<<over here trying to figure out what wrong with the current one?

Love the new layout. Keep going. Maybe have an electrician install recessed lighting if you can.

We're making the island smaller as we find the current island way too big. That couch you see in the picture now sits parallel to the one edge and is too close for people to comfortably get by. On the other side is the kitchen table and chair and again is really close to the kitchen table chairs. All this is WITHOUT including and island stools or someone sitting at them.

We're still unsure about that 18" or 24" cabinet. The 24" cabinet makes it symmetrical which i like and allows comfortably seating on the island. But we sacrifice 6" beween the fridge and the side of the island. Saying that, is it fair to say that the major working area would be where the stove, sink and dishwasher is? Whereas adjacent to the fridge is more of a walkthrough?

The island is definitely one level hence the 15" overhang which from what i've read online and measured myself sitting is relatively comfortable.

Youre on the right track. Yes thats the working area.

I do think the aisle between island and fridge is narrow. It looks like 36”? Are you planning a counter depth fridge? I would not want that aisle so narrow. The fridge doors might also interfere with the corner pantry door.

I might consider alternatives to the corner pantry also..,

Right now the width between the fridge side countertop and existing island countertop is 41". With a 24" cabinet the distance would be 47.5" and with an 18" cabinet it would be 41.5".

The fridge is actually counter depth based on real measurements and not what Samsung provides but yes it still sticks out a little. It's definitely not ideal but not a deal breaker for us. Once in a blue moon the kids open the pantry door as the left fridge door is open and they hit but it just doesn't happen enough to make a big reno change worthwhile to fix.

Unfortunately, redoing the corner pantry just isn't worth it we think. We would have to remove walls, doors, framing, pantry counters then "straighten" that pantry door wall for it to be perpendicular to the stove wall. Then add cabinets and perhaps move/center the stove.

Our entire goal was to brighten the kitchen so White/Alabaster cabinets, Silestone Lusso or LG Viatera Clarino or Wilsonart Desert Wind quartz and maybe a slight darker backsplash for contrast. In terms of the island, the area behind the sink is basically unreachable and unusable and the two level island is too much for such a small kitchen. Our thoughts anyways.

I agree about the 2 levels on your island and wasted space Behind the sink.

A counter depth fridge is at least 25”. I didnt realize your existing cabinets were 18”. for your aisle issue, when you square off the island it’s right in front of your fridge. It used to be angled so it was away from the fridge. but now, regardless of cabinet depth the island is less than 41” from the fridge. With a 27” “counter depth” fridge the island is about 38” away from the fridge. Although it is farther than that from the cabinets. that seems a bit tight. but probably the doors will open ok.

I might consider moving the fridge leftwards. So it’s near the outer edge of the counters (Away from the corner pantry) And then I’d probably do the 24” lowers. thats just me though! I think that might give it a more open airy feeling. And help with circulation. Not a pro though!

Can you remove the soffit above the right side? Or take the uppers all the way up? I think that could help also.

ps. I think hidden brackets would be nicer For the island overhang. And with the new backsplash would be better In just the back. Not wrapped onto the corner pantry walls. Probably that is already part of the plan.

When i speak about the cabinet on the left side of the sink (facing the sink) it's the width of 18" or 24". So from the sink it's an 18" wide cabinet + 47.5" gets you to the fridge side countertop OR 24" wide cabinet + 41.5" gets you to the fridge side countertop. The fridge doors open fine but yes the fridge again juts out slightly so say the choice is a 38.5" aisle or a 44.5" aisle to the fridge doors.

I guess the one major thing to mention with the pantry, it is a walk through pantry and we'd like to keep it. It is actually quite spacious so we don't necessarily need more cabinets in the kitchen.

We're also not doing cabinets to the top as our home has 10 foot ceilings. Strange for this part of the woods as most upgraded ceilings are 9 feet. The living room, dining room and kitchen are relatively small and we feel that pushing the cabinets that high will make the area look elongated upwards.

Any thoughts on those 12" base cabinets in the island? They will open perpendicular to the island. The island could be smaller i guess if i remove them but i feel the island is a fairly adequate size. I still will keep the 4" gap for an electrical outlet on either side of the island.

I read somewhere that the hidden brackets need to be attached to a vertical 2x4 wall. Is that correct?

Actually a bit of an update on this. We went to a bunch of showhomes on the weekend. A couple of thoughts.

1. The 48" between the stove counter and island is overkill for us. We could live with 42" but i think we will be at 44".

2. I was so adamant about a 15" overhang as per all the websites but we found 12" is perfectly fine for a counter height island overhang. We may go 13" or 14" tops.

3. I am a little worried about the length of our island. The counter will actually be 86 3/4" with a 1 inch overhang contrary to my plan. The side of the island is 32" from the kitchen table. Not ideal but not terrible either. BUT if we go for a smaller width cabinet next to the sink (say 21" or even 18") then i worry the island won't look symmetrical. ARGH.

4. I feel the depth at 56" is too big. I liked the 48" depth and could live with 50" or 52".

5. The cabinet place suggested back to back cabinets so a depth of 24" cabinet + 12" cabinet + 12" overhang = 49" countertop depth or perhaps 24" + 16" + 12" overhang = 53" countertop depth or 24" + 12" + 14" = 51" countertop depth.

6. On the side of the island, do i go with a 1" overhang or 0.5" overhang?

Any additional thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

My question is about where you stand when you open the pantry door. With the new rectangle you can't really stand facing the existing door and open it (and if you narrow the aisle its swing is even closer!)

You would be better served by a bifold door or double door.

32 is pretty darn close to the kitchen table....but you are installing island seating...do you want to keep the table? If you need it, could it be pushed closer to the wall most of the time?

Yeah unfortunately that door is what it is. The majority of the time it is closed. This is quite a common design in our City except that the doors are usually a bit narrower. When we started this process we thought that too but it looks like common practice up here. Not ideal but not a deal breaker for us.

When you come in with groceries (it's a walk through pantry), you'll come in and turn left to get to the fridge and put things on the island. Coming from the stove area you'll have to pass the corner of the island, open the door and go in.

I measured the width of our table and it is 42" wide so i might look for a 36" deep table which will help a bit.

The island before is shown underneath the new shaded island, it was actually closer to the table by 3"! So it will be an improvement albeit not a perfect one.

Can you add banquette seating to allow more clearance space in the kitchen?

In our last house we redesigned the kitchen. We fixed some issues but didn't fix all and decided to live with them. Personally, I wish we waited and made all the necessary changes. I spent the next 10 years obsessing about the lack of functionality because if I had waiting just another year or so, we would have had the budget saved to make the last few critical changes.

Unfortunately banquet seating won't work. I have added the kitchen table (70" x 42") to my layout along with dimensions to walls to the updated layout. The area behind the long side of the table has a low wide window and two vents. I have also added the couch and end table just to give an idea of how the home is setup.

I have also narrowed the island to show back to back cabinets. They are shown as only 12" deep but we could go to 16". Since they will be underneath the island they will be used for oddball storage such as Thanksgiving and Christmas items. We think this may be an interesting solution. The cabinet place mentioned not putting handles on and just have the doors open with a push click type setup.

I only want to make sure that the stealth bracket holding up the overhang works with this setup and they don't interfere with the cabinet doors opening.

The picture is a bit small. The distances around the table are 33.5", 37", 24" and 48". The distance between the island and couch is 59.25". Island countertop is now 86.75" x 49".