hi! glad you're back! :)

i'm not a layout guru, which is why i didn't want to say anything last time. but my thought was the fridge is more functional on the other wall as in Plan B.

will you be using the island to prep? or is it more for seating?

and i think that there is an OTR microwave? have you considered a drawer version, or at least in a cabinet somewhere else, maybe in the island closer to the fridge?

There's only 18" between the sink and the range in plan A. That wouldn't be nearly enough space for me. Of the 2 plans, I like B better, but I think I need to know more about you & your family, where the kitchen fits into your home, what the traffic patterns are, etc. to have a real opinion.

Thanks for responding! I'm new to this whole message board thing - as new as i am to home renoing - but am so glad I have found this site - it has been such a wealth of knowledge/info!

When the kd suggested the fridge on the opposite wall it really threw us for a loop - hadn't considered it - and not really sure we like the idea since there is a door on the back wall and there are a lot of different depths - 21", then fridge, then 24" deep - not sure how that would look irl, but I figured I would solicit some of the opinions from the experts.

We do like the fact that we could recess a a fridge in plan a since we have a double thick wall on the left in which we could create a pocket, and would prefer not to have to buy a cabinet depth fridge.

Of both plans - definitely for aesthetics - and I think functionality too - we are leaning to plan a. My main concern is the counter space btw sink and stove. The island will be seating for 4 - 3 across, one on the end, and I would guess prep - especially in that scenario.

Yes - that is an OTR micro - we don't even currently have one - and are trying to keep costs in that area down.

Thanks for responding! I'm new to this whole message board thing - as new as i am to home renoing - but am so glad I have found this site - it has been such a wealth of knowledge/info!

When the kd suggested the fridge on the opposite wall it really threw us for a loop - hadn't considered it - and not really sure we like the idea since there is a door on the back wall and there are a lot of different depths - 21", then fridge, then 24" deep - not sure how that would look irl, but I figured I would solicit some of the opinions from the experts.

We do like the fact that we could recess a a fridge in plan a since we have a double thick wall on the left in which we could create a pocket, and would prefer not to have to buy a cabinet depth fridge.

Of both plans - definitely for aesthetics - and I think functionality too - we are leaning to plan a. My main concern is the counter space btw sink and stove. The island will be seating for 4 - 3 across, one on the end, and I would guess prep - especially in that scenario.

Yes - that is an OTR micro - we don't even currently have one - and are trying to keep costs in that area down.

In plan B the island starts to act as a barrier island. In plan A you have some minimums around the range but you also have the island right there for work space.

In plan A I would reduce the cabinets to 18": the 21" and 24" depths will make it really tight.

Plan B would be better if the island were shorter by that top cabinet imo., and the cabinets behind it were shallower.--18" again.

The overhang on the island is shallow: people will be sitting with their knees spread, so they will take up more room in that regard and it will not be as comfortable for long meals.

Both designs have fit a lot into a small space but I think you may need to give a bit of it up to allow more circulation. If you went strictly by the guidelines the island would result in no storage behind, but I think at least making it shallower is a good compromise.

laxsupermom - my main concern is the counter space between the sink and stove as well, but i was hoping we would use the counter to the right of the sink or the island instead, especially since the garbage is there, and there is a window to work under. My husband is also quick to point out that he thinks there is actually about 24" from the closest corner of the sink to stove since it will not take up the whole 42" sb.

as far as traffic, I'm not really sure what you mean? We have 2 children - 9&7. The main entry to the kitchen is near where the tall cabinets are in plan a - there is actually a 60" doorway there separating the hall by the mouth of the working kitchen with the living room. The kitchen table is actually about 5' from the end of the island, but in between is the main hall of the first floor.

does that help?

When are you going to have all four people seated at the island?

