Have you thought of simply reconfiguring your island? You could have something made that's table and counter height. Alternatively, how about using the dining room less formally? Apologies if these are obvious ideas. I don't know your long-term family plans but I do know that toddlerhood doesn't last as long as it feels.

I will take all ideas and will keep it on the table. no pun intended;) lowering the portion of the island is a fair idea. In my area the homes of my size all have formal dining rooms so it's kind of an expected room and we thought about that before the renovation but wanted to stay inline with the area. home is early 1900s. Thanks for your thoughts! I will ruminate! I am thinking beyond toddlerhood for sure;) I do like the eating areas many people have as it lends itself to more comfortable lingering but your ideas is less complicated too!

By the time you have a plan and finish construction of a bump out your toddlers will be that much older and will be able to use the taller chairs. I would leave your beautiful kitchen as it is. Take some extra vacations to make family memories instead.

I don't know how formal your dining room is but I bet with a bit of ingenuity (and a few tablecloths), you can use it informally. Staying in line with the area makes sense when you're selling a house but when you're living in it, it needs to suit YOUR lifestyle.

I would move the range IMO not a good spot for cooking and with kids even worse so I guess I would bump out the sink area to get the stove there somehow with a proper hood vented to the outside wall.You can get adjustable stools for the island for the kids that will be no longer toddlers before you know it. I like the casual space for eating breakfast , a quick cup of coffee or lunch so I would not give up the island or just replace it with a nice table and chairs insted of an actul island the height of a table is a great height for a baking counter .

You’d be nuts for planning a 150K-175K project right after you finished a kitchen project. Move. Or live with it as it is.

Working toward a table and chairs in the kitchen seems like the best idea, if you are opposed to using your dining room table. I like Patricia's thinking on the subject- maybe the solution used at my house could work for yours.

I have a bump out in my minuscule kitchen. It was done with a steel and glass frame, called a steel moment frame, I believe.

My range and sink are contained in that bump out- and still- no place to eat in my kitchen ;-)

Here is the kitchen. The bump out is the black frame around the range run.

Here is the picture of the steel frame thingy going in.

Here is a discussion of steel moment frames:

https://csengineermag.com/article/steel-moment-frames-101-what-to-consider-when-creating-wide-open-spaces/

Thank you for the kind words, tartanmeup. I admire your taste tremendously. The remodeling was done by the previous owners, had I had my way, we would have had an eat-in-kitchen or preferably a breakfast room- especially in light of the cost- yikes.

PS I am going to give a mini parenting lecture here. Children who are not taught to treat things well from day one, do not magically acquire those skills later on. There is really no reason a formal dining room cannot be used every day by little ones. They are very easy to teach. They are actually quite attuned to beauty. Your fears of their not faring well in that space are probably overblown. Between a table pad, table cloths and placemats- the cork backed ones, you should have no trouble protecting your table from the occasional spills. Having said all that- as I mentioned before- I like having more than one dining table, so I get that totally.

I'd get rid of the island and replace it with a nice big table. One can still use it as a work space - we do that for 1 month every summer in the house we rent on the Vineyard. But that table has also served us well when my grandchildren were babies/toddlers using a high chair or a booster seat, and now then hoards of teens invade and want to eat - prefer they eat in that kitchen than in the DR as it is open to the LR and food tends to "drift".

It's a gorgeous kitchen!

Oops, I forgot to mention, yes, that is a gorgeous kitchen!

I’d be inclined to take the money and do something fantastic outside. By the time it’s planned and done you’ll have a very short period of time where the higher chairs are a significant hindrance, probably not even close to offsetting the inconvenience of another kitchen remodel.

I would say the kitchen also feels tight in the island area - so it is overall flow. I am not interested in just spending money for the sake of it;) I don't it has a long-term feel or flow to it. There is something missing for us. Even my husband agrees and he doesn't care too much about design. I told him about lowering the seating portion and he said but we still dont have much space around that area. so that's the root of the issue as well. I guess i need to see how much it could be and most economical method. for now I'm listening for ideas and even if you think it's not a good idea that's also an idea. thank you all for your thoughts. i'm integrating them. My other thoughts are if we are going to spend the money it is better to do it sooner so we spend many more years enjoying it vs waiting bc we made the initial renovation 4 years ago.

Well, you know better than we do how you function in this space. I guess I was so impressed by this kitchen's looks, I couldn't see any potential layout issues. Patricia pointed out that the cooktop is not ideally placed. Do you agree? Is there anything else that doesn't work for you in this kitchen? What about storage? Is it optimal? This kitchen was achieved by expanding into another room. What was the driving force behind this? Do you need the island for prep and storage or would a small round dining table make more sense for you? (I can't figure out how wide your galley is so don't know if it's feasible.) Julie B. mentioned doing something fantastic outside. Would bumping out the almost full-length of the kitchen for an eat-in area that looks outside make sense, finance-wise? It really depends on your budget and tolerance for long-term renos. Perhaps your kitchen designer could offer some additional ideas?

Beautiful kitchen! If money is no object, meet with your architect and KD and explore the options that would work best for your family. I personally do not like islands and think that space would look great with a gorgeous warm wood kitchen table which would eliminate the need for new cabinets, matching/restaining flooring, matching and/or replacing countertops, new backsplash, and reconfigureing plumbing, electric, gas etc. that a bumpout would entail. I am in the middle of a 6' kitchen expansion (plus bath) addition to the tune of >$150k.
Oh, and those short babies will grow in the blink of an eye!

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Your kitchen is very beautiful! Just a suggestion...my DD 's kids are 2,3,and 4. They sit on the bar stools by having their booster seats attached to them. It works very well.

Thank you! - we actually do this with the booster seats as well. It''s tight in the area where you enter the kitchen and near refrigerator and so it doesn't feel right. So it is more than just the island seating. This will be a slow period to properly think it out because the renovation so recently. We had such an awful initial kitchen that this seemed to make sense and we didn't have the finances to add further costs with an addition at that time. Things are quite different now and we have more flexibility. I will make sure to think quite a bit before we take any actions.