Sorry, I ad to leave town for a few days and didn't get to immediately check I had a few more replies. To answer your questions, sena01, we do intend to buy a new counter depth fridge to help with space issues. I love the 3 seater layout that you posted there, although I'm not sure I can remove the entire end wall of the dining room. We were going to possibly keep a half wall there due to a thermostat and switches being on that wall. We do need at least a corner post because the portion of the wall adjacent to the living room is load bearing, so we'll need a beam and post. Below is a layout of the kitchen, DR, and LR so you get a better idea of the total space. I think we are pretty much stuck with the door where it is unless we remove it altogether. We are considering an "outward swing" door to minimize the impact, but our contractor is worried about security on that. The layout is missing that we do also have a sliding door on the back wall of the dining room that starts 20" from the kitchen entrance and takes up most of the 119.5" wall on that side.

Your changes are so much better. Those angled-corner pantries are quite often ridiculously big, encroaching too much into the kitchen, and look like behemoths. The way you have squared it off will look so much better and give you back that room in your kitchen. It will be functional and more visually appealing. Your island design is also much better. We cook from fridge to sink to prep counter to cooktop/oven. So you want your appliances in that order for best efficiency. If your aisle width from island to perimeter counter is at least 48", you could also have a prep sink in the island. Quite a few people lately have done narrow windows on each side of the cooktop lately, so that's what I put there. Something else you might want to consider is your storage needs. If you do all drawers on the lowers, you will have more accessible storage which can also hold more items than lower cabinets. You have a decent-sized pantry. And it looks like you might have quite a bit of storage in that laundry room nearby although it's cut off so hard to tell. If so, that might be a great place to store items you don't use often or for your overflow bulk storage needs. Like if you buy a case of something on sale, you could put 3-5 of them in your corner pantry and the rest in the laundry room just moving them into the pantry as they are used up. If you have enough storage between your lowers, the pantry and the laundry room, you could eliminate some or all of the upper cabinets and have more windows! This will make your kitchen lighter and feel more spacious. And it's nice to work without cabinets in your face.

Ok, I finally made it home. As you'll see from the sketches, we are in the early conceptual stage of house design with our architect. LOL.... It was said and agreed upon on the build forum that architects aren't great kitchen designers (and neither am I) :) :) We like this particular layout, but I wanted to make sure that we could get a functioning kitchen before we move further forward with this particular variation.Garage is in the top right corner which I cut off on the picture. I agree that a true butlers pantry opens into the DR, but we are both ok with it as it is because it is also quite like a wet-bar for us. We still can stage food and remove dirty dishes, etc to this spot. And a section through the kitchen: And finally, a more squished in version of the kitchen: Hopefully that gives everyone a better idea of what we're trying to do.

Just getting back to GW -- b/w family & work, my time was limited this past weekend. . "How big of a kitchen sink should I get?" I would try for at least a 30" sink base cabinet. It should fit a sink b/w 27" and 28.5". That size should fit just about anything. If a 33" or 36" works in the layout, then go ahead and get a larger one. If you were getting a two-bowl sink, I'd say at least 36" - even with a 60/40 or 70/30 split. But with a single bowl, a minimum of 30" is probably enough. . "How big of an overhang do we need for comfortable seating..." That depends on the height of the counter. The minimum recommended overhangs are below. Note that these overhangs are for short to average heights/leg lengths. If you or anyone in your family is tall (say, 6' or more) or have long legs, then I would go with a deeper overhang (maybe another 3" depth). Table-height seating (30" off the floor)...18" of clear leg/knee space Counter-height seating (36" off the floor)...15" of clear leg/knee space Bar-height seating (42" off the floor)...12" of clear leg/knee space. However, if you plan to eat meals at this height, you need at least 18" of depth for plate + glass. For all three heights, a minimum of 24" of linear space is needed per seat. Note that there have been some rumblings in the Kitchen Design world that for table-height it should more like 30" of linear space per seat -- but I have not seen that "officially" stated anywhere and based on my experience, I think 24" is fine for table-height seating for most people. . Regarding a hood...have you considered building out the wall another 9" or so and then the soffit the same. Then, run the hood duct up inside the new depth and into the new part of the soffit and then out to the outside? From the pictures, it looks like the soffit goes across the Kitchen to the outside wall. Is that correct? (Or, is the soffit really just the ceiling?) I have a blank slate that I'll post. I haven't had time to work up a layout, but I do like Sena's layouts. Let me know if the blank slate is correct, please. Blank Slate: . Possible soffit location? Or, just ceiling?? .