Thanks Bee, I love the Kohler stage. What your cabinetmaker is doing sounds very interesting. Have you ever seen the Pioneer Woman's island sink? It's a long trough, and although I don't want a real long sink, she had the pieces from the wood counter top made to fit over the sink. If she wants it all exposed, part, or none, it's pretty cool looking. I'll try to find a picture and post. I would love to see a picture of yours, did you try to post one? Does your island have openings on the two long sides, or some on the short sides? I'm worried about how this will look. I think I have pictures of your kitchen thread saved in my favorites and will check there. (OR was that your last kitchen? LOL I'll have to look) Laxfanmom, if you happen to read this, do you have a picture of your island somewhere? I searched this site, googled your name with GW, and came up with nothing as far as your kitchen goes! Bmore, I'm doing different configurations with the trash farther down, it appears it might be too far from the sink? Another silly question, but one that I've wondered about. Do y'all use your can opener on the island if that is where you prep, and if you do, where do you store it? I use my can opener a lot and it is handy by the trash, but where it is now, it tucks inside the appliance garage, (plugged inside) and is out of sight, but on the island, for prep, it would be unsightly left out, and a hassle to get in and out, plug, and put up. Am I just getting lazy now? Or do I use a can opener too much? :)

Hi, Rebecca. Your design is very charming. I love what setting the window on one wall low and the others higher does for each wall. It's going to look wonderful. Since I'm not one of the hawkeyes who catch measurement issues, speaking from my experience with my own, similar kitchen, 1. I'm guessing that putting a prep sink in the right corner would make such a terrifically efficient and pleasant prep area between stove and refrigerator that you could keep it bare and beautiful a good part of the time. If you put it on the island to make that your main prep area, I think I'd put it on the left side of the island as shown so the area opposite the stove and on the right side was open counter for working, with landing area on the right end from the refrigerator and pantry. (BTW, where IS food storage?) Note that this last is my setup and if you're at all like me you'll usually be cleaning up two counters -- island where you start and to right of stove as you continue over there. Could right of stove be your main prep for most daily cooking tasks, or do you want to typically work facing family? Also note that I never did get around to installing my prep sink in the island (it's waiting in the basement) and my island is very heavily used anyway. Thus, although I think putting a prep sink in the corner would make that an extremely workable prep area, it should not keep you from working at the island all you chose. 2. Agree with one cabinet on each side of the hood, set away from it to give it some visual breathing room. It's good that the hood'll be 6" larger, and it might even be a somewhat larger still, for both visual and venting purposes. Check the specs for venting. Visually speaking, IMO my 42" hood over a 36" stove flanked by some 32" double-hung windows is barely large enough to not look small. It's wood built on a relatively light scale as I didn't want a big, massive look, and I thought it would look larger than it does. (At that, it has more visual mass than a lightweight metal one would have.) 4. Assuming a garbage disposal, I'd prefer the trash at the main prep area, since that's where almost all mine is developed. Recycling could go near the outside, such on as the cleanup end of the island, where family could get at it easily. Since it's so nice to just briskly sweep mess into it, if you prep to the right of the stove I think I'd really want the indulgence of a cook's trash there, with a second receptacle for family at the cleanup end of the island, along with the recycling. If you prep on the island, maybe one trash on the inside of the island but at the left end so it's convenient to the cleanup area too?

Here's an idea to jump-start further discussion. I moved the Foyer entry. This creates a natural barrier that directs traffic from the Foyer to the back side of the island. The aisles are wide enough to allow all three primary work zones to be in the aisle b/w the island and the range wall. It may seem like overkill, but there are two sinks - with a layout like this, a prep sink will help make it more functional. You can prep on either: The perimeter next to the range - dirty dishes won't be an issue nor will there be a conflict if someone is trying to clean up or unload the DW while someone else is trying to prep. -or- On the island next to the cleanup sink - as long as there aren't dirty dishes sitting on the island or in the cleanup sink and no one is trying to clean up or unload the DW Dish storage is in the island in drawers. There is plenty of space for dishes. You said you want the MW to be in a tall cabinet with doors - so I put one in on the side. However, I think it would work better to have the MW closer to a water source - so I show an alternate location for the MW as a MW drawer next to the range. If you don't use the MW much, then the tall cabinet should be fine even though it's a bit far from water and the refrigerator. Above the MW, you could include tray storage (cooling racks, cookie sheets, etc.) as well as larger serving platters and similar. See below for an example. You could create a Snack Center next to the MW cabinet. Again, it's not next to a water source, but that may be OK. Behind the island is the Message/Command Center. It can be either a base cabinet + upper cabinet or it could be in a tall pantry-type cabinet that can be closed (see Sweeby's "Organization Closet" in this thread for an example: http://ths.gardenweb.com/discussions/2815096/what-are-command-centers?n=15). Normally, I would suggest putting the Message Center in the Mudroom next to the Garage entrance, but I don't think you have room for it there. Note that all seats have 15" of clear leg/knee space - the minimum recommended for counter-height seating. If you have tall people or people with long legs in the family, consider adding another 3" to the overhang on the short end - that's something I wish we had done. 15" is fine for me at 5'10", but it's too shallow for my DH and DS (6'5" and 6'7", respectively). The 9" deep cabinets under the overhang provide extra storage as well as bigger buffer b/w the cleanup sink and people sitting at the island. I'm not a fan of sitting at a counter with dirty dishes, but the extra 9" helps mitigate the impact. Here's the layout and the accompanying zone map: . Zone map: . . Tray storage example - note the platters are below the trays. You can easily remove the cooling racks, etc., by grasping the bottoms of the items, so you can place them a bit higher. The platters are easily reached as well. This is over my double ovens.

Jake- very good point on the dishwasher/dishes storage. I plan to put plates/cups in the upper cabinet above Left of the DW then use drawers beside the DW to store utensils, food storage plastic ware etc. My thought was exactly yours- to have one area outside the work zone so that when I tell the kids to set the table, they go to that area, grab what they need and head to the table. Most casual weeknights I plan on using my island as a buffet so the plates will be placed there, but I still like for my kids to set the utensils and napkins properly on the dining room table. That’s probably more than you ever wanted to know but wanted to share my “plan” in case anyone sees anything I need to change? Thanks all for the advice on overhang and aisle space! You’ve given me a lot to think about and I need to choose between 15-18 overhang now!