Lavender - I didn't mean to waste your time... I'm sorry that my wording was so terse here. I've been trying to steer the conversation away from banquettes to other options. I'd previously said: "banquette seating is not desirable" "Unless we fall in love with some kind of banquette (unlikely)," "Sorry to say, but no matter how many times I bring this up, my wife is not into the idea of banquette seating" "But I"m telling you, the banquette is a stretch. It's going to be a hard sell -- we don't usually even like sitting in booths or benches in restaurants!" I'm not saying we'll never come back to the idea.. but for now I want to focus on what other options might exist. In fact, this would have been nicer phrasing than "I'm done talking about banquettes" so I apologize. I am still interested in trying out different island shapes and/or places to stick a table, in search of ideas that allow seating for 5 and better flow -- things like the oval at the end of the island, or the table against the wall, for example. I'll post some more examples later. Thanks again for all the help and suggestions.

Here are pictures of the current state of the kitchen. Hope this helps give a sense of the space. The kitchen is a little deconstructed. We bought the house as a fixer upper and took out the original appliances (all circa 1987) so that I could have my appliances instead. There are openings in the cabinets that made no sense to fill as we planned to remodel. Oh the fun of living in a house as you remodel. Sigh. Looking toward the kitchen from the dining room / foyer. Looking into the dinette (or whatever they are called these days). Looking towards sunroom from the dinette Looking into kitchen from the dinette South wall - gap is where the original 1987 side by side 48" subzero lived. Hate the cabs that go all the way to the counter. Boo hiss. West Wall - opening was where a 1987 trash compactor lived. Those were the days! East wall - there was a cooktop where my Electrolux is now. We cut that cabinet to slide the range in. My 30 inch Miele all fridge is in the cabinet that held a microwave / wall oven combi. Hate the weird little drawers on either side of the range. Seriously, what goes in there?

I would recommend talking to a Kitchen Designer. They will be able to evaluate your wants and needs and see the space/surrounding spaces for themselves. They will then decide what the best layout may be for you. From what I'm seeing and the little information I know about you and your home, your options look good. I would consider traffic flow. The red lines indicate traffic from the lower level to the living room. 1. Something to think about: The peninsula directs traffic right through the work triangle. This traffic may interfere with the person(s) who are using the kitchen and could be annoying after awhile. However, if you don't plan on going outside often, or you have another bathroom on the main level, you may not have a lot of traffic from the lower level to the main lvl. 2. The island layout is nice because it directs traffic through only one section of the work triangle. The island will keep people out of the range and fridge zones if they're simply walking by. The downside is that you would be cutting through your work triangle....You can always add a prep sink in the island to help with the cut interference.

What is that archway and door for? Why are they white and separating the refrigerator and the rest of the kitchen? Very peculiar. I like NOTHING about this kitchen!