Please see more accurate graph paper drawings below. The ones from my original post had confusing errors. they've been corrected below. These the same images further down this thread. Just wanted them up top also for any new contributors.

Not on graph paper but it shows everything empty. There is an error on my graph paper sketch above. The wall ends where the cabinets end. The measurements are still accurate but that does appear confusing. Sorry for that. Fridge=36", range=30", DW=24", I have MW planned in the base cabinet against the laundry room wall. That may end up going to the wall cabinet.

We have two young kids (4yo,10mos). My 4 YO loves to help when it's just us but prefers to socialize when there's company over. I'm sure my youngest will enjoy it as well. I don't mind having kids in the kitchen. My DR does take turns with me preparing meals. Large extended family. Locally there are 5 nieces/nephews ranging from 6mo-5yo between two sets of parents. In laws live a block over. Several kid free BFFs and spouses as well as some kid free cousins/spouses who we are very close with that hang out here often. Sometimes we are all together but it's rare. It's usually a random gathering sometimes with other kids added sometimes just ours.

Doorways between the front room and dining room and sunroom are just framed openings.

The space including the desk area is about Is 30" under the desk ended with a 15" cabinet. So about 30" from the end of cabinets to center of desk top. From the end we have a 15" cab, 30"desk" 30"cab. The entire span that is jetted out into dining area is 4' past where my cabinets stop now. It's a very small desk and I was just going to double an attractive step stool as the chair for the desk completely underneath the counter top that could be used when needed but out of the way when not in use. That area of our current bar is a catch all for phones and school papers needing to be addressed so I thought it would be a natural command center for us if it was better organized.

To the left of LR is what's labeled as the front room. Right now it serves as a large play area for the kids. Not ideal but it works. We keep it well organized since it's visible to everything. Good spot to keep an eye on the kids from multiple vantage points. That space was the original LR but the previous owners enclosed the carport and added the fireplace so we have our living area center around that. Before kids it was dead space we didn't know what to do with.

The exterior door in laundry room will line up with pocket door into kitchen. We will relocated washer and dryer to the longer end of that room when we take on the next phase. In doing that it will create a small entry nook with a place for coats/bags. We do have a front entry into the play area right now so there would still be entry from that side.

Everyone might be waiting for Buehl to weigh in first. I don't know how
often she checks in, but you could send her a message via her member
page.

I noticed that the entry to the kitchen/dining area looks
different in the Ikea rendering than all the other drawings. Is the
short wall between the entry(?) and dining areas even with the kitchen
range wall? Or set back toward the front door?

I'd be tempted to close up the entry on the left side, and have one entry, lined up with the sun room door. That would allow you to extend the bottom kitchen wall even with where you have the desk drawn on the top wall (pic #3). I'd skip the counter seating, and move the desk next to the laundry room door.

This would allow you to put the DW on the end near the DR, where the dirty dishes will be, then the sink, prep space in front of the window, and finally the stove, on an outside wall for convenient venting.

Put the fridge opposite the DW, also convenient to the DR, and to anyone who wants a snack, without walking through your work space. Next to the fridge would be a good place for a tall pantry, or a MW and snack center for the kids.

That would leave room for a nice area for baking prep, or extra work area, between the pantry and desk. This is a rough drawing of the layout--ignore the gray rectangle where I covered the counter ell:

Just some ideas to consider, and BTW, here are a couple of threads about temporary kitchen set-ups:

http://ths.gardenweb.com/discussions/2674326/links-to-threads-re-temporary-kitchen-set-up?n=4

http://ths.gardenweb.com/discussions/2690404/makin-do-and-gettin-through

Good luck!

Sorry, we were posting at the same time. :]

Sorry again guys... I should redo the graph paper drawing. That small wall mamma goose is referring to is set back toward the front room. It's more accurately depicted in the ikea 3D view. That is a great setup though. And I tried to be so organized about posting useful drawings but I botched it up. I will try to revise and add the correct graph paper drawings quickly. I like the idea of moving the fridge to that end for easy access.

Ok..I think I fixed everything.

questions unanswered (or I didn't see them) -

How much wall space from end of kitchen space/last cabinet into DR (to edge of sunroom doorway) for use for the desk center? From 1 LO it looks like about 7'?

does dh cook too? (add these answers into your other post so they're all together for others reading.)

in your post listing widths for appls, can you edit those measurements into bold type? Then they'll stand out more to others reading - and scrolling up and down looking for info. Same with ages of the kids.

the kitchen window looks a lot smaller in the latest layouts over those earlier?

and it's most likely that as the yrs go on the kids will come in/go out thru the laundry room door, so I'd keep the stove on the lower side (protected). put the sink under the window (if window enlarged, will have prep space under window too) with dw to the R of sink, followed by desk area. You'll have a good amount of prep space to the L of the sink.

on the lower side, I'd put the fridge on the end by DR, then going L on that wall (as seeing it on the screen) I'd probably put in a small prep sink (for helpers and others working in the kitchen when your family and friends are all milling around and someone needs a drink, to wash hands etc while others are washing/rinsing dishes/doing clean up in the main sink; also to fill pots of water and empty them safely), a few ft of prep area and then the stove (closer to the corner). As the 'corner' area turns, there you could have a full height but shallow pantry. My pantry has 15" deep shelves and I wouldn't want them any deeper! It looks like you would also have additional space in the laundry for more storage if needed.

