We are very close to pulling the trigger on a revised kitchen plan after scrapping the one our first KD did (in large part because of feedback I got on this forum, so thank you!).
We are now using an online KD firm, but our designer has COVID so she's out of commission for a bit. My contractor is ready to get the permitting process started but I'm having a crisis of confidence in the design because the fridge is very visible from the living room, something I realized over Christmas I was going to hate. So I have been reworking it myself and need feedback about whether my new design is any good.
We are doing an open design that puts the kitchen adjacent to our living room. I might be hesitant to do this normally but we live in a split level so we have a whole other "living room" four steps down from the main floor. But that functions more as our family room, while the upstairs is our more "formal" room with our piano and art (as formal as we ever get anyway).
I really like that my revised plan basically creates a butler's pantry of sorts between the main kitchen and the dining room where the fridge, microwave, and wall oven will go along with a prep sink, coffee maker and toaster oven. This means that about 90% of the kitchen's business can take place mercifully far from the business end where I have the cooktop, sink, and island and small countertop microwave.
It also means that the fridge is about 15' away from the cooktop, which I am fine with for the most part (I know Houzz opinions differ on this). The biggest issue that I can see is that there is an external doorway between the "butler's pantry" where the fridge is and the other side of the kitchen. The door leads out to a screen room that gets some action but not every day. I'm leaving about 60" of space in that walkway since the island backs there.
So my question is: what other issues do you see? What am I overlooking? Is this a plan worth pursuing when my KD is feeling better or should I just roll with the old design, which has a few other small issues, too, but keeps the construction on schedule.
Thank you!
A couple of notes about the rendering:
-the funny cutout in the dining room was my attempt at showing the 21" nook where the wine fridge will go.
- the gray dot in the middle is the 8x8 beam that the engineer's plans require; I'm thinking that area will get some built in bookshelves with shallow cabinets and serve as the charging/Alexa zone.
-the sink run is bumped out about five inches because there is a pipe bump out on that wall (I'm looking forward to the extra deep counters and will probably do the same on the butler's pantry run).
-there is currently a sliding glass door where the big window is so I'd prefer to keep that there(ish) if possible to reduce cost.
-this is an Ikea plan because we are happily using Ikea cabinets. I know not everyone likes them, and I respect that, but they are what work for our budget.
Thanks! Happy to provide any more pics or info. Hoping the legend @mothergoose will weigh in.