More details on the island as promised:

The Trash and Cabinets A&B would open toward the sink/range. The wine/bookshelf faces the beverage fridge. and the cat food storage opens toward the patio door. The orange stars are approx locations for outlets.

To get the storage and size that I think I need/want, it only leaves a 15" overhang for seating. We would not eat dinners here, just use it for casual seating while someone else cooks, or for a quick breakfast etc. Is 15" enough for that usage or do you think if I can't fit 18", I should just skip seating?

I plan to mock up the size of the island with some cardboard to see how this 4x7' design fits, or if 4'3" would also be ok.

Any feedback appreciated!

What a strange layout! With that nook not big enough for a table, it looks like they just ran out of cabinets.

I'll leave the layout to the more talented, but I will say that your island will actually measure 3" wider and 1 1/2" deeper for the counter overhang.

Also, though not everyone is like-minded, and I don't know how big the living room is, that island seems like it will dwarf everything else. 15" is the NKBA recommendation for counter seating, so no trouble there

Last, if you're planning a full depth refrigerator, with it in its current location, your 42" aisle will seem tighter because it encroaches on the aisle even if it's not directly across from the island.

If you intend to prep on the island, then you need a prep sink. We work from fridge to sink to prep to cooking. Are you planning on washing your food, then carrying it to the island and then carrying it back across the aisle to cook it? Seems like lots of wasted moving about.

Additionally now all you have is about a 30" space between sink and cooktop to prep.

Your island as you've designed it is a barrier.

Why can't your stove vent out the ceiling where it is?

Have you considered induction instead of gas? Especially if you someday soon intend to have children?

Yeah, we assume they intended a small seating area to the right with the current layout, and there are several houses in our neighborhood like this, but either way it is bizarre and such a waste of kitchen space as-is!

Good point about the overhang & fridge, I will take that into account when we test out the island size. The Living room is the same size as the kitchen (incl the kitchen table/pantry area)- 20 x 17 so the entire open area is pretty huge at 40x17'. When we first moved in and there was no furniture yet, it felt like a bowling alley haha!

So I think the island won't look too big? But I do want to make sure we keep the aisles around it spacious enough (particularly considering the patio door). We intend to get a counter top depth fridge, so depending on the model it should only stick out 3-4" farther than the cabinets, but every inch counts! We are hoping that adding the beverage fridge will help us not regret the slightly smaller counter top depth interior size.

@cpartist, I understand your point about the prep sink, but we currently use the island to prep and have at previous homes even though it isn't next to the sink. It seems to work for us, we don't mind turning from the sink to the island or the island to the cooking area. Yes, sometimes some water drips on the floor/rug from the colander or whatever, but the reality is that we are so bad at staying on top of dishes that the area around the sink isn't usually available (*embarrassed face*) . The current layout has a really big aisle (~60") between the island and cooking area which does feel awkward, but I'm thinking with a normal aisle we wouldn't mind.

In the proposed design, there is a 36" cabinet between the sink & the cooktop plus a spacer, so about 41"... that seems decent?

Can you explain more about the island being a barrier? Is it just too big? Or is it related to the fridge location?

In terms of venting outside with the current location, there's a bedroom above that wall so going up to the roof would be pretty tricky. I guess we could potentially go up into the space between the two floors and vent to the patio if 18' of horizontal ducting wouldn't reduce the vent efficiency too much? Would require a lot of ceiling drywall repairs but that's not a deal breaker... What would be the benefit of leaving it in its current location? Would that allow a different island configuration that was less 'barrier'-like?

I think we are pretty set on gas, we loved cooking with it in past homes and like the aesthetics of it as well. (We are def still open to 36" cooktop plus a separate 30" oven, but so far haven't been able to design a layout that seems to work with that setup...)

I'm not a designer, but I like your layout! We have a 7' long island and no prep sink in it and I love it the way it is. Personally I would take the cabinets above the range all the way to the wall on the right and ignore symmetry. The 15" island overhang will be more than fine (we have 12" on one side of our island and even that has been fine). I'm confused by the cabinets on the backside of your island. Is there really a big void space there? How will you finish off the backside of the island? I'm not sure a small wine cabinet and cat drawer are worth the weird island shape, maybe eliminate them since you have so many cabinets already in your kitchen.

thanks mtnmom9!

I'll try the uppers as you described and see how that looks.

The island will require some carpentry in addition to the Ikea bases... we will build a solid wall that your knees hit when you sit at the island, and visually it will appear as a standard rectangle of cabinets. But technically if you took the counter top off, you would see some open space in the middle. Does that make sense?

We are thinking of planking the back wall like this:

@rantontoo

Meaning it needs a direct line from the fridge to the stove, stove to sink, and sink to fridge? Or is just between the sink & stove most critical? The proposed design has no issue between sink & stove right?

Okay, but if your carpenter is building a 2x4 pony wall there, I'm not sure you have accounted for that width in your overall island dimensions. Or maybe he can just do that wall with a sheet of plywood??

carpenter = me and my husband :)

But yeah, it would just be a sheet of plywood/boards, not a full 'wall'. We would plan to create some hefty wood bracing in the open areas to support the countertop and panel, but essentially it will be like a cover panel on a back or side of cabinets in terms of added thickness.

An island is a barrier when it is between the parts/legs of the work triangle....should have said it this way the first time...sorry! So your island is a barrier from the stove to the fridge.

Is there a garage behind the fridge wall in your plan?

@rantontoo, Gotcha, thanks it does make sense. So any different layout ideas to avoid the barrier issue? I guess I feel like there's an inherent trade off between efficient kitchens with good lines and ones with lots of counter & workspace... or have I just never seen a really well designed kitchen layout? :)

There is a powder room directly behind where the fridge is, then the garage is on the other side of the powder room. Edit: Actually the powder room might only be behind the microwave area. Might be the hallway leading to the powder room right behind the fridge location. Either way, there is about 6' of the house indoors between the back of the fridge wall and the garage.

I asked because I thought it might be possible to move the fridge more toward the door and recess it into the garage...would help with the stove to fridge path and minimally intrude into the 42 inch aisle...obviously not possible unless you you have a different way to access the powder room.

I suspect that since the fridge and island are staying where they are that you won't feel like its much more of a barrier than it already is. You should mock up the new island size with cardboard boxes (or your dining table?) and live with it awhile and see if it bothers you to walk around the bigger island to the fridge.

Thanks for all the input! We will mock up the larger island this weekend and see how it feels.