rhome410 - thanks for the suggestion around flipping the fridge / pantry area. I had considered it early in the process, but we were hoping to avoid in order to prevent changes to the dining room (wallpaper and paneled.) However, as you will see below I created an updated floorplan and included your suggestion. I think it helps with the overall functionality of the space. We considered the full range over the rangetop / wall ovens. We really like to idea of an oven that is up off the floor for both easy access and distance from small children. Also, the fact that the oven + rangetop combo is actually significantly cheaper is a factor. On the other hand, the full range makes the floor plan easier to arrange, provides ventilation for the ovens and also has the benefit of providing an excellent "centerpiece" to the kitchen appearance. I'd say we're undecided at this point. Do you think I have the right pro/con list? kaismom - thanks for the thoughtful feedback you've given on the overall flow and interaction of the spaces we're designing. I completely agree that this is one of the most important aspects of the design process and is also one of the hardest to figure out since it can be difficult to visualize. Let me give you a few more facts that I haven't already provided. First, we live in the Boston area (not VA). The funny thing is that we used to live in VA - up until about five years ago - so I know what you are talking about! Given the combination of relatively few truely hot days and the fact that our backyard has mostly indirect light except for in the early morning, we aren't to concerned about to much light heating up the house. The back wall of the kitchen that faces the backyard does face southwest, so I'd expect great morning light and then indirect light as the day goes on. Second, your suggestion about casual family dining is an excellent point. We were thinking that the island would be the center of family life in the evenings (homework, dinner prep, dining, clean-up.) You will see below that I've created a revised floorplan and added a placeholder for a table to the plan. My thinking right now is that we wouldn't add the table - but it gives us the option. You make some excellent points about how as the kids grow older, all being seated facing each other might be a valuable habit - I'll keep them in mind. Third, you suggested I consider how we interact with the house / yard today. I'd say 90-95% of our entrance / egress from the house happens via the garage. This is in spite of the fact that we have three other entrances (including two in the backyard.) Now that you've suggested I give this careful considering - I don't expect this to change much - so this is probably the most important entrance to get right. The second priority would be the backyard, as the kids get older I envision more time (especially on the weekends) being spent playing in the backyard. In fact, this consideration is why we are having so much consternation about giving up the side view. While not having direct access to the mudroom from the backyard isn't ideal, I'm not sure we can have both the side view and this access. Adding a door from the backyard into the garage or coming through the kitchen wall adjacent to the garage won't work because there is a bulkhead access to the basement in that corner that cannot move. That's unfortunate since this would have been an excellent solution - thanks for the suggestion! palimpsest - you asked about the right front room. It is currently a room that gets little use. We'd like to eventually turn this into a library / study of sorts since the idea of a formal living room doesn't appeal. Adding the powder room of the central hall would reduce the room dimensions from 17x18 to 13x18 - I was thinking this was still adequate space for the use we envision. Perhaps a little more of a rectangle than would be ideal, but still a space we could make work. What do you think? bmorepanic - Excellent point about the double french doors. The more my wife and I think about it, the fact that they swing creates space problems and also makes it difficult to have screens on the doors. I don't see that much opportunity to have both of these doors wide open with no screens as it's either darn cold or there are to many bugs around. Given this, we're leaning more towards a sliding door. The fact that it isn't centered on the hallway isn't all that big of a deal to me, but I'll keep an eye on it when I can get some renderings and make sure it doesn't look strange. I'm still thinking about the idea of moving the fridge to the wall adjacent to the garage. Biggest concern about this is that it moves it farther away from the family room and backyard entrance. Maybe this reduces the convenience factor? However, it does create some benefits around allowing open counter space across the whole backyard wall and what feels like a more convenient work layout. I'll keep this in mind. If you get a chance, take a look at the layout I'll provide below and let me know what you think. sundownr - it's great to hear the dimensions of your space and that you find it functions well. Very encouraging that we will eventually find a solution that will work for my family. Also great to hear you eat at the island and enjoy it - this is what we envision today. Also, the photos are helpful - thank you for providing them. As you mention, I see you went with the full range which solves the wall oven problem. We like the idea of wall ovens for their convenience and also like the ideas of deep drawers under the cooktop for pots and pans, but both the convenient floorplan as well as the asthetics of the full range certainly appeal. We're still undecided there. New Revised Floorplan: I've incorporated some of the suggestions everyone has provided in this update. Still isn't perfect, but I'd be interested to see what people think. Thanks again for all the helpful suggestions!

I do not want yellow, so that's good advice. I'm after a wood floor with a bit of variation, both to camouflage a busy house and hide what is sure to be dents and scratches with a cat and a dog. The only other things I've got going on in the kitchen is the white beadboard ceiling -- walls and trim colour yet to be determined, and there's not a lot of that. I want to do the living room in something like a BM Stonington gray. My flooring store tells me Kentwood makes good hardwood, and I thought Coal Harbour (bottom photo) was promising, but lesser expensive options are two from Mannington that I like -- Mountain View Hickory Smoke (top photo) or Mayan Pepper (middle photo) which is actually shown against a lighter green, albeit the bathtub. I'm going a little nuts, because the paint store lady says I need to pick flooring before I pick a cabinet colour; other people feel it's the other way around ... and now I read the countertop should be picked first because they're the star of the show. And here all along I thought it was the cabinets, and everything else came from that!

Thanks everyone. I have spent some time analyzing my current situation and the proposed layouts that all of you so kindly offered. It seems that there are pros and cons to all scenarios and no clear cut best answer. 1. Keeping my current layout would provide the maximum amount of storage but I would still have a compromised prep area between the sink and range. I would take away the bar height and have a single level countertop for the whole configuration. 2. Sena's layout includes a 52" x 90" rectangular island instead of the L-shape and proposed moving the range to the corner. The benefit here is that I gain prep area between the sink and stove. I do lose some of my original storage with the range in the corner and the island change. 3. cpartist proposed moving the refrigerator to the far left top wall with dishwasher next to the fridge, sink next to the dishwasher, widened window and moving the stove to where the refrigerator currently is. I would have to use a counter-depth refrigerator if I don't want it sticking out so far and I'm not sure of the exact island dimension proposal but it was 39" x ??". I would definitely gain more prep space between the sink and stove but I feel like I would be losing a lot of island. I would also lose some storage in the refrigerator over having a refrigerator in my recessed area and the pantry would not be as deep. 4. mamagoose proposed using cpartist's idea for the appliances but turning the island 90 degrees. The reason I resisted seating on the dining room side was because we have our dining room table for seating and it feels like island seating in that area would be redundant. The island in this configuration though is 42" x 72". I do love the look of rectangular islands and I think they are timeless. I'm not sure the L-shaped island is as appealing as it once was to me but it does seem like I can get more storage that way. I gather that most of you feel that my current L was too big to begin with? I'm worried that my kitchen is going to come off appearing smaller than it truly is if the island is small and a lot of the storage is gone. So that is my dilemma right now. It is a lot to process and I thank you for all the valuable info. Am I correct that there is just not one best answer?

It's always best to post the pictures here, it makes it much easier for everyone to see what's going on and relate the pictures to your comments.