With about 3 feet between the island and the tall storage, the issue is that the middle person would not be able to get up without someone from the end getting up. Not the worst thing in the world, but not super convenient. The kids will also get bigger:) Maybe trying to seat four at the island with the kitchen table right there is a little redundant. It might be better to plan more space for 2 rather than a tight space for all four.

For me, the lack of space in plan A would be a deal killer. Most people will have a tendency to prep between the sink and stove. That also means that in Plan A, the flow goes against the layout. Think frig, to sink, to cooktop. Not that you can't train your cooking style to the island for prep and your kitchen isn't huge so I guess it's not a big deal. If you both like the corner sink (which eats up some real estate) did you consider putting the frig on the opposite wall just in a bit from the doorway? You could get a right hand swing door or FD which wouldn't impede the entrance. Then go to narrower depth as suggested by palimpsest so not to interfer with the island

laxsupermom - my main concern is the counter space between the sink and stove as well, but i was hoping we would use the counter to the right of the sink or the island instead, especially since the garbage is there, and there is a window to work under. My husband is also quick to point out that he thinks there is actually about 24" from the closest corner of the sink to stove since it will not take up the whole 42" sb.

as far as traffic, I'm not really sure what you mean? We have 2 children - 9&7. The main entry to the kitchen is near where the tall cabinets are in plan a - there is actually a 60" doorway there separating the hall by the mouth of the working kitchen with the living room. The kitchen table is actually about 5' from the end of the island, but in between is the main hall of the first floor.

does that help?

Like remodelfla said, prepping at that other counter goes against the flow of a normal meal prep. You'd grab veg from the frig, pass the range, wash at the sink, move further from the range, prep over the dw, move back to the range.

Is that door at the top the door to the yard? Now imagine that your 9 yr old has a friend over while you're prepping for dinner. They come in from the yard and push past you to use the sink, they cross past you again to grab a glass(I'm guessing they're in the glass cabs by the door,) push past you again to go to the frig to grab the oj, sit at the island to drink the oj(the only move that doesn't affect you,) and move you out of the way to put the glasses in the dw.

Again plan A would not work for my family, but if you are a one cook family, and you never plan on helpers, and your kids are more disciplined plan A might work for you.

Thinking about how a normal day of meal planning would work in your family both during the school year and the summer will help to refine your plan.

If you come back with measurements, and more details about your family some of the layout gurus here might be able to come up with something better.

Yes, the door on the back wall is a door to a deck (an add on to the existing deck where we plan to move the grill) in the backyard. We were thinking that would typically be used for my hubby when grilling, although you bring up good points - I'm just not sure since this is new space and we never had a door off the kitchen before.

There is a slider off the living room to the main portion of the deck/yard. The living room is opposite the wall w/the panty unit, and also has the door we use as the entry to the house. I was assuming the kids would still use the slider as the access to the backyard/house - especially if they are passing through from front yard to back..

I was envisioning the fridge being out of the way in that respect while I was cooking, etc. as I was thinking they would come in, use the bathroom down the hall on the wall opposite the stove wall, grab something from the fridge, and head around the front of the island to grab a seat. That might be to optimistic.

Things to consider. It seems like even the best laid plan may not work as expected in practice. AUGH!

I also prefer Plan B. Plan A has everything too crowded together for my preference.

However, if you are set on Plan A and would consider giving up your corner sink, here's a suggestion:

Turn the sink to face the windows along the top wall.

With a 90 degree corner, you should gain about 16" along both runs, giving you a more generous prep area between corner and range with still enough room on the other side for sink cab, DW and a narrow cabinet (about 12", depending on size of sink cabinet). The sink should still sit under the window, too. If you end up with a cabinet even narrower than 12", consider this idea for dish towels:

Leaving the fridge where it is in Plan A means that you can decrease the depth of cabinets along the right wall (as someone suggested) allowing you to increase your aisle widths (they look to be only 36", which is narrow considering how busy they will be) and perhaps gain a bit more room for seating at the island (which is tight as others have pointed out).

