Nadine -- I think the cabinets will look great. What about cabinets with doors below to hide the toys/games and open shelving above for books? I thought I would throw out a couple of other storage ideas from one cluttered toy mom to another BTW -- THANK YOU for posting the honest pictures of your room; it's so helpful to see that other peoples' houses also look like a toy factory exploded in the living room. :) Storage furniture that we have in our living room: coffee table with baskets that we use to sort and store various toys, including Mr. Potato Head + accessories, furniture and dollies from the Loving Family (Or something like that -- the dollhouse thing with the twins and multi-racial families) series; ABC blocks, small cars; Soft bowling set. Ikea pine coffee table Baskets that hide the toys so it looks like a nice pine coffee table instead: Ikea baskets This table is chipper chicken but it's a work horse. Looks nice and nothing kids try to do to it hurts it, and it holds a TON of toys. We only bought six baskets to fit in the table, but it could easily hold 12 (I always wanted to go back for more, but DH never got around to it). Cleans up easy peasy with dish soap or even soft scrub (for those bigger oops moments). We also went with a TV unit that includes two side units with storage doors and bookcases above, plus we had a separate console built for underneath the TV that holds more baskets of toys (it fits the same size baskets as fit in our ikea coffee table). Here's a picture for inspiration: I know entertainment centers are generally pretty $$$, but the reason I was showing mine is that it was actually an entertainment center for our old projection screen TV, which they don't make anymore -- plus a console we had a custom cabinet maker build for us to match. A lot of people are getting rid of their old 3 piece entertainment centers that were made for projection TVs -- you might be able to find something on Craigslist, ebay or a second hand store that is good condition for a low price, which you could then modify by adding a console (also fairly inexpensive through local custom cabinet shops). :) Notice in the picture the giant laundry basket full of balls and the smaller lined baskets with books and other toys. Baskets are KEY. I keep them sorted by type of toy so that it's easier for the kids to find what they're looking for. Those baskets came from Michael's and I only buy them when they're 50% off + the coupon. :-) I like these baskets because they're sturdy, but look really nice and the liner is totally washable. Here are the baskets from Michaels: So I don't have much to add for your fireplace, but there is a lot you can accomplish with some minor furniture redos.

You should decide the pantry size by the cab configuration offered as there can be big differences between 18 vs 24, food storage needs, what fits with your island seating and how much counter space is left on that run. It's close enough to the cooking zone that centering it on the aisle shouldn't be the major consideration. Look at the big picture and all the pertinent factors. What are the bottom glass doors on the hutch? Are they drawers? I think it would look better and be more useful as single drawers to mimic the base, reserving glass for the top. Can't tell from the pics, is there a prep sink in the island?

