Forgetting about the island for a minute, where do the doors on the left and on the bottom lead to?

Also I'd switch the cabinets on either side of the cooktop to drawers.

I would do the same with the cabinets on either side of the clean up sink. Plus on those two cabinets I'd make larger drawers that are 45" wide.

Have you figured out where and what you'll store in all the cabinets?

In your first island rendition, you don't have enough room around the table. 46" between counter edge and table is not enough. If the measurement is actually from cabinet to table edge, it's definitely not enough room.

Same with the distance between your range top and your counter on the island. 48" should be minimum between whatever sticks out furthest and the counter edge.

Additionally, if you haven't looked into it, I would definitely look into induction cooking, especially with young children.

IMO

-Rotated the original way

-seating for 3 on one side, you don't have enough room for seating on the short end of the island and seating at the table

-put the prep sink closer to the living room, you want to maximize space between prep sink and range (at least 36-42")

-would think about making the island to cooktop 42" apart and adding that to the other side to increase space between island and table. you can also trim the island down by 2" to 78" (24 per seat x 3, 3" legs x 2)

@cpartist - The doors to the left lead to the mud room. The doors on the bottom left lead to the dining room. The doors on the bottom right lead to the foyer.

@DrB477 - regarding making the distance between the cooktop and the island 42", cpartist mentioned that 48" inches should be the minimum distance. Is 42" too close?

42" is the recommended width for 1 Cook, 48" for 2. Ideally you'd want 48" at both sides yet you have it neither. Assuming the dining table stays put you are probably better off with extra room on the table side than a little protected nook in front of stove which I don't think would see much traffic.

Note that recommended aisles are counter to counter whereas plans are often cabinet to cabinet so your aisles are likely as much as 3" less than you think.

We have our main eating table in the same arrangement to our island as you've shown in your plan. We thought we would want more seating at the island, but have found that we rarely use it. I keep two stools at the island, but they are mostly for occasional perching. I'm guessing that with small children, you will likely use the table more than the island and two stools will be enough.

This comes under the heading of un-asked for advice, but someone recently posted pics of a fridge door with major damage because it opened next to the wall oven (handle).

Definitely change lower cabinets to drawers. You'll thank us when you don't have to stand on your head trying to fish out lost items from the back of cabinets. Even pullouts tend to have things topple off the back when you pull them out. Orient island as in second diagram. The island can be 40" wide (instead of 53") and provide plenty of kneeroom for stools. We have a 12" overhang on two sides and it works fine for our very tall family. You'll appreciate the extra space on stove side and table side. You have plenty of cabinet space without needing a giant island.

@prairiemom61 - when you say "Definitely change lower cabinets to drawers", are you referring to the lower cabinets on the wall with the range top?

My thoughts

Our kids (6,5,3) love sitting at the island, especially in the morning its nice to have them right there while you are making breakfast, packing lunches etc. Granted you only have two kids, not sure if there are any plans for more. God forbid the scene if you have more kids than stools...

I think the first orientation of the island is significantly better for the ice, water, stone, fire workflow since your main work spot is right in front of the fridge and oven and in direct path to range. I would also suggest caution with fridge and oven door clearance of one another. In the "before" kitchen had a dishwasher next to fridge, same issue as an oven handle resulted in nasty fridge dent.

Here's another idea... what if we were to:

a) extend the length of the island from 80" (6.67 feet) to 9 feet

b) add seating for 4 or 5 people at the expanded island

c) remove the farm table in the kitchen (and just eat at the island)

d) use the Dining Room (which is adjacent to the kitchen) for eating when we feel compelled to eat at an actual "table"

What are your thoughts on this?

When I suggested changing your lower cabinets to drawers, I meant both range wall and sink wall. Since you're working with a high end company you should be able to get just about any depth of drawer. I just find them way more convenient than cabinets with pullout shelves. But if you want a cabinet or two with say one middle pullout to store large pots that makes sense too.

I like the longer island idea too. It's totally a matter of preference of where you expect your family to eat casual meals.

We liked eating family style at a table where we faced one another and could have conversation. It was important to us to maintain family meals (and we still do) however, as prairie mom says, it depends on what works for your family and lifestyle. We know many families that almost never sit down to meals together.

Have you thought about a walk-in pantry somewhere instead of pantry cabinets? You can store so much more in a built-in pantry than in pantry cabinets and you have better access and "view" of the contents. (And, they're less expensive than pantry cabinets.)

You might even be able to cut down on a few upper cabinets to give you a more open and airy Kitchen.

Do you have a layout of the entire floor?

@buehl - it's not possible to have a proper walk-in pantry because everything has been framed and the dry wall has been installed.

We have 3 kids (10, 8, 5). We utilize both the counter chairs on the island and the kitchen table. I wouldn't want just island seating - the table gets used for eating, homework, puzzles, etc. And the counter stools take up barely any space and we don't need that extra lower cabinet space anyway. While ideally one would have the 48" between counter and island, we have closer to 40 and it's never been an issue. That said we are a relatively slim family, but it's just not an issue - this isn't a commercial kitchen with several cooks running too and fro - and you can always walk on the other side of the island if it's an issue.

Also, when entertaining other families w/kids, it's fantastic to seat the adults in the formal DR and the kids at the table in the kitchen (they are neither seen nor (just barely) heard!).

I would recommend shrinking the island width, and trying to make the family room as big as possible - you have a pretty tight couch to fireplace width, especially as you are going to have the TV mounted on top. The proportions (and large amount of very high upper counters which will dominate the space) make this more of a seating area in the kitchen than an actual family room, but perhaps that's what you are going for.