Can you convert your PDF layout to a JPEG (JPG) formatted file?

If not, can you scan it in and save it as a JPG image?

Failing all else, take a digital picture of it (that's what I used to do w/hand-drawn layouts!)

Have you had a chance to read the "Read Me" thread? Scroll down to the "Layout" post and the "Posting Pictures" post for more information. I'm not sure what pics you're trying to post, but be sure they have legible measurements that are useful...it will really help!

Switching around appliances...

Be sure you don't create a "barrier island" that you will have to run around when working in the kitchen. A Prep Sink will help with that, but only if it provides water where it's needed.

Until I see the layout with measurements to see how things would fit, I cannot tell you for certain what will work.

Pantry....

Pantries do not have to be "walk-in", they can also be "step-in" (like mine) or even "reach-in". You can even use cabinet doors as doors to your pantry and sheath the outside in cabinet skins or decorative door panels...all to make your reach-in pantry look like cabinets.

Another option is to get 12" deep pantry cabinets with stationary shelves (adjustable, but not pullout). You'd be very surprised how much fits on 12" deep shelves...not just food but also small appliances. All my small appliances except my toaster oven fit on 12" deep shelves (toaster, blender, KA stand mixer-when I put it in the pantry, waffle iron, coffeemaker, slow cooker, breadmaker-turned sideways, food processor, single electric hob/burner I used when I had no kitchen)

Here is a link that might be useful: Read Me If You're New To GW Kitchens!

Thanks, buehl.
I just found an faq page on converting from pdf to jpg, so I am going to try posting my layout.

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OK, reposting my questions:

After several meetings with a cabinetmaker, I have a tentative layout but I am still having trouble deciding about some things.
The key issues I have been debating are:
1. Should the refrigerator and ovens be reversed? I think the refrigerator on the left keeps it farther away from the island stools and visually balances the pantry cabinet on the end of the run, but then people have to come farther into the kitchen to get something from the fridge, and the landing spot for the ovens is less convenient than if the ovens were to the left of the fridge. (The island will actually be a little closer to the range/hood than this drawing shows). I will have about 44" clearance behind the refrigerator and the stools stow all the way under the island counter.
2. The pantry. I have debated this endlessly. I HATE the 24" deep pantry cabinets I have now -- stuff gets lost in the back, and I waste space maintaining "aisles" on the shelves so I can find things. Thought about a pantry closet, but it couldn't be a walk in, and it wouldn't be as pretty as cabinets. This latest configuration has a tall/narrow cabinet on each side with separate rollout shelves in the bottom sections -- wide enough for 1 row of cereal boxes, etc. The middle section is 21" deep on the bottom so that the counter can die into the cabinets on each side, and the top section is 18" deep, with glass doors on the very top. The part right on top of the counter would be finished inside so that if I don't need it for food storage, I could use it as sort of a "desk" area with doors that would hide my mess of papers.
3. Most of the cabinets are at the 8 1/2 foot height (48" tall uppers not including crown) except for the ones on either side of the hood, which are 42" tall, and then the pantry section on the end of the run, also at 8 ft. My ceiling is 11 ft. high, but I still worry that the 48" wall cabs will seem too tall and narrow. I have thought about breaking up those doors with a separate smaller panel at the top (like the look of stacked cabinets), but wonder if that would be too busy.
I have also tried to find ways to make the refrigerator wall seem less heavy, and that was the reason for the open space above the fridge/oven, glass over the pantry, and the tall cabinets on the sink wall.
The elevation drawing is missing the little angled section on the right at the base of the U, but you can see it in the layout drawing.
I would love to hear any suggestions/thoughts you have.

Your're right, buehl. My favorite pantry (in a previous house) was a 12" deep 30 wide/84 tall cabinet. I loved it because nothing got lost and any food boxes/cans I had fit great. I couldn't figure a way to do that in this kitchen because I also need space to store some larger serving pieces, and that 24" deep cabinet on the end (in my latest layout) blocks what would otherwise be a full on view of the kitchen from the entry. Not sure I want everyone seeing my sink from the entry -- our house is a very open floorplan.
Thanks for any suggestions -- has anyone had tall narrow pantry cabinets with rollouts?

What's the distance b/w the left wall & right wall? That's a crucial measurement!

From a purely stylistic standpoint, since you don't have symmetry on the range wall due to the diagonal, I would not mimic the diagonal with the corner cabinet on the left. I think it will be as if you tried for symmetry and missed, so I would do a piecut cabinet or a conventional set of cabinets in the corner.

