It’s tight with the hutch/buffet there. Also tight if someone is sitting at the bar.

Your prep sink does not function well because it is not easily accessible from the refrigerator. The cooktop, prep sink, and refrigerator should form a work triangle. Cleanup sink and wall ovens can be elsewhere.

Multiple random thoughts:

- In answer to your question about table space, you've already received a good answer: 3' of walking space all the way around is fine.

- Your buffet looks too deep. My china hutch is 18" deep on the bottom /15" deep on the top. I think it's kinda average. The right answer for you: get out your yardstick and measure. You don't want too much or too little.

- I'd pull the chairs about a foot closer to the back of the house ... when they're pulled out, they'll create a barrier right in the middle of your mudroom-house traffic pattern.

- Your kitchen is long and deep ... not 'specially proportional. The island and the peninsula are dividing your work spaces in two /placing your work space rather far from the table. You can do way, way better than this ... in less space.

- What is the purpose of the back corner where I put in the purple circle? It seems to exist only for the door. Think this through. Also, consider that this door will stay open most of the time ... so I put a pocket door here too (in green).

- Does the space in the yellow circle lead into a family room? If so, I'd open up that wall /allow the light from the French doors to filter in /allow the French doors to become a feature for the family room /allow the family room to feel bigger.

- Why did you indent the French door area? That indent will cost more than keeping the wall straight, and it crowds your walkway /stairway. Essentially you're paying more for a worse function.

- That's the living room to the right? Measure how big 13' wide is ... or isn't. 21x13 is almost a bowling alley ... reconsider your proportions.

- What's going in the living room corner marked by the light blue circle? A grandfather clock? A pretty desk with a lamp to light up this dark corner?

Half bath:

- Pull the door back into the hallway so the door can "park" in the entryway. This means you won't be squished up against the sink as you close the door, and it will make the bathroom feel more spacious.

- You have space underneath that expensive switch-back stair. Harness it for storage ... okay, it'll be short storage, but it'd be nice for storing emergency essentials (candles, canned foods, etc.) or holiday goods that you only access once a year. It could even be a short space with a basket full of toilet paper ... but you're paying for this under-stair space. Make it work for you.

- I moved the water heater into the half-bath's linen closet. The back end of this closet will be difficult to reach, making it ideal for the water heater, which you don't access often. And you didn't need lots of storage in a half bath anyway ... instead of built-in shelves, I'd go with a narrow set of shelves on wheels, so they could be wheeled out of the way for water heater access.

- The other small closet was "set back" in a hallway, making it very small ... I'd open it towards the hallway (so it doesn't conflict with the half bath door). What do you plan to store in this closet? I'd be an ideal cleaning closet for the vacuum, etc.

- I reduced the large closet in the entryway so you'll have a better connection between the living and dining spaces. This also allow you -- when you have big crowds -- to extend the table towards the entryway. Not the most convenient thing, but you also wouldn't do it often.

- With the water heater out of this space, it'll be a nice sized coat closet ... though it isn't the prettiest thing to see at the front door; personally, I'd consider losing the closet /leaving space for a pretty table /lamp /mirror to greet guests.

- Over to the mudroom. This is a large space, but dark and dreary ... what built ins /furniture do you anticipate here? It's a large space and could work out multiple ways.

- You'll leave the mudroom-kitchen door open most of the time, so I'd go with a pocket door ... I drew it in green.

- I assume this is laundry beyond the mudroom? I'd turn the closet against the wall so that light can flow through to the mudroom /make it more pleasant (and I'd double the size of the window in the laundry room). I'd also use white in the mudroom to amplify the light.

- I'd pull the garage-mudroom door about a foot to the left, which would allow you to have lots of nice hooks /a shelf "behind the door", which would be ideal for coats.

Mrs Pete, thanks for taking the time to comment. Actually, the top of the image is the front entry. The bottom is the back of the house, with a rear entry. We love pocket doors, but it is not possible in those locations, due to electrical and architectural reasons. We also don't want to build out walls for pocket doors.

We will not be moving doors or reconfiguring closets, as we may be selling the house at some point...not sure...and want to keep our costs down as much as possible. That long narrow room is the office. The laundry is to the left next to the mudroom, adjacent to the garage. As per brining more light into the mudroom, I had onsidered adding transom windows to the wall adjacent to the garage and adding a bench with cabinets for shoes, coats, etc.

