage by 30-40. That's how many lumens you need. You probably want closer to 70x directly above work surfaces, so 8x3x70= 1700 lumens should be centered over the island. 2 pendants with regular LED bulbs should be sufficient. Personally I would center the other light over the table rather than in the room. People don't view rooms from above, so something that's off center to the table will look more off than something that's off center to the room as a whole.