Thanks, everyone, for all your suggestions and the time you've put in .... From your responses, I can see I really need to give you all much more information. (And I thought I was pretty wordy already!) So, here's a sketch of the room layout (sorry about the skew and the size ... this is just so you can see what's around the part we've been dealing with). The dimensions of the room have changed slighty from what's shown - I stretched the south wall of the alcove 6" and moved the east wall out one foot. The west (left) wall is 13' with two structural 6" walls at each end of the alcove. The walls are structural, and can't be moved. The north (upper) wall is 18 1/2' long (from back of pantry to back of sink) and has a 4x4 window in the northeast (upper right) corner; then there's about 6" of corner structure. The east (right) wall has window completely along to what I show as a shallow upper cabinet -- 11' from north wall to end of cabinet. Next to that there's 7' of sliding patio door, then about 1' of wall. We don't want something solid and heavy feeling at the end of these cabinets, to keep the space feeling open, and so the view can be seen from the table without obstruction. (The whole house has been sited for that view....) The dining area is only 8 1/2 feet deep and then opens to the living room. (LR is 1' lower than the kitchen/dining area, and separated by a 6" deep half wall. You can see all the way thru to the kitchen from the livingroom. What do I want from this kitchen and why? I primarily want a kitchen that is functional and efficient, that makes the most of its relatively small space, that is primarily a one-cook kitchen but that can accommodate multiple cooks at times. My current kitchen is also small, and far from perfect, but although I could use a lot more counter space, it works well for me. I’d like this kitchen to be even better, and certainly no worse! (You can see my current kitchen here: http://www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/article/0,,266313,00.html ). I also want this kitchen to feel open, airy, and uncluttered. If I could get away with it, I’d have no upper cabinets at all, but since storage is really sparse elsewhere, I suspect I can’t get away with that. Controlfreakecs - thank you for focussing me on the fact that I (very recently) added that prep sink! Revisiting that made me realize that I'd underestimated the distance to the north counter by 6", and also that I'd left out the 15" cabinet to the left of the DW. Eek! Willtv - rearranging the cooktop, fridge and pantry as you suggested would be a great solution, but there’s only about 2’ to the right of the cooktop, because of the 4’ window there. (Don’t want to block the window with the hood….) And the support wall on the east side wouldn’t allow countertops between the pantry and the ovens. Melissastar - the cooktop could move a bit to the left or right, but we can't have any talls on the east (or south) wall because it's all window.... Noebee & Kai - It would have been a lot easier design-wise to have the DW to the right of the sink. But functionally, I know I prefer it to the left -- I'm right handed, and when I'm scraping or rinsing off a plate, the plate is in my left hand. With the DW to the left, it's just scrape/rinse and place in DW, all in one motion. With the DW on the right, I have to turn and/or switch hands. It's just awkward (to me). FWIW, we have the dishwasher drawers now which may have influenced how I feel about placement, but we'll probably have them in this kitchen as well... Everyone - Unless I'm really mis-reading them, according to the installation information for the fridge, it really is just 24" (unless I do a flush installation, when it would be 26"). (SubZero BI-35U) I'd purposely *not* put the fridge on the perimeter because I want convenient access from the cooking area. There are only two of us unless we have friends over for dinner, so there's no real issue with a lot of traffic in and out of the fridge while I'm cooking. Most of the time there's just me in the kitchen. At the most, DH will sit and watch me "perform". And if I have to move over once or twice, no big deal. (We don't as a rule keep drinks or snacks in the fridge.) But, based on your comments, I spent the weekend going over dimensions, rethinking and fiddling. When I finally started thinking of dimensions in "steps" instead of "feet" I came up with this: Sorry about the poor scan...but I think you can get the general idea. I've tried to write in the measurement. I am trying to arrage the appliances etc. with the least-accessed farthest from the cooking area, so the pantry is at the south end of the alcove, then the fridge and ovens have swapped places. I've added in the 15" base cabinet to the left (north) of the DW. Since it looks like there may be room, I'm considering adding a 12" cabinet (glass doors) at the south end of the island that will stand taller than the island itself. (The island will be lower than standard cabinets, better for working dough. I'm a baker.) If I do that, the prep sink would move to where it shows now in the sketch. Whether this gets added in will probably depend on how closed-in it would make the dining area feel. Thoughts? And THANKS!