I have a corner sink in my existing kitchen and while I do like it, I'm considering going with the set-up I'm suggesting so that I gain enough room between cooktop and sink when we remodel (we're moving the cooktop off the island - it only has 16" prep space on either side, hate that - to the perimeter). My family has a tendency to spread dirty dishes all over the counter on both sides of the sink so the more room the better. It also means that I can increase my cooktop size from 30" to 36" and still have ample prep space.

Palimpest - sounds like you are right on! I just spoke to the KD and he mentioned that he too was a bit concerned about the aisle widths. He suggested setting the island on 18" deep cabinets, instead of 24" to gain 6" all around. He also suggested using most of those between the stove/fridge wall and island.

Not sure how this would look. I have searched the site on narrow islands, but most appear to be mainly for prep. We were hoping to use it for prep as well as homework, kid lunches, snacks, etc. so I would really like seating on the backside.

Lisa_a - my initial plan was to have the sink on the back wall centered under the rightmost window, however trying to center the sink under this window had it's own challenges. My husband, plumber and contractor all think the corner is the way to go. When I did speak w/the KD today we went over the wall dimensions, and I think we can get another 6" to use on the stove wall - I'm thinking:

36" fridge - 18" rots - 30" range - 24" rots - 42" corner sink base. I am hoping the xtra 6" as well as the use of the island will be sufficient prep space.

You guys are great. Thanks for all the comments and thoughts. It is really helpful!

My husband, plumber and contractor all think the corner is the way to go.

ahem... what do YOU think? i don't think these guys are doing the cooking... or are they? ;)

laxsupermom, remodelfla and lisa_a have some wise words backed by experience. and palimpsest will help you get the details right.

so in that context, are YOU okay with the corner sink and what it ends up giving you in Plan A?

I am hoping the xtra 6" as well as the use of the island will be sufficient prep space.

please don't settle for "hope"! in your mind, walk through what making a typical, but specific, dinner will be like in that kitchen. since you've been lurking, you probably know some people even mock it up with cardboard and actually go through the steps!

i know this is stressful! but remember, this is supposed to be a great kitchen for YOU. :)

In Plan A, unless you put a prep sink on the island, the island will not be convenient for prepping b/c there is no water source for rinsing/washing veggies, etc.

The counterspace to the right of the sink would result in a very poor workflow. Kitchen workflow is: Ref --> Prep Zone with sink/water --> Cooking Zone with Range/Cooktop --> Cleanup Zone with sink and DW

To get the proper workflow in Plan A, you would need: Ref --> Island with prep sink --> Range
Using the counterspace to the right of the sink would not work b/c it results in a lot of Zone-crossing and a poor overlap of DW with the Prep Zone.

As to "really having closer to 24""...first, 24" still isn't enough. Second, those "extra" inches aren't all that useful for overall workspace b/c of their location...in the angle/corner. I had 24" of straight counterspace b/w my sink and range in my old kitchen and hated it! It was one of the biggest factors driving our remodel.

For island seating, you need 24" linear space per seat and a minimum of a 15" overhang (for counter-height seating). [If your KD tries to tell you that a 12" overhang is fine, ask him/her about the NKBA guidelines...they recommend at least 15". The NKBA is the association that trains & certifies kitchen & bath designers.]

As to the aisle behind the seats, you should have at least 48" b/c you have cabinets & counters behind the island and b/c it appears traffic will be passing through the kitchen behind the island.

For a kitchen to have cabinets and/or workspace on both walls + an island + seating at that island, it needs to be at least 181.5" wide: 25.5" wall run + 42" aisle + 40.5" island + 48" aisle + 25.5" wall run (w/counters) = 181.5" (15'1.5")

You only have 163" in kitchen width. So, your options are to make the aisles narrower, make the island shallower, or make the tall cabinets narrower...actually, you'll need to do a combination of these. Something like this: 25.5" + 39" aisle + 37.5" island + 46" aisle + 15" deep tall cabinets

Island: 1.5" overhang + 21" deep cabinets + 15" overhang = 37.5"

The lack of adequate workspace, poor aisle widths, and poor overhangs in Plan A would be a deal-breaker for me.

