I like the kitchen! This is OT and perhaps you've thought of this already (I didn't see your previous thread) but I was wondering if you couldn't do a bit more with the breakfast nook. Since you've chosen not to have a formal dining room, could you enhance the breakfast nook to do double duty for special occasions/entertaining? This wouldn't necessarily involve adding square footage, but instead use the architectural details and furniture to add a touch of drama/formality to the space. For example -- if the house design allows -- you could: 1) install a bay window in the breakfast area in place of the windows 2) replace the single door from the BA to the covered patio with french doors 3) Add a skylight above the dining table 4) Use an oblong dining table that can expand towards the kitchen for entertaining 5) Add built-ins (open shelves or cabinetry) in the BA wall (opposite the patio) which would provide a place to showcase decorative items and could be used as a server 6) Installing a "transitional" chandelier over the table that will work equally well for breakfast and more formal dining. 7) Installing good insulated doors (or solid doors) between the BA and drop zone and the drop zone and utility room to minimize noise from laundry etc... We had a very similar layout in a previous home and considered all of the above in order to have more dining versatility. Unfortunately, the home's design didn't allow us to do much.

Thanks, everyone. :o) @lisa a: I don't see eating mostly fresh fruits & veggies, sprouted nuts & seeds as a restricted diet. Since we have multiple food allergies/intolerances in our family, I see it as an allergen-free diet. (Americans' staples are mostly known allergens: milk, wheat, peanuts . . . ;o) We've done it before, and getting back into it now feels really good to me. It's like years are falling away from my "real" age, and I'm getting some life and energy back. Love that. I will have a goodly-sized toaster oven, so I can occasionally bake a good gf/allergen-free cake for celebrations. :o) @bmorepanic: (Love your username! lol) Thanks so much for your feedback on the marine ranges. That's really useful. I was thinking of one or two of these induction plates (or the commercial version), and if that didn't work, I'd get a two-burner ceran top electric cook top much like the induction cooktop you linked to. We're wiring sufficient for any contingency, so it's a possibility. And thank you for the heads' up on the window trim. We're planning on using 1x material, so it'll be 3/4" thick. I'm thinking I can put a bumper of some kind on the wall up near the top of the window trim where the cab door would hit it. My main concern right now is figuring out how to make sure the right-hand door on the wall cab next to the pantry cab will open cleanly. I think I have 1" to spare, but would hate for that to be too snug to work. Oh, the devil is in the details . . . I've been rethinking the rail systems, and will still get them, but am not exactly sure where I'll be putting them. I'm just wholly smitten with the fintorp line, and it's fun rustic vibe. The metal pails just make my heart go pitter patter (which is kind of shameful, since I know there are much bigger things to worry about in the world . . . but I like taking pleasure in my surroundings, so it can't be all bad, right?) A pot rack is a GREAT idea. I can totally do that with the ceiling . . . just have to adjust the length of one of the hanging chains. Oh, hooray for getting the pots out in the open where I don't have to nest them! Of course, they don't HAVE those in the kitchen planner (bah), but I can adapt. @aliris19: I'm thinking about putting a shelf above the bedroom door (on the left, by the fridge), so that could add even more function there. I'm also considering an awesome, huge clock. K, here are some fun shots of today's mods: Living room side, with upper cab: Bedroom side. (And don't worry . . . it looks like those cabs are kissing the default 96" ceiling, but the measurements all work out in my math. I'm going to call Ikea and ask about that one, though. The 88" pantry cab shouldn't be 96" tall, right?) Living room side without upper cab (which is really calling to me, as I feel like I'm going to do most of my prep on the peninsula and in that corner (where the outlet for the burner and the toaster oven will be), and I hate working with an upper cab in my face. I could handle a pot rack up high, near the opening to the living room, though.