Left wall to right wall measures 183 inches. I have spent all afternoon reading through the READ ME thread -- such great advice!

palimpsest: Do you mean a blind corner cabinet in the left corner? That corner cabinet is deeper than the adjacent cabinet because the cabinets on either side of the hood are lower and the crown needs to die in. Do you mean eliminate the open shelf cabinet (used as a filler to center the hood on that wall and keep the cabinets next to the hood equal sized)?
Thanks!

Yes I would do either a blind corner cabinet or a corner cabinet with a pie cut door rather than an angled cabinet, even if you have to make it deeper to have the moulding die into it. The large diagonal on the right and the small diagonal on the left don't play well together IMO, so I would eliminate the unnecessary one altogether.

Roughly, you don't need the ref drawers or turn them so they face the table area. Let kids use the ref drawers for beverages, particularly if they are ref/frzr drawers with an icemaker- then the main ref doesn't need one. Closer to the dishes and the table area and keeps little guys outta the work area.

You do need a prep sink on the island ? towards the people end? (take stuff from big ref, wash and chop on the island, take to range). If its on the people side, can double as a bar sink and a second sink for use when cleanup is underway. If its on the range end of the island, it closer for getting/dumping pots full of water, but can't double up. Either location beats not having one.

It is a ref/fzr drawer and is on the table end of the island. Beverages is exactly what I planned it for -- near the patio door too for easy access from outside and pool area.
I do have a prep sink on the island (maybe it doesn't show up well). It is on the corner of the range end of the island next to a pull out trash. I don't really need it on the people side since we have a bar area with sink between the kitchen and family room.
Thanks for your suggestions.
Any thoughts about the big refrigerator location, 48" upper cabs, and my pantry area? Does anyone have those tall pantry pullouts and love/hate them? In this plan, they are doors with individual roll out shelves, but folks on here seem to complain about rollouts. I worried that the big pantry pullouts would be a pain to pull out, when you just want one thing.
Thanks!

These place the refrigerator on the right wall and to mitigate the resultant "barrier island" b/w the sink and refrigerator, I put a prep sink in the corner rather than the island.

Why? B/c it provides the best Prep Zone b/w the refrigerator & range.

If the sink were on the island, the best place for the prep sink would be on the seating side...and that won't work. The next best would be on the range end, but there's much too little work space for it to be useful there.

Putting it in the corner is really the best place overall. You have over 24" of work space b/w the refrigerator & prep sink and over 36" b/w the range & prep sink. This makes a great primary Prep Zone!

A secondary Prep Zone is located b/w the range and cleanup sink.

You may have wanted your primary Prep Zone to be on the island, but the configuration of the kitchen overall discourages that...sorry! It will, however, be a tertiary Prep Zone or a secondary Prep Zone if no water is needed.

On the plus side...no sink to splash those sitting at the island (or their art work or homework) AND the island is one uninterrupted workspace...ideal for large projects such as baking, crafts, science fair, gift wrapping, etc.

With this setup, the refrigerator & MW are on the periphery of the kitchen. It's easily accessed by those working in the kitchen as well as those just looking for a snack...and those snackers will not be underfoot!

Note that I reduced the aisle from 42" to 39" (counter edge-to-counter edge) on the cleanup sink side so you can have an extra 3" on the seating side of the island.

I also moved the Warming Drawer (WD) to the cabinet next to the range. When asked here whether those with WDs used them, it was close to unanimous that those who had them very near their range or cooktop used them and did not regret getting them. OTOH, those who had place their WD farther from their range or cooktop (e.g., in an oven stack), usually did not use them and did regret getting them. So, learn from other GWers...put your WD very close to your range, not on another wall far from the range. (Items in the oven can be kept warm using the oven, so there's really no need for the WD to be under the oven.)

Wow, that seating area just did not compute in my head. I guess your table looks so comfy and well sited that seating never ever occurred to me. Seating in that location is kinda problematic because of really poor access to the ref and the ovens and the pantry anytime somebody sat there. Looking at it again, both aisles are shown as about 42"in the original plan and it wouldn't have worked either.

It's not quite enough for a walk-through seating aisle (at least 44" counter edge to wall), much less an aisle with a work area behind the seating. A walk through aisle means you can comfortably wall behind the seated person, but not necessarily carrying stuff. It doesn't allow for a working zone on the other side - just a wall. When you add a working zone, you suddenly need a much bigger aisle.

This is why - when a stool is in use, it takes up about 24" of the aisle. The appliances and pantry need a reserve of about 18-30" to allow each of the doors to open, You need about 18" to be between the thing you're using and the back of the seated person (imagine getting a turkey out of the ref and carrying it back without accidentally hitting a seated person). If you add that together you need an aisle of 5 to 6 feet depending on your appliance doors.

