Do groceries enter from the front door or the French doors on the top left? Have you considered a MW drawer for the peninsula?

Do you have room to increase the peninsula overhang to 15"? That's the minimum that the NKBA recommends for comfortable seating at counter height.

NKBA guidelines

Thanks nosoccermom. I think sometimes these projects make you focus on all the things you don't like about a space -- it is nice to be reminded of some of the features that I do like. MamaGoose -- I appreciate you sending those guidelines. I had just seen them reference on another thread today and we bumped the overhang up to 12" from 9" but maybe I'll see if we can get to 15". We bring groceries more often from the frenchdoors (garage) than from the front door but I appreciate you reminding me to think of that.

Im not sure that I would touch this kitchen at all! It's pretty great as is.

You know better how you use the kitchen, but I'd hate to see the entry from the front hall closed.

I agree with LWO--if you want to re-use cabinetry, you might consider the MW drawer in the peninsula, put a roll-out appliance garage above the wall oven, and leave everything else.

LWO and MG: the cooktop stopped working, so that's forced us to make at least some changes -- we'd like gas, we think we'd like 36" wide although if we stayed at 30" we'd create fewer issues for ourselves. My husband and I are not quite sure about closing off that entry from the foyer either although I think the path from the foyer through the dining room and into the kitchen would be almost as quick/direct because those two door openings would be very close together. Thanks for your responses -- we taped up some paper where the new dining room door would be but I can't quite envision how it would flow. (I did try a Harry Potter style run at the wall but I didn't emerge on the other side.) :)

We have found that a 12" overhang has worked fine for us for 30 years and we are both tall. Try sitting at every place you can and take a tape measure!

If you haven't already, I suggest you research induction. I switched to it from gas after reading about it on the appliance forum here and I would never willingly switch back--so responsive, so easy to clean and so fast to boil water.

Thank you, Lori and CRL. We'll definitely do a tape measure test to see what we think we can get away with and I've been very tempted by induction but haven't made the leap yet. But yes, I've been reading lots of threads about it. I'm a longtime GardenWeb lurker . . . finally ventured out of the shadows!

This is so pretty just as it is! If you must have a larger cook top, you could lose the top drawer left of your current one and modify the upper cabinet. I'd add under-cabinet lights and be done!

15" is the minimum recommended overhang if you plan to much more than briefly sit at the counter - and that's for average height people. If you're a tall family or have long legs, consider going to 18" (I wish we had!)

I also like the layout as-is. In fact, I would suggest the 30" range and, if you think you need a second oven, keep the one you have. OR, create an alcove around counter height in the oven space and put the MW in that space. You could put it at the same height as if it were hanging from an upper cabinet and then have counter below it for landing space.

To be honest, I realize now that I could have gone with a 30" cooktop. At the time, I wanted a warming burner and they only came with 36" wide cooktops. But, with a warming drawer, I rarely use that burner - except in the winter to keep "made from scratch" hot chocolate warm!

I appreciate these suggestions (and GardenWeb generally as a resource) very much.

I love your kitchen. I'm so happy that you will be refinishing those great cabinets instead of replacing them. And I LOVE those window backsplashes. So cool. I, too, like the layout.

I have never had a 36" cooktop and I cook a lot, especially stir-fries, steaming, soups and stews, so if it was my kitchen, I'd stick with 30" and not have the headache of having to somehow change that cooktop cabinet or retro-fit cabinets to make it work. I have a warming burner on my 30" slide-in range that is really handy. Of course, you may have different cooking needs.

I agree that under-cabinet lighting for night-time would be great or very stormy days where those backsplash windows (LOVE!!!!) don't bring in enough light.

I'm for keeping the door where it is... but then, I don't live / cook there so don't know how you all function...

can you have some drawers made to put in the larger lowers cabs for pots/pans/ plasticware/other cookware?

The space next to the hob looks a little small, I'd want something longer. Purely for cooking purposes!

Thank you all for your suggestions/reactions. Based on your reactions and time spent all over the GW boards, here's where we are now in our thinking:

--I think we may move away from the range idea, and shift to putting in a 36" cooktop with a proper hood. I've been mulling over whether we could get by with 30" but we like to cook together and with two of us standing over our current 30" in that corner, it is a little too crowded. A wall oven probably makes more sense for us, too: my husband is tall and has back issues and we're not getting any younger.

