Having that right-hand tower really interrupts the core prep area. It does make a beautiful frame for that cooktop alcove and dramatic backsplash. But I think you will find it surprisingly inconvenient.

The kitchen is the first thing you see across the room when you come into my house. I was kind of shooting for more a furniture looking kitchen if you know what I mean.... and of course to frame the whatever stone goes up there.

The pic is what I was used to dealing with. Getting that sink out of there and having 3 full feet on either side of the stove seems like a relief to me.... not to mention the peninsula behind me. For the amount I'll be cooking I think I'll be good actually. Are the 18" drawers wide enough?

Poor design.

1. The fridge has no landing space. Think about it. You come home with bags of groceries. Where do you put them down near the fridge? Are you going to put the bags on the floor and continually bend over? Or are you going to put them on the counter next to the ovens? Then it means taking items out of the bags, and taking steps to the fridge. Repeat over and over.

2. When we cook, we take food out of the fridge, bring it to the sink to wash. Ideally you don't want any 2 appliances more than 9' from one another. Unless of course you need to get in lots of extra steps.

3. After we wash the produce, etc, we prep it between sink and cooktop. Only problem is, you don't have a good prep space. You have the bare minimum and it's broken up by the tall cabinet between sink and cooktop.

4. Where is your dishwasher? How are you able to load it? Right now it looks as if you'll have to turn more than 90 degrees to reach into the dw.

Now we are talking. Here is the elevation of the sink area and the peninsula. #15 is the sink. #18 is the dishwasher. #19 is a double refrigerator combo drawers.

Am I reading this correctly--the DW is in cabinet 18? If so, when you have the DW open, that door is going to be a huge trip hazard. You will have to stand at the left edge of the sink to avoid ramming your shins into the door. Swapping the DW with drawer base 19 will involve more turning, stepping, and water drips, but be much safer.

Honestly your current layout looks much better for cooking than the proposed one. if you want to keep the framed cooktop i’d skip the ”U” and just do a penninsula or island with dw next to sink. at least then you could get adequAte prep space next to sink. An island might add landing space for fridge depending on space. or get rid of the upper to counter cab.

Agree with lharpie. If you want to keep the U for extra counter and storage, what about putting the sink on the peninsula, with DW right at the very end. Then you have a long prep counter extending from sink along the short side of the U.

Plumbing, electrical is done. No going back now. Well, I could get creative with the drain lines through the cabinets but do I want to be facing my living room and my breakfast bar while at the sink?

With the current design I can adjust and get about 20 inches in front of the sink while the dishwasher door is down for loading. Too narrow a space?

What is the purpose of the refrigeration drawers? Our refrigeration drawers are near our cooktop and hold items that we might need quick access to while cooking, e.g. some herbs, various cheeses, heavy cream, etc. I don’t see the point of yours as it is not particularly convenient to public areas, cooking areas, or sink areas. It honestly seems like you just wanted an expensive gadget and just found a place for it with no thought on its use.

Are the cabinets above the cooktop dummy fronts over a large capture area for hood or are they actual cabinets?

Where is the whole of the space and THIS kitchen within it?? What is around it? What are those dimensions?

" I'm no cook".......? I'm no genius who can see the rest!

Show the whole.

IMO post a to scale plan and let the kitchen designers on here design a kitchen If you don't cook then it does not matter just go for looks but a well designed kitchen IMO will always trump looks . I have no issue with seeing the kitchen when you enter since in my house everyone ends up in the kitchen anyway. I like the loks of a leek Italian style kitchenn where cooking is not the first thing to design but you need to get an actual KD not your cabinet maker you still need some good function before the pretty stuff.

I just realized the cabinet numbering is all messed up and the frig measurement was wrong. I need the the double under counter frig (24") because my household goes through a lot of bottle/cans of water and soft drinks. I hate loading my frig with all that. Also, having the frig be a combo unit I can switch one drawer to freezer if I buy too much frozen food. The under stairs bar will be right there as well.

So I could flip the frig and get small prep sink to help the flow for behind it. Once the overhang for stool seating (not shown) is in place I could shoehorn it in. I found one prep sink that can be folded away. The red square is the sink in drawing. What do you think of that?

Can you delete the tall cabinet that is between the cooktop and the sink? It won't disrupt any rough-ins to do that.

In daily use, especially with bigger cooking projects, you may regret having that stack of cabinetry between the sink and cooktop. It might be a bit close to the sink, and it's an obstacle when moving between workzones or trying to spread out during a big cooking/baking project.

I'd like to keep the tall cabinet. That's why I proposed adding the prep sink directly across from the stovetop, 60 inches away from the stove, less than 9 feet from the frig, 4 feet from the bar.