Oh, and put the trash pullout either in the island (at the "top") or b/w the range and corner sink. You generate far more trash & recyclables while prepping and cooking than you do while cleaning up...and for far longer periods of time and more often throughout the day. So, put the trash pullout where it will be the most useful...in the Prep Zone b/w the sink and range or in the island (if you add a prep sink).

Good luck!

Do you have a picture (even hand-drawn) of your entire kitchen space, including the table area and all doors? I would bet that if the layout aficionados here could see that, they might be able to offer up some new ideas (I say "they" because I am not one of the layout experts!!).

It seems to me you're hoping for a lot more out of this island than you seem to have room for, and now it may shrink a bit. Who knows, maybe an island was not meant to be for your kitchen...and maybe someone else has an idea that will work better!

Scootermom - good idea. I have the plans that our architect drew up as the kitchen expansion/remodel is part of a larger addition. I will try to get them and scan them in tomorrow - we currently do not have access to my scanner at home so I will have to bring w/me to work tomorrow..

Buehl - in sticking w/plan a, sounds like reduced depth cabinets are the way to go, at least in part. I just did a quick search and there are many pros for shallower pantry depths - I am just hoping a 36" x 15" or 18" cabinet would be sufficient for our food storage needs.

Not sure if plan b is even an option anymore due to the aisle widths (we actually only have 160"), as this would not allow for reducing the depth on that wall enough. This is something that we hadn't considered - we thought we had plenty of room.

back to the drawing board.

Thanks again!

I'm not one to often suggest a range on a peninsula or island, but I think it could work very well if you kept the "tall wall" with the fridge as it is in option B, eliminated the island, and went with a peninsula out from where you have the fridge in A and put the range there with an island hood. That would give you plenty of space between the sink and range, room for seating on the other side of the peninsula, and give you plenty of clearance at the "pinch points" of the two "arms" of the C. It would also create optimal traffic flow in the kitchen away from the cooking zone and make the tall fridge wall the snacking zone. If you have basement access, you could even put another small beverage/handwashing sink in the tall wall/snack zone and keep kids completely out of your way.

I was able to find a jgp with the plans - although it's not great. Maybe this will help? Please let me know if not and I will try to get a better copy tomorrow.

What part of the plan is existing and what part is the addition? Can any doors and windows be moved? What about walls? Can you steal 2' from the LR?

Also, is the entry into the LR your main entry or is it the entry between the room labeled "kitchen table" and the DR? Where does the door along the back wall of the kitchen lead?

If you can't make any changes to the size of your proposed kitchen, I think live_wire_oak is right: a deep peninsula would work better than an island.

The original kitchen was bumped out to meet the back wall of the living room. The dotted line through the middle of the island was the original kitchen wall. The framing is done, and windows, door and siding are in place. We also have the electric and plumbing already roughed.

The entry into the living room is the door we use as the front door since if it adjacent to the garage and connected via a farmers porch. The actual front door is between the eat-in kitchen and dining room, but I can count the # of times we have used it in the 15 years we have lived here :). The driveway and walk naturally guide visitors to the porch.

Not sure how peninsula would work? I think we need to keep the walkway from living room, through kitchen to office, rec room clean.

Can the left short segment of wall in front of the stairs be shortened or removed altogether?

Do you mean the portion of wall directly in front of the stairs - closest to the working kitchen? If so, yes - it already has been. Sorry about that - that was something that was just done - and actually makes a huge difference.

The dotted line in between that wall and the opposing wall, opposite the entry label, is a load bearing beam. Although that has to stay, my husband is talking about having them remove more of that wall, or making a half wall with a pillar or something there as well as the other small portion of wall to the right of "real" front door.

