I vote none of it. The only good sconce pictured is the over-sink one in the green kitchen, picture 3. That is lighting a primary work area. It has a good functional reason to be there and it looks great too.

The sconces flanking the hood look especially bad, because the island pendants in front make the whole view a giant traffic jam. But even in picture 2, with no pendants, they still feel fussy and cluttered. They are competing for attention with the dramatic hood. That style of hood needs to be the focus, and it needs some breathing room. Compare to your last picture--the cabinets are crowding the hood.

The wall sconce beside the sink also feels cluttered and lost, but also more pointless than the range ones. It's not lighting a primary work space--why is it there? Doesn't help that that sconce looks like a bedroom sconce, and doesn't relate well to the rest of the room. It's the light that wandered in for a cup of coffee and got stuck.

(Irrelevant sidenote: those island pendants in the white kitchen are driving me crazy. Too close together, and not centered on the tray ceiling.)

I don’t like sconces on either side of the window or the stove…I actually strongly dislike them.
I would prefer just the one light over the sink if you want a decorative light.

Of the two, I prefer the design of the green kitchen; it seems less crowded, even with more cabinets on the sink wall. If you choose a full-height cabinet so close to the sink, you might want to consider a 'plinth' of the same material as the counter, to avoid water damage to the wood. Add a drawer at the bottom, to give you some space to set items but still be able to close the door.

In both kitchens I'd add a prep sink on the island, to provide separate, more efficient work zones.

the white kitchen is playing up the larger feature window by clearing that wall. so the storage needs went to the hood wall. the green kitchen does not have a feature window...altho the view is nice the window is not large enough in scale so they made a visual focus of the hood area. What is your window size..detail..view from window etc. these things make a difference. Clearing wall areas and creating an aesthetic look is mostly dependent on your storage needs and that should be the critical piece ....as opposed to how the sconces look and where they are placed and so forth. I would omit a dish storage cabinet down to the counter in a primary area no matter what you end up with.

Any one without the corner pantry.

Thank you so much for your comments everyone!!
To give an idea- our window is right over the sink, approx 36”x50” in height. On either side of the window is only 24” (exactly the size of a dishwasher), so it would probably be one upper cabinetry on either side of the window. Hence, I was thinking of clearing that wall and assign sconces as it is a stray cabinet…. The window isn’t huge like the white kitchen however and the view is just our backyard .. nothing fancy.

Our layout is very similar to the shown kitchens - island is directly in front of the range and hood with two pendant lights… so it’s true your line of view will see two pendant lights over the island then the two sconces beside the hood (if we choose this design).

Seems like one sconce above the window/sink is the way to go.

Do you guys think have just one set of upper cabinetry on either side of the sink (as it’s only 24” space) looks like a stray cabinet and better to just clear that wall?

Design kitchens for function. Then make it look good. Kitchens are for good food and a happy cook.

You need an actual kitchen designer, and for them to design a kitchen for the actual room you have. Not the cut and paste room you do not have.

One issue with the white kitchen is the small space next to the hood will be hard to clean the kitchen grime, over time. The green kitchen, and no sconces, will be easier to clean.

When a bunch of clichés are thrown together in a kitchen design, it is called a "crashé".

@Pbandjam will one cabinet look stray? Not necessarily. Pictures or sketch would help us. But if this is your concern, there are other options besides a cabinet or sconce. I would probably put a nice piece of art on the wall. But you could have a hanging fruit basket, an attractive spice rack, open shelves with frequently used dishes or plants or .....

Before you decide where to put cabinets or eliminate cabinets, do a very very thorough storage review. Make sure you have a good space for every item in your kitchen. Function first, then the best decor decisions possible for your given needs.

You need an independant KD who will design a kitchen forst for function then for pretty . I hate cabinets sitting on a counter they serve no purpose and use up counter space. If at all possible I like no upper cabinets on a window wall. I aslo rally dislike wood hoods IMO wood and stem and grease do not play well together the hood gets yucky hard to clean and honestly IMO a bit of a fad. A really good quality stainless hood with the proper venting and CFM are IMO a must. I never like corner pantries and IMO a fridge and sink should be pretty close to eachother and certainly no trek past a range to get from fridge to sink, You need a KD not a cabinet salesperson BTW all those base cabinets should be drawers and no storage for spiaces or oils next to the range

I love the Houzz community as I get a variety of opinions that are always useful :)

Thanks for all the comments! We are definitely taking all this into consideration!

We don’t have a photo of our current area as it is still being built.. but I’ve attached two photos on what I assume cabinets on either side of the window may look like especially if only 24” on either side of window.

Open shelves are an idea we’ve played with as well…

Didn’t think of cleaning with wood hoods and the space between hood and upper cabinetry…

And Patricia - you mean lower cabinetry should be a pull out spice rack beside the range?
And everyone’s comment on function first, then decor is something we may have forgotten - so thank you.

"And everyone’s comment on function first, then decor is something we may have forgotten - so thank you."

No one should be sentenced to hard labor in a kitchen for as long as they own the house.