I would consider making the green bean casserole the day or night before instead. The cream soup with mushrooms may taste better a little fresher. I know you want to save on time but it really only takes about five minutes to throw it altogether. For the stuffing, I'd do all the chopping and cubing but probably keep the onions and stuff separate from the bread and just assemble it all when you bake it. Again, it should only take a couple extra minutes to assemble it. Here's a recipe for the mashed potatoes you may be interested in. I never tried it, but I hate having to do the potatoes last minute; it may help you out even being able to do them the day before. Here is a link that might be useful: Make Ahead Mashed Potatoes

What are the dimensions on the pantry wall? You are smart to recognize how you really live, and plan for backpack space. I think the tidiest look would be a low built-in, open at the top. Eventually you could put a hinged lid and window seat, but for now, keep it open. Top access keeps things from spilling into the walkway, and dividers inside separates each person's stuff. In my upcoming remodel, I'm building what I call a "pantry wall", but it will function as command center, desk, and pantry. It will be 5' wide, floor to ceiling, 12" deep on one side and 20" deep on the other. On the 12" side, I plan to keep cookbooks, canned goods, small appliances. No pullouts. I'm adding 2 outlets inside one of the cabinets, for chargers. I would not use glass fronts, as you have shown, if it will be storage space. You said "I don't know how much I would store there". I suggest you go through your existing cabinets, and make a list of what you have. Then go through the new layout, one cabinet/drawer at a time, and figure out what is going to go in each space. Measure stuff. Decide what will work in your space next to the fridge; where the dishes will go; where to put things that need to be handy for cooking. That will help you determine what's left to go in the pantry shelves. One thing I asked my cabinet maker to do is add extra shelves to many of the upper cabinets. If the shelf will house cans of soup or coffee mugs, it doesn't need to be 12" high. I'll have more shelves, spaced closer together. Boxes of cereal need more space. I can see this being useful in your pantry cabinet.

The most valuable prep space is between the sink and range, and you should have a minimum of 36", but--42-48" would be better. I agree with anniebird, about the sink on the island, and if you have only one sink, then put the DW to the right (as you face the island), so that it is not between the fridge and range. In that layout a helper can load or unload the DW, or gather dishes to set the table, without interfering in prep and cooking tasks. If you really don't want a sink on the island, you might consider making the island 8' (which will still accommodate 4 seats), and putting the clean-up sink on the left wall. You might need to move the door down, but when you build the DR addition, you could make the window a pass-through, and dishes would be convenient to the new DR, in drawers on the end of the island, and in the corner susan or in drawers next to it. The clean-up sink as drawn could then be a prep sink, centered on the right window section, to give you more prep space between it and the range. A trash pull-out under the prep space would be convenient, and the clean-up sink could have a smaller trash pull-out below. Click to enlarge: Good kitchen planning info: New to Kitchens? Read me first. Also: NKBA guidelines

Stainless steel is a neutral. Pretty much everything goes : ) . Most of my appliances (fridge, wall oven, dishwasher) are stainless steel, the BlueStar range is cobalt blue, the cabinet hardware is brass. Backsplash tiles will be blue and white, either talavera or Tabarka. If I didn't have hard water, I probably would have opted for chrome on all of the plumbing fixtures. It's a classic. A lot of this depends on how everything in the room looks together and what look/style you like and are going for, and whether you're going for function and form, or one over the other. I chose the faucet I did because Moen is a dependable and reputable brand, I wanted the spot resist finish with our water, and I also wanted a faucet with pull down spray because the sink is the Ikea Domsjo with only one hole, so a separate spray wasn't an option. Decide what's important to you and go from there. There are lots of people who choose form/aesthetics over function, or want to copy a particular kitchen, and that can work depending on how one uses the kitchen. We live on a farm, grow/raise a lot of our own food, cook three meals a day, and have four (sometimes five) cooks in the house, so I wanted our kitchen to be a workhorse and look good. And in our rural area, both shopping and repair people are scarce, so I took that into account.