There doesn't appear to be room for a larger island in the middle of the kitchen.

Join the two islands into one running parallel to the fridge wall and make the whole thing bigger. Approximately 42-48" away from the stove and then as long as you can run it the other way. 10 feet ?? (guessing based on tile size) Build your large garbage into the island. And if you really don't need the "office" area then I would build out that space with lower cabinetry as well - just move the desktop up and seam it.

You could also make the passage way into the "blue" room narrower by adding another 2 or 3 feet of countertop and cabinets to the right of the dishwasher and extending the half wall.

There appears to be an awful lot of under-utilized space around the island with the high stools

You need a gut and redesign. Not a poor bandaid that you constantly bark your shins on walking around the obstacle.

Then live with it as is. There is no improving it without some demolition happening. There is no demolition without significant rebuilding.

How about removing the small island in the center of the kitchen and bringing the bigger island up even with your end cupboards...making it a penincula. That way you could use it for a work surface and have stools on the back side like you do now. Might have to walk around it to get to your dining area though....Maybe put the island the long way in your kitchen...IF you can open the refrigerator door and dishwasher doors with it there.

that's what I was going to say. take the large island and move it to the end of the bank of counters to the right. make a peninsula out of it. but it's still going to require demo and redo of some sort. there's no magical way to get you more space. remove the little island and bring in some sort of butcher block table is the only other way. If you want more seating, you're going to have to get slimmer stools. those are far to big for that island anyway.

You could perhaps attach to the small island a butcher block cutting board on hinges. You could then bring it up when you need counter space, but put it down when not needed.

It seems like the current larger island w/stools was location previously for dinette/in kitchen table?? Definitely ensure you have tile for floor repairs, but I would measure to see if you could remove smaller island, replace w/existing larger island, and then work out lighting etc.

It is very difficult to make an island work in a U shaped kitchen. Removal of the small island and change to a peninsula would be the best. That gives you a pretty nice layout.

^^Exactly. The Before kitchen with the peninsula and kitchen table was a much better than this badly designed “After”. Someone shoehorned that island in there and the “dining island” just to check off the “must have island” fad box. And they made it far less usable.

It either needs the peninsula and table remodel, or it needs to pretty much be left alone. There is no magic solution to a bad layout like this that doesn’t involve ripping things apart.

Since its all there, I'd leave it alone. Seems like the little island would be a nice landing spot for groceries coming in and for fridge stuff coming out, plus additional storage. If you extend it with a longer countertop towards the stove, I'm not sure you could get the range all the way out if you need to replace it at some point.