Dear rdthomas12, Without having your existing kitchen layout to figure out what performance benefits you’d might like to keep. And what performance problems it has that you may want to resolve, fix, or eliminate. I have no way to know exactly where you’re starting from. Without an interview to determine HOW you want and expect to LIVE in your new kitchen I don’t know exactly where you want to end up. So it’s difficult to give you direction. That being said I reviewed the floor plan you posted to give you some more things you may want to consider that might otherwise not occur to you until AFTER your new kitchen is done and you can’t do anything to change it. 1. You need to understand HOW to read your kitchen layout, because it tells you exactly how you will live your life in your new kitchen day to day and when you entertain. Your architect should have already explained HOW to do this. If they are not designing your kitchen it should be your kitchen designer’s responsibility. You need to know exactly what you’re looking at and understand what it is telling you if you are to make fully informed decisions about how you are going to live your own life in your own home. If you don’t know how to read your kitchen layout you’ll need to find someone who does that can interpret it for you. Otherwise you will be moving into your new kitchen with your boxes of kitchen items from your old kitchen, AFTER your kitchen is done, and all of your help is gone. And you’re left trying to figure out where all of your stuff is supposed to go in your beautiful new kitchen. That’s when you’ll realize that you don’t have a clue as to exactly how your kitchen really works. Or where all of your stuff is supposed to go, so you’ll end up adapting to what you got. So you put your stuff where ever it fits and as long as you know where everything is you’ll make do. Isn’t that what you did when you move into your last kitchen? So much for the unique, custom, just for you and your space new kitchen solution you believed you were getting. To avoid this problem create your kitchen item inventory checklist. Then when your kitchen plan and interior elevations are done, using your list locate all of your items. Doing this will save you from experiencing disappointment and frustration you may otherwise experience. You’ll avoid mistakes you don’t know you’re making. Your new kitchen will be much more efficient adding time to your life instead of consuming it. For a DIY solution to do this click the link below. https://www.kitchendesignco.com/new-kitchen-doesnt-work/ Most designers and clients focus on esthetics. How beautiful your new kitchen will be and not how it works day to day and when they are entertaining. So the focus is on getting the kitchen done NOT HOW the client is going to LIVE IN their kitchen AFTER it’s done, and for as long as they are in their home. Huge Mistake in my opinion because you really can get a new kitchen and a new, better, easier life than you’re experiencing now in your existing kitchen. And deep down isn’t that what you really want and expect to get? 2. You need to have a FINALIZED list of appliances that will serve you and your CHANGING Family needs for as long as you’re in this home. Appliance sizes are standard and fixed. Cabinetry sizes are flexible. If your appliances are inadequate you will have to remodel your new kitchen or live with its built in inadequacies. Without a finalized list you cannot finalize the design your kitchen. Rushing ALWAYS takes longer, you will waste time and money, and chances are very good that you’ll wind up with a kitchen everyone else loves, but doesn’t work for you. Every time you change an appliance the change or changes in size will ripple through your kitchen design. Potentially fixing one problem and causing others. Not an effective way to move your project forward. 3. You should get to SEE and consider every possible combination of appliances and cabinetry that resolve, fix, or eliminate your current kitchen problems. Not consider one layout and try to justify it by tweaking it with good ideas. I believe this approach is working backwards. Based upon my experience You should get to see and compare at least 5 different kitchen layout options. To see examples of what I mean click the link below. https://www.kitchendesignco.com/layout-laboratory 4. You should use 3D perspective drawings to make your design decisions, because the majority of people (this includes many designers) don’t really understand what their 2D plans and interior elevations will actually produce. To see examples of what I mean click the link below. https://www.kitchendesignco.com/kitchen-design-drawings/ That is until AFTER their kitchens are done and there is nothing they can do. Because even though what they get is unexpected, the kitchen (not their kitchen they expected) will match their kitchen design drawings. And you can’t complain about getting a beautiful new kitchen without coming off as being completely ungrateful. So you’ll just live with a kitchen you don’t really want and make do. And For As Long As You’re In This Home! Not what anyone expects or wants to have happen. 