I am not a visionary - I was nervous about it going and my initial reaction to taking the rest down is that it will look strange w/no delineation between the eat-in kitchen, and what in effect is the original entry hall, but I have to admit the part that was taken down already makes a huge difference, and right now we are only looking at studs..

Where is the 3" difference? In the first pics, you have a 99" section of wall, then a 42" outside door, and then a 22" section of wall, for a total of 163". However, you said the kitchen is really 160" wide.

I am not sure where she got that - maybe the lowes plan.

The measurements for the back wall that I have from our contractor are:
101" section of wall, 38" door (including the casing), 22 section of wall.

I just remeasured again and I get about 161.5 stud to stud, so allowing for sheetrock, 160.5 is about it.

All I have time for right now is to show the Layouts I worked on the past couple of days (corrected for the 160" or so width). (My DS has a Jazz Concert...)

Hopefully, I will get back here later tonight to comment & answer questions.

BTW...the range in the peninsula (like LWO suggested, is a slide-in range, they work better with a peninsula or island location.)

Layout #1

Layout #2

Layout #3

Layout #4

I am not sure where she got that - maybe the lowes plan.

The measurements for the back wall that I have from our contractor are:
101" section of wall, 38" door (including the casing), 22 section of wall.

I just remeasured again and I get about 161.5 stud to stud, so allowing for sheetrock, 160.5 is about it.

I don't know why this site keeps doing that. I was in the middle of typing a response and somehow it posted the last response again.

Anyway, a lot to digest - a few quick thoughts

I think I like layout 1 & 2 - especially since we can recess a standard size fridge into a pocket in the wall, among other reason. I think a peninsula might be awkward as the main hall through the 1st floor is right there.

A similar layout to 1 was what I was initially going for, but trying to center a sink on that window was next to impossible. The best we could do was put a 21x24 D in a 24" SB. Not awful at all - same size as my current sink which has always been fine - but then we started looking into the corner option, and if we go that route we would probably do a larger single bowl undermount.
Also, I then started reading and it sounds like a sink pushed up right to a corner might not be ideal either. Actually I think I had the asymmetrical corner susan the opposite way - I will measure that again.

Why is the prep sink optional on layout 1 but not 2?

Do you have any thoughts on ideal pantry depth? Will 36"x13" give ample room? This is the only food storage and our old kitchen was woefully lacking in that department.

Thanks so much for taking the time to come up with these - it is definitely food for thought.

Prep Sink...In Layout #1, there is plenty of prep space b/w the range and sink so a prep sink isn't required to make the layout work. However, it does make the island more useful as a Prep Zone. In Layout #2, OTOH, there is nowhere near enough prep space b/w the sink and range so the prep sink becomes essential to making the layout work.

The prep sink is on the end to maximize island workspace. It could go in the opposite corner (refrigerator end), but that will most likely be the landing zone for the refrigerator.

Also, because the cabinets have to be a reduced depth and most sinks require 24" in at least one direction, it worked better to have it on the end where it could be 24" deep. However, if it were in the middle of the island, you could just turn it sideways to be 21" deep x 24" wide (or 18"D x 24"W).

If you do put the sink on the opposite end, it will put it in the face of the person sitting on the end...I recommend at least 18" b/w the edge of the sink and the edge of the counter to reduce the chances someone sitting there will be splashed.

Finally putting the sink on the end allows it to be used from at least two sides.

Pantry...No, I really don't think 36" x 13" will be enough room for food storage. That's why I have 87" worth...over 7'...in the first two layouts. It would also give you space to store your small appliances. [With the exception of my toaster oven, all my small appliances (KA stand mixer, blender, breadmaker, coffeemaker, food processor toaster, waffle irons) fit on 12" deep shelves in my pantry.] Additionally, if you have room, you could store your cookbooks on 12" deep shelves.

