just my 2 cents.. i currently have the set up of your first drawing. where you have the pantry i have a wall to the living room, i put a 6 inch deep 5 foot high free standing shelf along the wall (easy to make) and i keep anything in glass jars on that, i have a reach in pantry.(where your deck is i have a bed room with a bathroom next to it, door facing the kitchen, and the pantry is between the bedroom and bath), the shelf i have is narrow enough not to impede the entry next to the peninsula, and it keeps me from worrying about having a glass jar break in the pantry, everyone who sees it thinks its a great idea (i keep remains of boxes of pasta in canning jars etc). my kitchen is open to the dining room, which no one who i see with this design uses as a dining room because the walk way to the sliding glass doors eventually takes precedence (Florida = Lani), or if they do, the table is pushed up against the wall which leaves seating for 4. i also have a slim cabinet and a semi-corner upper cabinet(s) on the wall to the right of the sink,my dish washer is in the spot of your original drawing, i have a lazy susan corner on the bottom in the corner. The over hang of the upper cabinets makes a spot to park the appliances with a clean up area right next to the sink which keeps things from sprawling, i have a set of drawers instead of a cabinet on the outside of the dishwasher, very handy.. . It seems to me that some people are sit-down-at-the-table types and some are more casual island eaters.. when my daughter was younger we used the large area of the peninsula to make bread and such from the dining room side, that way she could sit up and reach and it was a nice area to use for lots of things. the actual work flow on this for me is parking the grocery's on the peninsula and on flat stove top to load fridge, the biggest problem i have is with the microwave. first had it on the Pinn but if two people were in the kitchen there would be an issue with doing anything with the sink, i moved it to the other side of the sink, between it and the stove, its a better location but it uses up a lot of room and its awkward to get things in and out, for that reason alone i liked the idea of a microwave area. it looks like you currently have a microwave installed in the wall next to the fridge? My neighbor put his on the counter and then made a huge space above for an appliance garage, (think just one big shelf), you'd only have to close off the underside of the stairs really; the cool thing is he used a painting hinged on the corner side as a door. i would say live with it for a minuet first, and then if you were going to do anything i'd put a pantry at the end of the room like in the 3-D model Anna has, also the peninsula, if you are not going to use that room then you might want to shorten it, mine is a bit tight and the other issue is where to put the trash.. if you are an under the sink person then fine, but otherwise i ended up putting it at the end of the peninsula, now its tucked under on the outer side with a stool in front. what is really amazing is that so many people spent so much of their time to help you with this, and that i actually sat here and read each post.. it had a coffee table conversation feel to it, very well done everybody :) best of luck with the new home, the only other thing i would say is, you have to decide if you and SO need a break from the stress of actually buying the house before you start tearing it up (warning: only do ONE ROOM at a time) or if you are the kind of folk who like to get it all out of the way so you can be done with it.. may your home always be filled with love (and big ideas).. Lin

Okay, here's what I came up with on my first go-round. I nixed the pantry opening into the mudroom/laundry, enlarged it and made it a walk-in pantry accessible from the kitchen. I recessed the standard depth fridge so that it doesn't jut out into the kitchen more than a counter depth model. I eliminated the double oven niche and moved the ovens into the working kitchen area. If you start any meals on the cook top before moving them to the ovens, you'll be glad to have them closer and not two aisles apart. Plus, it eliminates the risk of any kiddies barreling up the basement stairs or from the mudroom and into an open oven door. I moved the DW to the right side of the sink. If you use the counter between clean-up sink and cook top as an additional prep area, you'll be glad to have the DW out of the way. You could center the cook top and hood between ovens and sink or you could leave them as I have them, with a longer section of counter between cook top and clean-up sink. This comes down to function over form. I created a window seat in the nook area to gain 24" more, which helped make room for the DW, sink, cook top and ovens on the same wall. A 42 x 60 table will seat 6 on a regular basis. If you purchase a table with a 12" leaf, you can then seat 8. I swapped the swing of the door to the porch so that you can open it completely and fold it back against the window. We have this set-up in our kitchen. We find the counter right next to the door a handy spot to set down dishes on their way out to the patio and deck, especially when we grill (where will your grill be?). You didn't mention MW but I added a MW drawer to the island. The kids will be able to use it, plus having it next to the pantry and fridge makes it convenient to reheat left-overs, make popcorn or other snacks. I eliminated the broom closet near the table. That seems like an odd place to have it, IMO. Surely you can find room for these items in the mudroom/laundry room. I kept the sense of division between LR and kitchen with display/bookcases, facing each other, at either end of the arched opening. Okay, on to making the island unique for you. I tried to fit in two islands but I felt that too much function was given up to make them work. So I gave you a different type of seating to your island and a combination of closed and open storage facing the LR. The thick, smaller circle under the seating area is a pedestal support. You could do the top in the same surface as the island or you could do a different top, either metal or wood, to differentiate it from the rest of the island. Here are some examples: [[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/modern-traditional-traditional-kitchen-chicago-phvw-vp~442114) [Traditional Kitchen[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/traditional-kitchen-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_709~s_2107) by La Grange Kitchen & Bath Designers Cheryl D & Company [[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/the-woodshop-of-avon-traditional-kitchen-minneapolis-phvw-vp~369949) [Traditional Kitchen[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/traditional-kitchen-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_709~s_2107) by Edina Kitchen & Bath Designers The Woodshop of Avon [[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/after-kitchen-island-traditional-kitchen-st-louis-phvw-vp~34350) [Traditional Kitchen[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/traditional-kitchen-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_709~s_2107) by Brisbane Interior Designers & Decorators InterDesign Studio [[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/warmington-and-north-traditional-kitchen-seattle-phvw-vp~145787) [Traditional Kitchen[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/traditional-kitchen-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_709~s_2107) by Seattle Cabinets & Cabinetry Warmington & North I didn't put a dia on the seating area. If you do wood or metal, you can do a larger dia more easily than if you choose stone counters. Just don't go below the aisle minimums I listed so that you have plenty of room for people to move past those seated at island and table. You could also do an island shaped like these islands: [[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/minnesota-residence-traditional-kitchen-minneapolis-phvw-vp~5685389) [Traditional Kitchen[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/traditional-kitchen-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_709~s_2107) by Minneapolis Interior Designers & Decorators Martha O'Hara Interiors [[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/peace-of-the-rock-beach-style-kitchen-boston-phvw-vp~9695612) [Beach Style Kitchen[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/beach-style-kitchen-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_709~s_2110) by Chatham Architects & Building Designers Polhemus Savery DaSilva [[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/medina-bridgewater-model-traditional-kitchen-minneapolis-phvw-vp~3976424) [Traditional Kitchen[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/traditional-kitchen-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_709~s_2107) by Minneapolis Design-Build Firms Wooddale Builders This post was edited by lisa_a on Tue, Oct 14, 14 at 17:17

