Your instincts are right on. That is a barrier island. Having to travel around the island from the frig w/ veggies to wash and then back around for other items would become old really quickly.

Spread the kitchen around the room? Is she/he going to come run the laps around the island necessary to fix your meals? ;-)

Unless the KD has measured, I wouldn't take 'no problem' as proof a fridge will fit in front of the air return.

You don't have to have a microwave drawer to put it under the counter.

I'm concerned about the space between the sink and stove being enough work room.

Do you have your table in such a small space now? I'm not sure how you'd fit in a table and chairs in the approx 6 ft of width you have for it. Actually the table spot is about 6 x 4 before it's interfering with the path to the family room.

What are cabinets #1 and #28?

Can you explain about how you see your family gathering in the kitchen? I think your aisles are tight for multiple workers...and tight for diners as it is. So I'm wondering what your vision is and if it can be fulfilled in a better plan.

Rhome410 - Good catch on the table space. It is tight currently and my drawing wasn't completely accurate. The window is actually a baywindow so there is about 2 more ft in the bumpout. The space is actually about 6 ft wide by about 8 ft long, but that brings the chairs right into the FR path. It's not ideal, but it also hasn't been a problem since when we are all seated, no one is walking by.

Cabinets 1 and 28 were too deep (I realized thanks to your above comment.) They are supposed to be our "workstation" with the phone, calendar, cookbooks. I'll update them to something shallower.

The KD did measure the existing pantry, and said if he moved the back 2x4 there would be enough space. My concern is he has no visibility to how much room is behind that 2x4. The current space + the 2" would leave 19" for a fridge. That's not enough.

I am the only cook. Maybe one day my kids will help, but since DH doesn't cook it's doubtful. I love when we go to friends houses and we all stand around the island and drink and snack and it feels casual and warm. I didn't plan for people to sit at the island. There's no room for extra stools, and when we had them in a previous house we never used them.

The space between the oven and the sink is small (and that's the current space) so I usually turn around and prep on the island since the light is currently better there too. Would it help if the range was next to the pantry? I wasn't sure since that wouldn't leave much room before the corner.

I'm really stumped because this is a decent size room, and it doesn't seem very functional no matter what we do.

Maybe leave the pantry where it is today.
Maybe slide the sink over to the left so it is beside the window. Put the ref between the window on that wall and the large bump out window.

Put the range on the wall that currently shows the pantry. That run of cabinets should be slightly shorter in any event because it doesn't leave enough room in front of the door. That "spreads" the kitchen around the room, but it places the ref in the most convenient spot and you get a lot of working room between the range and the sink.

You could possibly have one stool by overhanging the counter at panel 25. I don't think you have quite enough room to overhang lengthwise - altho you might add about 4-6" to the island counter top depth.

The other thing you might try is building banquette seating (window seat) out of the shortie wall cabinets with a deeper plywood, upholstered top as the seating surface. You get a bit of storage and save a bit of space with fewer chairs.

Hi, Tsherman. You're right, your layout does look a lot like mine! My kitchen is 13 x 11 for the main kitchen area plus 9x9 for the table. I can tell you from experience now that this is enough room to get a beautifully functional space and plenty of elbow room.

Right off the bat I'll tell you that I used to have the fridge on one wall and the sink on the opposite wall with the island in between. Don't do it! I tolerated it just fine for 6 1/2 years, but it is one of the things I'm most happy to be rid of. My fridge is about where your pantry is shown on your drawing.

I recessed my oven into spot where the fridge used to be (and where your fridge is shown). I use my cooktop way more than I use my oven so having to go around the island for it is not a big deal like it was with the fridge.

The only advice I would give you is to persevere with your drawings until you feel confident you're getting what you want. i think we drew 100 different versions of our kitchen over about 3 years.

FWIW, here is my floorplan.

{{!gwi}}

One trick I learned while doing my zillions of iterations is to draw out your space's footprint on a piece of graph paper, then cut out scaled shapes for your sink base, your fridge, your range, your island, etc. Don't worry about the other cabinets - you'll just know that they are the space in between. Then you can just move the major appliances about as you wish.

Anita