Before you design the layout, you need to focus specifically on function of the space. How you use the space should determine how the layout changes, if at all.

Do you use the table on a daily basis? If so then the DR is not going to be a good substitute. Would a bar area work for you with eating at the bar and stools at it? Your family room looks out of balance with all the furniture on the fireplace wall. Would the FR function better if it had wall instead of the railing? And then allow you to rearrange the eating area in the kitchen? Do you need more storage? Do you want an island? Do you like where the appliances and the garbage are located? Do you use the cooktop regularly and is there enough room around it?

These are just some of the decisions you have to make...a kitchen designer cannot make them for you. That may be why you haven't been happy yet with the designs you've seen. You need to analyze how you use the space and what you need before the layout will work for you.

Thanks for the feedback. I appreciate your questions and I do have answers to those - which I probably should have included in my original posting. Here they are...

- We do use the table on a daily basis - however, we don't use the DR enough - so I would rather have 1 eating space for daily usage than a formal DR that is only used 2-3 times per year. We also have a formal living room, so we are really trying to maximize the total space we have on the first floor. I would prefer to eliminate the eat in space and eat all meals in the kitchen - but I would only do this if we can get a kitchen design that isn't "out of whack" without it - considering the door ways and doorwall.

- We do need a little more storage - which is why we were considering some type of hutch in the eat in area or trying to revamp the entire space. It is mostly for serving dishes and barware that are not used often. We have these currently in a large walk in closet at the bottom of the stairs in our finished basement. It isn't a problem for me to go get them when I need them since they aren't used daily, but would be nice to have in the main kitchen if possible.

- I like islands, but have come to appreciate the peninsula. That said, I really want to make the most of the space in the room. I would be open to an island if it made sense in the room. Ex: We had one design that was basically a long island down the middle of the room ending with 4 spots for counter height eating. There was also only one wall of cabinetry since the room is only 11' wide. I did not like that plan because it required a person to walk pretty far down the room one way or another to get around it.

- The location of the appliances are fine although I would appreciate the dishwasher being right next to the sink. Right now it is in the peninsula. I also plan to incorporate a convection MW / oven combo, replacing the current double ovens and eliminating the countertop MW.

- I do not like the location of the garbage and would like a pullout somewhere near the sink if possible.

- We use the cooktop almost daily. I have enough room around it as I do all the prep on the peninsula. It would be nice to have a little bit more countertop space, but I could live with the amount we have as well.

- With regard to the FR - the picture I posted is probably not the best to get an idea for the layout. There is a very large armoire in the corner near the railing inside the family room where the TV is located. This balances that layout and room better than what you can see in the picture. That said, we are not opposed to a wall between the kitchen and family room, but would like to keep is all open if possible.

This is an idea that only works if you're willing to give up the wall ovens for a range. You could do a double oven range w/ a microwave drawer or a regular range with an advantium under counter.

Cleanup zone is convenient to the dining room and banquette. Someone could be emptying the dishwasher without getting in the way of the cook. Range hood vents directly outside. There is both pantry space as well as a pseudo butler pantry area for the serveware you keep in the basement currently. You could have additional bulk storage(paper towels,etc.) in morgue drawers in the banquette.

Great idea laxsupermom! Thanks for the feedback and drawing, too. I would be perfectly fine with a range with double ovens or single oven range with under counter advantium. My husband is a big fan of the banquette idea and in this layout I could see how it would work. I still would prefer to eat all meals in the dining room and use the current eat in space in another way, but I do like the functions this layout provides.

Do you use the table on a daily basis? If so then the DR is not going to be a good substitute.

That is so not true! We eliminated an eat-in kitchen and now use the DR every day for our meals...it was one of the best things we did! Like yours, our DR is directly off the kitchen, so no hallways, etc. to traverse b/w them.

In fact, I find eating more relaxing and the kids' manners seemed to improve when we "moved in" to the DR. We no longer have a wasted room that was rarely used except as a dumping ground for junk/mail/etc.

We did remove the wall b/w the DR and kitchen but put a peninsula b/w them for separation and to add very useful counterspace. However, if you are someone who does not like seeing dirty dishes while eating, leaving the wall up would be better anyway. I am able to "ignore" the kitchen while eating...turn off the lights and you don't really see the "mess"!

Railing...be careful about removing it. If the two room remain as-is at different levels, you may need a railing for safety. It all depends on what you do with the space.

"...the doorway to the dining room, doorway to the front of the house, and door wall to the deck are all staying."

Does that also mean the DR doorway can't move? Leave the wall up but move the DR doorway?

Buehl - thanks for the feedback! I am in love with your kitchen and opening the wall between the kitchen and dining room and creating a peninsula b/w them was one of the plans we did consider. I wouldn't mind looking at the kitchen while eating, but unfortunately we found some major barriers related to electrical, plumbing, and HVAC - not to mention that the wall is also load bearing. The cost to make those changes would mean I would have to seriously cut back on other "upgraded options" in the rest of the kitchen. In the end, I decided it would be best if we just kept the basic elements of the floor plan (meaning wall placement, windows, door walls) in tact. I just would like to maximize the entire space and eliminate the need for the kitchen table so we can eat in the DR...but with the constraints especially the sliding door and connection to FR, this has been a bit of a journey.

