L: thank you for your thoughts! i think contemplating tasks is a very important step. i totally hear what you're saying about a landing zone near the oven, and thus understand your reconfiguration. i think it makes a lot of sense. i also liked this configuration because when i think of coming into the kitchen (entrance -> storage, as you stated), which is from that side (see picture), i can quickly set everything down on the island and put it all easily in the pantry and fridge. i think you and Ginny20 bring up the good point of what's around here, because that might lend itself to other configurations. i've included an image below. the left hand side of the image is south, and that's where all the light is coming in from two very big windows in the great room, which is just down a short set of stairs (open concept). to the right of the image (north) is a bedroom, and going further back my bathroom, laundry and guest room. on the west side (where the fridge is now) there is a condo hallway. to the east side there is another unit. you'll notice in this pic i've shown an area which i've labelled desk area. one kitchen designer strongly encouraged me to put some wall units there, but i really really don't want to. i want a work desk there. the light is fantastic in the great room and the kitchen, but as you go farther back into the unit (it goes a ways) it gets quite dark. i so love light and so i only want to be back there for sleep and for bathroom, laundry, guest room etc.. it's important for me to have a nice desk space to sit and work on stuff in this sunny area, and that's the current placement idea. another idea is to use the wall that's on the hallway run. i don't like this idea because i like the long long hallway that leads from the entrance (not shown) all the way through the kitchen down to the great room. but another designer suggested putting something on that wall. perhaps.. one thing i am scared of is my kitchen taking over. it's central in the space, and hence it should be redone and really make a statement. but i don't want it to encroach, though me and some designers have different opinions on what is encroachment, and what is tolerable. o

That is boxed in! Hard to know scale, but I would get rid of the breakfast table area by the french doors and expand my kitchen out that way. Move your fridge and ovens over to that wall and get rid of the desk. Where the load-bearing wall is, replace it with a header or steel beam so you can lose that wall. I would probably do lower cabinets with a breakfast bar/stools either on the LR side or the DR side. Good luck.

You would be wisest to post this (right side up) on the KITCHENS forum. Many experts there who are very helpful and very active on the forum. But to start, I would not want the fridge located so far from the table, and in a place where you have to walk through the cooking zone to get to. They will have a lot to say, I have a feeling, and it will all be very good for you to consider.

Wow so many comments. Thank you all for your perspective. I have attached a better photo of the whole kitchen. so I’ll try to address all the comments. Mimi, thanks for the tip I will look into that polyshade! We definitely will be doing this slowly to make sure we do it right! We Beth, We are definitely going To replace the floor likely with stone look. Wall color is Summit Grey (Sherwin Williams 7669). We are trying to get away from the beige related colors. The house was half Dark brown/tan before which was brutal. Backsplash will be replaced as well As all the hardware and as suggested we will replace floors and backsplash first to better understand what cabinet color we want. The wood you see in the cabinets top and bottom is also trim work in other areas of the house (banister footings) and we are changing that as well. We like the look of wood, we just have a lot of it in different colors. Our floors, stairs, banister, cabinets, and front door are all different. We are going to refinish our main stairs to a darker wood stain to and likely the banisters. Our built in living room cabinetry is basically a stained black, and is adjacent to the kitchen. Ci_lantro, We just had the house painted (interior walls and ceilings) to the color we like. trying to bring everything towards a different theme. I like the cabinets too actually. They are a very nice stained wood, it all just doesn’t fit the rest of the house. Thanks for the input! Beverly, The reason we use cooler lights is the warmer lighs corrupt the paint color making it look weird basically. I have a lot of lights of all warmth levels and have tested different ones, cooler looks better. The reason the dining looks warmer is because the chandelier “Sconces” that hold the light bulbs have a yellow tint. We are going to be replacing the chandeliers as well so this effect is temporary. Also that dining and secondary living room had just been painted and we hadn’t yet Replaced the old rug and thus left it out. It is lived in I assure you. Not all pictures were current day. im not looking so much for accessory decorating ideas, more for what colors work woth the structure I have in cabinets floors and walls. im not interested in masking something I dont like with accessories.