Thanks Deb and rhome, I am not really having fun right now, sorry. I would be, without a question, but I am not finding my "perfect" layout and therefore we can't move on with the project. In the meantime we (or I because DH is "fine with any layout you pick") are under pressure to get it done and let the architect work on the changes to our original plan to accomodate it. Anyway, after reading about Buehl's troubles with the ventilation, we decided to check with the contractor right away before selecting the location for the range. Found out that our best choice would be to reuse the existing ductwork which means the range has to be againt the "back" wall. This leads us most likely to the drawing posted by rhome410 above. Now I am trying to visualize the flow. Refrigerator to prep.sink to range to either of the eating areas works fine. Island seating is close to the fridge which is great. A couple of things I am not sure about. How would it work for more than one cook? I think when I am cooking with a child or whoever, the idea is to socialize too, so both people would have to be somehow at the island. I guess this is possible if one person is using the oven or making a salad while the other is using the range. But I don't think the main sink would be used for cooking that often so it would be mostly dedicated to the cleanup. On one side, i really like not having a big sink on the island and having that "clean-up zone" clearly defined. But on the other hand, I am having second thoughts because I see a couple of issues: a) The "flow of dishes". The dishes are on the other end from the island seating and the fridge, so if one of my two kids wants a glass of milk, they have to get a glass from that cabinet, get the milk from the fridge, then after they are done, they need to put the milk back and then walk to the main sink with the glass. I am wondering if they would do that or if their dishes would always end up in the prep sink. b)The main sink is close to the dining table so when we change plates during a dinner party, the dirty plates are right there, almost in plain view. I was hoping to keep this area "pretty looking". My other option would be to switch the sinks or just have a sink-and-a-half in the island, but I think the seating would have to be along the back side then, which is a little crowded in the walkway and also would eliminate the raised cabinet which again infringes on my idea of no mess being visible from the dining area. Bar seating would solve the last one but we don't want it because of the kids and older relatives coming to visit. So I am stuck again. I hope this post isn't too long to read through. Let me know what you think and what would your choice be? annab6

Personally I'd make the following changes. I showed you in gray how you have almost no actual great room space. You need to account for walkways, etc. The grey indicates the actual usable space on your plan for the great room. Note how it's a tiny space in such a large houseI agree with Stan that you don't need the powder room. I would remove the powder room. Then I'd move the door into the front bedroom to next to the bathroom. This would give you a longer wall for furniture or a tv or a bookcase or... The other advantage is now the door to the bedroom isn't in the great room so there's more privacy. I made the closet more of a small walk in closet in the front bedroom and added a "window" seat and a window between the closet and the front of the house. If not a window seat, it could house a desk, or a chair or a??? In the second bedroom, I moved the entry too so now you don't have an awkward wall you walk towards when you go into the hallway. I wouldn't be so concerned with exterior symmetry as you need to concern yourself with interior space. I would move the doors to the side closest to the office. I personally would make it a single 36" wide door, but left the double doors. Then I'd shift the windows over so you have 4 windows in the great room. Now notice how you have a narrower hallway space but a much larger great room? I shortened your left perimeter counter in your kitchen and moved your cooktop closer up a bit. You still have plenty of prep space and this now gives you some room in a dining room area to put a buffet or some nice furniture. I increased your island size and I flipped the dishwasher to the side between the fridge and sink. This now creates good flow from fridge to sink to prep to cooking.

I'm glad you're open to a counter depth (CD) fridge but putting it across the aisle from cabs & counter still leaves you with a tight aisle, especially for a kitchen with 2 busy cooks with a side business baking cakes. 88" - 29" CD fridge depth (to door, including required air clearance behind fridge) - 25.5 cab & counter depth _______ 33 1/2" aisle. For 2 busy cooks with a side cake baking business. The CD fridge you buy may not be quite as deep as mine but it won't gain you more than an inch and likely less than that. Now if you're talking a built-in (27" deep) or an integrated fridge (24" deep), that's another matter. But it's also a helluva lot more money, which I'm guessing isn't part of your budget plan. I think you need to find a different location for the fridge. "Our meals tend to have many steps so many times we end up having many burners, or many appliances running at once." Your plan to have the range up against a wall doesn't really make it easy for 2 people to work at the range together. I think you need counter on both sides of the range. I also think you need a plan with more counter space, period. "I am required to find a place to do office/bill paying work some where in here." Does that mean room for 1 seat or 2? It sounds like you can get by with 1 counter seat. "What can't move? Honestly not sure, we live in a townhouse condo and have the basement below us that is the shared storage area and laundry." I've no idea what a townhouse condo is. If you're dealing with a condo board, it's generally more difficult to move plumbing, gas lines, etc. If you're dealing with a homeowners board (townhouse), restrictions generally only apply to the exterior and shared walls. Which is it? Regardless, you should find out what the rules are for remodels because it will impact your design. (I just helped a friend redesign his condo kitchen. Everything pretty much had to stay where it was.) I'm guessing, based on what you wrote, that the basement below your unit has a finished ceiling, which will make moving plumbing lines more difficult and costly (if it's even possible). If that's the case then you need to come up with a plan that keeps the sink exactly where it is. "I actually liked our kitchen update, love the scheme, loved the colors and the layout is similar to this one." You can always replicate the colors; that's separate from the lay-out. Not sure what you mean by "scheme." Here's another idea: I kept the sink exactly where your plan had it but I moved the fridge to the same side with the broom cab between fridge and wall. I'm assuming you'll use the broom in other rooms so having it near the entrance makes sense to me. I've no idea how wide the cab between sink and fridge will be since I couldn't determine if the sink is dead center on that wall. You and your mom can both work at the range, plus you have more counter for cake mixing, cooling and icing. I added one counter seat for bill paying. I included the shelving you showed in your plan above the 15" cab to the left of this. Oops, I forgot to note the width of the seating area. It's 22 1/2". It's right edge lines up with the counter over the hacked cab across from the range run. The above gives you more counter and more storage than your proposed plan, plus better aisles. Because there is more storage, you likely don't need a cabinet above the sink.

Its always worth it to move cables so you get your room arranged right. Since you have a basement, you can do it yourself. Put the sofas in an "L" with the long one facing the sliding doors and the short one facing the TV. Then use some painter's tape to tape out the correct rug size to go with them. It should slip under the front 1/3 of both sofas and extend past the outside ends of the "L" a foot or more. Get some furniture sliders or cut the bottoms off of plastic milk or juice jugs and try this arrangement to see what you think. Since the ceiling fan looks to be mounted above a dining area which you're not using that way, you might want to consider saving up for recessed lighting in this whole space.