The den is to the right of the rear entry, at the bottom of the image. The room on the upper right is the formal living room, which we will use as the media room, to house the TV, piano, etc.

We have been living in a prototype kitchen of this size and configuration and love it! I cook several times a day and love having a large kitchen. We live in the kitchen, so it's the most important room in the house for us. We rarely spend any time in the den or the media room. Cook, eat, clean, use the laptop on the dining table for research, entertainment, etc., and then go to bed!

As far as we are concerned, we would be happy in a house with a bedroom, bath, laundry, office, and open kitchen / dining. Add an extra bedroom for guests and that's it! When guests come for dinner, we just hang out at the dining table until it's time for them to go home!

Who needs a living room or den? We don't even know the meaning of sitting on sofas anymore, LOL! I much prefer sitting on a hard chair as opposed to sinking into a sofa. We never watch TV anymore, so these rooms and furniture are a moot point.

And yes, my buffet is too deep, I know. I was just playing around with Ikea base cabinets and that's what I wound up with. I don't have a buffet yet. I don't have a large dining table. The kitchen is all that I am truly concerned about right now, as I have to purchase cabinets soon. Therefore, I was asking about how much room I needed around the table, so that I could place my kitchen far enough away.

If you have a better floor plan for my kitchen, I would love to see it.

Mrs. Pete, this is a house that was built in 1973. We are doing a kitchen remodel. The footprint is the existing footprint. I did not make these choices re indenting the wall with the french door, etc. We are trying to make the best of what we have. We don't want the extra expense of moving doors, water heaters, etc.

And yes, there is a coat closet under the staircase.

The kitchen stools are fine. Just get ones without arms that can be pushed all the way under when not in use. Your buffet may work where shown since that entry is a back door, and likely less used than the front door. As an alternative though, you can use a low buffet in front of the window instead, or a shorter, narrow one on the wall that is directly across from the mudroom door. The only change I would suggest is just removing the door from the entry to the kitchen. The view into the kitchen from the entry would be blocked by the entry door, so it really serves no purpose, and would jut be in the way.

Mrs.
Pete, this is a house that was built in 1973. We are doing a kitchen
remodel. The footprint is the existing footprint.

Mrs
Pete, thanks for taking the time to comment. Actually, the top of the
image is the front entry. The bottom is the back of the house, with a
rear entry.

I didn't get these things from the original post at all !
We will not be moving doors or reconfiguring closets, as we may be
selling the house at some point...not sure...and want to keep our costs
down as much as possible.

I'd ask about the cost because some small door changes could improve the function.

That long narrow room is the office.

I see. Long narrow offices work great, as they provide plenty of desk space.

The
laundry is to the left next to the mudroom, adjacent to the garage. As
per brining more light into the mudroom, I had onsidered adding transom
windows to the wall adjacent to the garage and adding a bench with
cabinets for shoes, coats, etc.

Sorry, I'm lost here. I can't picture how that'd work.

If you have a better floor plan for my kitchen, I would love to see it.

Send the dimension, and maybe I'll try it tomorrow. Regardless of whether it's a small or large kitchen, you want it to be functional. I think the width of the kitchen is hard -- and since it's a remodel, it's staying this width.

Okay, without having dimensions, I took a stab at it:

- It's a large space, but it's very spread-out, and bigger isn't automatically better ... I'd divide it up like this:

- I'd do uppers only on the side over the range, which would leave the whole space wide open ... and with light and breezes coming from both sides, this would be a very pleasant space.

- To the right of this main work space, you have either a cabinet run OR pantries ... with the refrigerator in the middle. Loads and loads of one-step-away storage ... and it's space you can step to without walking around an island. So super convenient.

- Because you have so much length to the kitchen and because you value table-time, I'd add a bay window to the front of the house /add a small kitchen table for more intimate dining ... then continue the kitchen cabinets (but more shallow) for another huge amount of storage near this small table.

- I'd us this by-the-small-table cabinetry as away-space for the kitchen. That is, I'd use this one-step-away counterspace for the things that clutter up /clog up the kitchen counters: the coffee pot, a bowl of fruit or a cake-under-a-dome. This away-space will mean that your real work space is always clear /ready for use. It'll also be a nice sight line upon entering from what I now know is the front door.

