It won’t let me add the photos to the main post for some reason but here are the links:

https://ibb.co/0YwF11N

https://ibb.co/1Grg3T1

Maybe put the fridge on the opposite wall? The sink wall looks pretty crowded to me.

I would move the fridge across the aisle, where the door will open fully without hitting the stub wall. Move the DW to the right of the sink, out of the prep zone, and store dishes in the cabinets to the right. Ideally, the cooktop would go on the same wall as the sink, about where the support post and ovens are drawn.

Thanks! That’s a really good point about the overlapping zones and the fridge door swings. I agree about the cooktop placement but unfortunately that’s not possible (the stub is a former exterior wall and we need to support a beam). And I don’t love the idea of putting the cooktop where the ovens are if we can’t remove the stub wall, because the counter will run out on the one side and the stub wall will limit available landing space on the other.

Mama goose & rainy season- Do you think relocating the fridge will still work if we have a French door fridge as opposed to single door?

I keep staring at your two dead spaces. That kind of lost space would drive me crazy! It is hard to see good ways to use it though. A couple of random ideas.

1. What if you cut the butler's pantry and coat closet entirely, and just make your dining room longer. Move the bar cabinet back a foot, put matching buffet cabinets and uppers or hutch unit on the other side of the doorway, to give you some of the countertop and storage that the butler's pantry had. Turn the under-stair closet to open into the hallway.

2. The deadspace under the hood duct route is trickier. If you had a desk tucked into that niche, you could use the overhead dead space for shelves that hold books, paper, etc. My only other idea is to put a nice armoire on casters in the niche. And behind it a wall safe where you store the family jewels and gold bars. :)

I really like the idea of moving the fridge, and having the dishwasher to the right of the sink. It'll allow you to store dishes closer to the dishwasher.

For the fridge, you'll want to pick out your fridge model and verify the spec dimensions for our to guarantee that you can open the doors without obstruction and that it doesn't stick out too far so that it doesn't block the walking path through the kitchen.

Mama goose & rainy season- Do you think relocating the fridge will still work if we have a French door fridge as opposed to single door?

French door fridge will definitely work if it's relocated. Are you asking if the French door fridge will work better than a single door in the original location? My understanding is that the door on any built-in fridge will open 90 deg., even against a wall.

I agree about the cooktop placement but unfortunately that’s not possible (the stub is a former exterior wall and we need to support a beam).

I could tell from the plan. I live in an old house which has had several additions over the years, so I've had to do some work-arounds. :)

Mcarroll16 - I am over here laughing because I think what you have in mind may just be our current layout (attached). Maybe we are crazy to want to change it, but we really wanted to open the hallway up so we aren’t constantly walking through the dining room to get to the kitchen. And I’m doing that, we lose our big pantry, so that’s why we added the storage in the butler’s pantry. We were also worried that lengthening the kitchen without adding a door half way through would make it feel way, way too long. I can definitely see why the original layout makes more sense though; the lost space is indeed driving me crazy.

What if we were to make the lower vat cabinet extra deep? Like 36 inches? We could have a the upper wall at 24 so the top and counter are normal but do reinforced pull outs for all the liquor down below?

I’m willing to sacrifice the other space by the exhaust but really want to do something useful with the part behind the bar.

Oops - I meant what if we made the lower bar cabinet extra deep

“Are you asking if the French door fridge will work better than a single door in the original location?”

Do you think French door would work better in either the original or new location? We will check the spec sheets but if the French door is way more/less functional in a certain location, that will definitely affect our appliance choices.

Yes, walking through the dining room to get to the kitchen would be annoying. My suggestion is not quite your current layout. I agree with you on opening the hallway so it runs all the way to the kitchen. I would make the dining room longer on the north/south axis (taking your kitchen as "north." So you would lose the bar niche, butler's pantry, and coat closet all together. If you use nice built-ins on the "north" wall you get back a lot of the storage, and you still have a dining room floor area that's one foot longer than your new plans. Plus, your doorway is just a functional doorway. Never clogged by someone standing there to retrieve a platter.

But extra deep drawers in the bar cabinet would work too!

Thank you everyone for your advice so far! I am 99% sure we are going to move the fridge and DW as suggested— such great ideas!! One other big question I can’t believe I forgot—where should the microwave go? We use it every day so I don’t love the idea of putting it on the butler’s pantry but am not sure where else to put it now.

If you keep the fridge in the original location, I'd think a built-in would work better, whether it's a single door or French door. If you move it to the more open location, either style would be fine, as long as it's counter depth. If the built-in model of either is more expensive, just use a free-standing model with a wood surround.

MW could go on a shelf above the DW (to the right of the sink), or in a drawer to the left of the cooktop--near the fridge in either location.