Hi Wendy - I'm pasting your plan in-line as a picture, that should help you get more comments.

Hooray! Thanks so much for your help today.

I'd like to see the prep sink on the peninsula. Most prep tends to occur between the sink and range. I think it would be awkward and extra steps to slide to the right for prep, then take it to the left for cooking. The prep sink would also serve traffic from the FR and frig.

I prefer counter height seating because it gives a nice deep stretch of counter, but it's just a personal preference. I'd extend the counter all the way to the cab by the FP, though, because I think it looks strange to stop short.

Where's the MW in this layout?

I"m a little concerned with only 18" of space on the end to teh left of the range. Did you really mean only a 12" prep sink? I think I"d want to push that prep sink down a bunch. Maybe make 30" to the left of the range, 36" to the right, corner prep sink maybe?

My random thoughts... I would move (or eliminate) the prep sink as well. Where you have it now, it would make the countertop unusable for the person sitting at that bar stool. If you need water for cooking, maybe consider a pot-filler instead? If you keep the prep sink, I'd move it to the end of that peninsula so that it's out of the way of people sitting at the bar area, yet still accessible for the fridge and the table.

I assume there is a wall behind the 48" stove? If so, then it's fine there. If there isn't a wall, you may want to consider putting the stove somewhere else or adding a wall. Having that stove so close to the bar seating will make it too warm to sit in the seats on the same side, possibly allow spatters to hit those sitting at the bar, and guarantee that a child will climb on that bar and walk on the stove (if they're like mine!LOL)

I also wonder if you've included enough cabinet space in the kitchen itself? Large gatherings mean lots of food and dishes and the storage space strikes me as inadequate.

I'll be back to look further, but those were the off the top of my head thoughts. :)

I initially wanted to put the prep sink on the peninsula, but wanted to have a landing space for the fridge, groceries, etc. How close to the fridge should I put the prep sink and still have landing space and enough prep space?

Laxsupermom: I agree that counter height seating is better, so I think I'll go back to DH with that one. (He wanted bar height to hide mess of prepping, etc on counter from those in FR.) Definetly will extend counter to backside of FP. It was an oversight at 2a.m. last night. Two thoughts on MW, either in on the counter in corner cabinet to the right of sink or in a space in overhead cabinet to the right of the fridge.

Remodelfla: I currently only have 15" to left of range and 22" to the right so I'm used to no space on the left. I'm opening to having more space on left, but I don't want to impact prep area too much. I'm not sure I can get by with less than 4' prep. I thought about a corner sink, but those don't seem to go over too well around here.

Lissa: There is a wall behind 48" range. I tried to draw my lines thicker in the kitchen where there are walls, but I don't have any programs to draw in so it's a bit crude. I know I don't have enough cabinet space, but it's more than I have now. Suggestions as to how to get more??

Thanks everyone! Please keep the suggestions coming and I will try to re-draw again by hand with the improvements.

Here's a thought using a 36" range with a separate undercounter oven for those times when you need that second oven.

The peninsula can be landing space for the frig. I didn't change the overhang to counter height, but pretend that I did. The range can vent to the outside on this one. You'd have a window over your prep area so you could watch the kids playing while prepping for dinner. I'd put a trash bin under the prep sink, too.

Thanks for re-drawing with new ideas! However, this plan isn't appealing for two reasons. 1. The entrance into the DR cannot be on that outer wall as you'd run right into the side of the sideboard upon entering. I initially had the entrance there too until I tried to walk it. It doesn't feel right to enter into the room at the very end so I moved that peninsula to outer wall run end. 2. I don't want sink and cleanup area facing wall corner and be that far away from the family room where we spend most of our time.

Can you see why I've been going crazy with this kitchen plan??! I want to be focused more towards the FR and kitchen table. Is that possible?

How about this tweak.

Pros:
The DR side peninsula is back on the exterior side giving better space for that entrance and protects the cook at the range from through traffic. It's easy to slide things from the range to the peninsula for party buffet setup. The cleanup zone faces out towards the FR so you can watch the kids post dinner when it's too dark to play outside. Dishes are convenient to frig and breakfast area as well as being a straight shot to DR.

Cons:
The range is hemmed in on the right side and might feel awkward. The secondary oven opens into a walkway, although this is mitigated by the fact that it will be lesser used.

Try that last tweak with the prep sink eliminated and the range moved over. With the range then closer to the sink, it sounds like you'd be okay with a single sink -- and you could put in a potfiller.

Looking at your plan...THe range is in the entry path. Instead of moving the prep sink to the peninsula, I'd put it in the corner of that L, like Buehl did. That way you have more room on the range wall to shift the range a bit and still have prep space between sink and range, AND you don't lose room on the peninsula.

How about you put the serving/buffet space on the range side of the room, then you have the range protected from traffic?

OK...First I did this:

...but I wouldn't like the path around the peninsula from stove to fridge while cooking. So I tried this:

...but I noticed that the bumpout only seem to make you an extra wide aisle in this plan, so the expense of the bumpout might not be worth it, and tried this:

I missed the comment about the sideboard, as you can see...Sorry. But I think the other ideas might still be valid, and the last plan might eliminate that problem?

I hadn't thought of a 36" range and separate oven. I guess I was becoming fond of the 48" idea (smile), but that could work as long as I'm not giving up too much under-counter storage. I had thought about the sink in that same corner, Laxsupermom, but thought corner sinks were frowned on here. I do think it solves a problem.

It's a common misconception that sinks in corners are frowned on here...they're discussed and pros/cons are listed so people can make informed decisions, but not frowned on. Ditto for corner ranges/cooktops. I'm not sure where that rumor started....

For a main or only sink, it might be something to think carefully about b/f committing to, but for a prep sink it's fine. As a matter of fact, I have a corner prep sink. Actually, my kitchen is similar to the first one RHome410 posted and it works wonderfully well...protects the Prep & Cooking Zones from traffic as well as separates them from the Cleanup Zone. I had sixteen 13-year old girls working in my kitchen twice....and it worked wonderfully well! Everyone was amazed! I so love working in my kitchen b/c it's so functional...it's my absolute favorite room in the house!

What is different, though, is that my Refrigerator is directly across from the peninsula so there's no running around it to get to it and I do not have seating on the base of the "U", just on the side of the peninsula.

I think these two differences may be key.

One thing...be careful of having seating too close to the gas fireplace. You should have 3 or 4 feet b/w the seats when someone is sitting in them and the fireplace...even if it's enclosed b/c of heat build-up.

Here's my kitchen.

Here are the plans for each "wall"

Cooktop wall:

Sink wall (the sink is actually at counter level, not raised):

bump