I put in a 36"w x 24"D tall pantry cabinet in layouts #3 & 4, but, personally, I prefer the shallow shelves. Things are far less likely to get lost/forgotten on the shallower shelves than the 24" deep pantry cabinet...even with roll out tray shelves (ROTS) or even pullouts (pullouts would be better than ROTS since you can pull out the entire pantry w/one motion and see everything, sort of, at once.) Additionally, you can see everything better with shallower shelves.

With walk-in pantries, most of us here recommend 12" deep shelves as "ideal" for food & small appliance storage. If there's a need, maybe 15" deep, but no more. I actually find our 15" deep side less useful than the 12" deep side. (We have a small corner step-in pantry w/shelves on two walls.)

okay - so I have reconvened w/the KD and we are trying to come up w/more aisle width, but she doesn't like decreasing the cabinetry on the right wall so much. She suggested going to a 30" wide island based on 18" cabinets. The island dimensions would be 30" x72". Not sure how this would look. I have searched on narrow islands but most appear to be room dividers or used solely for prep. Any thoughts?

How thick is the wall between the LR and kitchen, considering part of it was exterior. I imagine it is load bearing but I was thinking that if you could frame a "doorway" or a couple "doorways" in this wall, deeper cabinets could be recessed into the wall a few inches similar to how people recess their refrigerator. (And you could recess that as well) It would hav e to be planned carefully but could be worth looking into since you are fighting for inches.

"I have reconvened w/the KD and we are trying to come up w/more aisle width, but she doesn't like decreasing the cabinetry on the right wall so much."

Did she say why? Her reasons for not wanting to do this might not matter to you. It's your kitchen. Which is more important to you: a deeper island that can be both prep space and dining counter or deeper cabinets on that one wall?

btw, her suggestion of using 18" cabinets for a 30" island means diners seated at the island will only have 9" for their knees: 30" - 18" cabinet = 12" - 3" for counter overhang = 9". That might work for young kids but not for adults. If you went with 1" counter overhang instead of 1-1/2", you'd gain an inch overall, giving you 10" overhang but that's still skimpy on knee space.

You have 2 dining areas so close to the kitchen. Do you *really* need island seating for 4? Since your kitchen isn't very large, I think something needs to give. Personally I'd choose a plan that gave me a functional kitchen with ample storage over island seating for 4.

Off the wall idea. Have you considered making the kitchen/kitchen table/dining room areas one large kitchen & dining room space? In other words, ditch the kitchen table room, remove the remaining walls in this area (you mentioned this was a possibility already) and expand the kitchen into the current kitchen table area. Can the LR doorway into the kitchen be shifted north (on your plan)?

Palimpset - unfortunately no - the wall has already been reconstructed as the roofline was affected - there is a vaulted ceiling in that section of the bump out - and a closet was removed which is what was originally on that external wall.

Lisa - we both like the design of the wall - hutch and pantry units - which on the original plan are 21" and 24" depths. When I suggested going to 18" for both, she mentioned that the drawer units become less usable - and this is something - large drawers - I was really hoping for. She mentioned she has done islands on 18" bases and they have been great for prep/light eating - breakfast, lunch etc. I don't envision dinners here. I was hoping to see some of these in action.

No - I guess we really don't need seating for 4 - in reality most of the time there will probably be 2-3 at the island.

Also, we can't really change the other eating areas - this is part of a much larger home reno project and those 2 rooms are virtually the only ones not affected (and at this point we are pushing max $$)..

p.s.. why do you have 3" for counter overhang? I thought this was usually 1.5? Actually I guess 31" would be more realistic as I am thinking a 12" overhang is fine for us.

Islands have counter overhang all the way around so the counter is 3" wider (or 1.5" on each side) than the cabinets. My math is a bit off, though. You'll have 10.5" knee space. If you increase the overhang, you increase the width of the island, decreasing the widths of your aisles.

