This is our first remodel ever and I'm so torn already in the design phase...We're finalizing on the kitchen plan but I still have a couple of concerns and of course any advise is much appreciated! The arrangement for the kitchen can still be changed.

We have the idea of an open plan between the kitchen and family room in the back - also want to vault the ceiling of this area. There're two openings on each side that lead to the dining/living room which is where the main entrance is.

My dilemmas are

- the island: I'm thinking about using quartzite taj mahal. The KD suggested a 5x9' island which I loved the idea, but I didn't realise it's out of the regular range and costs twice as the 52x108" ones until just now. We'll have dinner (just 2 of us for now) on the island most of the time so it needs to have 12" overhang, and I want to get a couple of decorative legs so it looks like a table/ish and have placemats on it. Do you think We'll be tight with 52x108"?

- The pantry: the KD's plan os to have a Pantry cabinet (2ft wide) next to the fridge. I'm just not a fan or pantry cabinet and would love to have a walk in one with regular doors (even it's small). So one of the option is to close 1 of the 2 openings and make the other one bigger and build a corner pantry on the sink side. but by doing that I'll have to break the symmetrical look and reconsider the cabinet arrangement on the sink side. Another option is to build some dry walls and make a pantry at the same location and bump another 2ft into the bedroom behind (the room will be used as an office so I guess the bump should be OK). in that case the pantry can be either 4x4 or 5(w)x4(d). What do you think of the size? I know the bigger the better but we're limited here....what I'm more concerned is will a painted wall and a pantry door look weird next to the fridge? We'll have all fridge/freezer on that wall (64" in total).

Any advise is much appreciated!

This post was edited by glebee on Mon, Jun 16, 14 at 18:27