Quickie...you'll need a filler b/w the wall and the refrigerator & the refrigerator door will need to be open in the other direction (so the door opens against the wall and the open side is next to your landing space...that piece of counter b/w the range & the refrigerator.

Put a full-depth cabinet above the refrigerator and a 3/4" finished panel on the exposed side of the refrigerator to give it more of a "built-in" look. The depth of the end panel should = how far out the refrigerator carcass/box sticks out from the wall. (The door should not be covered.)

If you know 36" aisles work for you and you like them, then by all means have them...it's your kitchen! Just make sure you have room to open the oven & stand in front of it and lean down w/o your bottom hitting the island! There's only a little overlap, so I think it will be fine.

Where will you have your MW? (Not over the range, I hope! You should have a dedicated rangehood over your range, preferably 6" wider than your range.) You might consider a 24" x 24" cabinet on the pantry wall for your MW and small appliances (a MW and many small appliances will not fit in a 12" deep shelf). The rest of the cabinets could be 12" deep.

How about your trash? A trash pullout would be nice, but I don't know if you have room for one...maybe the island?

Where will you store your broom? Laundry room?

Where's the DR?

Consider pendants rather than sconces over/around the sink. Pendants provide overhead light...usually better than light from the sides.

Consider 15" deep upper cabinets to increase storage room and to fit platters & plates.

[OK, this was only going to be a quickie!!]

Have you worked on an island only 18" deep? An 18" deep counter would be challenging, but potentially useful, but all sides open would mean I'd just be constantly pushing things off onto the floor.

Would you be willing to show us more of your floor plan? I'm wondering why the jog on the living room side of the doorway, and if there's any way to eek you a little more room. Are you set on a closed off kitchen or would you consider opening the doorway up wide?

If you don't have kids and use your mircrowave fairly regularly during meal preparation (for heating frozen veggies, cooking potatoes or whatever) you may want to keep it near your stove so when your preparing a meal everything is close together. If you don't think a OTR microwave and fan will suit your needs then you could always put in on a shelf in one of the uppers (though you may need more than 12 inch depth as pointed out) or even put a microwave drawer in the lowers around the stove. Personally I wouldn't find it very handy over by the pantry but it depends on what you like and how much you use it (if you have one at all). I really like the look of a built in fridge and the deep cabinet over the fridge.

Was also wondering about the jog into the living room--could it straighten giving you more room? How large is your laundry room--could you possibly put your fridge on this wall (depending on depth) with a small pantry beside and more pantry storage in your laundry room? This would allow you to center your stove on that wall, give you a lot more counterspace on either side of the stove, and you could make the stove and a nice hood a focal point when entering your kitchen.

I personally would not put an island in your space. I would make the pantry wall a whole 24"deep. It looks like you have a 6' wall for the pantry. In this configuration, I would make it a 30" pantry with pull out shelves and drawers. I would then make an 18" trash cabinet and another 24" cabinet for storage of some non frequently used appliances. This could also be the beverage area. You will have a 42" counter space area where someone else can work. Using pull outs and drawers would alleviate one of the concerns about things getting stuck in the back of the pantry. This could also be an area for the microwave. The rest of the work area looks okay.

You can also consider a 30" fridge rather than what looks like a 36" fridge in your current configuration.

Good luck!

Thanks everybody for the comments! Here is a little more info:

Dining room is actually taken over by my piano. It is accessed through the living room (it is unmarked, but it is that odd-shaped area behind the pantry). We live in an area with great weather so we have a secondary eating area is on the big wraparound porch.

I am completely crazy-happy about the function and layout of the surrounding rooms so I don't want to steal space.

That crazy jog is for something equally crazy, a bookcase to house a record player/classical records. Can't move. The space was eeked out FROM the kitchen because in our case, music is more important than a foot of kitchen PLUS because of sightlines, that opening couldn't be larger anyway.

-Trash will go in the island. That seems like a great central location for it.

-Microwave will get stuffed in a lower cabinet.

-Closet in laundry for cleaning supplies.

-Fridge door handle was shown in error on wrong side. Great eyes for catching that!

Rhome: I was worried about the island size as well until I realized that it will be a great place to plate food. My husband helps me move the plates/drinks, but he gets in my way now. The island should solve that. : )

Homepro: That is an interesting idea that I hadn't considered. It would be a great alternative to an island. I have never used pantry pullouts before so maybe I need to do some investigating.

*Will definitely consider the pendant over sconces. I really like the look of sconces, but function may overrule that.

*Love the idea about the over fridge cabinet. Sounds like a great place for holiday platters. Putting a cabinet side next to the fridge is also on my list now. Great idea!

No earthly clue about the look/function of the uppers. Guess that will be step 2 after I am 100% positive about the location of appliances. It sounds like that the appliances are where they should be, so I am getting excited!! I am glad that it is so easy of a layout!

Oh, and GREAT advice about the size of the hood compared to the stove. I have never heard that before, just assumed that they were supposed to be the same width. Thank you for educating me!

{{!gwi}}

If you are getting a normal range, the size of the hood can match the size of the range with no problems.

Where's the "big wraparound porch" and how do you get to it?

Buehl: Through the door that is on the "-dry" in "laundry". One just goes around that corner and out the door. The washer and dryer are out flow of traffic (and hidden from view by a wall).

