Yes, a lot of people do seal off the corner. That's probably what I would do here. Then you can have a spice drawer instead of a spice cabinet. Imagine pulling out the drawer and seeing all your neatly labeled spices smiling up at you, instead of pulling out the pullout and crouching down so you can look at the spices. You can even do a four or five stack drawer set there so you have multiple shallow spice drawers. I like the addition of the shallow base cabinets. Make sure your seating overhang is at least 15" deep. Otherwise, your sitters will not be comfortable - they will have to bend over awkwardly to reach the counter when sitting there because their knees are hitting the cabinet and the counter doesn't come forward enough for them. I don't think moving the DW involves much plumbing at all. It's tied in to the sink by flexible hoses and would be a piece of cake to move to the other side of the sink. Are you worried about the electrical outlet for it? I only mention this because it would be better for your layout to swap the DW and trash.

Aisle size/Island spacing: 42" is still narrow for seating, but since that's not a traffic aisle, not too bad maybe? Actually, that is a major thoroughfare through the kitchen....from what I can tell on the layout, it's the only way to the rest of the house from the Mudroom & Laundry Room. It'll either be that aisle or the other side of the island...crossing every single work zone! Remember what I said about skimping on overhang? It won't help your aisle situation. People will still take up the same amount of room sitting at the island if you have 9", 12", or 15" of overhang. What differs is how close they can comfortably sit to the counter edge. The shallower the overhang, the less comfortable it will be. Yes, you may be 5' or less and have short legs, but you have a DH over 6' and I can't imagine it's comfortable for him... I'm 5'10" and I find my friend's 12" overhang uncomfortable to sit at...if I want to be close to the counter edge, I have to either straddle the peninsula or sit sideways. If you have your visitors sitting sideways, then you increase the linear space they take up....from 24" per person to 36" or more per person (so, a 6' counter would only fit 2 seats, not 3)! My 6'5" DH with short legs (he has a long body) won't even sit at our friend's peninsula b/c he finds it so uncomfortable. He actually wishes we had gone w/an 18" overhang...but at least he's willing to sit at the 15" overhang. However, it's your kitchen and if you're convinced it will work for you and your family, then fine. You've heard the cons to it and have accepted them (if they even apply to you)...so you're going in with your eyes open. Pantry...I would reduce the depth to no more than 15"...we had 18" shelves in our old pantry and things were forever getting lost in the back. 18" is pretty deep. In our new pantry, most of the shelving is 12" deep and all of my small appliances except the toaster oven fit in those shelves. Yes, the breadmaker is sideways, but that's the only one. We do store our KA stand mixer on the counter, but I think it would also fit sideways on a 12" deep shelf. MW/convection oven...I think you'll find they need a 24" deep cabinet. They may be 21" deep, but then you need air clearance & outlet space. That's an outside wall, so you may not be able to recess the plug into the wall so it doesn't take up extra space. To be sure, check the specs of your chosen oven. I will say this, I'd rather see the side of the refrigerator w/decorative door panels from the LR & DR than the front of it. I'm not saying the front is horrible, I'm just saying if I had a choice, that's what I would pick. However, it's up to you. I'm a functionality first, aesthetics second person for the most part, so I like the refrigerator closer to the DR & LR so snackers aren't walking through the kitchen while I'm trying to work with narrow aisles...PLUS, there's so much more work & landing space around the...

Little bit of commentary explaining some thoughts. And that's all these are. The number below are the numbers on the pic. 1. I'm guessing you wouldn't be talked outta those stairs, but that's an alternative - do a doorway in the living room into "closet" of laundry hall. 2. I did show this alternative - kill the inside basement stairs and move the ref to this wall. There's likely 101 reasons you wouldn't like this, but its a really GREAT place for the ref. I think I can hear your screams of "Nooo!" all the way in Baltimore. 3. Aisle widths. Aisles are measured counter to counter. Roughly a counter on a base cabinet on a wall is 25" to 26" deep. An island with one row of cabinetry is usually at least 29" wide at the counter level - this includes a panel on the backs of the cabinets and appropriate overhangs. If You use a tall bank of either shelving or closed cabinets that are 12" deep, your two aisles are about 39". The current recommended minimum aisle is 42" (It changed several years ago - I think partly on account of tall tub dishwashers and 36" wide refrigerators). If you try to have full depth cabinets(25" at the counter) or even a counter depth refrigerator(~28" w/handles) on the opposite wall with the island, both your aisles go down to 31"-33". They might be less depending on "stuff" like how plumb the room is, the exact depth of the ref, etc. That can feel kinda small. You should be able to move something into your existing kitchen to lower the aisle space to try it. 4. Table space. Concerned about the choice of table, simultaneous use of the table and back door, etc. With a 2 foot wide table, with no one occupying the table, it will be 4.5 feet wide and the table edge should be 30" from the wall or 5.2ish feet. When occupied, the wall side has enough space for a seated person(24" beyond the table edge), but when someone sits on the door side, the total width is 6 feet - all the space there is. Assuming that you guys or your friends may not be perfect about tucking in chairs, think about doing either a banquette or purchasing a dining bench for the side up against the wall. It helps with spacing, but might drive you nutz in alignment to the window and wall area. So if you put the bench under the window and run the table in the other direction? 5. Consider moving the range (sorry for calling it a rangetop) closer to the sink and island. I know somebody is thinking about prep between sink and range, but you're more likely to prep on end of island. It's less effort for getting pots full of water and dumping them. 6. Consider a fold-up or drop-in counter to be used only when you need some extra space instead of slightly blocking the stairs all the time.

kksmama - I am really liking this layout also. I never thought I'd be able to have an island centered on a large range in this kitchen and am thrilled that it might work. I think I agree about the prep sink being on the island. One good thing about my clean up sink now is I can face people at the peninsula when I'm washing and prepping food, and I'd still be able to do that if the prep sink is here. I'm willing to sacrifice some storage space under the island to allow an 18" overhang on 2 sides so I can fit 4 seats there. Prep space and seating are my main priorities for the island. I'll draw it tonight when I have access to my computer. Sena - I love, love the drawing. Thank you! I will definitely consider a narrow oval table for the banquette. I usually prefer rectangle or round tables, but the oval will probably work better here - more table space than round and doesn't have sharp corners to bang into. Great idea! I'm wondering, if I put the prep sink in the island, 1) where do you think the fridge should go on the DR wall - near the doorway or closer to the range, and 2) which direction should the prep sink face - the fridge/pantry or range wall (I'd like 3 stools facing the range if possible so I'm thinking this may affect placement of sink)?