Welcome to the forum and congrats on embarking on the kitchen reno adventure. Initial thoughts: The space between the table and island is really tight. There'd be no way to fit through with a chair pulled out and it'd be tight even with noone sitting there. The baking center is really far away from the ovens with no easy way of getting there. You have a great big space to work with and I'm sure one of the layout experts(Rhome410, bmorepanic, buehl, etc.) will be able to come up with something that really works for your space.

Also, have the appliances been purchased already? or is there wiggle room there?

First thoughts - and I should have been a fire marshal or somethin' cause I usually just notice what's wrong...

Probably not going to be able to do a separate table in that way - but you could have a "table-island." You need about 4-5 FEET between the table edge and the island for seating and a passageway. Even just to use chairs, the table needs to be positioned almost 3 feet from the island. What are the heights of you guys?

How attached are you to the pantry/oven/closet thing? There is a minor conflict possible between the closet doors and the ref doors, more major is not being able to stand in front of the oven while opening it. There is also an access issue to the pantry with the table chairs.

It would be tons better to have the baking center have direct access to the ovens and the ref (depending on what you bake - Somebody should explain to me why pie dough is so sleepy that it always needs to rest).

The ref looks a bit out of the way for grab and go snacks or using micro. In that type of ref arrangement (sxs) landing space should be directly behind the doors and there's nothing there...

The micro would be on a shelf? Are there upper cabs that we aren't seeing? Do you use the micro for actual cooking or is it a reheating device?

Is the window position finalized? My understanding from the drawing is that the window runs over both dws and the sink.

Do you USE the garage?

Where's the coffee? (seriously, it's too overcast to think).

This was a quicky that doestn't address everything that bmore brought up.(Didn't I say she was one of the experts?)

The double sided pull through trash pullout I cribbed from loves2cook4six's kitchen(I think) It would service both the clean up person and the cook on the other side.

wow! Thanks so much for the suggestions and things to consider; as always you all bring up some excellent points to address.

I'll try to answer the questions posed thus far.

laxupermom- we have not purchased any appliances yet. Although, DH says he would rather not have an oven under the cooktop. As far as the usage of space, I was feeling like the current proposed layout is not a very good use of what seems to be a large space. So, I am very appreciative of any and all input. Hopefully you don't mind me asking, what tool/program do you use to draw up a layout so quickly?

bmore- I am not wedded to the pantry/oven structure, although we do need a wall separating the kitchen from the front hallway. This wall needs two openings, one across from study door, and the other opening near the support wall near the dining room. Thanks for pointing out the 'not being able to stand in front of the open oven door' issue. That would not be a pretty situation. ;-) Regarding the pantry door, I thought we could use two 'half width' doors instead of a standard width door. Our current laundry room has a couple of these narrow doors that go in a standard width doorway and they seem to work just fine. Although, as you pointed out, the space seems tight even with the narrower doors, given the too close proximity to the table/chairs.

I was beginning to wonder if we have space for both the table and the island. I just really like the idea of two large & different well definable work areas. (But I guess since they're placed so close together, they are currently not so distinct.) Regarding our heights, we're on the 'petite' end of the spectrum. I am just over 5 feet, kids are 4-5" taller than I, and DH is 5' 10".

We haven't quite figured out where the microwave will go. We mostly use the microwave for reheating and minor cooking.

Regarding the baking center, I hadn't quite internalized that a table & island of that size would be difficult to walk around. Thanks for pointing this out. I was trying to carve out a nice chunk of space for baking, but perhaps I can use the island or table for baking(?).

Thanks for mentioning the need for a landing opposite a sxs refrigerator.

There will be upper cabinets, I just haven't drawn them in yet.

The window position is not finalized. Yes, the current proposal is to place a 5 foot window centered over the sink w/standard dishwashers.

Yes, we use the garage, and that is currently the door we use most. Our current garage-kitchen doorway is located roughly where the refrig is in the proposed layout, but we're willing to move the garage doorway to the front hall if it means there will be better continuity within the kitchen.

That would be awesome if we could find a spot for a coffee & tea bar!

Thanks so much for all your help!

Currently I just use Paint on a saved graph paper grid, but Santa got me an actual design program even though DH and I discussed not getting each other gifts this year. He's such a sweetie, but forgot to get the e-mailed confirmation out of my e-mail box(all amazon purchase confirmations go there.) So post Christmas after a learning period, I'll have actual software to play with.

Trying to incorporate some of bmore's concerns in the next one, but first I need to think about lunch. 4yo is demanding sustenance.

I noticed the same problems as laxsupermom, and not as many as Bmore (typical).

Can the table move toward the family room or be in it?

The baking center across the room (and around and through things) from the oven is a definite problem I don't think you need to have. Is it only a hallway behind the pantry? (I might consider a closet depth pantry that opened toward the hall to put a baking center on the kitchen side)

Other than the possible door interference problem Bmore pointed out, I like the location of the fridge and would put the microwave in the bottom shelf of an upper cabinet between it and the stove. It looks like you might have room to shift things down so that the fridge opens into the aisle in front of the ovens, which I think would be great.

I would also shift the prep sink down to the corner by the fridge, so it's also useful to the baking area I was talking about...and handy for the microwave, washing hands for kids coming through the side of the kitchen, etc.

Now I've taken so long drawing what I mean, that maybe others have jumped in ahead with better ideas! But here are mine (just rough starts):

Here's another try. Prep sink and frig are both accessible to both the cook and the baker. Pantry is a bit far from the baking area, but I'm assuming flour, etc will be kept in the baking center. Banquettes are a love 'em or hate 'em proposition, but with a family of 4 this could work.

I am so thankful for all the nifty ideas.

laxsupermom-seeing the layout on graph paper really helps to visually quantify how much space we have to work with, and thanks for your many suggestions.

rhome410-I was hoping you might also make some recommendations. Thanks for the many ideas. I'll share all this info with DH so we can make some changes.

I am quite impressed at how quickly you all create &/or modify drawings. It took me 2 days to draw that first layout. So, I was quite thankful that the instructions on posting pictures worked so well, and it was the shortest step in the process! :-)

Thank again.

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I like original layout with sink and range locations
but I like bemorepanics island idea with bar sink
You have more usable counter space.
If you have a separate dining room area the island with seating works great.
wall ovens might make more sense down by your original baking area, put your undercounter ref and bar sink on island
Butlers pantry/coffee bar near dining room

bmore- thank you so much for the layout and many suggestions!

sunnyd- thank you also for the additional ideas.

We very much appreciate all the help. I just printed out everyone's suggestions so we can start making changes to our plans! Thanks again.

I like how bmore put the cleanup sink & dws on the 7' wall. Super convenient to the dining room and to the island eating. I also like that she used frig & freezer towers vs the s x s. Rhome's idea of pushing the table into the family room a little works great, because it can become a dual purpose table for game night(cards, board games.) Looks like you have a great start.

Last one with one of laxsupermom's suggestions.
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Thanks everyone for the great ideas.

DD gets her wisdom teeth extracted tomorrow, so it's unclear how much time I'll have over the next few days to play with the layout. We sure do appreciate all the suggestions!