Have you selected appliances? Have you also thought about where things will be stored in this kitchen? If you have not selected appliances, I would suggest you get a 30" fridge and a 24" range if you can afford it. I think the size savings will allow you to get some bigger cabinets. Also, what kind of cabinets are you buying? I don't know how useful the corner cabinet will be based on some of the limitations for corner cabinets. What do you plan to store there? Where will your silverware and glassware go?

Good luck!

Corner cabinets can hold a lot! In my old kitchen my 36" corner lazy susan (yes, lazy, not super...it had a center pole) held all my pots & pans, and I have quite a few. It was great! It was also one of the few things about my old builder-grade cabinets that held up over time (13 years)...no sagging, sticking, or anything else. One thing that was nice is that the side & back walls conformed to the shape of the susan so nothing ever fell off.

Others here use theirs as an appliance garage for all those small appliances we accumulate. I had planned to have one for just such a purpose in my new kitchen until my DH grabbed the corner for a Pet Center! (Now those appliances take up quite a bit of room in my small step-in pantry...oh well!)

I have 2 corners (small "U") and while the one corner is now a Pet Center, the other holds a corner Prep Sink...now that's a big waste of cabinet space...but having the sink is wonderful and worth the sacrifice in cabinet space.

Ah, this is a subject after my own heart. I did just such a remodel - a remodel to create a kitchen for two. I can tell you that it works for two, too! I know this, because when it is just me working by myself, I would say that I'd prefer a slightly shorter run here or there while I NEVER have to say that when it is the two of us working in the kitchen. It works very well for two.

Ok, I'd say the layout you currently have is not good for two. Here's what I mean:
- Assuming that both of you might be cooking at the same time, a 36" stove would be a smidge better than a 30". If the 30" is a RANGE or rangetop and not a cooktop, that is probably fine but if a cooktop, because most cooktops eat up 6" of the surface with the control knobs, the cooking surface is much reduced (we went from a 30" range to a 30" cooktop and felt the pinch till we got used to it).

- Not nearly enough space with the sink and the stove so close to the corner there. Whoever is standing on the right side of the stove (facing the stove) will end up sway-backed because you don't have enough room there.

I have EXACTLY the same reservation as rhome about the too narrow island. You'll be dropping stuff from that little thing willy-nilly. As for plating ... well, you would be better served by having the plating NOT happen somewhere so vulnerable (to bumping into) AND so narrow as to guarantee sending your food scattering to the floor when you bump into it! I'd sooner consider a counter over on the wall abutting the Living room.

I'm a BIG believer in pantries. And I like the fact you have one and can understand the need for a long narrow one.

BUT, here's my suggestion because I'll submit that if you're designing the kitchen for two, you need more counterspace for two. Move the fridge over to the pantry wall. Put in a normal depth pull-out pantry on that wall. I have a 15" pull out pantry! and I can swear to you that ALL my food that isn't refrigerated OR that is not coffee/tea (coz my tea things get their own small cabinet with cups & by the stove) goes into that pantry. It's a pullout so nothing gets lost. Your fridge will also be better situated for access when not cooking. With the fridge and a pull-out pantry (or two) moved over use the currently designated fridge space for counter space. Push your stove over a bit so that it is better situated for the two of you to work at that wall.
With the fridge on the pantry wall, you could extend even just the counter out from the DW to the edge of the LR doorway. This can be just 18" if you so desire and it could be just a counter OR it could be a ctr with narrow depth cabs under it, but arranged so that it doesn't interefere with the operating of the DW.

One other thing - on the stove wall, or the stove and sink walls think about getting extra deep counters. INVALUABLE space. With the island gone you more than have the room for deep counters.

I also think you need more counter top space that is not broken up so much. I can see traffic jams around the fridge, and the prep area between the sink and range is tight too.

Imagine the two of you working on either side of the range- one cannot get to the oven and the other can't get to the fridge.

You could simply move the range closer to the fridge and have a smaller landing area between range and fridge- but that's not great either because you've lost another work spot (the area between range and fridge is too small now.)

But it was crowded there anyway... I would move the fridge to the corner of the pantry area-(yes, the opening to the living room would have to be adjusted. Get a tall counter depth fridge like Liebherr and forget about putting a cabinet above it. Also it's easier for a guest to get a cold drink from living room without getting into the working area of the kitchen. Then use full height 15" or 18" pantry depth, or the 24" type with shelves on the door /(pull out), next to the fridge.

I would still move the range a bit away from the sink corner- that is, center it more. Now you have real working room on either side of the range and in a pinch you can both get into the sink/range corner and you can open the oven door without having anyone move out of the way. You still have the dishwasher counter area to move dirty dishes out of the way, or as temp landing or work space. Both people now have access to sink or range at the same time- and the refrigerator is available as well.

*I also like having a tall 30" fridge, a tall narrow pantry and then turn the island sideways and attach it to the wall -similar to what 'bmorepanic' showed. It would give a landing area for stuff going in or out of pantry closet and a place to put your microwave-right against the wall,butted up next to the pantry, and you could still put the trash below-and open it in either direction.

I too wouldn't have the island (but then I am not a fan of islands). If you keep the island, is there enough space for the door of the oven to open and get around it or would the corner of the island be in the way?

Is there enough room for your fridge (regular) or do you have to get a cabinet depth one? I too might consider putting it on the pantry wall and moving the doorway over just a smidge so you don't have to get a cabinet depth fridge. When I looked at them for my kitchen, I didn't like the lack of space in them and the extra price! So it is just a thought.

Otherwise, it looks like a very efficient kitchen! Good job!