Jaynesb *100% agreement on the size of the hood. I am looking for a 27" deep and 42" wide. The cooktop is 36" wide. I also am looking into how much cfm I really need. The manufacture recommends 900 cfm based on all 6 burners going at full. I am not sure how practical that is and really want something as quit as possible. I do like "power " though.. In any case, I need to look into make up air requirements if we go 900-1200 cfm With regard to cabinet size neighboring the corner, we have a 30" wall cabinet will glass mullins at the top and an 18" base between the refrigerator and corner cabinet. I think we are ok there. Under counter lighting is still an open issue. We have halogen lights not and I do not like the fact they get so hot. I will be looking into LED. I am not sure what a light rail is but will check. I specÂd false bottoms on my last kitchen and installed the halogens in it. The triangular cabinets bother me as well. I believe optimization is possible but applaud the designer for what she came up with. My ideas were crummy compared to what she came up with. I will take this concept to a custom cabinet builder to see about further optimizing the design. I do want more of a furniture look and know the right person who can do it. Sunnyd The cooktop is on an outside wall and can vent either up or out. We have ~37" from the 18" cab on the right of the cooktop to the island. Smaller than the recommended 42" but our thoughts were this will not be a well traveled area or have more than 1 person at a time there. Do you think its too small? Good question on the corner cabinet size. Fortunately the answer is yes. We have a 8 French door at the end of the kitchen. Right now IÂm stressing on how I am going to get the refrigerator in. ItÂs HEAVY and I am going to have to take it in through that door. There is a deck outside with stairs Great ideas on the toe kick. We want a furniture look for the island and will incorporate your idea. We are open to other ideas on the island. The designer came up with this concept. My ideas were frankly crummy by comparison. IÂm not sure what you mean by 2 different materials but the plan is to have cream colored cabinets along the wall and a "wood" finish island  possibly walnut. We would have liked cherry but we have so much wood in the house now we are concerned what it would look like. The entire downstairs is amendoim and we have redwood ceilings. (They are sloped ceilings  the short end is where the cooktop is.) Chinchette LOL, I have been watching this website for months before setting pen to paper. You may have been the inspiration if you posted pictures of your kitchen. We have looked at so many books and pictures I have lost track. I am confused as to what a dish drawer is though. Is that a dishwasher that looks like drawers. If so, the plan is to get one but I was going to wait until my Bosch got a bit older. Its only 1-2 years old and in perfect condition. We do not currently live in this house. We bought it several years ago with the intent on fixing it up and retiring there. Its currently used as a weekend retreat and gets rented out for vacation rentals. After the remodel, no more rentals planned. I would be really ticked if something happened and DW would not let me hear the end of it. Holligator (still trying to figure that name out) The boss (DW) will be happy to read your comments on the glass base cabinets. We debated a beverage center there and she won. It does have a good size landing area there. We did move two a two-level island with the idea of eating there. The kithen originally had a peninsula and a kitchen table on the other side. It resulted in a small kitchen and a small eating area. IÂm not sure what to do about the 52". Some say too small, some too big. The boss thinks I can do more in the kitchen to help though. We are still going back and forth on the island. I like the added height for bar stools as mentioned earlier and the raised level was a consideration for hiding the dished from the main view in. We want the range hood to be the strong focal point. This is what the kitchen currently looks like. We will be taking out the window along the wall (we have plenty of light) Steve

I'd create two separate areas, yes one, smaller one, next to the windows-two armchairs with a table between them. probably would go with something legged..more visually light, as to obscure windows the less..or give an impression I'm obscuring them the less:) another, bigger one, for TV watching..a sofa..an angled chair on the right much like you have now, but looking smaller..I might consider doing smth different since several chairs in the room..maybe a rocking chair? I might also go for an ottoman instead of a coffee table-can serve as additional seating if needed. I might also find a garden stool as one of the side tables-again, opportunity for additional sitting, if a lot people use a room at once. Round shapes will also break the lines of all the rectangular furniture, so I'd definitely take it into account when shopping. I also might do something patterned to add interest..say two armchairs, or an ottoman, or a chair in bigger sitting area.. Rugs would help to delineate different zones, so another idea to consider. Pretty room. Once you get your balance right-full of potential to be very cozy.

We've recently done fireplace surrounds in blackened steel. If you wanted to do multiple materials, it's a great option to consider! Here's a picture of one we fabricated similar to your inspiration photos,

There are some components on the market that would allow you to create your own design. https://www.wayfair.com/filters/julius-floating-entertainment-center-for-tvs-up-to-70-l6-k~mncm4430-a16941~492636.html?sku=MNCM4430&refid=GX433472235811-W003125567_507510852 https://www.allmodern.com/filters/dominic-floating-entertainment-center-for-tvs-up-to-70-l6-k~lgly5748-a16941~492636.html?sku=LGLY5748&refid=GX433453041335-A000434599_804805627