With regard to your second question on the doorway to the dining room - we might be able to move it further away from the kitchen window - meaning to the wall where we currently have the pantry/fridge/ovens. I don't think we had explored that option previously as we always assumed there would be a wall of something related to the kitchen in that same area. Thoughts?

Looking back through some older inspiration photos and came across this one....I cannot remember where I found this picture, so I am sorry for not providing proper credit.

I have no other visualization of this kitchen, but from this angle, it looks like a similar situation as ours with a sliding doorwall in what was an eat in area of the kitchen. Seems they have a narrow island coming out of an L-shape kitchen. Could something like this work / look good? Anyone have a kitchen like this that works? I could see that island getting a lot of use for prep and baking, but not sure how an island in the middle of the room would look.

If you like the general layout of your kitchen, I'd say keep it. Here's a few suggestions, based on what you've said. I would move the peninsula over just enough so you could put the d/w to the right of the sink. Extend the counter on the peninsula so you could put some bar stools there for quick meals (you might have to replace the slider with a smaller one or with a single french door). I would eliminate the cabinets above the cooktop and repace with an attractive vent hood. You could replace the cooktop with a slide in stove/double oven, and replace the ovens next to the refrigerator with a large pantry cabinet or hutch like cabinet with glass fronts. Maybe the microwave could be put in the space where the dishwasher was. Myself, I like having the sink beneath a window so I wouldn't move it to the inside wall. Good luck!

Spartans, each time I look in here I tend to think of extending the kitchen down to take over most of the space, with a long island facing the back yard. "Most of the space."

At the dining room end, which you'd love to open up, would those major barriers allow you to center a 5-7' doorway in that wall and on the fireplace at the other end, flanked by a very short "hall"/transition area of facing, matched storage/serving cabinets? The idea would be to open the spaces to each other while framing the dining room, kitchen, and fireplace handsomely from both directions in an opened up, yet defined way. The other big purpose of this architectural feature would be to create a nice little feeling of separation between the DRM and kitchen, both making your home feel larger and allowing a calm, charming dining room and busy clattery kitchen to be open to each other and yet still themselves.

Thanks to everyone for the input! After considering the input and working through some different options, we have settled on a general layout that we really like. We are still playing around with cabinet sizes/drawers vs. shelves, glass vs. door, color, etc. but here are the changes we are making - please let me know what you think!

Summary: We are keeping the u-shape - but making the following changes:

1. Extended the peninsula so that we have the dishwasher to the right of the sink and then added a blind corner cabinet next to the dishwasher.
2. We have also extended the counter off the peninsula an extra 12" to allow for some counter seating (note the picture didn't come out very well with the extension).
3. The cabinets above the cooktop are replaced with a hood vent.
4. The wall across from the sink is 2 pantry units followed by a combo advantium/oven with the fridge at the end of the run.
5. We reduced the current patio sliders to a 48" french door, eliminating the kitchen table (we will eat most meals in dining room) and added some cabinets and a wine/beverage fridge as a wall/partition between kitchen and family room. Also will come in handy for serving room as we entertain frequently.
6. Added a hutch/breakfront.

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I'm going to point out a couple of considerations about that layout. They are just in case you haven't thought about it. I'm sure you have as its just about the layout you have now.

a. Using the cooktop will sometimes involve asking the person at the sink to move. (Anytime those drawers under the cooktop are opened).
b. Using cabinet one will sometimes involve asking the person at the cooktop to move.
c. Its going to be harder to get into the corner uppers with a modern hood that sticks out further - perhaps even more than today because the corner upper cabinets look like they might be smaller.
d. Be careful about leaving allowance for fillers in the corners and up against a wall - particularly when using frameless cabinets. In a corner, the filler on both sides needs to be the depth of the door AND the depth of the handle plus a tiny bit - so that the cabinets on both sides can open properly. Up against a wall, you should allow for a 3/4" piece of starter molding - except that you may need more to clear your door casing.
e. Be careful about wall cabinets with wide doors that open over counters and the amount that the hinge allows the door to open. Looking at the wall cabinet door arrangement over the dishwasher - it looks like you've skipped the first cabinet and put dishes into the second cabinet. You may want to rethink that. You could get brained by the cabinet door or left in the slightly odd situation where the door doesn't open wide enough to be able to pick something out of the dishwasher and put it away without first putting it on the counter to avoid crashing it into the counter. Or you have to walk around the open dw door to put stuff away. This is just my personal opinion, but I would move the dw back over to the left and put the main dish storage on the first cabinet to the right.
f. Same wall cabinets - opening the center cabinet prevents both other cabinet doors from opening - certainly not the end of the world or anything.