We have just finished exactly this scenario. Forgive the self-referential length, but it may give you some ideas. Scenario: opening up attic as extra living space created knock-on effect of HAVING to move the kitchen out of the way of new stairs, which also meant opening up a loadbearing wall to allow sufficient space for access. ULTRAtight budget. The process for us: I started playing 'what if?" with some design software almost as soon as we moved in 3 years ago (we knew from the get-go this house would only work for us if we expanded into the attic and bought it with that in mind - location, location, location!) and was tweaking it right up till the end. Once I had a design I thought "could" work - all highly dependent on the realities of what might be behind the walls, structural loads etc (all of which I knew NOTHING about) - I started talking to people. Friends who had recently remodelled, friends who were architects, friends who were builders. Just to try and learn what some of the terms I'd heard bandied about meant so I could understand exactly what might be going on. Then, we started interviewing contractors. I got a lot of interesting information in the course of htat, most particularly about the load-bearing wall etc etc etc. It also inspired me to come up with 3 "final designs" which approached that wall differently - one framed a doorway through it leaving much of it standing, and one opened it out entirely (the third was terrible, but I did it anyway - it's easy when you have your own software!) Once we found our contractor, I got as much info from him regarding that wall as possible so I could continue to refine my design (with his help). He absolutely refused to give a firm answer either way until he was inside the wall. While a little frustrating at the time because I wanted to finalise and get cabinets, I realise he was ABSOLUTELY right to do it this way, as it avoided any misunderstandings or complications until he KNEW what was in there. In the end, it turned out that a previous owner's addition to the back of the house had already beamed the span, resulting in TWO sets of supports for that ceiling and the roofline - all he had to do was reinforce it (didn't even need the metal flitch beam he'd originally suspected would be required). There was no way of knowing that until they got inside the walls and could really look at it. This is how the floorplan changed: original layout my first "final" design (keeping a chunk of wall and using it to build one side of a pantry) the final layout: And the almost finished kitchen (I've since replaced the table and we've added some more details, but this shows the layout). Despite the fact that I've historically preferred formal dining rooms, I LOVE LOVE LOVE the open layout. We never entertain formally, we have a young child, and in the event a future owner ever DID want a formal dining room they could transform the room we are using as a separated music studio and use that. So... we couldn't be happier. I agree that even if you hand off your job to a designer, stay invested in the details. I can't BELIEVE how well this job has come out. Sure, I took loooadddsss of advice from folks and needed tons of help (which I got from many sources, not least of which the amazingly generous and talented people in here who are directly responsible for many of the final layout ideas!), but it is MY kitchen. It works for us. There were very few "whoopsies". I mostly credit my wonderful GC with that, but I also suspect that the fact that I was VERY involved with it all and didn't just hand off a drawing and say "do that" really helped. It was a very collaborative project which not only means I got something that really works for us, but that communication stayed excellent and thus... fewer mistakes. Good luck with your remodel!

Whether or not you ought to have an island or take down a wall depends entirely on your kitchen layout, needs, and budget, not to mention the dimensions of the space. I suggest posting on the Kitchen forum with a diagram of the layout (including measurements) and answers to the questions of the pp. Some houses benefit from a wall coming down, others don't; ditto kitchen islands.

niecieb, what happened when you tried to upload to tinypic? Have you tried Photobucket? I find it very easy to use. Once you upload your photo, you'll see the HTML code next to your photo. Copy and paste the code into your post here.

@jJohnson7645, I hope that the following floor will go well with decor. [Vintage Ivory[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/vintage-french-oak-ivory-engineered-modern-living-room-minneapolis-phvw-vp~4797225)