I think that unless you move the doorway over, the new island might just funnel people closer to the cooking between the island and range rather than around the other side of the island because the direct path from the door to the kitchen table goes that way. The current arrangement at least influences them to walk more diagonally across the kitchen. If you got rid of the cabinets on the L wall between the kitchen and the living dining area and moved the doorway over to the left, opening the fridge wouldn't block the doorway. The island could be made somewhat longer which would replace some of the storage and counter removed from the L wall and mixing bowls and other items you need for cooking could be in the island closer to where they are needed and where they are washed. With the new doorway location, people would be directed to the non-cooking side of the island. I'd also suggest a small prep sink on the end of that longer island near the fridge which would make a separate zone for you to do some cook prep while your husband is using the main sink for clean up or other prep. Plumbing to the island is more expense, but IMO it will be worth it with that layout. Do you ever eat on that deck? Have you thought of doing a pass through window over the counter to the deck?

I saw this thread when searching for advice on L-shaped kitchen layouts and just had to post as my kitchen is pretty much identical to the example posted by fireberd350 at 21:10. We're embarking on a remodel now and while I think the layout in general isn't bad, to me it does seem like the fridge would make more sense over on the other wall by the dishwasher, as suggested by blfenton. It is so true that in the year that we have been living in this kitchen, the no man's land of the counter over by the dishwasher has always been junked up since it's not a very functional area. We should be able to carve out some room for a pantry beside the fridge too. Good luck fireberd350 and I'd be interested to see how your layout develops!

It's not harsh- that's the kind of feedback I need. So, in a work triangle, all of the "lines" should be unobstructed? The layout is actually almost the same as it is now, and we've been living it for 7 years. So my drawing a, without the pull-out, is the same as my current fridge location, up against where the counter stops. i'll take a picture! ok so the picture is the view from my sink. When I turn around after grabbing something i can turn around and walk to sink without any trouble. moving it any farther to the left would put the island right in the way. fridge can't move to sink wall because the window is huge. It's not shown that way in the drawing but it takes up almost the whole wall. just to the right of the sink run is a breakfast nook area. I know what you're saying about the island seating. I wanted to do no seating at all or cram two little stools on the short end. i agree with you that it doesn't make sense. dh is insisting on island seating. our kids actually sit on that side now but they're little. It would be awkward with an adult sitting there. we use the island for all of our prep so i don't want to take it out altogether. it was something we really wanted (i like to be near the kids and talking to them while they're eating and I'm cleaning/prepping/cooking). But I guess our space just doesn't work with island seating. so we could remove all overhang and move it farther from the range to allow a clearer pathway between fridge and sink. Can change dimensions also if necessary. do you see ofher problems in functionality? you're right, those should be addressed first. I'm flying solo here with no kd or contractor so i need all the help i can get!

We have both an architect (FAIA) and an interior designer to whom we have paid a VERY sizable chunk of money. I am delighted with their work on the main portion of the house, but I'm hoping to work this out without needing to involve them, since I hate to spend more design money on an architecturally uninteresting space that will rarely if ever be seen by anyone outside of our family. There are a couple changes I've made since the architect finalized the plans (e.g. after getting fantastic advice here about my kitchen layout), and he's happy to look over proposed changes and give them his blessing or shoot them down. I'm hoping to come up with an idea for this space to run by him, which he will happily do for free. If I just get a thread of people telling me I'm being cheap, that's fine, I am! But on the off chance that someone has a great idea about how to handle this - and in particular, about how to put in an area that works as a guest room without actually being a dedicated guest room - I figured it couldn't hurt to post.