Cork has been popular to replace the existing floor covering in the kitchen. Durable and good for your knees. Here is a link that might be useful: Cork flooring in kitchen

This is almost my kitchen and family room setup! We currently have the "U" . You have one extra foot in depth which allows the island, Also less doors along the inside wall. I am envious;. With the banquette opposite the outside wall, you could still have a slim bookcase or hutch next to the sliding doors in the eating area.. Your traffic may go through your main work area, however. That idea by lavenderlass to move the island into a peninsula is super-creative but again you have to assess traffic patterns. What about reducing your eating area door size to 32" from 60""? That would allow your 60 inch hutch against the outside wall. I also have an eating are 8" wide with a 38" x 54" table and surrounding chairs (with a window where your door is) alongside my eating area window (where your door is) and could not see getting around that to a door. I think that the second banquette drawing (spartan99) is much more realistic in scale and shows how the chairs could block the entrance if closer to the outside wall. We have only a single entrance to the patio through the Family room sliders. Our family room is in the same location as your. While not ideal, it is a very common setup and works well only if the sliders work well (ours do not, that is a situation to be remedied this year). Best wishes.

I got a wonderful 8" black and white matte ceramic tile for my mudroom in a 1914 Greek Revival in Philadelphia. I love it. It's glazed but it looks like it isn't, so nothing stains it. It took me a long time to find it and it wasn't expensive but I can't remember off the top of my head who made it. I had to get it from an obscure supplier but they happily sent me samples. I'll see if I have their info in my construction records. I did see a picture on Gardenweb somewhere of a floor done by someone who cut marmoleum into 8" tiles and installed it on the diagonal. Looked fabulous but that had to be hard work! If you're on a tight budget, VCT can look good and is dirt cheap. It replaced the VAT that came out in the 1930s and wouldn't unauthentic either, but it is harder to maintain than ceramic or marmoleum.

If you're adding top molding that wraps around the sides of the cabinets (as seen in photo above) then I'd do a faux roman shade like ninigret suggested.....but only the depth of a valance. IMO, the molding is going to take up too much room to allow an outside mount.