Here is a full design of the kitchen. It would only allow 4 photos. The first is our original plan and second is the new.

One more photo. I just found the original plan with the pantry drawn in so you can see the corner.

Drop the 'matching' column and right pantry. You need that counter space. Move the ovens to the frig location with a pantry outboard. I recommend a 30" Bosch or Miele induction cooktop. Large wide drawers under but just two cabinets with the split under the middle of the cooktop instead of one base under the cooktop and a small cabinet on either side. Frig goes at the right end of the other run where you have a pantry. Now you can move the sink off the island to the counter space to the left of the new frig location. I'd suggest a 24" sinkbase.

I would scrap the additional wall and tall cabinet that the designer created for symmetry. (like, you have a problem here so why not double it? 😉 ) I know that cooking alcoves persist in design but I think it's unpleasant to be hemmed in while cooking. I'd make that wall run Fridge - Pull out pantry - Wall - Counter - Cooktop - Counter. Centering the cooktop in the whole span of cabinetry between wall and door opening, would also allow you to have better/more useful drawer sizes.

this is a bump in the road but I hope it goes well from here!

Where do these doorways go?

Is the formal dining above and a family room to the left?

Ditto on where the doorways go--could you give us a rough sketch that shows the kitchen and adjoining rooms? Doesn't need to be to scale. I'm wondering whether it would work to move the doorway in the upper right over near that annoying pantry wall, and rotate your work zone by putting the cooktop on the far right wall.

Yep - and a beautiful feature range hood on the garage wall would be appreciated a lot more across from that cased opening on the left than it would be with the current plan.

Thanks for everyone’s thoughts. First, to mention, we are getting a second opinion from a second engineer. I am including a “basic” floor plan. We currently have the cooktop on that wall, but that would only allow a small island. We were hoping for a large island. I wanted to do a showcase hood bc we don’t have a window near the cabinets so I wanted a focal piece. I am also including a photo of where the cooktop is now. I don’t love it there. Funny thing is, when we pulled out the old blue prints (house was built in 95), the cooktop was on the wall where we want to put it, not where it ended.

Guidelines (https://media.nkba.org/uploads/2022/05/Kitchen-Planning-Guidelines.pdf ) recommend a minimum of 12” landing area on one side of a cooking surface, and 15” on the other side. Following this guideline and not being able to remove that wall means you need to move your 36-in rangetop to the garage wall.

How many people do you need to seat at the island with the breakfast nook right there? It's unlikely 4 people would ever line up at an island, lunch counter style.

"So far the structural engineer we sent our blueprints to said we cannot move."

You need the opinion of a contractor who has experience in removing load bearing walls. Engineers are for math; contractors are for cost-effectiveness.

According to the contractor the engineer has to sign off?

#sheloveslayouts, there are 4 of us that live there, but I host all the big family gatherings. Everyone always congregates at my island that we have now even though the den and porch are right there. They are always in my space.

If the load bearing point can be moved, the original plan would be lovely.

Your kitchen is going to be great. Two months into our whole house remodel design we realized the architect mis-measured and we had to start over. It was a blessing as we ended up with a much improved plan for less cost.

I played around with leaving the pantry, placing the cooktop and ovens on the garage wall. The drawing reflects minimizing the back hall doorway to 36" with 48" between the base cabinets and the bathroom wall. I don't like how the fridge is placed relative to the sink; it could be improved by widening the aisle between sink+cooktop and scooting the fridge toward the dining room opening.

I didn't include counter overhangs, just stools to show you an idea of creating more comfortable counter seating - most people choose to sit on an end. The island could be bigger if there was no seating on the fridge side.

Posting for fun in case it sparks helpful ideas for you.

In case it hasn't been considered, here's a quick drawing of a peninsula plan.

The doorway to the bathroom hall remains the same (you need at least 44" from counter to wall for counter height seating with walk behind space). The benefits of this layout are that you have continuous counter in your prep zone -- between cooktop and sink -- and there is no walkway bisecting that zone. I didn't drawing in the overhangs, just put stools.

I have a structural column running vertically in my galley kitchen and so there was a portion of one wall which had much less depth than the rest of the wall.

I have a very functional tall pantry with many shelves there and it looks just like the rest of the cabinet run - in other words you can't tell that there is less depth until you open it.

It is very functional as there are quite a few shelves since I use it for storing relatively short pantry items. I also have a decorative "fence" in front of each shelf so that all of the items are very secure once they are on the shelf. There are one or two shelves which are spaced for taller items.