One other view, thanks for thoughts and suggestions!

I am definitely not a designer, but have been through this very recently (in fact, my cabinets will be delivered tomorrow!!!). A couple things jump out to me, too. I see very little counter space near the refrigerator. A sliver next to the cooktop, but then the island is blocked by the sink at that end. Also, your ovens are far away from the cooktop as well. Are you married to the ovens being there? Could you swap the fridge and the ovens? Perhaps you addressed that in iteration 3,461 and I missed it. ;) If you were able to swap the stacks you would have lots of island space for landing things either being put into, or taken out of the fridge. Think about coming home from the grocery store and spending all your time walking back and forth to the fridge. Your set-up is actually very similar to ours, so I'll attach it for your reference. We have made a few changes since this drawing, but mostly aesthetic--the layout is the same.

Good luck!

Not an expert, but I'd prefer the fridge next to the pantry and ovens where the fridge is, and have the sink in front of the pantry.

The first thing that jumped out at me was that there's a sink on your island in the exact spot where you will need to set grocery bags to unload into fridge.

Where is the pantry? It is nice to have that close to the fridge, again for unloading convenience.

What are those six tiny drawers underneath the shelves to the right of the ovens? They seem too small to be useful. Maybe those could be turned into "flip-ups" for clutter like a toaster? Although they don't look tall enough for a mixer, coffee machine, etc.

The end of the island seems a bit to far away from the ovens to be considered the main "landing space."

I am curious about why the island prep sink is so large. It looks bigger than the main sink, and definitely has a much bigger faucet. Maybe you do some specialty cooking or canning projects that require that?

I'm sure the experts will chime in--I don't know a thing about work triangles and the like....

Yes, flip flop fridge and ovens....I would want cooktop and ovens close to each other so I'm not running across kitchen to check when you are using both at the same time. Smaller prep sink or get rid of it altogether....you have plenty of prep space near the regular sink and the sinks are pretty close to each other as is...seems redundant, but I've never had a separate prep sink so I may be wrong here. While the hutch looks nice, I would prefer regular uppers and more counter space.

I just love the brains on this site!

--The fridge used to be where the ovens are now, but since hubby wants the french door style, it had to be moved out of the corner so the door wouldn't hit the wall.

--The ovens off on their own don't bother me. I mostly use them for baking or "put it in and forget it" type stuff.

--The pantry is the doorway near the ovens.

--Yeah, the sink on the island is huge. I really do want a 33" prep sink on the island. We've struggled with sink placement to try to make both functional. The fixture would be average size, not as shown.

--My first thought was opening the fridge while working at the prep sink...might not work too well.

Sum5463, thanks for the inspiration!

"--The fridge used to be where the ovens are now, but since hubby wants the french door style, it had to be moved out of the corner so the door wouldn't hit the wall.

--My first thought was opening the fridge while working at the prep sink...might not work too well. "

Have you considered putting the pantry where the ovens are, the french door fridge to the right of that so it won't hit the wall and the ovens where the fridge is? That would give you a landing on the island for groceries which you could unload into the fridge and the pantry and it would clear people who want to go into the fridge while you're at your prep sink. It would also give you lots of interesting possibilities for the pantry area both aesthetically and functionally since it is somewhat separated by the fridge.

This post was edited by magsnj on Wed, Oct 16, 13 at 0:14

Do you need two sinks? Your kitchen may not be large enough to support both. Or make your prep sink smaller?

Jubilante, thanks for your kind words and encouragement. :)

I really like magsnj's suggestion. That sounds like a great answer for the landing space problem while keeping your big island sink and the French door fridge. Would that work?