For me, the prep sink wouldn't add much for cooking convience. Either way, things have to prepped at the sink side and then carried to the cooktop. Or heated on the cooktop and then carried back to a sink (eg hot pots of pasta). So I wouldn't add the prep sink for cooking purposes. Maybe for bar use, if that suits your family cooking & entertaining flow.

I love my drawers instead of doors. But make sure you get full extension hardware so you can access the entire drawer. It is more expensive but free vps so worth it.

I'd delete those wall ovens. Many times cleaner look. 30" more wall stone centered. 15" more inches of counter on each side of the cooktop. Miele XXL CSO under the Miele cooktop. The European version full surface induction 7000 series may come this year. Miele dw. Miele frig. Very wide drawer lowers to either side of the cooktop base. All wide drawers for base cabs wherever possible. 48" is usable.

Based on my past “experiences “…. The usable space of a drawer is about 3” less than the cabinet size. So those almost 18” drawers by the cooktop will have almost 15” of useable space. Is that enough for what you plan to store there? And will 9” be sufficient in that 12” cab by the DW? There may be better uses for that space. I had some 30” drawers a few kitchens ago. They hold a lot — perhaps too much. Be careful of how much weight you have there. (No need to ask why I mention this.). Quick question: you mentioned that you don’t do a lot of cooking. Does/will someone else cook in the kitchen? If so, has that person been consulted for their opinions? Good luck.

The oven stack is a microwave speed oven, a steam oven and a concealed warming drawer below that. Not sure I can give all that up, especially a microwave. I've been waiting for almost 2 years for the 7000 series induction cooktop. I'm not sure it will see the light of day any time soon. I went to consumer electronics show last month and Miele wasn't ever there! That's not a good sign for any new products coming out in 2023. I don't like the Miele frig so I was going for the Decor 42".

The current layout allows for full coverage with one slab of stone. The left side of the kitchen back wall is blocked from view in most positions around the room... especially coming in the front door. You can see right now the oven are almost perfectly lined up with the stairwell. Just seemed an easy decision. The right side of the back wall has that dead corner so a door has to go there to access the mechanism... making the drawers next to that small. I assumed that symmetry is necessary and I needed to match the drawer size on the left? Can I do big drawers on just the left of the cooktop if they are small on the right ? I'd like to.

The peninsula had a bad measurement in the drawing... the frig drawers are 24" so the drawers next to the dish washer will be 18" not 12".

It will look nice when its finished, but, personally, I would take your old kitchen many times over the new set up.

Here is a before and after photoshop. The new kitchen is way more my style. Less chaotic, more calming.

Maybe more calming, but, sure a lot less functional.

I lost it to a fire...nothing I can do about it, catty.

so there's a dining nook beyond the fridge? and you are planning for stools at the bar? What's nice is people can get whatever from the kitchen and have choice of adjacent seating...the peninsula stools or over at the table. the wider single opening from lounge into kitchen is probably the right move ......If the stools will be comfortable I like the seating situation . Good Luck . There's some positives ..I see all the various comments about the particulars but something about it I like .

Thanks. Good eye. I'm turning that area to the left into a club like lounge area with an expandable table of some sort for occasional dining. The ceilings have been raised and the duct work removed because I've switched to mini-split heating/cooling cassettes instead of forced air heating. That has transformed the place. Yes, stools at the peninsula too.

what is cabinet 20 ? could that small wall be better used w something like this..go to 45 in wide [ beyond the 39 inches a bit] you can do it up "modern" or transitional style" . if you have all vertical I'd consider a break with some counter in the middle....the blue one below....embedded behind pocket doors is a nice configuration.... you seem up to it. .

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Love your new kitchen design, the only under counter fridge is at a bad location. Why not incorporating it in under stairs group?

Have you checked the specs of your refrigerator to see the necessary space for the door swing? I'm always a bit wary when I see a design with a refrigerator right next to a wall. (I realize that in your plan it's a short wall, but it sits proud of the ref hinges and could impede the door swing.) Make sure your door on the left can open fully so that you can remove drawers for cleaning.

Look for a diagram with measurments like this:

To avoid something like this:

Herb... great minds think alike. #20 was going to be either a full-on 18" deep display cabinet or the second with counter... however I have so much counter.

As for the frig drawers. The bay right next to my new bar is for componentry and electronics on a big cart. The only place for drawers is on the left end of the peninsula facing either way. The only way I'd point it toward the living space is if I were to add a prep sink. I could put it on the far right side facing the livingroom about 10 feet away from the bar as well... right next to the doors outside.

Regarding a prep sink on the peninsula. Funny thing is I had a small sink right where I'd put another and I literally never used it in 10 years. I would only add one now if a cook really thought i was necessary for future resale. This new kitchen design is the same as the old one except I moved the sink about 2 - 2.5 feet further to the right and gave myself double the counter space. The tall corner cabinet on the right fills a corner that I never used for anything but a toaster. I can put the toaster IN the cabinet on a slide-out.

