I zoomed out a bit on this one

Speaking only for me, I'd want to keep the wall. It gives you some wall space which can make furniture placement easier. And I agree if you take it down your kitchen will need to be totally revamped.

My new kitchen is open - really open and I kind of wish I had a wall to tuck away into like yours. Just my 2 cents. What do YOU want?

My wife would insist it be removed. She hates to work in a kitchen that is isolated from the living space. I do a lot of the bigger cooking and don't mind the isolation but she does a lot of the daily cooking and feels the space needs to be less like "banishment."

If you've reached the inside framing stage, I don't think you have a choice anymore -- or, at least, I don't think you have a reasonably priced choice. That wall is almost certainly a load-bearing wall, a wall full of studs holding up the ceiling. If you do away with it, you're going to need to re-engineer quite a bit of the build.

Plus, I see two reasons for keeping it:
- You really do need it for the refrigerator. If forced to move the refrigerator to another spot, you'd have no counter space left.
- If you remove it, a person at the front door would have a view straight into your kitchen. Perhaps you're neater than I am, but I wouldn't like that!

What I could see going away is the island. I don't think the small kitchen is really big enough to support even a small island. It's going to create a "trap" in the back of the U.

Thanks all for your responses. The home I live in now is opened to the living area- and I love it. That is the reason I'm having a hard time with this. I would love for it to be open- but I really need the space.

Mrspete, it is not a load bearing wall, and my husband is the GC on this build, so he will do what I ask regarding the kitchen.

I did away with the corner pantry, and the island will be positioned the lenght of the kitchen. I agree that there is no room for a sitting island, but it will be for prepping only.

Thanks again for all your input.

Going by the plan, I see that the end of the wall is directly under the ridge line of the roof/ceiling, which suggests that there is a post in the wall carrying a portion of the load-bearing ridge beam. Perhaps at this stage in construction the wall could go, but the post must remain; re-engineering the ridge to be clear-span would be quite an expensive undertaking if that is what would need to happen.
Casey

could you rotate the kitchen layout so you'd feel less secluded in the space as drawn? Attach a pic of the whole kitchen - that stove wall and what is beyond it - doorways, etc. Somebody might have a great idea on how to keep the framing close but adjust your layout.

I have a load bearing wall that spans my open plan so double check what Casey said.

My thoughts are....remove the wall, widen the island, move the dishwasher and sink in the island then move the refrigerator to where the sink was. If there is a window then move it to the right of the refrigerator.

Seeing the entire house or at least the back wall of the kitchen would be helpful.