Can you do a mock-up to get a sense of how the aisle widths and knee space will work for you? Pretend someone is sitting at the island while you're trying to get items out of the cupboard behind them. Hopefully it's not an issue for you but best to find out now and make adjustments as necessary.

I suspected my idea was a long shot but better to get it out there anyway, just in case.

I thought this was your kitchen, not the KD's kitchen.

Many KDs will try to talk you into what they want to do...and it's not necessarily what's best for the client. They don't care, after all, they don't have to live with the results. [Not all KDs are like this...there are also many that are responsible and do care about their clients...like most of the pros who post here. But, there are many KDs that are not/do not. I know, I ran into a few during my remodel journey.]

Is your KD saying a 10.5" overhang is OK (30" - 1.5" - 18" = 10.5")? Is s/he a Certified Kitchen Designer (CKD)? (No, there are no guarantees on "KD quality" even for a CKD, but at least they had to have enough knowledge to pass the certification exam.)

Even 31" still only gives you an 11.5" overhang.

Here are some numbers.... 30" wall run/refrigerator/range + 31" island + 25.5" wall run (w/counters) = 86.5"

161" - 86.5" = 74.5"

74.5" / 2 = 37.25" aisles...and one of those aisles will have seating backing to pantries & hutch/counter

Even making the aisle b/w the range side and the island 36" only gives you a 38.5" aisle on the other side of the island. (If the range & refrigerator are on opposite sides, the aisles could be worse.)

Remember, too, that if you have only 18" cabinets, that means your island workspace is only 19.5" deep if someone is sitting at the island...maybe less since you will have such a shallow overhang. So you're also sacrificing workspace.

Personally, I'd rather have deeper drawers in the island than I would the pantry. Pantries generally work much better with shallow shelves than they do with drawers or ROTS (roll out tray shelves), deep or shallow. The island location, OTOH, is a great location for pots & pans, prep tools, etc...and they usually work best in drawers, not shelves.

Is she suggesting the 18" deep island base cabinets be drawers, ROTS, or stationary shelves? I had stationary shelves in the base cabs of my old kitchen and accessing anything that wasn't right in the very front (first 9" to 12") meant I had to either get on my hands & knees or contort my body. I know I will never, ever have stationary shelves in base cabinets again (unless they're no more than 12" deep).

Is it really crucial to have seating at the island? How about just one seat at the end (where the curve is)? That would be a place for someone to sit and visit with you while giving you the entire depth of the island as workspace as well as allowing the narrow aisles to work better (no seats).

One thing to remember, don't be "penny wise & pound foolish". I.e., don't cut corners just to save money. The "bones" of the kitchen (and DR & "kitchen table") are more important than some of the furnishings. In fact, some furnishings can be put off until more money has been saved. Look at what you can postpone until later so you can get the basics done right. Things like a backsplash or decorative doors on the ends of cabinets or expensive faucets or even new appliances (if the current ones will fit and are in good working order) can be postponed until later. The kitchen's design & cabinets, OTOH, are arguably the most important items to get right from the very beginning.

One last thing. Since your aisles and seating are very tight, be very, very sure all measurements are correct. In your case being off by even a couple of inches could be an issue. Measure from at least three heights...near the ceiling, half-way down the wall, and toward the floor. Measure from various points along each wall as well. It's rare for all walls to be perfectly straight and plumb. You need to be sure you have the smallest measurement so you know what you really have to work with.

We've all given you our advice on how to have truly functional kitchen. It's now up to you to decide what to do with this advice...heed it or discard it. This, after all, is your kitchen. You need to decide what's important to you: adequate workspace, adequate aisle widths, functional storage, good workflow, comfortable seating, etc. Just make your decisions based on good information. That way you will be making informed decisions by weighing the pros & cons of each choice. You will know going forward what compromises you made and will not later say, "why didn't someone tell me?"

You are the one who will have to live with and work in this kitchen every day, not us...so it has to meet your needs and wants.

Good luck and keep us posted on your progress!