- Because I think dishware would be stored in the cabinets /uppers by the smaller table, I moved the dishwasher to the front side of the kitchen.

- This leaves the back-bar as a large, open space, which will function well as a buffet table when you have guests /will be using the larger table.

- This whole layout can function in multiple ways ... the center is the real work space, yet it relates to either the small eating area OR the larger eating area ... or both at once.

It doesn't matter if it's a casual or formal dining room unless one has footmen who serve the dinner. What does matter is that there be LOTS of space behind the chairs.

My own DR is almost an exact 13' square. I have a large, antique dining table that is 56" wide. I usually don't keep a leaf in the table and it then becomes quite close to being perfectly square, which looks nice in a square room. For holiday meals, a wide (30") leaf goes in the table.

I have a small sideboard on one side of the DR. The opposite wall, has a window. The outside wall has narrow french doors, and there is an antique hanging cupboard between that wall and the window wall. The wall that abuts the LR has a 4' opening and an antique mahogany chest.

The problem is on the side by the sideboard. There simply is not enough room. I have large me in my family - all over 6' tall. My ex-husband comes to these meals and he's both tall and heavy. He prefers to sit on this side. As a result, I cannot pass behind those two chairs at all. Serving involves plates being passed from the foot of the table (in front of the french doors to the outside) where I sit. With a formally set dinner table, it's not particularly "gracious". I need at minimum of 2 more feet.

My DD has a nice sized DR. She, too, has an antique table, but hers is "only" 54" wide. She has a lovely sideboard on one side, window on opposite wall. Her room is 15.5' x 17' and it works pretty well. When we lived in LA, our DR was 17' wide and 20' long and it was a perfect size for serving a meal. One rarely sees DR's that size unless in a very large older home.

Here is a picture of a DR that is large enough for help to easily serve and remove plates from the table. Most of us today would say it's too large for the table that is in the room. It's not and that's exactly why it works so well - lots of room to move behind those seated at the table. In my dreams...

I would give yourself at least two feet from the edge of the peninsula for someone to push their stool back without blocking the entrance. This is similar but moves the clean up sink off of the peninsula.

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Mrs. Pete, thank you so much for kindly taking the time to draw up your idea. It is a lovely plan! Very much like the original layout of our kitchen, if you flip it vertically, and then horizontally. There was a round breakfast table at the southern window.

The kitchen / dining as it was: I added some measurements.

However, working in a U-shape was very confining for us, as we are two cooks in the kitchen and my husband hated feeling locked into the U-shape. I'm sure it's perfect for one cook, though.

We both prefer an island, as it gives us a huge surface to work on and room for both of us to function, doing two separate tasks. But, you have given us some really good ideas to think on! Thank you!

Also, I had neglected to mention that the top of the image is the dark and dreary north side of the house. Although it is the front of the house, there is no walkway to it. Guests park on the parkpad at the rear of the house and walk up the concrete walkway to the back patio door, which I have labeled as "entry." We live in far out in the country. Our driveway is 1/8 mile from the highway. There is a little forest in front of our house, so no one can see our house from the highway. So, in practicality, the back of our house has become the front, and the front has become the back.

We do not like to linger on the north side of the house, so although your drawing looks quite cozy and certainly would make for a better visual when walking in from the stairway, I'm afraid that the breakfast area would just collect dust. As we have noticed that we rarely ever used the dining room over the 20 years that we have lived here... we decided to flip the original plan and have a large casual dining area at the bright and sunny window, rather than have two eating areas.

Thank you for your time! :-)

wilson853 , yes, I have already moved the peninsula up a bit, to allow more room behind the stools. I LOVE that pic you posted!! I so wish I could have a sink at the window!! But, I don't have that situation!! :-(

Moving the peninsula means you have more blocked areas in your kitchen when the refrigerator doors are open, and less space to use the kitchen. You've got plenty of walkway from the mudroom without moving it. Look at the relative sizes of your kitchen vs your dining/hall now. It make more sense to keep the kitchen space.

calidesign, I moved everything up...including the fridge and surrounding cabinets. I scooched the whole thing up about a foot. This is the exact same layout, just shifted up a bit. This gives me the 12' width that I need for the dining area.