I am in a larger home, 1675 sq ft. It it that style of ranch where the garage is what you see when you drive up, and the front door is in an indentation next to the garage. The living room is in front, next to the front door, but the living room does not come out as far as the garage does. I have heard them called "snout houses" because of the way the two-car garage looks, sticking out past the rest of the house Like a pig's snout. Behind that garage, there is the stairway to our basement, then the eat-in kitchen, then the family room. The dining area is defined by a funky ceiling. Remember how in the late 70s, people lowered their kitchen ceilings and had recessed fluorescent lights behind plastic, so that the whole ceiling appeared to glow? Our kitchen ceiling has an oblong space like this, and the dining area has a square one. Along the way, someone took off the plastic and put in light fixtures, then put a wallpaper border print on the inside of the soffits. Now-a-days, people build these into very tall ceilings and call them tray ceilings and they add to the value of the house. Mine are so low that I can touch the soffits defining the ceilings without getting on tippy-toes. Other than the dropped ceiling, I love my kitchen with the dining area on the side. I have an antique waterfall-front little buffet, a kitchen table, and leather-cushioned chairs. None of the woods are the same color, but the pine table's wood tones can be found in the distressed finish of the chairs, and the darker colors on the chairs tie in with the quarter-sawn oak of the buffet. We can have the table set up to go north-south without the extra leaf, or east-west with it. When the table is north-south, the rolling island is between the sink and the table. When the table is east-west, the island sits on the edge of the 6 inch drop-off into the family room, below. The dining chandelier has a couple of hooks in the ceiling, so it can be centered over the table, depending on the orientation. We have the east-west configuration going now, it is nice because the table is right in the kitchen (and extends into the dining area) and it feels very homey. Country-kitchen style. The other configuration feels more modern, and I like having the island near the sink and fridge.

For a cleanup sink, 6" is NOT enough space behind the sink to (1) prevent splashing the nice hardwood floor in your DR or (2) leave space for staging food and/or dishes. You will probably need at least 12" for splashing, maybe 18". When water splashes behind our cleanup sink (in front of an 18" deep bay window well), it goes at least 12"...sometimes farther. When a sink is against a wall, the wall stops the splashes, so of course 6" appears to be enough. While a 42"H pony wall or so behind it will help, it's still not ideal. A pony wall usually has a small overhang on both sides...including the sink side. No, you don't have to put it on the sink side, but it will look better if you do...and it will give you a small bit of extra room for putting something on it (although, I don't recommend it b/c it will be too narrow). This means that the overhang on the sink side will extend over the counter on the sink side, thus reducing the amount of space available for your faucet, soap dispenser or bottle, etc. Many people have discovered this to their dismay after everything has been ordered & installed. (This affects not just pony walls, but also window sills above sinks and backsplashes if the BS material is thick.) With a pony wall, I suggest an extra 7" to 9"; without a wall, I suggest 18", if you go with this idea. Even if you add a pony wall, you will still need approx 12.5"...8" for space behind the sink to fit the faucet (to accommodate the overhang on the sink side) + 4.5" for the pony wall itself. If you move the peninsula into the kitchen more, you can fit that 12" to 18". Keep in mind, though, that you can move the range only so far to the right b/c of the window. If you want the pony wall to also be used for staging food & dishes, then I suggest a minimum of 15" total top space...18" would be better. I have a question...how would you feel about closing off the doorway to the hallway from the kitchen? It would mean having to walk through the FR or LR & DR to get to the kitchen, so if it's the main or family entrance into the house, it might be a problem. You have a garage entrance, though...do you use it? If you are open to this idea, you could either merge the old hallway into the LR/Playroom, or you could turn it into a long closet...for coats plus games, etc. (Based on the location of the LR in relation to the Kitchen & DR, I think it would be a better FR. The current FR is isolated and I think it might make a better LR for more formal occasions.) Something like this: I'm assuming you didn't like the idea of switching rooms around since you did not respond to the suggestion in your earlier thread. (I had another idea...switching the rooms but instead of a pantry, put in a banquette with seating to make it both a kitchen and Nook w/seating for everyday meals.) Something like this:

Long-time lurker here, but new to posting. I thought I would tell you how we are opening up our kitchen (currently gutted now). We have a 12'x16' Formal Living Room immediately to the left when walking into the foyer. Behind that is a 12.5' x 12' Formal Dining Room. The kitchen (small 10' x 10' plus breakfast nook) is in back, next to the dining room, and the family room is on the other side of the kitchen. I entertain our family of 17 several times a year and I'm not willing to give up the dining room. However, the living room, to me, is a HUGE waste of space. Nobody ever goes in there. In fact, whenever I host a gathering, everybody gathers in my tiny "U" kitchen and I can't move to open the oven, cabinets, etc. It drives me crazy. My solution: move the DR set into the larger living room, which is open by columns to the foyer, and expand the "U" of my kitchen into the dining room. This allows for a longer peninsula with breakfast bar. On the far wall of the "old" dining room, facing the kitchen, will be a "bar" area and a desk area. I will be able to supervise my girls doing homework, being online, etc. all while I prepare dinner. Plus, it gives our guests an area to socialize while meals are being prepared. I should also mention, though, that we have a small study with french doors. This room, essentially, will be the LR, and will house the piano, two chairs and a small desk or table. I do think it's important to have some type of private, closed-off room. I recommend reading some books by Sarah Susanka - her theory of using the space more wisely, as opposed to needing more space, was extremely valuable to me.

Did you ask the contractors why the half wall had to stay? I cannot think of a reason why the return could not be on the living room or kitchen full wall expect that both the kitchen and living room remaining walls look like exterior walls...even then there looks like an interior wall on the other side of the opening across from the half-wall. I just moved one...not a real problem...the late-twenty-something sheet metal guy was not real happy (more his personality than a reflection of the job's difficulty)...but it was not very expensive to do. He had to cut into the subfloor which our carpenter patched. I seriously felt like reminding the sheet metal installer that if people never needed him to do ANYTHING, there would be no reason for him to get a paycheck...bit my tongue but his p&m'ing sure got tiresome! Is there a basement; if yes, finished or unfinished ceiling? Our ceiling was finished....that too was easily patched.