Hey miruca! The walkway is 45" cabinet to cabinet (not countertop) I have a thread on this from our planning stages here : ) Let me know if you need anything else! Here is a link that might be useful: DISHWASHER/DRAWERS THREAD

In general, you need 24" of linear space for each person & a 15" overhang for counter-height seating. I would not go less than 15" since your island is replacing a table. If you have a corner w/seats on each side, remember to leave at least 12" (preferably 15") extra for shared leg room. (Yes, this applies to you b/c of the proposed diagonal sides) This should illustrate it... See how Lagrant does not have seating right up to the edge on the side closest to us...that's b/c that last seat on the left side needs that for leg room. With your setup, you could get one seat on the 39" side...but the 12" overhang will not really be enough. The 18" sides will be much too shallow for someone to sit at plus it would be tight anyway not only b/c of the lack of linear space but also b/c of the shared leg space. This is what you're trying to do... (1 square = 3" x 3") Do you have a DR? With our remodel, we also eliminated table seating in our bay window. But, we raised the window and put a counter along that wall w/a sink in the bay. We also took down the wall b/w the DR and Kitchen and now use our DR for all our family meals. We do have 2 seats at the peninsula b/w the Kitchen & DR for a quick snack or breakfast or even to setup a laptop. Our peninsula is 5'2" w/a 15" overhang. BTW...we tried to do the same thing with our kitchen...put in an island w/seating...we even tried to follow the contour of the bay like you're trying to do, but ultimately it did not work. So that's when we decided to make that wall a run of cabinets & counters...the best thing we did in our kitchen! To help you find a way to get 4 seats, it would help if we could see a layout of the kitchen w/dimensions...especially the bay window alcove's dimensions. Is your design finalized? If it is, you're going to be very limited in what you can do at this point...which means you may not get the 4 seats you want. If it isn't, then perhaps we can find a way to get you what you want.

The issues, I see, to having a butcher block insert into a surface are that (1) you are "stuck" with it always being there and (2) it cannot (usually) be moved if it's needed elsewhere. Granted, the second issue is easily taken care of by having multiple cutting boards, but the first is still an issue...at least it would be for me. I like the versatility of being able to do anything on any part of my counters w/o worrying about having to "treat" a portion of them differently or not being able to use a portion of them for some tasks. As to a 36" aisle - that can work if (1) there is no traffic in the aisle (through the kitchen from one room to the next OR passing through the aisle when moving b/w two work zones) and (2) only one person is working in the space (side-by-side at the same counter might be OK with a 36" aisle, but butt-to-butt/working across from each other would be an issue). Cotehele, I have a question about your stools & island height. Your island appears to be lowered, are you using stools for counter-height seating? If so, how are they working out? Is there an issue with room b/w the seat of the stool and the bottom of the island? Is there enough room to sit there w/o the top of a person's legs rubbing up against the bottom of the island frame? Your kitchen looks very nice, btw (I don't know if I've told you that before!)

Hi! It is so nice that someone is going to use my kitchen as an inspiration! Thank you! My island cabinet dimensions are 8'3" x 5'1" (that includes base moulding) The marble countertop measures 8'5" x 5'4" The two style stools that I am considering are either black windsor (non-swivel) counter-height that would coinside with my DR chairs or Aluminum school-house style from Crate & Barrel. I need something that can withstand the abuse of three boys under 8 years old! I am very familiar with "acountryfarm" and have looked at her posting many times. She has gorgeous trim throughout her house. As far as the look of her floor for my style kitchen, I would say that it would definately work BUT, I would personally only use one type of countertop (not both soapstone and marble like I did). The reason I say that is because I think that too many different "hard" surfaces would be too busy. The tile floor being one of them. Just my opinion! BTW, I found a great custom cabinet maker and he built me such gorgeous cabinets for such a great price...that's the only way I was able to afford the rest of the finishes in my kitchen...I hope your cabinet maker turns out to be as good as mine!