When a range or cooktop is on an island or peninsula or in a pass-through, it's even more important to properly vent it than when against a wall. That's not to say it's not important to vent when against a wall...it is...but it's even more important when in an open space. Why? Because there are more and stronger air currents over an open area and odors, smoke, steam, grease, etc. will find it easier to travel into non-kitchen areas. Not only is venting in general more important, it's also more important to "oversize" the hood...at least 6" wider and at least 24" deep (preferably 27"). Smoke/steam/odors/fumes begin to spread in all directions (front/back/sides/up) as soon as they leave the pan. This means you have to be able to capture them when they've spread beyond the sides of the range or cooktop. Usually 3" wider on each side and in front & behind are sufficient in most cases. Venting over an island, peninsula, or any open area is almost always more expensive...island hoods cost more overall (finished on all 4 sides), you usually have to get a bigger hood, ducting will have to run up to the ceiling and across to an exterior wall, and since most people want to install them higher than recommended, they need to have more cfms to compensate (you also have to compensate with an even bigger hood as well if you mount it higher than recommended). I do like ShanghaiMom's setup...it adds interest to the wall, protects those in the breakfast area from the majority of smoke/grease/steam/fumes, and it looks like a decent rangehood. I would have liked to see the hood 6" wider though. It's still subject to more air currents b/c of the openings in the wall and it looks like it's higher than 30" off the cooking surface (but it might not be.) If you did the partial, what size is your range? 30"? 36"? If 30", then with a 36" hood that would give you 18" openings on each side. Keep in mind that if you do a full pass-through, you won't be able to use it for much b/c of the presence of the range as well as the fact that it's a gas range...so flame is now involved. I would be sure to put in a counter that's at least 18" deep behind it...24" if you plan seating. [I.e., 18" or 24" of counter behind the range.] Oh, what type of range is it? Slide-in with no backsplash? Or conventional w/a raised backsplash behind it? If raised, I'm not sure if it will look good, even if you put in a raised counter behind it. Personally, I dislike the look of a conventional range in an island or peninsula even w/a raised counter...it looks "wrong" and a design error...but that's my personal opinion, not everyone has the same opinion.

Wow! Lots of questions! Haha! Let's see. We live in New Orleans and are a very casual, fun, energetic family. DH and I are in our mid 30's and have a 9 year old and a 6 year old. Both kids are active outside of school. TV is a big part of our lives because of sports, movies, kids, etc. But Mike's Den is where lots of the sports programming will take place. :) We are planning to offset the TV and put it to the side of the fireplace for two reasons....1) Now that the kitchen is further over, if someone is in there, it will be more centered to the room as a whole and 2) it can be a bit lower and more at eye-level if it's not above the fireplace. We can make the built-ins accommodate the TV at a level more comfortable for viewing. There will also be a playroom/media room upstairs for the kids. So the Living Room TV will be the group/family TV I suppose. We take turns cooking but both work. So we aren't gourmet cooks but we enjoy cooking meals. We enjoy conversations from the kitchen, thus wanting the open plan. I'd say that because of kids' evening activities, we probably cook 3-4 days a week maybe? Other nights we grill or get take out, pick something up or go out to eat on the way home. The porch. The house (again, in New Orleans...flooding) must be elevated a bit). This porch is elevated with the house. I know we will also have lower space for a table and chairs and the grill, that we haven't laid out yet. We actually did talk about widening the porch. How wide would you suggest? My dad suggested 1-3 feet wider. What do you think? The front door...you see the stairs to the right of the kitchen? And the open pass-through there under the stairs in the drawing? If you go through that pass through...actually straight from the back door, you'd pass the turned stairs above you and a guest room above, master below (in the drawing) and the front door is that way. It's a narrow, New Orleans lot...50x122, which has made things interesting to lay out! :) Thanks again guys! Your feedback is great! Oh, and again, the furniture placement and the kitchen appliances, etc. is just there in the drawings as a guide. It's not fixed or anything. It's just a visual thing for reference.

Ohhh...very useful discussion (thanks MrsPete!). I'm in San Diego and want a pass-through window of some sort for year round outdoor dining - I've been stuck on how to implement. I know I want the window down to the counter (thermal break concept noted). I plan to use a white quartzite inside and would prefer to use the same material outside as this ledge will be under an upper deck (I've heard that some white quartzite might discolor over time in strong sunlight?). The planned window, on the west wall, would be adjacent to an outdoor dining area in our side yard. Beyond that is the pool area (our house is sort of in the NE quadrant of the property with most space in the S-facing back and W-facing side). We most definitely want a window rather than a door (there are also doors on both walls, outside of kitchen area) because I want to be able to quickly hand out marinated meat for grill, finished kitchen items for outdoor table, or snacks to wet swimmers without actually having to walk outside. Speedier distribution means that something warm is likely to stay warm and the workload is properly distributed so that the cook only cooks and others set/clean up. Nano windows are too expensive. Sliding windows are a contender but I'd prefer to have the entire width open. We are all tall (mom is 6' and I'm likely to be the shortest in 4-5 years), so double hung windows might have us all bending down awkwardly to the openings. I'd like to find a casement-style window that can open all the way back to lay flat against the outside wall. Most casement seem to open only about 90 degrees (if that), which would put glass right out into a walkway. I'm not so concerned about the screen as the breeze comes in another direction so I'd usually have this window open solely for distribution. I do plan to blatantly steal Scrappy25's sitting bay with double hung windows/ledge for the south wall of the kitchen. It will be primarily for sitting and views outside (no cabinets on that wall), but will serve a quick pass-through if something is needed in the back yard... oh how I love Gardenweb and all you wonderfully creative people! Can't wait to hear what else comes of this discussion...

With no living space above the only thing the wall can be "bearing" is the weight of the ceiling. Surely you've determined that the ceiling joists run perpendicular to the wall, right? If they run parallel it is not bearing in any way and can be completely removed if you like. If the ceiling joists run perpendicular then it's best if you get into the attic but there are some clues as to whether or not it holds up the ceiling. If the ceiling joists lap over the wall (they meet in pairs) it is certainly bearing. If not it all depends on the span and the size of joists. In general though nearly every such wall without joists lapping over it can be considered a partition wall. If it is a bearing wall one of the best ways to deal with it when only attic space and you're only bearing ceiling weight is by using an "overhead" header (it sits on top of the ceiling joists) to which you attach the ceiling joists with joist hangers. This allows you to completely remove the wall below. Of course you must have proper support at both ends of the "overhead" header.