Congratulations on your new baby! With a toddler, too, that's a handful. The sheer volume of baby and toddler bottles and dishes is amazing. The more that can go in the dishwasher, the better. If the gap next to the dishwasher can be made usable with shelves and walling off the dishwasher, it may help tide you over with more storage. With a newborn and a toddler, it may be a year or so before you can actually start a remodel. My suggestion is to draw up a floor plan that is a duplicate of what you have now, then use the online planner to get an estimate for the duplicate. There's no need to actually go to Ikea to use their planner online. Then you will have a base for comparison as you move toward an extensive remodel. https://www.ikea.com/us/en/planners/ An experienced general contractor or structural engineer can tell you if the pantry and closet walls are load-bearing or not.

You say layout won't change but I hope you ditch that corner cabinet and the over the stove microwave for a proper range hood that's safer. Having an over a gas stove MW is an accident waiting to happen. :( As for the corner cabinet, you'd be better off with a cabinet that dies into the wall and keep the window wall open without uppers. Additionally if you make all your lowers drawers, you'll be able to store so much more in them, including your everyday dishes. I did all drawers in my new build and now I'm sold on how much more functional and easy they are to use. As for color, take a look at your wardrobe to give yourself an idea of what you lean towards. Is it the same as the colors in your house? If so, I'm guessing you won't tire of them in a few years. Or have you consistantly throughout your adult life used these colors in your houses? In the last 25 years, I realized I consistantly pick variations of the same couple of colors for my houses. The shades may change slightly but my houses have all been shades of tans, lighter greens and accents of reds.

I love this and am so floored that you took the time to do this. Thank you. I'm so glad you like it. I'm an old house lover. I grew up in a 1922 colonial. My first house was a 1927 bungalow and my second house was an 1898 victorian farmhouse. When we couldn't find an older house here that hadn't been remuddled or would work for two aging people, we built a new craftsman house to look and feel like the old ones I prefer. It's nice living in new, but I miss the quirks and beauty of the older homes. we basically never eat in the formal dining room, so all of our family meals are at the island, and I hate sitting in a line and feel like that doesn't promote actual family bonding My victorian home had a large formal dining room with a narrow, long kitchen. We put a small round table in that kitchen and it was fine for our purposes. My first house had a living/dining space and the kitchen was all of 10' x 16' if I recall and a living/dining room. Again we managed to squeeze a small round table in one corner and I had an L shaped work kitchen similar to what I just drew for you. Believe it or not, even though I didn't even have as much work space as your kitchen, it was one of my favorite kitchens to work in. Why? Because the work flow was so good and that was in the days I didn't even realize there was a work flow. The fridge was in the mudroom (where we took down the door and wall between mudroom and kitchen), then there was the dishwasher, then the sink, then a cabinet and then on the small part of the L was the stove with a cabinet on the end. That was it! Do you think it would also work putting the fridge right next to the mudroom instead? The problem with moving it to the right of stove near the mudroom is then you're crossing work zones. We tend to take food out of the fridge, bring it to the sink to rinse, then prep between the sink and stove. The space isn't large also and I'm afraid it would also become a pinch point there with kids and people coming in from the mudroom. That left wall is where we get a lot of light so trying to maximize windows on that side. If you notice, I made the window over the sink a triple window. I think you'll still flood the area with lots of light. Plus you'll have the light from the door to the left of the fridge. (Make sure the door's upper half is glass!) Oh and 5) we do love the butlers pantry and think it is gorgeous. But we literally never use it and the drawers and cabinets don’t open very well. They can be fixed (either now or in the future) to work better. Also yes it's called a butler's pantry but that doesn't mean only kitchen and table stuff need to be stored there. What about storing extra kid's stuff for example? Ipads? Books? Crayons, paper? What about fun stuff in the glass cabinets? Make it a spot to stop and enjoy? Or how about making it your bar area or a coffee spot?

are you showing what exists and must be replaced...or are you showing what you've picked so far..... nothing is too clear, Show the kitchen so people understand what kind of a space it is. Are you getting a knotty pine? do you have a door sample and a couple stain options. What maker are the cabinets coming from. Why are you picking pine instead of a recessed panel door in a medium oak.....that would be pretty easy. Pine is soft...tends to be orangeish unless there is a special treatment with some heavier pigment in the stain and glaze and so on. Pine can look good with blues and teals. I'm not saying dont get pine but the details to make it work can drive up your price..considerably. shown below: Knotty alder and 2nd is hickory ....much more typical now for a bit of a rustic look if thats what you want.