@Buehl, @ulisdone: thanks for the great replies. For reference, the distance from the edge of the countertop to the island in the current 1989-built kitchen is 40" by the window and 40.5" where the rangetop will go (a downdraft cooktop is angled in the corner of the L, which is a huge waste of space). The aisle measurements in the photo are a bit out-of-date -- they're from the first posting. The software I'm using really doesn't want to measure countertop-to-countertop so I figured what it does do is standard and I just mentally subtract 1" of overhang on each side, not 1.5", which seems like a lot -- is that standard for quartz countertops? The current measurement (countertop to countertop) from sink to island is 44-3/4 and rangetop wall to island is 40-1/4, about the same as we have now and 2" less than ideal. Also, the rangetop sticks out a bit further I'd love to move the island further from the rangetop (window seat to island top is about 47") and the issue is with the flooring -- Amendoim (aka Brazilian Cherry) in a size and height that's no longer available and we have exactly one 22 sq ft box left. It runs perpendicular to the rangetop, so to move the island towards the bay window, we'd have to fill in with a bunch of short pieces. Maybe our contractor has some suggestions, or maybe moving it down towards the window exactly 3.25" and filling in with a board the long way under the toe kick would be ok. We are kind of assuming they can remove the existing cabinetry without wrecking the floor, otherwise it'll be something else to deal with. And we love this floor. The seat on the window side of the island is for my wife. She would like to sit in the kitchen and be able to see the TV without straining her neck, so we asked the original designer for a solution to provide 1 or 2 seats on the window/sink side of the island. At this point, it's just the two of us (kids grown and moved out) so the design factors are both our comfort along with future-proofing or we'd only need 2 seats. We do expect to be here for at least another 10 years. We also keep going back and forth with trading the location of the refrigerator and ovens: I agree that the refrigerator is more practical on the non-window wall as far as opening and usability goes, but it makes the line of the upper cabinets look odd. This is from the original posting but I'll repeat it here: That supporting wall to the right of the fridge sticks out 2" into the room, so the refrigerator has to be moved to the left to allow for 110 degree opening. I stuck a 6" pantry pullout there but our contractor/cabinet maker will have to tell us if that's practical. or if we move the fridge to the right and leave just the 2" of clearance and expand the drawers or move the rangetop and upper cabinet down a bit. I figured considering a pullout here would be wide enough for cans and peanut butter. It's the cabinet over the fridge that just looks a bit odd. For reference, here is the other wall: This version of the island has seating for 4 which is enough,but doesn't have the big, deep 36x36 island drawers on the sink side, which are 24x34 here. Is this a better layout overall? Here is a west view. This has the island centered on the bay window, which is where the current island is as well. I moved the island to the left in this view to increase the space when the refrigerator was on the sink wall so it was no longer centered and that looked ok (the flooring strips can be inserted on that side). There will be a toe kick and paneling on this side of the island as well but I can't get the program to draw that. Regarding the appliance sizes, The difference in the appliance prices between, say a 36" and 48" rangetop or a 42" vs 48" fridge is nominal and they've been ordered (2 month lead time). I am curious about your comment about the hood -- this is what the original kitchen designer specified and we all agreed this was more elegant and spacious than the blockier commercial-looking range hood that takes up the entire space. I'm curious about what you'd recommend instead. Something with glass? Or a cabinet running across the top? We also aren't wedded to the door styles, so I'll try a rendering with slab cabinet doors. The cabinets are going to all be custom (a benefit of using a local cabinet shop), so we can do pretty much whatever works. We meet with the general contractor/cabinet maker in 10 days or so to finalize the plans and actual measurements, and I'm sure he will have some suggestions as well. Thanks for the measurements -- I've printed those and will use them to see what works.

Dining table is not yet purchased. But we have 12 chairs. Peninsula as island creates some difficulties with the existing cabinetry. We have a lazy Susan without anything to really replace that with on both walls. Living room - not sure. But switching the lazy Susan to that end also creates complications. Since these are secondhand and we are trying limit additional purchases it does create a puzzle and some challenges. However because it’s a small living room off the dining room in one space it’s almost like a big dining room with seating in the back. Sort of like the open space and symmetry of the doorways on each side of range. Pantry door - i suppose can be in hallway but seems to waste space where we were thinking about keeping our old fridge. Also it’s a bearing wall so more complex there as well. Ideally we’d get a pantry door to match other cabinets next to it that opens to the pantry but likely out of reach budget wise.

I don't mind the appearance of the windows with cabinets in front--as long as the windows aren't on the front of the house. You'll have more storage space with the cabinets under the windows, even with the corner cabinet, and you need drawers across from the DW for dish storage. Also, the base cabinets and island will align much better. It looks as if your prep space to the right of the sink is only about 24", so extra counter space beside the range will be convenient for the times when you need it. NKBA guidelines New to Kitchens? Read me first. Discussions--Extra-deep counters Discussions--all drawer bases Discussions--dishes in drawers

…And someone’s gotta make these cabinets… would it be unusual that even a custom cabinet maker wouldn’t make some renderings. It’s so hard to visualize any space from blueprints. Kitchen function is so important. I imagine your friend doesn’t want to pay more $$ for a designer. Lowes or Home Depot will do it complimentary as part of purchasing. We used them for past bathrooms. It’s a very helpful endeavor. We had help with the kitchen, but the builder talk us out of using them because of some our space issues ( plus he had a cabinet guy he liked to use).