Hi Houzz community,

I would love some feedback on potential layouts for my kitchen (and I will be requesting input on the master bath for this house in a separate post shortly, in case anyone is interested). The cabinet maker I had come take measurements seemed utterly perplexed by the first layout, especially with the location of the fridge, so he's put doubts in my mind (not that they weren't there in the first place), but it's not like he had any better ideas.

I don't know what his issue is as all the guidelines have been followed with regards to space (and he thinks a sink should be centered on an island and then a range centered directly across from it so I take his reaction with a grain of salt). The only thing I'm not fond of is that the sink is further away from the fridge than the stove in the order of doing things, but it's not a huge problem for me since it's a clear shot from the fridge to the sink. He also suggested shortening the counter run so it's not right up to the breakfast nook. I hate to lose space and don't like the void on the wall that it creates when looking in from the dining room, so I would like a shallow pantry but don't know if that would look weird next to 25" deep counters.

Here are the measurements for the attached images. The counter at the wall runs 17'-6". The island is 6' wide in a 12'-11" wide space. The fridge area in the first photo is 4'-5" with a 36" counter depth fridge. The idea was to add a narrow pantry next to it. The stove is 30" and the sink cabinet is 36" with the DW to the left of the sink (if facing the sink, not left on the photo). I do like the idea of taking the fridge out of that nook even though it's what I designed the space for and putting a coffee bar/accessories garage in that area, but friends who have come by like that the fridge is out of the way of the cook's area and easily accessible without disrupting the prep and cooking from both the dining room and the backyard.

The dining room is on the other side of the island and you can see one of the french doors opened in the photo. The breakfast nook is 7'-10" side and 6'-11" deep.

I have flexibility for a very short time longer with the placement of the window by the sink in the first image and to the sides of the stove in the second. I have it framed for the first, but on the plans it's actually two windows, so I can go back to the split windows, which is original to the house. Thus I can also have the option to do something like in the 3rd image, however that would mean the stove is more than 9' from the fridge.

Anyone have ideas on this kitchen? Thank you! - Deborah