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.

@biondanonima (Zone 7a Hudson Valley) Swapping the dining/living areas creates other concerns. For one, I'd like to keep the dining area adjacent to the kitchen area. Moving the living area (with the TV) to the dining area (with the 10' bay window) creates issues with the TV visibility that are just annoying. We did have multiple estimates with moving the sink. it really needs to stay on the back wall. And I do prefer having the sink area by a window, and then the dishwasher next to the sink. That leaves not much space between the two windows. There's 51" of base space then to the left of the dishwasher and 61" between the two windows. Dropping a 30" stove there, with a 36" range hood and trying to center the stove and range hood between the two windows, would mean having only a 15" landing space to the left of the range, and only 6" of space between the range and the dishwasher. The pantry closet would be better able to store larger items that typically won't fit in a cabinet, such as warehouse-club sized cases of foods, appliances that are less frequently used, as well as cleaning supplies (mop, broom, steam cleaner, etc). I get that having the range and refrigerator on the same wall might seem tight, but it's actually an improvement over the current situation. Right now, the range and the refrigerator are on the same wall that is only 10' long. We have only a 15" base cabinet between the existing stove and refrigerator currently - just barely enough for the toaster, which my boyfriend insists needs to be there. And in the existing situation, from the sink to the stove it's just dangerous. They are layed out similar to the proposed layout, but in the current situation, they are much closer. The right edge of the sink is barely 25" from the wall to the right, whereas in the proposed layout, it would be about 47" from the wall. And the stove is currently 36" from the wall to it's left, and in the proposed layout, it would be 51" from the wall. If I draw a line from the right-most corner of the sink to the left-most corner of the stove, right now that distance is only about 15" in the existing layout. In the proposed layout, that distance becomes about 45".

Well, instead of ordering cabinets with the last plan, we hired a designer and ended up *hating* the experience (very expensive and not at all helpful). We also discussed the pros and cons of each of the plans we had seriously considered so far and, unfortunately, came to the (somewhat reluctant on my part) agreement that the main sink in the island makes the most sense for our space. Every other plan had serious trade-offs to the kitchen flow when the sink faced a wall (window not an option). We also decided to switch from our 30" induction range to a 36" induction cooktop + steam oven + wall oven. Some of the pros... It looks good as a whole (well, the perimeter looks good -- we never liked the look of the perimeter in any of the wall-sink plans). Reasonable counter space on either side of the cooktop (38" both sides) Long, uninterrupted counter top next to fridge (64") Open counter top directly across from fridge (french door), next to sink. All drawer base cabinets, and all but one (end of island) are very wide. Kids can get things from fridge and use microwave drawer without coming too far into the kitchen, or access pantry. Large drawers directly across from dishwasher (and next to fridge) perfect for silverware/plate/bowls. More large drawers immediately next to them for food storage and knives. Double trash pullout under the sink (sink is 45" wide and 9" deep on that side so the double trash pullout CAN fit nicely and not impede use of sink/dishwasher). Secondary sink in the butler's pantry (where the coffee and espresso machines are) - we drink a LOT of coffee. Space immediately under cooktop for vertical pan storage, plus large drawers next to and under for MORE pan storage. A few cons... The island has a sink in it. There is some distance between the cooktop and the primary sink, which I had wanted to avoid (if it isn't the kids in the way, it is one of my cats). No place for my knives directly at the island (will have to be in drawer directly behind the sink, which is at least still close). I will call out that while the cooktop (formerly range) does *appear* to be in the "main throughfare", what we have observed is that people are typically walking in and then down towards the living room, not in and through the kitchen towards our bedroom/dining area. True for both kids and guests. And it is a very wide aisle if someone does walk behind the cooktop and someone is there. In our temporary kitchen setup we have the range along that wall and it has never been an issue (the kids come home and never walk through the kitchen). Given all of the trade-offs we're having to make, this one seems to be acceptable? Renderings only show the steam oven (wolf CSO 30" with the large interior), but we will probably include a second wall oven below it (because my husband thinks it looks weird without a full oven, mostly- I'm the baker and I don't feel the need for a full/standard oven, but maybe I'd regret that decision later on).