Yes,both the dining room entry and family room entry should be looked at closely along their respective walls. It may not make a big difference with regards use of those spaces,but in the kitchen,a relocation of one or the other or both passages, can make a huge difference with regards to if you'll have a U,and which side the U comes off [perhaps the dining room wall], or an elongated L with island, or 2 runs opposite each other. Definitely worth the time to mock up dimensions and primitive layouts with that kind of change. It's an internal kitchen, so like the spokes of a wheel running off, get those walkways at the best spots for the net yield of a much better kitchen. Hope you come back and show a couple plans after you play with it for a while....and remember, you'll have sight lines so when you get to your style decisions, you'll want something you can really play up-it'll be so different from what you have now. Some kitchen designers are also interior designers-I wouldn't rule out finding such person after you get some decisions nailed down....the way this is positioned in the home means you want to notch it all up in looks/style...these people can have amazing ideas not obvious at this stage to get you a really beautiful space.

@Andrea C Nothing about the windows, or any part of this idea, is set. The utility of the prep sink being on the island is that it forms a triangle with storage (fridge and pantry) and stove, while providing a work/landing surface (island counter space) between. Using just the clean up sink would mean running around the island from storage/prep whenever I need the sink. @Lisa Dipiro That was a big part of my questions: what is the practical benefit of putting a prep sink between the work/prep counter space and the stove? Your idea, a la Design #2, would mean I'd need to maneuver around the sink to get from my prep zone (island counter space) to the stove. I don't understand why it's desirable to have prep sinks immediately near a cooktop. It would also mean my family would walk around me while I'm working on the long side of the island and plant themselves in front of the prep sink, right between me and the stove. Also, there was my note about squaring the fridge and prep sink together. If you have experience with a fridge being opposite a sink and how that's worked out and not been a problem, I'd love to hear. @vinmarks I'm not stuck on anything at the moment. This is a rough idea stage, but every idea is going to have its pros and cons. There is no perfect solution for everything. That said, I'm mostly curious if the placement of a Design #1 prep sink and fridge would possibly cause problems I can't see, because the cons(?) I listed there are more about what I keep seeing come up in kitchen designs rather than what bothers me, i.e. is the fridge too far into the kitchen and is it truly a problem to have a prep sink closer to the outside perimeter then close to the stove? Your idea doesn't really answer that question, because I also see pretty much everyone who's considering that same design still say they want their prep sinks close to their stove, wherever that is. I like being able to transition straight from my workspace to the stove. @Buehl I think I'm not understanding you right? Based on what you've written, it sounds like you're suggesting the first design below, which would make the island one huge barrier between the fridge and stove! Even if you meant to move the fridge to the same wall as the range, as with the second pic below, with the wall ovens elsewhere, that would just direct my family's flow further into the same space as mine, because everything they linger around (MW, toaster) would have to be directly next to the stove as I'm working, and both sinks would be directly in the deepest/base part of the kitchen work area.