Your Pantry would be next room leaving the kitchen towards your family room! It can be configured how you need to based on your large entryway, and this pass-through doorway. I used your dimensions to create this kitchen. As might imagine an Island just gives it a slightly more crowded feel, unless you wanted a non-fixed island, like a piece of furniture that wasnt too large, which wouldnt be too bad I suppose! Mike

Leave the wall with the fireplace on. No one wants to see into your kitchen if it is at a time, you just made a meal, and havent had time to clean up yet. I would leave the wall between the dining room, and nook,kitchen too, for the very same reason. I have a dining room open to my kitchen, and no good way to close it up. I hate it. If I have people for dinner, then anyone sitting on one side of the table, has a direct view to my kitchen sink. Not exactly what you want to look at when you are having a nice meal.

I'm going to conflict with some of the other comments above - your microwave is at the proper height off the counter so disregard that directive. I would replace the wall cabinets because you can't stretch them and you don't have enough space above to add - my professional eye tells me you could put 36" upper wall cabinets with a small two piece crown or install 33" uppers with a medium sized crown. I'd either do a darker stain or paint the base cabinets and do the uppers in a painted white or off white depending on the base color you decide on. IF YOU COULD AFFORD IT - I'd change the base cabinets to include deep drawers for pots-n-pans (30 - 36" wide works best) and include an 18" wide cabinet on the island to hold dual waste. (You can get a single with a 15" wide cabinet). It all comes down to money and unfortunately that doesn't grow on trees! On the positive side, you layout is very nice - we spend a great deal of time at our sinks and with your sink on the island facing the family you are part of what ever is going on. It's hard to see but I think your recessed lights are LED's - if not switch them out - that you can do yourself and it's not expensive. I'd add under cabinet lighting on a separate switch. If $$ is an issue the Algean post form laminate counter tops give you the look of stone but are still laminate. However, it doesn't hurt to get a price on stone so you have all the information you need in order to make a good decision. Flooring - you have so many options and so many price points. I've never been a fan of splitting a room up like they have here. Having the tile on a diagonal also adds to the visual mix - I just put a vinyl plank floor that lay's as opposed to a click floor as I was working in a commercial building with various underlayment materials. She went with a dark wood plank look and it came out great! We didn't spent alot on the material but installation by a certified installer was more of the investment - but worth it. And, PAINT! I love color - it's a cheap way to liven up your space and if you take your time and have a steady hand you can do it yourself! Have fun.

That really isn't a floating wall - it's connected to a soffit and continues down the hall to another doorway. I would not come out from that towards the staircase - it will look like part of your kitchen is in a hallway. Have you actually cut open the wall to see what/how big/where all these pipes are on the inside?? They are most likely not spread all through that long wall. Maybe you can remove a bunch of the wall, just leaving behind some posts ( there surely are some structural columns inside there ) and then you can be more creative with cabinetry Sort of like these maybe?? The key is to truly know what can and can't be done structurally in your home. You will need an architect to help with the structural changes since it might be a load bearing wall. You definitely have a great space to work with!