You could also run the desk area along the DR wall (the L wall) and have a full height cab on the end (backing to the side of fridge) to use as a bookshelf for cookbooks on the upper part and a file drawer (or 2) on the lower part - with actual desk area to the L of that.

Since you use the front room as a play room for the kids and if I understood your future plans to open up the kitchen to the living space right, I'll have tall appliances/cabs on the exterior wall. Although that may block the light from the sunroom, I think with the bay window you're planning to add you may still be fine and when you partially knock down the fireplace wall you may get more light in the kitchen from the LR.

I missed a couple of things last night, one of which was the exterior door to laundry area. That will definitely increase traffic through the kitchen, so I've rearranged the desk and door, to keep the stove on the exterior wall, but more protected from through traffic. I'd skip the desk, but you know if your family will use it more than regular storage. I like the idea of a bay window (maybe garden window?), but the window size and exact location can be determined after appliance locations are decided.

And with stove, sink and DW on the exterior wall, the only appliance that would need to be moved when you remove part of the wall between kitchen and LR (the second item I missed), would be the fridge--no gas, no water, easy peasy. :)

In this plan I've put a shallow counter or shelves between the pocket door and stove, for storage, but that could be eliminated--it would be a nice area for a pot rack, if you like open display, Julia Child style.

I still extended the bottom wall by the width of the fridge, then put bookcases/shelves in the alcove, so that from the entry you don't see a blank wall. With small kids who will grow up before you know it, those shelves can be used for toy storage now, books later. The existing wall between the door openings is m/l represented by the yellow line:

Adding: Just a thought, but maybe the desk/command center could go in the alcove area where I have the bookshelves, if space permits, leaving more room in the kitchen for pantry storage. I think steph is suggesting something similar?

Another point (if someone else made the suggestion already, ignore), since you have a nice, wide aisle, you have an opportunity to make the counters deeper on each side, 27-30". If you keep the desk, it would probably need to be standard depth or a little less, because of the door.

http://ths.gardenweb.com/discussions/2447090/30-deep-counter-runs-good-idea

http://ths.gardenweb.com/discussions/2673233/extra-deep-countertops

Desertsteph - I added the info in the post above. It would allow me to embolden measurements, I guess since I'm on my phone right now. I like the idea of the fridge at that end of the kitchen but putting it on that wall means major rearranging when we do remove that wall into the living room. I'm attempting to plan in such a way that most of the work we complete now will still remain in tact when we go to phase 2. Also the window is sketched as is but we're planning for a larger bumped out bay window there. Also like the idea of a prep sink on that side. I had considered shallow pantry cabinets in a previous plan but when I moved the fridge to that corner I needed the filler anyway for the door clearance.

Sena01 - you are correct. Your suggestion plans for the removal of that wall a little better. Do you think it would feel weird to have the fridge that far into the dining space?

The desk area is not a must I just added it at the end of planning because I know we need a solution of a command center and that's already a drop zone for us now. I need that solution but it doesn't have to be inside the kitchen dimensions. I have a very long wall across the dining room for the kitchen that I could utilize for this also.

Also on future expansion I'll only be removing half of the wall. That is load bearing so a post/beam would have to be incorporated. I'd keep the existing bar Add a post if needed. It would open up the space but would be more like a pass through from kitchen to living area. I think the base cabinets there could stay. Visually open but not completely open if that makes sense.

I haven't done very well at reading for comprehension. If you want a minimum of rearranging when you open the pass-through, can you do that part now? Looking at sena's suggestion, it seems that removing the top half of that wall would be simpler now, and you won't have to deal with more hassle, dirt, dust, etc., a second time. And if you're wrapping the bar, then you'd want a seamless transition in counter material?

If you don't need to vent to the exterior, or already have adequate venting, then I like sena's plan with the prep sink, especially when you need extra work space when relatives come to cook.

Oops, I forgot the DR.

What if you have a hutch like pantry cab on the DR side and then the fridge? If pantry cab can have (frosted/stained) glass doors at the top (could be 15" deep shelves as desertsteph mentions) and 24" deep at the bottom with doors + rollouts or drawers, I think such a cab would not look weird in the DR.

