Hi,

Looks like you are going to have a wonderful kitchen! I agree with you regarding the island length (and we are planning a 12' island ourselves!). Is that really 28' across from the left side of the fridge to the corner of the dining room? Just eyeballing it, that makes it look like your island is ~18'? I'd definitely do something like 2 8-9' islands and push the right one over a bit to make a 4' walkway in-between. That will make it a lot easier for the cook to get to the pantry and you can shift the sink over so it's across from the space between the fridge and cooktop rather than directly across from the cooktop.

Ah, I see that I read your plans wrong. It looks like the island is more like 14' long and the 28' spans the entire (new?) length. I'd still break the island into two I think. Maybe a 7' and 5' island with the faucet in the longer one and still a 4' walkway between (push the small one left 2 ft). You'd still have a decent amount of space on each side of the faucet and the 5' island would provide a good work space.

Given the size of your island I would definitely look at the kohler stages sink...

You could always have two separate islands with a pull out between them that allows you to combine them as one island should you so desire.

Wow! Both kitchen will be amazing for two passionate chefs. It looks like you have lovely spaces in your home.

I agree with splitting the islands and either going for the large Kohler stages sink and/or two sink areas, one for prep and one for clean-up.

Don't you need any kind of counter right next to the wood stove?

This is for two people? Have you costed out the addition yet?

Thanks for the tip on the Stages sink. I had originally been thinking about something like farmgirlinky's kitchen with a sink placed perpendicular across the island so that it could be used from either side.

{{gwi:2142771}}

But with room for two to prep on one side, it may make more sense to mount the prep sink lengthwise.

I'm not sure about how well two islands would work. The architect strongly advised against running an island across the threshold created by the beam. She said it wouldn't look good. Given that, cutting a 4 foot passage through the middle would look like this:

{{gwi:2142772}}

It seems like the larger island would be almost all sink. For those of you with the Stages sink, do you really not need much counter space on either side? Also it would eliminate the prep area directly across from the cooktop.

I'd like to keep the current space available between the dining table and island so that the table can be expanded for holidays. IâÂÂve already been informed by family that when the remodel is done, weâÂÂll be expected to host holiday meals!

@funkycamper - We're still debating what to do for counter space next to the cooker. Since it puts off a fair amount of heat I'm not sure that a wooden cabinet would be good (although the rated clearance is 6 inches to a combustible surface). One thought has been to get a stainless steel table to place between it and the pantry. In the meantime, it will be a good place for the dog to sleep when there's no fire!

Have you thought about making the non-sink island portable? And/Or it could even have a drop leaf section so that it could be made longer for your big projects, but drop down out of the way for the few times that you need to expand your dining table.

If you decide to do the two islands, I think I'd consider moving the sink all the way to the far left edge as drawn so that you get more usable counter to one side of it.

Something else you might consider is putting the command center along the right wall of the kitchen just inside the door as you come in from the mudroom. Move the mudroom door farther to the left to accommodate this. The opening to the dining room would have to be narrowed up, or the command center would have to be trimmed a bit smaller. Put the wall ovens in the bank of pantry cabinets. Now there would be room to do a peninsula from the top wall down toward the wood cookstove. You could still keep a small island, I think.

(I'd love to know what cookstove you are considering. We looked into getting one a few years ago, but chickened out.)

Thanks for the idea laughable. I hadn't considered a peninsula since I thought they were considered less practical than islands. With 43 inches between the cooker and the peninsula, it doesn't seem like it would be a bottleneck except when someone is cooking on top of the cook stove, and most of the time we'd be using the oven.

{{gwi:2142773}}

What do y'all think about this idea?

For the cook stove, we're currently looking at the Heartland Artisan.

Just an idea :)

If you make the end of the island the same height, but rounded...for stools, then you could have room for a chair by the stove. Can you move the entrance over? {{gwi:2142774}}From Kitchen plans

Hi Slowerdriver,

I think the two island approach would work better if you made the sink island longer and pushed the smaller island over to to the left a couple of feet. The peninsula setup looks interesting. Perhaps one good effect is that it would encourage through-traffic down by the pantry and away from your fridge/stovetop/etc. On the other hand it makes it tougher to get over to your command center. Things to think about.

@lavendar_lass - I think the flow of the house works better with the doorway in its current location, but I'll bring up your idea with the architect tomorrow.

@markhpc - I'm not sure I understand your idea for a two-island setup. I agree that the peninsula idea bears some exploring. I'm wondering if putting the prep sink in the peninsula would make the layout more functional. The view would be better, and it would be nice when folks are sitting at the table.

{{gwi:2142775}}

oops, sorry. Meant right instead of left regarding the 2nd island.

Regarding the peninsula sink: Only advise I have is to think about the traffic flow. Would someone cooking at the cooktop block someone else trying to get from the sink to the fridge? On the other hand, would they be more likely to use the other sink anyway? Seems to me like putting the sink on the peninsula could work given that you have the other sink available and it's equidistant to the fridge (with more prep area to boot!).

Btw, I'm starting to like your peninsula idea in general. You've got a great space there for a nice little sit down bar.

Would you want to shift the command ctr. Into the mudroom? Might depend on how you use it.

I'm a bit concerned about the placement of your fridge. It really shouldn't be inside the work space requiring someone to cross over the paths of the chefs to pour a glass of milk or whatever. This may not be a big issue when it's just the two of you cooking together. But I can see it being an issue if you're entertaining. I just think having the fridge on the outside edge of the work spaces so it can be accessed without crossing into them makes for better flow.

I like the peninsula with island plan because it routes traffic heading to or from the banquette area around the working part of the kitchen instead of through it. If most of your meals will be eaten at that banquette, then the clean-up sink and DW is well-placed. If, however, you'll eat meals in the DR on a fairly regular basis, then you'll have quite the hike when setting the table and clearing up after a meal.

Do you require a second table area or would you be okay with island seating and dining room seating? I ask because when I look at your space, what I envision is a kitchen along the lines of what a fellow GWer (can not for the life of me recall her screen name) created. You can see it on houzz.com. BTW, it was voted #1 by NKBA.

[Transitional Kitchen[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/transitional-kitchen-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_709~s_2112) by Portland Cabinets & Cabinetry Pennville Custom Cabinetry

{{gwi:2142776}}

[Transitional Kitchen[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/transitional-kitchen-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_709~s_2112) by Portland Cabinets & Cabinetry Pennville Custom Cabinetry

{{gwi:2137613}}

[Transitional Kitchen[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/transitional-kitchen-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_709~s_2112) by Portland Cabinets & Cabinetry Pennville Custom Cabinetry

{{gwi:2142777}}

[Transitional Kitchen[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/transitional-kitchen-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_709~s_2112) by Portland Cabinets & Cabinetry Pennville Custom Cabinetry

Did you see LWO's question about why such a large kitchen for two people and whether you've costed out the addition? I'm not questioning your priorities or how you spend you money, just wondering if you've considered potential lay-outs for your existing space, which is already a nice sized space (I'd love to have that much room! I'm eking out every fraction of an inch in my 15 x 10 kitchen space).