You'll probably get more responses on the Home Decorating Forum -- even for an office. Here is a link that might be useful: Home Decorating

Another idea with only slight tweaks to your plan: I reduced the laundry room by 1'-3" but if you go with stackable W/D, it's still a room, not a closet. Front load machines usually run 28" wide - even full capacity units - which leaves room for a 26" wide cabinet and counter between the W/D stack and the doorway. I changed the swing door to a pocket door. Light switch would go on the wall shared with the kitchen behind the fridge. This allowed me to expand the pantry, giving you a wider aisle between cooktop wall and fridge space. I switched the pocket door, too, so that you won't have issues with outlets on the fridge wall. Pantry light switch can go on the wall between laundry room and pantry. Yes, the oven/MW column is now in a pathway but if you are like most families and only use your oven 3xs a week, this may pose fewer hassles than your original 2'-2" wide aisle to the pantry, which will be used many, many, many more times than that a day. Moving the oven/MW column reduces the chance of door dings, as noted by athensmomof3. The 18" wide cab next to the fridge (oops, forgot to mark that) can serve as a landing spot for pantry, fridge and oven. It also helps make that area a bit more open in feel. I added a prep sink to the island and switched the DW to the other side of the sink as others suggested I'm not sure why your architect marked the cook top side of the island as being 2'-6". It should be 2'-2" (actually 2'-1.5" but I didn't want to mess with fractions on the plan): 24" deep cabs with 1.5" counter overhang. Is he or she suggested 27" deep cabs? But that implies a 3" overhang there. Very confusing. Anyhoo, I changed that and also enlarged the counter overhang from 12" to 15" (reduced the aisle between island and FR at same time).

Wow - such great input - thank you all! You're making me think of things in ways I hadn't, which makes me panic this close to start date, but I know is a good thing in the long run. I'm 47 (DH is 56) and we hope to age-in-place as long as we can :) We have considered an elevator and given the layout (and the expense) dismissed the idea; we are making sure the plans can accommodate adding a stair-lift down the road instead. We're very resistant to changing windows - unless it's adding more of them ;) Our home is built up into a ridge on the edge between woods and prairie and the land is abounding with wildlife. The views are a big part of why we chose this house. I wanted to add a big triangular window above the appliance wall, but structurally we cannot :( I have loved appliance walls for many years so that was a feature I really wanted in this kitchen. I'm thinking maybe either the pull out, (or my baking cart-love this idea!) pulling out of the north end of the island would make a good landing spot when I am working out in the kitchen if as I age find it difficult to pivot. Yes, it would block the walkway if I pull it all the way out, but is an option. The island is all one level. We purposely went with a large island with a table-like end to get away from a dining table. We've talked about moving the island a little further towards the living room to allow space for a very narrow table to be pulled in front of the bench seating for little ones that are too big for high chairs but too small to get up & down from the island themselves. Thoughts on this? I HAVE struggled with putting a big vent hanging down from the ceiling over the rangetop - but I know it must have a vent. The point that really hit home (thank you mama goose!) was asking where I wanted to face while prepping; the answer is my family & friends! My architect will hate me. So - if we move the rangetop to the only wall space outside of the appliance wall I loose my one and only upper cupboard :( It would force me to totally embrace the euro-kitchens I've drooled over - lol! While I like the idea of the dishwasher being out of the prep area so others can help but stay out of the way ... I'd like to keep the dishes stored near the eating area at the end of the island. Does the dishwasher work if placed in the wall opposite the sink? Left of the window seat is a bar area with a wine fridge, a beverage fridge, a Grohe Blue tap and barware storage. The drawers under the window seat will be for overflow beverage storage: The style I'm going for is modern with a mid-century undertone (hence the shape of the shelves over the bar.) Cabinets will be walnut. Counters will be thick, honed marble. Yes, I know, this choice is VERY controversial! We've lived with honed marble in our current bar area for over a year now and abused the dickens out of it on purpose - and still love it.

Perhaps here isn't the best place for ideas when on a budget. In my world 25k is a HUGE amount for a kitchen update. But DH would do/did all our labor so I am bias. Leaving the lay out as is, I would look into replacing the door/drawer fronts. Chances are pretty good the cabinet bases you have are much sturdier and better built than anything new one would purchase. Materials have gotten much thinner, old growth wood is stronger etc. OLD IS BETTER from a construction point of view in most cases!! I love the windows in your kitchen. What does it look like from the outside? Yes the slider can be replaced by a french door combo where only the left side opens I DID IT I KNOW!. We did ours for energy efficiency and ease of opening. Remember the swing of the door is a space eater. Counter eating is all the rage but not great for little kids...where are you at with children and a dining room? We extended our counter top, it's easy to do. I agree you probably don't want to extend it in front of the glass but I bet the entire door can be made smaller but this will run into outside siding/painting costs...a french door and free standing counter top table may be least expensive easiest to do. It will be cheapest to find a french door the size of your present opening. A custom cabinet maker- could retro yours to accommodate a microwave but for the money putting one over the stove would be easiest, cheapest. They come with exhaust fans built in. Your lay out now looks very open, modern, new counter tops alone would change the look a lot!! Stand firm on your budget and resolve to freshen your space. Not everyone gets around to a full gutting of a kitchen!! Don't let what you hope to do be side tracked by things you can't/don't want to afford. In the end you don't get your money out of a full gut anyway!!!