But lirio, you didn't answer number 9 ... nobody likes me? ; ) *wink* We're a family of just two as well. AND we eat out or to go orders almost every meal (except cereal). Talk about a fish out of water planning a kitchen !! But thanks for the kudos. Maybe I did learn a little something in all these years. By popular request, here is what we have for the plan for the rest of that floor so far. Nothing special, a couple bedrooms, 2 baths, 1/2 bath, and an elevator (a "must have" as it's 25 steps just from ground level up to the first floor!!) . . . Next floor up has 4 bedrooms, small office, 4 baths, a 1/2 bath, laundry, and a 2nd small living area (basically a sofa facing tv - a great area we will have set up for kids to hang out and play XBox). The office and the 2nd living area have Murphy beds so they can do double duty at night. Top floor is lookout/3rd living area, and 12x18 deck opening to roof (8x18 covered porch with table/chairs and 4x18 open deck). Please note, per local Bldg Code, the footprint of this home cannot be changed or increased even one inch. LWO, I also thought the island looked kinda spindly and top heavy. That was one of the things that I was feeling a bit concerned with. The wings on the working sides remind me of the Flying Nun. It might be hard to make a beverage bar work at the end of the dining table as we have 5'4" between table edge and stairs on left side at the half bath and as you can see above, that will be a thoroughfare. Plus, this area needs to be clear for times when the tables have to be split, also wide enough for a wheelchair to pass (house is not 100% ADA, but it is wheelchair friendly). As far as cooking goes, when it is just us the answer is "no!", there are way too many great restaurants to explore there. Other families do to varying degrees, there are even some families that eat pretty much every meal at the house. Yes, there will also be a great grilling/tiki bar/picnic area on the ground floor (code is no grills on decks). I really appreciae hearing from those of you who do rent places at the beach and how they work (or don't work) for your family. Control, where do you guys vacation ? Most of the time when people say Outer Banks, they are referring to somewhere between Kitty Hawk/Nags Head/Hatteras area. You should give the southern beaches a try ! Our water temp is 10 degrees warmer than Hatteras, wide easy sloping beach with gentle waves and no drop offs, public beach access every 500ft, very family oriented beach (almost all houses, a few 2 story condos, and only one high rise all the way at the end), easy ~20 minutes to North Myrtle tourist mecca if you want a day trip, but lots to do nearby if you want to stay local. In our other house, we have 14 at dining table, 4 at bar, and 6 at patio table right outside the door next to the dining table. So 24 all right together (plus 2 picnic tables under the house). This house will have enough dining if you count the additional dining on the other levels, but definitely a shortage on this level ! Ideas to gain aisle space between stove & island: shorten depth of island cabinet to 22" instead of 24" (wasted space behind back side of drawers anyway), shorten overhang to 13" instead of 15", overhang on front edge of cabinets 1.5" instead of 2" = 47" aisle counter to counter Ideas to gain aisle space in 2 aisles from sink to fridges: can elevator shaft be narrowed any?, fold-down or pullout overhangs. One of those slap forehead, duh why didn't I think of that moments. (note to email plllog, anyone else have fold-downs in their kitchen?) = 46" aisle on each end NKBA suggests 48" aisles for multiple cooks. Can we get away with any less ? Group of moms: I am imagining people lined around the wall - 1 on left of big sink, 1 on right sharing water, 1 at stove, 1 at prep, possibly even 1 to right of prep = 5 workers and nobody has to work butt-to-butt. How much is minimum space we could get away with and still feel comfortable "enough" with a person working at a counter and allowing enough room for another to walk past behind them ? I found on BH&G ... "A 42-inch-wide aisle between opposite countertops is fine, but 48 inches is best where appliances compete, two people work back-to-back, or stools pull out. More than 48 inches is overkill." Noted 3 votes for moving prep sink to island. Where is best place for prep sink and pros/cons ? My original thinking was right of range to avoid butt-to-butt at range and prep in island, but I am open for changes ! Thoughts ? Bigger window at cleanup sink = Yes ! How about 44" wide and coming all the way down to the countertop, with granite going into the window sill ? The house is oceanfront, which is why almost the entire living and dining wall is all windows. I agree the window at the prep sink looks a little out of place. I am open to removing that. I had put it in because this is the view out the prep window . . . Appliances: I am pretty sure that range has 5 burners. I really do think 2 fridges are needed. It can be 90-100 degrees in high summer, which means it takes a lot of space for sodas, milk, juice, water, beer for 20+ people. We usually use one fridge for food stuff and the other whole fridge for beverages. Complete with magnet labels that say "Food" and "Drinks", so you don't have to open both to find what you are looking for. By my measurements, DW open does go into the person at the range's space, but very little, like 1 inch (so range person has 24x29 personal space instead of 24x30). Not sure if the ice maker is crucial ??? What do you guys think ? I wonder if the 2 freezer ice makers can keep up ? Also, would there be enough room if part of the freezer space has to be for store bought ice ? Small Appliances/Pantry: Pantry is planned to be the space for all of the small appliances on the 14" deep shelves to side, a little locked area for us to use as pantry & liquor when we have to leave for a week for an incoming guest (not carry everything all back home, only to carry it back the next weekend), recycling bin, and for pantry space for guests. I have seen groups of guests in the grocery store walking out with 4 gallons of milk, 6 loaves of bread, and etc, so "enough" pantry is important. It doesn't have to be this layout. My concerns/questions: - the look of the island (too small, tall & spindly, top heavy) - DW's/sink/trash layout - sink, then DW, then trash? or sink, then trash, then DW? but need space on right side of DW to unload into uppers - ice maker - yes/no ? - where to locate prep sink - where to throw trash at prep sink - window at prep sink ? - which way to hinge pantry door - aisles width - dining shortage ACK !! I tried to keep this short & concise. Ha. My husband says I talk too much. (and my friends laugh because they all tell me in private they think he talks more than ME!)

Dee - pretty room! Rose - not everyone needs to put their feet up. We are a family of 4, two young kids, but have a large extended family who visit often. So I'm trying to maximize seating and table space for cocktails with 12-18 people, but still make it comfortable for me and DH to sit and watch TV at night. Stolenidentity - I didn't post the actual sofas. They are sort of curvy and there are curves in the tables, chair, fireplace and in the armoire. laughablemoments - you mean like this? This is the ottoman I'm considering. I know, it's RH, but I can't find anything else I like as well in the leather I want. In this leather:

I have a lovely late 19th century English D-end* mahogany table, but our two sons, ages 19 and 20, live and farm with us, and we use the table daily, not just on special occasions, so I too have to protect my real antique table from hoi polloi : ) . Unlike Lady Grantham, I don't have any household staff, so all the care and upkeep is down to me. Plus I like the look of a tablecloth, and lately favor colorful block print fabrics. * it can be converted from one large oblong table into a smaller rectangular table and one small round table.