Hi Jubilante,
As you have found out kitchen planning is hard work. You really need to think about the details of how you do things and how you live. My kitchen is similar to yours in that it is an L with an island. Here is my layout

From July 6, 2012

I love that I can walk in the door, set my grocery bags on the counter and put everything away.
I love that I can work at the sink, turn around and put things on the island, prep at the island and turn around to the stove. When I prep at the island I can interact with people at the island, like my kids if it is breakfast time and I am packing lunchboxes, or with people in the great room space. If I am alone I can prep on the expanse to the left of the range and stare out the window. I have the best of both worlds.
In addition to grocery putting away, and prepping, think about dishes. My dishes are in the cabinet to the right of the DW. This makes for very easy DW unloading. This cabinet is also closes to the table, which means that someone setting the table for dinner doesnt have to enter my cooking zone to get the dishes. I love this. Any dishes I might want for plating, I request to be put on the island.In your plan the dishes I assume are in the 'to the counter' cabinets- they are closest to the sink and not to far from the DW but they are a haul to your dining area- I think.
Also, think about the coffee pot, tea pot, wine storage, toaster, what not. My coffee pot and toaster are hidden in a garage at the bottom of the 'to the counter' cabinet. It's open for breakfast and tucked away out of site the rest of the day. When we are eating breakfast it is close to the table for an extra piece of toast, or coffee refill. When the kids are eating breakfast at the island, they can make toast without being in my zone(where I am frantically starting dinner to be ready after work, making breakfast, and lunches...) My microwave is tucked in my pantry closet. We dont use it much and I didn't want to see it. My cuisinart and blender are in an island drawer, they get hauled out frequently and used on the island. Since my cuisinart is no longer in the pantry- I use it more.
I dedicated a big drawer in my island as my baking drawer, it stores my flours, sugar, cornstarch, etc...I hated running to the pantry for these things in our old kitchen. My spices are in a big spice drawer to the right of the stove. The drawer can be open as I stand at the stove and peruse thinking about what I need to tweak in whatever is simmering. It is also handy to the island for mixing there.
My bread machine is in the pantry and never leaves. The baking pan leaves, gets ingredients placed in it and the baking takes place in the pantry. My rice cooker is in the pantry but comes out for use, I found it created too much moisture.
So I am sure all these details bored you, but it is thinking through the details and the processes that will help you have a great end result. Think about where you want each item you use, what you use it for, how you use it and where it will be best placed. Good luck.

Localeater, you are so right - we all have different needs in our kitchens. Overall guidelines can be applied to many, if not most cases, but it's the little details that make a new kitchen perfect.

Understand how a family functions in a kitchen - what works really well now, and what you wish you most had - will be the best guides.

In my new kitchen, I had two major goals - get clutter off the counters, and use my limited space efficiently for both storage and operation. I spent an incredible amount of time measuring things in my kitchen, and figuring out what needed to go where (especially things that didn't have a logical place, like potholders).

In the end, I'm thrilled with the results, and it's the little details that make me the happiest.

I was thinking about this design on my way home (long commute).......I was wondering the same thing about needing the second sink. I've only had 1 so I don't really know the answer, maybe if I had 2 I would never be able to go back to 1. Am I missing out?

But I digress. :) The more I thought about having the pantry to the left of the fridge like I suggested, the more I liked the idea. If you were having a party you could have all the plates there......or all the drinks.....or all the deserts......or the coffee station......the options became limitless. lol

Trying to create iteration 3,463, and I do appreciate all the comments and suggestions.

The pantry is walk in and is what gives the entry to the house a bit of transition before the kitchen is there, so it can't be moved.

If I swapped the ovens and the fridge, I'd need to make some sort of a tall cabinet in the corner to move the fridge over to get full access, right?

I hear the vote loud and clear that I should delete the two sinks. I kind of like the idea of having a sink is oriented towards the other living spaces instead of a wall.

Yes, this is hard work...not nearly as fun as I always thought it would be. :)

Speaking as someone who bought a house that had a HUGE need for a kitchen, NO, planning a kitchen isn't as fun as we all thought it would be :) A long year and a half later, 5,634 iterations, and alot of agida, I think I may be getting there. Hopefully it'll be done by Thanksgiving!

PS...If you think the planning isn't fun, wait til you have to start picking out all the small detail things and dealing with the contractors :)