I was thinking of the ref turned as buehl shows it.

Pantry's with pullouts or drawers are better than extra deep shelf pantries to me, but there's still the can issue - you see only the top of a can, bottle or box when you look in a pullout or drawer. The step-in, also shown in buehl's drawings, lets you have some deeper shelves and some narrower shelves. The other pantry style I love is cabinet-based with shelves on the doors as well as inside. This stores a lot of items without their getting lost.

The only other thing I'd say is to think about social needs of the cook. If you move the range-or-cooktop to the back wall and the prep sink to the back wall, the chef will be isolated when cooking and prepping. I'm not making a value judgment (like interaction is always better), just pointing the issue out because its the exact opposite of what you have now

Wow, lots of ideas! And the domino effect at work, as always.
I think it is important for me to tell you the things I hate the most about my current set up --
(1)Having the refrigerator all the way down there, where my prep space gets invaded by people needing something from the fridge or sink. I want to keep the people on the other end of the island where they are not in my way. (2) Not having enough of an aisle on the right side. On my current island, I have 24" base cabs on the left side and a bank of 12" deep cabs and then the overhang, making the island counter 49" wide. I was planning to eliminate the 12" deep cabs, making the island narrower (42")for more aisle space (44-45"). I HATE climbing under the overhang to get anything out of those 12" cabs. (3) The 24" deep pantry cabints, where everything gets lost and there is so much wasted space -- also don't think I would like to have pullouts in a cab like that -- just see the tops of cans and can't stack stuff. I am planning to move one of these tall deep cabs to my laundry room for pantry overflow like Costco stuff and infrequently used appliances, and I have a backup top freezer refrigerator in there (it is just around the corner from the kitchen). (4) Having the cooktop on the island because it means that the island where people always want to gather around is a messy area -- is this concern a reason to keep the sink off the island? (5) The stupid little shallow side of my sink where the disposal is -- worthless!(6) The desk -- just a place that collects clutter, which you can see from the front hall.
(7) Looking into the kitchen at a refrigerator instead of a pretty hood. I REALLY want the kitchen to have a custom look to it -- not just a run of ordinary cabinets. If I am spending this much money, then it needs to have some "wow" or I will feel like I failed. So in some cases, I am willing to sacrifice a little function if it means I get the look.
Things I like about my current kitchen -- not much, except the work space at the current refrigerator end of the island and having a stool at the island.
Now to the nitty gritty:
buehl: I see your logic of moving the sink to the back wall, but that means that I couldn't have the staggered height where the cabinets next to the hood step down (and I really like the look of that) -- which requires that the cabinet on the angle be deeper(16")than the ones flanking the hood, and that wouldn't work with a sink there, would it, because of the crown? Plus I was planning to hide my toaster oven just to the left of the refrigerator, like I do now in that space. Then, there is the point about "social needs of the cook" -- this is big for me, bmorepanic. That range end of the island is my favorite prep place because I can see out the window, and talk with people at the island or table, and see the TV in the family room beyond. But I do worry that having the sink on the island would limit my prep space, since the island is only 42" wide (counter), but I would be able to move to either side if I needed more space, and I do that now, actually, with the cooktop on the island. I thought if I had a cutting board to cover the sink when not in use, that I could set things on it when I didn't need water. But I have struggled on whether to include the prep sink at all, truthfully, because I so love that counter space at that end of the island. It does really bug me though to juggle prep with someone else needing the main sink. I thought, too, with the DW where I had it that 2 people (pref my kids -- ha!) could actually load the DW after entertaining and holidays.
By making a bigger aisle on the refrig side in your plan, the hood then is not centered on the back wall -- I think this would feel "off" to me. About the seating area -- these are just 2 little stools that slide all the way under the overhang, and used by me looking at cookbooks, for example, or my daughter eating a bowl of cereal, or 1 person talking to me while I prep. It is not a main seating area, by any means, and I REALLY want at least one stool there. Still, I have stools there now, and have always felt that there is not enough space in that aisle -- my aisle currently is only 39", so I thought increasing it to 44-45" as in my current plan would be a big improvement. I have debated whether it would be more convenient to have the refrigerator or the ovens on the left, closer to the range. The right position impacts the stools more -- so is it better to have the refrigerator on the left to avoid the stools, or is it better to move the refrigerator to the right so people come less into my space, with the oven and MW closer to the prep area. The island landing zone is more convenient from the left position -- more important for fridge or ovens?
I am wondering why you moved the dishwasher to the other side of the sink? Form over function -- having refrig drawers on the end of the island would not make for a "pretty" end of the island, which you see from the family room. But I guess I could put the fridge drawers in the cab on the left end of cabinet run rather than in the island.
Do you think the pantry I have in my plan is a bad idea? I thought if I had narrower pullouts, that I would be able to see what's on them from either side when they are pulled out, and then have the middle section for bigger stuff like bags of chips, etc. I keep my baking stuff (flour, baking powder), and lunch making stuff like peanut butter, single serving chips, cookies, lunch bags, ziplock baggies, etc. over at my breakfast/lunch center, where the toaster oven is, which is where you have the prep sink; and I keep oils, spices, etc. near the cooktop. I like having those things at point of use. So the pantry will be more for things like cans/jars/bottles where you typically use up the whole thing,and snack foods like popcorn (microwave) bags of chips, cereal boxes. I keep small appliances in the corner lazy susan. I figured the top part of the pantry cabinets could be used for deeper serving pieces. I also have a walk-in bar (with a sink) across the walkway to the right of the pantry area, so I thought the upper shelves of the middle section could be used for bar glassware overflow. That pantry area is very visible from the seating area on the covered patio, so it would be nice if it were attractive. Here in AZ we spend alot of time out there -- no mosquitos -- yay!
So, that is my thought process. I so appreciate your help. Do you need more info or pictures? I especially wonder how I could still get my "look" if I were to move the prep sink to where you suggest. And why you moved the DW? I was trying to keep the trash/recycle right next to the sink so as not to drip across to the island, and also closer to the table since that is where everybody puts the mail trash/recycle.
Also, I noticed that you put an easy reach wall cab in the left corner, so you agree with palimpsest that the angled one looked awkward?
Moving the fridge drawers and prep sink off the island could also mean they wouldn't have to sawcut the floor for plumbing maybe, unless my DH won't budge on his insistence on ice/water in the fridge door :)
Thanks for all your help!

