I thought like your husband concerning the trash can and now, one year later, I am so happy I did the trash pull out. You get used to things but when you remodel it should be an upgrade so talk him into the pull out. Also, I store my toaster in a drawer. More drawers than shelves definitely.

So what's going where your kitchen table will be? Are you building a wall that opens to your living room or leaving that open?

Built in garbage is a must. Best thing I ever put in my kitchen. Mine is near the sink and where I do food prep, which is very convenient.

More drawer bases than shelves, definitely.

No appliance garage. Those were cool in 1980. Just pull it out of the drawer on leave on counter permanently if you use it every day.

2. We have a garbage bin sitting beside our current cabinets – and it’s big also (we create way too much trash!). It’s the kind you step on a pedal and it opens hands-free. I felt I couldn’t live without it… Our new kitchen will have the double trash bins under the cabinet (18” W). I now understand how this will not only make the kitchen neater, but it’s also positioned where I prep, so I won’t be carrying dripping ‘trash’ to the bin. Removing and emptying 2 smaller bins will be easier than our large one as well. We are also installing a blum servo drive so I can open it with the nudge of my knee (hands-free). I’d go for the under the counter trash storage and I wouldn’t consider it wasted space at all.

3. RE: relocating your toaster and blender: Do you use high heat/create smoke or boil quite a lot when you cook? A vent would be more useful than an over the range microwave in that case. Many are going toward an outside vented hood fan. Regarding on where to put your toaster and blender, I’d also recommend putting them in a drawer (or cabinet).

4. The majority here find drawers are far easier to use than cabinet shelves. Arguably, drawers inside cabinet shelves are less easy to use than drawers only in your cabinet bases. I currently have both, and am switching to all drawers for all my lower base cabinets (no drawers inside cabinets).

We will have one appliance ‘garage’… in an upper cabinet for our microwave with a door that opens upwards and folds into the wall so we may leave it open for those times we use it a lot. We chose this option rather than a built-in microwave.

Dark kitchen once you close that wall.

I would certainly straighten the counter but I would still leave a 5x5 opening to the foyer

Definitely do a trash pullout.

Drawers generally better, but work best with interior organizers (pegboard systems for dishes, cutlery organizers, food container organizers, etc.).

Conventional base cabinets with a shallow drawer over 1-2 doors are only about 54% effective in terms of efficient easily accessible space suitable for everyday use.

I would use shelves only for uppers.

Rollout trays are great for a pantry (24” rollout trays). A few rollout trays in base cabinets can be good for small appliances (especially tall things like a blender that are too tall for a drawer). Rollouts often are a practical retrofit but outside a pantry I prefer drawers.

Thank you everyone for your replies. The wall we are putting up is the one behind the kitchen table. Its an overlook to a sunken family room. so we are closing that in. The rest of the main floor will remain open. we are getting rid of the eat in kitchen table since the dining room is right across.

Your mock ups show a wall, so I guess that's where everyone got confused. What you are putting in place of your kitchen table? Or will it be blank?

Sorry for the confusion. I am not sure how to remove the wall from the software. The area will be blank. The cabinets and counter will extend a bit beyond the pillar and I will be placing 2 stools at a breakfast bar.

Hmmmm. How much space does that leave between the breakfast bar and the railing to your stairs. This seems to be a major walkway to your kitchen and back door. To block off with stools may be inconvenient. So are there cabinets going where the table is now, because one of the design photos looks like that.

I got help with my IKEA kitchen design fromIKD - Inspired Kitchen Design. They specialize in IKEA designs with full plans and elevations for your contractor and much nicer 3D visualizations than the IKEA software alone.

It will be a corner breakfast bar and there will be about 55 inches from the bar counter to the railing