Not prepared for big reno financially right now. I would like to be better prepared financially so that we can complete everything during phase 2. Also including several changes to the exterior. New siding/trim, patio area, landscaping. It will be a bigger job but i hope to keep the kitchen functional during phase 2. We will put laminate countertops as that is what's covered in the insurance estimate and we would redo those including the new bar area in phase 2 using a more high end material. I won't cringe as much ripping out laminate counters since we will be getting several years use out of them in the meantime. The confusion isn't totally your fault as I feel like it's very difficult to put into words what I envision in a way that makes sense.

I love all the input so far. I think I will try and put some of these in the 3D program so I can get a better visual of some of these ideas. Thanks again so much.

Do you have a time frame in mind for the second phase? Sorry to beat a dead horse, but if you could use plywood, OSB, or T111, as temporary countertop, and put the money you would have spent on laminate toward the structural changes now, wouldn't that save money in the end? Are there any other elements of the kitchen remodel where you could use something else temporarily, or install a spacer, and use the money that you have now on the structure?

We used unpainted T111 as a section of counter for a few years. It wasn't pretty, but it worked, and I think I re-used it some where in the remodel. Here are a few threads about using temporary counters:

http://ths.gardenweb.com/discussions/2666181/temporary-plywood-counters

http://ths.gardenweb.com/discussions/2560300/temporary-plywood-counters

Really neat idea from a blog--now I want a plywood kitchen counter.

Another plywood counter idea.

Adding, you probably know this, but the kitchen in the movie Something's Gotta Give had painted plywood counters:

It will most likely be at least 3 more years until we are ready for that. Plus, factoring in whatever life may happen in the meantime it may be even longer. We have two kids in daycare so once that out of pocket cost isn't a factor we should be able to build up our savings for phase 2 pretty quickly. Our house is currently in great shape and it is working for us. Those phase 2 changes would just make it better.

Those stenciled plywood tops are pretty genius though. I'm just assuming laminate is the most inexpensive option to have a fully functional space. I would feel the need for a finished counter. DH is a little OCD so I don't think I could swing plywood for that long. But those ikea prefab countertops might could work(<$100). It may be cheaper than installed laminate. We could actually mount those ourselves and still put some of that money toward structural changes now. I was hoping to have the bump out bay window integrated into the counter and that would be the sink area. Not sure I could rig it in such a way that myself or DH wouldn't go crazy. Maybe standard larger window now and upgrade to a bay window in phase 2. At least I could reuse standard windows or possibly sell them later.

Lots to ponder. Thanks momma goose!

You're welcome. I should be outside scrubbing moss off my front porch rails, but hanging out in GW is much more fun. I'll post another older thread, then I have to go find my rubber gloves. This one has buehl's cabinet-height window, and also g.dodge's bay window that has the countertop continuing underneath, to the exterior. There's also a linked thread at the end.

http://ths.gardenweb.com/discussions/2564084/show-me-you-kitchen-bay-windows-above-sink

You mean it'll be a pony wall at the R end of the FP? The prep sink would work there on the kit side. From Sena's LO there'd be about 4' of prep space between it and the stove. I'd still use a shallow pantry on the wall of the laundry room at the end. (that'd also eliminate the deep lower corner cabinet area problem) I'd put in an EZreach upper cab on that corner to butt up to the shallow pantry. uppers usually run about 15" deep, don't they?

I'd want a long area of prep space on the other side too instead of a deep pantry. Having the window side not so deep by the door and shallow on the stove side would make it more open at the doorway. Easier to see little ones coming in too. Having a prep area on both sides would be great when you have help in the kitchen by family/friends.

On the window side, how about the fridge next to the dw? You could even move the sink/dw to the L maybe another foot - that'd give maybe 3' or so to the R of the fridge for the desk area. (before the doorway to the sunroom)

Try putting this in the layout/or 3d pic and post here so we can see how it looks.

I like the idea of the 6' between counters when a number of people will be working in that area - and possibly someone going out or coming in that laundry area door. Less congestion.

The wall ovens - those are good for those who have problems bending down to the oven on a stove. Really tall people, those with a bad back... or those who often use oven and stove top at the same time. Many don't like standing at the stove top with the heat of the oven so close to them. I'd love to have one but I so seldom use the oven, it doesn't seem worth it for me. I probably don't use the oven 2x a month. Maybe once a month.

btw, I tried bolding my '2x a month' above and it did. I didn't hit submit tho, so maybe it would bonk me if I did that. Or maybe it is the phone or just when editing a post? I'm gonna go ahead and click on submit so we'll know. Saving my post first tho...