Maybe an L with a bistro table at the window with seating for 2-3....the dining room doesn't look to be really a part of family room or kitchen so having some designated seating in the kitchen might be nice. How do you enter the dining room anyway?

A lot of people don't like (hate) the dishwasher opening up against adjacent cabinets. If you do the L with peninsula, you avoid that and avoid two corners.

herbflavor: You enter the dining room through the hallway between the powder room and utility room which is on the wall right of the stools.

tbb123: I have pictures of that too.

The first picture is with using a pantry cabinet.

The next picture is using a base and upper cabinet instead of the pantry cabinet. Also, on the range wall I moved over the range to the right slightly.

I'm open to other suggestions. I'm surprised that the resident kd haven't commented at all which I find unusual.

I have wall elevations that I can post if anyone is interested.

Is the sink right up next to the pantry cabinet (it looks like it...)?

Where's the DW? I'm assuming to the right, but I don't see it (or, does it have a panel?)

OR is that the DW that I see and not a sink?

Why not do a real island instead of the stubby peninsula? It looks like you have room for a nice 3x7 foot island running parallel to the range run in your L-shaped kitchen above.

buehl: The sink is under the window. The DW is next to the pantry cabinet. Here's a picture of that wall.

If I do go with the pantry was going to probably do 3 drawers at the bottom of the cabinet.

taggie: If you crunch the numbers, there will be small aisles if an island is done with that size. I've already thought about that too. Unless I go with 18" or 21" deep cabinets it might work.

But it's not like the area behind the island is a traffic path so I think you could get away with a narrower back passage than is usually recommended for when you're going to have traffic walking back and forth behind the island. I actually think it would fit fine unless I'm reading the measurement on the floor tiles incorrectly.

The first picture has the measurements on it. The 3d aerial views make the kitchen look larger then it is. The kitchen is about 135.5" . Just recently purchased a new refrigerator which extends about 34.5" into the room. 135.5" - 34.5" for the fridge leaves us with 101" for aisles and the island. I think the minimum is 36" in front of the fridge - 36" for the island leaves 29" on the back wall. Is that enough room? Does anyone have that little behind an island?

Oh My apologies aries61, you are right that is too tight for an island. I counted the grid tiles thinking they were a square foot each as I couldn't read the measurements on the first pic (they are too small to see on my screen). Sorry for the confusion.

taggie: No apologies necessary. I'm not sure the program that I'm using what size it uses for the tiles, but they're not 1 sq ft. For any other ones reference, if you click on any of the pictures it will take you to a larger picture to see better.

Thanks for the comments and feedback so far. Keep them coming.

Any more opinions or comments?

Curious about something. Some people get tons of comments and opinions on there layouts and others including myself a few. Any reason?

the reason I did not pursue configuring and analyzing is after i brought up the dining room.....you want to work withing the existing footprint of your kitchen and leave dining room off to the side. The utility room and dining room are awkwardly situated within the context of getting a good open kitchen with one prominent eating zone destination that flows either with living room or family room. The options are not numerous within your kitchen/you are trying to get seating-it's a finite set of ways to do it. If you said-I want to redo the middle section with dining room and utility room reconfigured I think you'd provoke different comments. It's your right to keep the confines of your project as you wish. But ideas are relative to the requirements/goals of the undertaking.

HerbFlavor is right. When too many constraints are placed on us, there is often not much we can do.

Some people will come here, load us up with major constraints on a space, and then expect us to "wave a magic wand" and give them everything they want! That's just not possible in many cases. Sometimes, constraints are necessary, we understand that. However, in many cases the constraints limit what we can in good conscience offer. Islands and seating in kitchens are good examples. The "in" thing right now is an island with seating - many people come here begging for both when their kitchen often cannot support even one, let alone both! They'll even tell us that they don't need decent aisles or the minimum overhang and swear up and down that they'll be happy...for example saying that a 36" aisle that has seating with skimpy overhang (Note that I'm not saying you are that person, in fact you're not - you seem to be very much aware of the limitations, especially for islands & seating.

The other thing is that some of us no longer have as much time to spend on the Forum as we used to. I work 10-hour days (or more) 5 days a week and have a 45 - 60-minute commute each way - so when I get home I need to spend time with my family and do family things! Gone are the days when I could spend 2 or 3 hours a day on the Forum and/or working on layouts. I can sometimes barely keep the "Read Me" thread current! (Thank you to all those that keep bumping it for me!!! And thank you Angie for letting me know when it's reached 150 posts!!)