5. You Should NOT focus on getting your new kitchen done to start your new life. You Should Focus on how You want and expect to LIVE Your New Life In It AFTER your new kitchen is done. 6. If you expect your new kitchen to last AVOID Everything Trendy, New, and WOW. The kitchen industry pushes the latest fashion trends to sell more kitchens. This is a fact not a secret. Trends change about every ten years. If you ever wondered why so many dated dysfunctional kitchens litter this country this is why. When the Trend your new kitchen was designed to meet CHANGES the esthetic appeal of your new kitchen plummets to Zero! No one wants a kitchen that’s dated. If you want your kitchen to Look the way it did when it was completed for as long as you’re in your home. AVOID the latest trends. Here is my feedback on your kitchen layout (see attached marked up layout). You have good separation between work space and gathering space because of your island. Your work triangle is a large as you can get it. Without an island sink you’ll have to travel about 18’ (6 to 9 steps) to get from your ref to your main sink. 10’ from your main sink to your range, and about 8’ from your range to your ref. Ref/f Wall Your ref is in gathering space. So when you’re entertaining you may not be able to get into it. And the 57” aisle way between your island and range wall may encourage guests or family to hang out in all that space, which may be exactly what you want. But could make working a chore trying to navigate around people. Your Ref/f location is about 15’ from your dining table, and about 30’ away from your living area. I don’t see a beverage center anywhere. It’s also far from your covered porch. I don’t know where or if you have an outdoor patio/grill location. It appears that your ref/f wall is made up of all tall cabinets ( I can’t read what is written) which is a trend that has been in existence for about ten years now. When this trend passes you’re kitchen will be dated. This trend will pass as more and more people are exposed to living without counter tops next to major appliances which is just not practice. It looks really cool and clean having all that mass. But you’re left without counter top space. So if this is the case you’ll have to use your island to load and unload your ref/f or carry your items to the counter to the right of your range (guessing it’s a range). For most of us the ref is the most used appliance. So getting into and out of it and having to travel to the island or counter by the range may not be the most efficient use of your time and energy. Island I believe your aisle way between your island and cook top is 57” for a reason. As well as the 42” distance from the ref/f wall and the 45” distance from your main sink wall. If not you may want to reduce them all to 42” to 48”, depending upon your preference. I prefer 42” because it will bring the island about a step and a half away from the main sink, range, and ref/f walls. Adding time to your life by saving you time. You may consider adding a prep sink to cut your work triangle in half saving you lots of steps and time. And depending upon how you decide to live in this home a second dishwasher for the island. For such a large island, 10’-6” x 4’-9”, I don’t get why the overhang for seating is only 12” deep, because sitting on a 24” high seat it won’t be very comfortable. Do you really need all of the base cabinetry shown under your island counter top? I wouldn’t suggest making the island any wider than you can reach across to clear it when using island seating. If you can’t reach across you’ll have to go around it to clear it, more steps more time. The additional island storage won’t be easily accessible with seating there. And with such a huge pantry just off of the kitchen is all that cabinetry necessary? Main Sink Wall Your main sink is about 15’ away from your dining table. Dish and glass storage is as far away from your dining table as you can get them, if stored in your wall cabinetry on your range wall. You’ll have to cover quite a distance to set and clear your dining table. You should add a dbl. Trash pullout to the left of your main sink. You may consider moving the dw to the left of the sink if your dishes and glasses are stored in the wall cabinetry on your range wall to save you steps and time emptying the dw. Range Wall You have plenty of counter top to the left and right of your range top for prep and staging items during cooking and baking. Base cabinetry could be 27” to 36” wide for storing the items you will use there. You’ll have to travel about 20’ to get from your range to your dining table (16’ as the crow flies, if you had no island). Pantry Your pantry is HUGE this could be good or bad. Deep cabinetry or shelving is shown with wall cabinetry or shallow shelving shown above. I’m going to guess that you don’t have cabinetry in a pantry with a door. You want all shallow shelving 12” to 15” deep. Deep shelves block your view. Unless you’re storing all like items (like paper towels) what is in front you see, and what’s behind you can’t see. Sure you can store more stuff but you won’t know what you have beyond what you can see. Keeping shelves shallow makes it hard to bury stuff in your pantry. And you won’t need so much space. You might consider adding more real estate to your hall bath or laundry room. I could go on but I’m out of time. I hope this has been helpful. Joe Brandao Kitchen Design Company

I don’t think you’ll get much feedback from people who have put a cooktop in front of a window because I don’t think it would occur to many people to do this. It seems like a bad idea. You will constantly be cleaning it. Bump a pot the wrong way and you can scratch or crack the glass. It seems what you are envisioning is a direct-set window, with the glass flush with the countertop/cabinets. This would mean if you ever had to replace the glass, you’d have to do it from outside by removing the trim, as the window frame would be behind the countertop and cabinets. What direction does the window face?