--One thing that I was tempted by: a store in our area has a wolf transitions 30" gas cooktop on a pretty good display discount. I wondered about putting that in with a 15" induction unit. I think I will post about that on the appliance forum to get reactions. Not sure I can persuade my husband to go for the wider vent/hood that would be required, though, as that would require more fussing with the upper cabinets.

--I don't know that we have the appetite for shifting around the doors at this point. And maybe if I dial back on some of these shifts, I can splurge for a convection/steam oven.

--And I'm going to work to clear off my counters -- maybe with kids being older I can shift the knives into a drawer and find other places for the mixer, toaster and coffeepot to give more workspace and stop cluttering my backsplash windows.

Thanks, all!

Would your husband be on board with removing the uppers on the cook top wall, and repairing the wall board, to make space for a larger hood? When you are cooking together, the uppers won't be in his (much taller) face. I'd try that tack. ;)

I think his concern is losing the storage in those upper cabinets. Or it could also be that he is just tired of trying to think of and talk about every possible way that we could configure this. The sight of my graph paper Plan A with layers of tracing paper (plans B, C, etc.) makes him run for the hills. ;)

Aren't the shallow cabinets to the right of the fridge in your drawing new? If so, wouldn't they be able to store things you'd lose for the larger hood? Could toaster and coffee pot go on the counter for the new shallow cabinets? 12" depth should be enough for them.

Of course, a periodic purge is always good. I can do a purge and then a real later, purge more because things ended up back in the kitchen that don't need to be in the kitchen. Do you have a place in the basement or garage to store items you don't use often?

I like your latest idea, btw. I think it would look awesome and give you such great options for cooking. Gas and induction are really the best of both cooking words, right?

Thanks funkycamper. So the shallow cabinets in the drawing only get to come into existence if I shift the door that currently comes into the kitchen to come into the dining room instead. I go back and forth about that -- it would be mean more light in our foyer (and people standing in foyer could enjoy the view out the dining room window) but then I remember that we started all of this because our little cooktop stopped working and I feel like the old woman who swallowed the fly. :) And thanks for your earlier notes about the cooktop size and the undercabinet lighting -- I think we will definitely get newer/better lighting under the cabinets and I'm trying to think hard about whether what I dislike about our current cooktop is the size or the fact that it is electric and horribly configured.

When I look at your floorplan, and see the front door and entry, I think how nice it would be for them to look through a door at the end of the hall and see a lovely dining room set and the light coming through the windows past the dining table. I would make the door wider to match the entrance width to the living room, or at least closer to that size. I think it would be dramatic and welcoming to guests.

Of course, I don't know what you currently have on that wall. It could be a Van Gogh with accent lighting that makes people go "Wow!" upon entering your home for all I know. Then keep the art wall. :)

Personally, I don't see that you really lose anything by moving the door and I think you have a lot to gain by doing it. You still have good access to the kitchen via family room and dining room doors, it's only a few few farther away, and I have a feeling in a few months you won't even think about the change. I think it's habit that's halting you.

But I don't live in your home so I could be blowing smoke.

Project creep! Yeah, it happens. As long as you're doing something you want to do and can afford it, it's fine. It sounds like you are making thoughtful choices. I'm sure things will turn out great. Keep us posted and share with us your progress and finished project photos, OK? We love those.

Thank you! Of course we can just relocate the Van Gogh. The foyer currently is very ho hum and shifting from the current view (of the kitchen sink) to the view of the dining room and view would be a good switch.

And yes, I feel like I'm being stalked by the project creep. ;) I will definitely post photos (and likely more questions).

You could always approach this a step at a time. Change out your cooktop to whatever you decide works best for you and your husband and put in an appropriate hood. After that is done and you've re-organized/purged a bit, determine if you need more storage. Also think about where you would like to do things, i.e., would you like a beverage center for coffee/tea, etc.? If you need more storage and/or a separate beverage area, those shallow cabinets would be perfect for that. Then move the door. These decisions don't need to be made all at once so take your time, do it step by step, and it won't feel like project creep and be so overwhelming for you. I'll look forward to seeing what you decide to do.