Question for you: What is more important...Form or Function?

Be honest when you answer it...there's no right or wrong answer...just what's right for you and your family.

Based on all your "wants", you might be better off eliminating seating at the island...after all, the table is very close. If you did eliminate seating, you could have a bigger island to work with and would have more prep space.

The DW is switched so it's out of the Prep & Cooking Zones...even the secondary Prep Zone. If you have your children cleaning up and loading or unloading the DW, they have their own space that will not interfere with other work in the kitchen.

Put whatever sink you want in. I find our 70/30 extremely functional...so much more functional than our equal-sized double bowl sink in our old kitchen. But, we're all different.

You asked for the refrigerator to be located where others would not get in your way while prepping and cooking, and that's what I did. Snackers will have their own space on the periphery of the kitchen and will not be underfoot of those prepping and cooking.

Thanks for all your time and suggestions, buehl. I might have more questions as I think about this layout. Don't want to find myself saying after it is all done "wish I had thought about that!"

(4) Having the cooktop on the island because it means that the island where people always want to gather around is a messy area -- is this concern a reason to keep the sink off the island?

Actually, there is no way to stop people from gathering around an island short of baby gates and I'm not sure those would work for long.

Maybe think again about the appliances...

Maybe changing the assignment of the refs - the ref drawers become the chef's and the big ref becomes public. People who are NOT cooking go to a ref for a drink, for ice or for a snack. So people coming for the ref might also need dishes, the micro and a sink(if you're getting a new drink, you need to dump the old drink, and also to wash fruit, add small amounts of water to a dish). Once you have those, you might as well have the coffee pot.

So, in a way, there's a relationship between the ref, dish storage, a sink and potentially the micro and the coffee. And let's just stick the toaster there too. And not to forget about the trash and recycling. That forms a cluster of stuff that should be together.

Dish storage, a sink, some processing counter, and a dw go together.

The other ref (drawers), the cooking surface, a sink, a prep space, storage for frequently used prep stuff, warming drawer, and trash go together. Dish storage to one side would be spiffy.

The other ref(drawers), the conventional ovens and baking storage go together. Cooking surface and water to the side would be nice.

So, we want to do all this with seating for one or two, with the main prep surface facing either the window or the adjacent room or both. With the ref/snack/coffee area on an edge but the ref shouldn't be the center of the universe to a visitor.

So, just a thought, not intended to be a complete answer. It might help spur some other thoughts. Baby ref or oven could move to the cooking side - one or the other probably should.
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Sorry, it has taken me so long to respond. I couldn't find my post. Thank you everyone for your suggestions.
I read a post on here recently where someone said they had "analysis paralysis" -- and that's where I am. So afraid of making a mistake that I can't make decisions! I am blaming it on menopause -- but I don't think my DH is buying it. He just wants his ice dispenser. I am so impressed with the beautiful kitchens I see on the FKB. How did you all do it?