Detailed Analysis: . General: First, note that I expanded the Kitchen a bit into the Nook space. With the configuration you appear to be forced to stick with, you really need more counter space. You don't want to try to combine the Prep Zone workspace with the Cleanup Zone workspace. It's an exercise in frustration when you try to prepare a meal while dirty dishes are in the same space. So, you really need plenty of space on both sides of the sink. The zones are nicely separated for allowing more than one person to work in the Kitchen at the same time - prepping and/or cooking and/or cleaning up. In addition, you don't want your dirty dishes "front and center" and on public display - so you need to hide them somehow - either behind a wall as in this design, or on the back wall where they're out of the way. Oh, and no one likes to sit at a counter with dirty dishes in their face - prepping OK, b/c you're working there, but not the day's dirty dishes. OK, maybe it's just me, but I find it very distasteful to sit at a counter with the day's dishes in my face. The peninsula is a more useful squared off design (similar to what your DH designer did - that was a good change, btw.) The counters on the bottom wall are 3" deeper than standard - this allows for more and better dish storage as well as enough counter space in front of the uppers - which are a Dish Hutch style and go to the counter. More on that in the "Dish Storage" discussion. The normal kitchen workflow is Refrigerator/food storage --> Sink/Prep Zone --> Range/Oven/MW/Cooking Zone --> Either Serving Zone (table) or Cleanup Zone. While the design doesn't follow the flow perfectly, it's actually pretty good. The cabinet on the peninsula end (left end) is turned 90 degrees. This gives you a better use of space than a corner cabinet. For cabinets - get as many drawer stacks as you can. Drawers are far more useful & functional than stationary shelves or even roll out tray shelves (ROTS). There are a lot of discussions about drawers vs ROTS on the forum; here's one: http://ths.gardenweb.com/discussions/2664194/drawers-or-doors-with-pull-outs The landing zone for the refrigerator is either to the right or across the aisle. With French Door refrigerators, landing space across from the refrigerator is usually more useful than next to it. The MW is mounted under the cabinet to the left of the sink. Alternatively, it could be in the corner - just be sure you can open the MW door. Or, you could make the Dish Hutch shorter (say, only 27" wide) and gain a bit of space to fit the MW in the corner. I put in a wider aisle b/w the peninsula and the range wall b/c the Cooking Zone and range are not only unprotected, but in the middle of a busy aisle. By making that aisle wider, it will allow people to swing around farther into the Kitchen and farther away from the range. Will they do it? I don't know, but at least the option is there. -- However, It doesn't address the issue of trying to cross a busy aisle with a pot of boiling water from the range to the sink for draining. Without changing the range's location -or- the location of the peninsula and the DR doorway, I'm not sure there's much to do to fix that. It's unfortunate as I think the cost would be relatively inexpensive (as opposed to changing later if you find it's an issue) and well worth it at this point – no walls are up yet, just frames. -- Do you have young children? That would be the biggest hazard – children (or pets) running around underfoot and you trying to dodge them without spilling the boiling water on them or you. I put in a 9" utility cabinet b/w the refrigerator and wall for a couple of reasons -- First, it pretty much guarantees you'll have enough room to open the refrigerator doors fully -- Second, it pushes the refrigerator out of the somewhat narrow aisle in front of the DR doorway. When the refrigerator is open, the person opening the refrigerator and the refrigerator door will block that aisle. It should only be for a short time, but it will block it. (I have a similar pinch point in my Kitchen - b/w the refrigerator and the end of one of my peninsulas.) -- Oh, and a third - it pushes the refrigerator into the Kitchen more it's even easier to access it from the Prep Zone. OK, it's just 9", but that's 9" closer! :-) Dish Storage: The dishes are stored in a Dish Hutch arrangement. The upper cabinet goes to the counter and gives you a lot of extra storage - something that I think you may need in this Kitchen. (It's also a nice look.) The upper cabinet is 39" wide x 15" deep - the extra depth will allow you to store wider dinner planes, platters, etc. Note that when a cabinet is stated as 12" deep, that is the total depth - including the back wall and the front frame. The wall & frame can shorten the depth by up to 1.5" - leaving you with a cabinet that's really only 10.5" deep. Adding 3" to the depth gives you 13.5" of usable depth. (If you have frameless cabinets, you only lose the thickness of the back wall since there is no face frame in frameless cabinets.) The 27" wide base cabinet below it is 27" deep - also adding 3" of additional storage. The location of the dishes will help keep people getting a dish or setting the table out of the Prep and Cooking Zones. It also puts them next to the DW and next to the DR. It's also a direct shot from the Nook to the dishes w/o wandering into the Prep Zone. Prep Zone: Utilizing the peninsula, the Prep Zone has a nice expanse of counter space - 27" immediately adjacent to the sink and another 30+ inches on the peninsula. The trash pullout is in the Prep Zone for easy access during prepping (prepping and cooking generate the most trash & recyclables than cleaning up - and for a much longer period of time.) When prepping on the peninsula, you are a bit closer to the range, which will help when you're carrying prepped food across the Kitchen to the range/Cooking Zone. Cooking Zone: The Cooking Zone contains the range and surrounding landing space. Prep work will (should) be done near a water source, so you will be prepping next to the sink across the aisle. However, you do need space for emergency landing space as well as staging food/ingredients for placing on the top of the range or in the oven. You also need landing space nearby when taking things out of the oven Post & Pans can be stored in the drawers next to the range. I would have like to include the MW, but there really isn't enough room on that wall. Cleanup Zone: I think I've covered most of the Cleanup Zone comments throughout the above discussions. To summarize, the Cleanup Zone is separated from the Prep and Cooking Zones and it's near the dish storage. .

One idea could be a floor lamp on one side, with plant on the other side.