thanks for the kind words! I'm just going to reply to those who asked questions but I do very much appreciate your comments. general note- I've had the appliances all over my house for the past 5 years! Pretty much all of it was closeout/clearance/ebay / or craigslist. Imaging my sigh of relief when one by one, they turned on and worked. I did resell some of the extras that I could not fit in, that I had purchased for a larger kitchen expansion. Having the appliances made it "easy" in a sense to plan the layout since it constrained the choices. I had been thinking about this last plan for a few months already by the time I met with Lorna, the Dutchwood kitchen designer, so I was able to send her all the specs on the appliances and she worked out the details to make it fit into the layout I wanted. I did ask for maximum ventilation height of the induction cooktop above the 30 inch oven. dccurlygirl- I brought lots of pictures of things that I had pinned - toekick drawers, pullout cutting boards, cut down drawer for Stages sink shelf, cut-down drawers for 36" cooktop over 30 inch oven, dividers in my pots/pan drawer, custom paneled appliances etc , most of them from gardenweb postings, and Lorna worked them into the plan. In their showroom, they had the pullout cutting boards and toekick drawers in their displays already. One thing I did not post is the electric trash opener for the trash drawer under the sink which was also in their display, it is a big hit with my whole family. I provided the "asks" and Lorna either worked it in or told me if it couldn ot be completed for whatever reasons. I am including one picture of just the fridge wall here so that you can see the level of detail and customization in these plans (BTW the fridge wall is partial overlay and again not one person has noticed that) . Dutchwood is used to working with paneled appliances and appropriate spacing- at the end I wrung out another inch or so of space from Jason for my pantry on that wall over a few emails, the last bit he gave me was 1/8 inch by reducing the overlay to 1/2 inch on the pantry only instead of 5/8 inch on the rest of that wall (that happened after these plans). They were super accommodating with my wishes. lannegreen, here is the "overview" layout , it's a little hard to read but the dishwasher is under the kitchen window around the corner from the sink. It is paneled which is why you could not identify it in the picture. It is at the base of the "U" with 24 inches space on one side and 24 inch space on the sink side. I can stand on both sides and unload dishes. I have the Lemans unit in that blind cabinet between the sink and the dishwasher, so the toekick between the dishwasher and the sink was made removable to install and access the plumbing. This was suggested by the inspection office of my county when I called to explain the problem (before I found a contractor). The removable toekick was the only think that I found surprisingly expensive at Dutchwood but it was more than balanced by the reasonable cost of everything else ($90 for toekick drawers for example). AineLane, here are more picture of my "sitting bay." It cost slightly less than $5000 all told (including moving electrical and adding foam insulation under the exterior Azek cladding, tempered windows since I have all boys :) ), measures 78 inches wide internally by 18 inches deep. Much cheaper than adding a 40k breakfast room or an 80k large kitchen expansion as I first planned. I have a custom cushion for it now and my teen boys enjoy lounging and napping there. The key is to seat it low enough to the ground to make it comfortable for sitting (16" height). I also specified the weight that it had to be able to carry (600 lb). The style is known as a "box bay" and the brand is Sunrise windows. I purchased their premade "projected frame" window through their authorized contractor and he worked with me on the other details. My good friend and former nanny came by to visit the other day and barely noticed the kitchen renovation, she was so taken with the sitting bay. Exterior of original windows New box bay replacing old windows. Somehow those bay walls bring in a lot more light into the space. We also really like watching all the small wildlife outside that we could not reall see before. In terms of the layout, it gave us enough "breathing space" and sitting area that I could put 16 inch deep drawers on that side of the peninsula. I added an undercounter fridge (paneled, it is next to the wall) on that side as well with the idea that the "coffee center" would be accessed from that side. The light, animal/ibird watching, and perceived airiness is a huge bonus. This post was edited by scrappy25 on Fri, Dec 5, 14 at 18:51

Further review, from our perspective. Double Ovens where current Range is. Remove Upper Cabinets to the right and left of Sink. Increase Sink Window from Two to Three. Move Refrigerator to right of Dishwasher, retain lower Cabinet between Dishwasher and Refrigerator. Lower and Upper Cabinets L shaped where the Refrigerator is Currently. Remove Angled Cabinets at entrance to Dining Room and replace with Rectangular Floor to Ceiling Cabinet, is it going to feel like walking through a Tunnel to the Dining Room? Remove Angled Cabinet to the left of the Dining Room entrance and replace with similar to the opposite side floor to ceiling cabinet. Replace Built in Pantry with something similar and in new cabinet style? Is there a better storage device? Islands. Yes plural, should we do two single cabinet depth islands ? One would be for the cooktop, 36 inch induction. We can't have Gas due to Medical issues; My poor remodeled fireplace will never see a fire. Oh well. Island One just south of the sink area, would have the cooktop, under counter Microwave, drawers for pots, pans utensils, textiles, what else should we plan to store in this area? Island Two, spaced so the walkway from the Hallway leading to the garage/office/laundry/bathroom is continuous, unimpeded path to the family living room area. Thinking a 10-12 inch overhang, dining room side, for stools that can be stored under the overhang? Drawers on this Island as well with the access to the drawers being on the pathway side? Are handles going to be an aggravating issue in catching clothing etc. ? Or is it truly better to just make one big deep island and have the walk path go around the island, like we currently have with the non-usable three sided (hexagonal style) island? Deep island Issues, can't really take advantage of having storage drawers that are all easily accessible. Walk path is interrupted. Cooktop could be positioned to face towards the fireplace, East, versus facing the dining room entrance and thus having to look left to look into family room, is it even a big deal to turn your head, I dunno?

3onthetree Thanks so much for your feedback! as I explained above to isabellagracepan, the renovation will happen prior to moving in because we’re already in a temporary apartment and don’t want to live in the house with the dust etc created during a renovation. I agree with you entirely about seeing how we use the outside space. i love what you did about bumping a mudroom next to the garage! We’re seriously considering that. It’s tough bc we’re trying to balance living space vs more utilitarian spaces that are practical. For example, we have no need for an informal tv family room plus an entire room used for a formal living room. I wanted to clarify something on the floorplan that I realized wasnt on it from the listing green is the location of the laundry, side by side washer and dryer Purple is a full bathroom for the downstairs level. Vanity, toilet and shower. I was thinking since there’s currently a living room and family room, i could make 1 our tv watching space and the other a combo of dining room and small seating area (a couple of armchairs) that could be easily moved when entertaining a larger crowd. Thanks again for your help!

I grew up in a house with a similar family room. We had a low table and chairs in the space when you first walk it in. Not full table height, so it was nice to linger at, play games, watch TV, as well as eat meals. (The was also a breakfast nook in the kitchen, and a formal dining room in the outer side of the kitchen. We got to where we'd have breakfast in the kitchen, supper in the family room, and lunch was at either the breakfast table or family room.) Then beyond it was the sitting area and tv. For you, are you interested in moving doors or making new doorways anywhere? How about restring the kitchen if necessary? Is the shower room also a bathroom?. Do you need a shower there, or is there one upstairs?