With that in mind, I do have a different suggestion that does include an island, but with only one seat:

[To see it bigger, click on it. GW is no longer allowing us to post pictures big enough to be read/analyzed.]

herbflavor: I wish I could switch the dr and the middle section, but with the house being on a crawl and the utility room housing the furnace it's would be costly to do because everything would have to be rerouted and where I'm at, plumbing has to be cast/copper which is costly, pvc is not allowed.

buehl: thanks for your comments and layout suggestion. I know that the kitchen has it's limitations with what can be done that is why I came here to get opinions and suggestions. I've created so many different layout using different elements that I'm driving myself crazy.

Many of the kd that I have seen have suggested layouts that have been similar to each others. A few have suggested some different suggestions and others have suggested layout that don't work. I had 1 that kept on telling me he has been doing this for years and when he showed me his design, he had a upper cabinet that protruded into a window.

Kd's are like any other profession, there are good ones, bad ones and ones that shouldn't be in the profession. If you're a kd and read this, don't take it personally, just making an observation that pertains to all professions.

It seems for the size/dimensions that you are working with, what you have there is a nice layout. If you do the peninsula for two chairs, maybe consider a small drop leaf on the end just for a little more elbow room if you have two. Are you having any overhang on the inside of the peninsula? Any way to slide a stool under there? I just say that because I always like to have a spot to sit and ponder my cookbook or laptop. Then, too if you have some one over for lunch, you don't have to sit next to each other like it's a lunch counter.

okay,so the utility and powder room can't change.dining room remains separated in a slightly removed area. I'm guessing the dining room is used infrequently-maybe used for another purpose even.You have a tremendous advantage in this small kitchen that many similar sized kitchens don't-namely 2 windows...flooding of natural light/air movement in warmer months. It looks like the peninsula is your wish......next I would eliminate the pantry in the corner and do upper and lower cabs to the extent that you need storage/probably no more-that means calculate for the 2-3 persons that would live here/how much wall cabinetry and base cabs do you need...and if you eliminate pantry you can get 15 in deep wall cabs to expand each cabinet's capacity. You can pull out base cabs and get more depth to counters as well. The corner of dining room behind powder room can take a corner cabinet assembly with the same style as your kitchen doors if you need back up storage for lesser used items-platters/serving/crockpot/stocked up paper items/etc.[any shelving chances for utility room?]...next is the stage where your planning and thoughts are going to morph and make this a great small kitchen.....your choice of materials/colors/accents/style of doors/floor/lighting/counters/etc. I would do all in my power to keep the airiness on the wall sections between the 2 windows and regard the peninsula wall as a feature wall ....color/window decor..pendant light[perhaps] over peninsula/stools/trim to peninsula/flooring..... this is all going to work but you have purchased the fridge which is bulky/the peninsula has a mass and occupation of sq footage with stools which is significant-go back to your cabs and analyze so you don't bulk up the space any more than necessary and then start looking forward to the wonderful feature wall you're going to have and imprint your personal style.

deedles: No I wasn't planning on an overhang on the inside of the peninsula. I had a kd suggested putting an overhang on both sides of the peninsula. The problem that I see with that suggestion is accessing the cabinet. I guess i could use 2 cabinets with the outer cabinet facing the fridge for easier access.

herbflavor: Thanks, your suggestion is one of the first ones that I came up with. What I thought of doing was doing the peninsula in a different cabinet brand. I really like a doorstyle in Crystal Keline, but unfortunately doing a whole kitchen in Crystal is out of my budget. Was thing of doing the L shape in Shiloh. This way I can spend a little more on the peninsula and make it a focal point in the kitchen. I wish they wouldn't make refrigerators so deep as they are doing. I replaced a 25 year old Montgomery Wards one that was only 30" deep compared to my new one that is almost 34" deep.

Thanks again. Really appreciate the comments and suggestions.

Attached is what the current kitchen looks like if anyone was curious.

Have you considered (or ruled out) getting a counter depth fridge? That would give you some breathing room.

Or, is there room under the stairs to push your fridge back into that area a bit?

deedles: Unfortunately, I just purchased my refrigerator several months ago. The counter depth fridges were higher in price then I wanted to pay. Probably will use 30" fridge panels in the kitchen design. The difference between the CD and RegD was only 3" and the price difference was $800.

Really can't push the fridge back into the stair wall since that wall is a load bearing wall.

Thanks for the suggestion.

Your plan with the peninsula adds some storage and work space, along with the seating area. It does not, however, provide any additional work space between the appliances.

Your window over the sink appears to be looking out at another house. Have you considered moving the range there and placing the sink under the other window?

Then you would have a U-shape kitchen, with pantry and refrigerator on one wall, the range in the middle and sink with clean up area, on the third wall.

If you still want to add some seating, you might be able to add a small peninsula to the opposite wall, past the refrigerator and pantry.

cottagewithroses: You are correct that the window over the sink looks at another house.The other window looks out to the garage. Moving the range over to that window and moving the sink to the other window is cost prohibitive.