Sorry, but I think 3' is not enough space between fridge and island, especially with seating at the island. You'd be best off with 5 ft, and much better with 4'.

I would swap the pantry and oven cabinets, so that the oven is closer to your cooking area. Actually, the space to the left of the fridge (as you face the fridge) would be a good place to put a snack/toaster oven center, but that would mean giving up the pantry cabinet. Maybe you could put that at the end of the island? I have seen taller cabinets on the ends of islands facing the next room. Often they're bookshelves or glass front, but as long as they have nice doors, it doesn't matter what's in them. ;-) But maybe if you moved the toaster oven, you wouldn't need the raised portion?

We are major DIYers, too, and my biggest piece of advice to you is to go to Costco, get on Amazon, or someplace similar and buy yourself some Better Homes and Gardens home design software, so you can do nice floorplans, and, most helpful, 3D renderings to look at things like your plan for the raised cabinets. That's the easiest way to try different configurations and immediately see if they're going to look goofy. Besides, it's wonderful motivation; a way to 'keep your eye on the prize' during all the work and building stages.

Hi, LLiu. Sure! I've seen a number of raised-height counters over the years, which are there for just that reason. Depending on the situation, they may sometimes called passthroughs, but open or closed in they usually are more attractive than counters with stools in front of them. Whether this would look extremely handsome and "right" or be a visual "huh?" has to depend on your situation and how it was executed.

But, no. I really doubt you'd find the distance between the stool counter and the fridge satisfactory, even if there weren't stools and kids always getting in the way there. And with stools, perchers, through traffic, cook, and fridge door(s) all competing for the same 36"? Uhuh!. A 3' aisle would also pretty much require a two-door fridge just to deal in part with this congestion. Narrow aisles for the cook's workspace can be very efficient, but spaces serving the entire household need more room.

thanks so much - i will check out getting the BH&G software. I gave up on Sketchup, it was just too hard. My reason for having the mw/oven where it is for a landing space right behind on the island. If I switched it with the refrig, then it wouldn't be as convenient to place things on the counter. Maybe I should look at making the island narrower, right now it is 5'10" long and 4'4" wide. My DH is giving up his 42" wide floor-to-ceiling pantry to have the refrig & ovens on this wall. I don't know if I can talk him into less. Since he is chinese & i'm american, we have double the stuff to store in the pantry. we don't use the oven too much -use the microwave mainly to reheat leftovers so it wouldn't be too inconvenient to have the mw/oven where it is. I am trying to do zones & let him have his space with the range since he does most of the cooking :-)

The measurements are too hard for me to read so I don't have much to say.

Maybe not the little pull-out near the range...or maybe just not where it's shown. You can't get to the side near the lazy susan because there isn't enough room between it and the perpendicular cabinet run for anyone to fit there.

If there are two of you, I'd urge you to consider staying with the recommended minimum aisle of 48".

Rhome is correct recommending 5 feet between a counter edge and a working counter or apppliance when you also have stools. The problem is that appliance and cabinet doors stick out anywhere from one to three feet - depending on what you place there. A body on a stool sticks out about two feet. There simply isn't space for the body on the stool (2 feet), you (1.5 feet) and the open cabinet or appliance door (1 to 3 feet).