I think the only two questions I have are should I replace the prep sink (because of my new bar mostly)? AND... how important are drawers on either side of the cooktop to be matching and symetrical? I'd love to just have big drawers on the left.... combining those two lower cabinets.

Will keep the door swing space in mind!

THREE options for the frig drawer placement.

@paul paul I need the the double under counter frig (24") because my household goes through a lot of bottle/cans of water and soft drinks. I hate loading my frig with all that.

This is your rodeo, so ride whatever bronco you want, but drawer refrigeration will not work well for storing individual sized drinks. You will get half as many drinks in it as a beverage center and do it less conveniently (I have refrigerator drawers in my kitchen and a beverage center in a bar area). Again, you don't have to justify it, I am just trying to relay my experience, but my experience says that in six months your refrigerator drawers will be full of food items and your refrigerator will have the drinks in it.

You don't understand the volume of drinks and soft drinks I'm talking. I'm in a rental during fire restoration and the refrigerator here is half full of Spindrift cans of sparkling water...48 cans in boxes. I'm not doing that with a new $10k refrigerator. The drawers look ideal for me. I also can direct guests to serve themselves wine, mixers, even ice without them having to open my big fridge. I've got to shoehorn it in. Real question is do I need a prep sink? Since that determines which direction the drawers can face.

Again, I don’t care what you do, but that picture is complete B.S. I have the two drawer under counter refrigerator, even keeping a quart of heavy cream in it sucks. Do you really think I haven’t put cans in mine before?

Cans are going to move around unless the thing is completely full, which it isn’t going to be. So it holds half the cans of a beverage center and shakes them up for you any time it is not completely full.

You have an old one. New smooth glide fixes that. Thanks.

If you go through many cans of water or other beverage, be sure to plan for a large and handy recycle pullout somewhere.

You have an old one. New smooth glide fixes that. Thanks.

So far as I know, they have always had smooth glides, at least all the brands I have seen, but mine is about six months old...

You seem to be looking for a reason to be dismissive, so I am sorry that I tried to give you helpful input, when you obviously only want adulation. So let me change my previous input to say, that I think your plan of putting individual drinks in the drawer fridge is perfect for you.

chicagoans, the shop drawing had 30" for frig drawers instead of 24" so adjusting that frees up 6" for a 18" trash pull out next to the sink. I think I can work with a 20" floor space in front of the sink when the dishwasher door is open now.

Also, combined cabinet #2 & #3 into large drawers. Utility over symmetry?

In the drawings there are quite a number of things I would never have in my kitchen, but, but it looks absolutely stunning and I honestly think it can function as efficiently as any kitchen with sink on one counter and cooktop across from it would.

The only thing troubling me is the ovens cab. It sort of disrupts the sleek look imo. Is there enough room for the ovens and a small counter on wall no 5, or would peninsula be close enough as landing space?

If you can consider moving the ovens there, I would have a 12" wide tall pantry b/w the fridge and the wall so fridge doors can open more than 90 degrees and fridge will have landing space. The remaining 18", maybe a 9" wide pullout for oils, bottles next to the cooktop on the fridge side and have 27" instead of 18" drawers on the other side of the cooktop. I think the peninsula will hide any dissymmetry around the cooktop.

@Paul F. "Utility over symmetry?" IMO, yes. Few will notice the symmetry of cabinets inside the U, and great functionality is a gift every time you're using the kitchen.

There is a massive pantry btw. The ovens will look like this... be still my heart. All the 220 is in and not possible to place them on the pantry wall.

With esthetics as one of your main concerns, looking at your last photoshop with the new kitchen put in the existing space, I think the ovens are in the wrong spot. I think they should switch places with the refrigerator, at least.

I know you just said they have to go there and can't go in spot #22 instead because of the electrical, but I would say don't be pennywise and pound foolish. You probably have $20K in refrigeration in there alone, what would to cost be to move an electrical line relative to your overall budget?

The center drain is a bigger issue. (We want our main kitchen trash pullout under the left hand side of the sink) we have to allocate room for a pullout elsewhere if we cannot put the trash under the free vps sink.

Not having a counter to immediately put down a hot dish concerns me moving the oven over to be honest. I think I'm locked in with the placement next to counters on that one. The trash was originally to the left of the sink... I can still do that.

As to the awkward dishwasher placement I could use dishwasher drawers instead there OR put the dishwasher to the left of the sink, making the sink off center to the window by 8"... losing the 6" cabinet to the right of the sink and and shifting everything a further couple inches.

I could use a sink like this cantilevered over the dishwasher to make it look intentional maybe?? (Losing the accessory rack that is)

Utility over symmetry here as well? It will look something like this.