Will an island fit? Not every Kitchen can support an island.

You need to have enough room for a minimum of 42" aisles on non-seating sides. Aisles, btw, are measured to/from the items that stick out the farthest: appliance handles, counter edges, etc. They are not measured cabinet-to-cabinet.

If you want seating, you will need 44" or more for an aisle, depending on what else is on that aisle and how much traffic will be passing through. Usually, you need 48" to 54".

Will the island be a "barrier island" b/w key elements in the Kitchen? I.e., will it be between the sink and refrigerator? Between the range/cooktop and refrigerator?

As to Pantry -- where? What type? Are sure you have room?

This is a layout... new cabinets are on far end of the dining room. Thanks for your ideas!

Also I like the idea of a commercial work table...but may not give us the space we need. I like the idea of cabinets for a microwave and trash.

The oven/cooktop layout would drive me bonkers. Are you sure you don't want to replace instead of reface?

are you adding a hood?

Yes, we’re adding a hood and gas range. I don’t think it’s in the budget to get completely new cabinets. I’m just looking for the best layout option for us by adding new cabinets to the kitchen and dining room.

If you have a different color island and a different color countertop from the perimeter, your eye has too many different colors/textures to look at. I think it will give too busy a look.

And I don't think shaker cabinets will work with your slab cabinet doors. IKEA has some slab doors that would coordinate with your current cabinets.

I personally hate a garbage drawer. Everyone that I know has one has had the cabinet wear down much faster than the others because of the constant use...and they don't seem to keep up with keeping it clean as much as I would (but I admit to being OCD about that kind of stuff).

Lowes also has cabinets with slab drawers (unfinished). I dont like trash drawers either. Tape an island on the floor and see how an island will work out for you, before spending money buying the cabinets.

Consider buying new doors for the existing cabinets (white shaker?) to tie the new in with the old.

I think white cabs/black counters will clash with maple cabinets/white counters. I'm not a fan of 2-tone kitchens anyway, but your proposal would be too mismatchy for me.

If it were my kitchen, I'd buy new doors and drawer fronts in white shaker, and make all the new cabinets white shaker as well.

Oh wait, I actually did that. :-)

Ok something to think about with the trash cabinet, thanks! I don’t think we will touch the existing cabinetry/countertops for the time being. Thinking I will add an island and pantry wall in natural maple with white quartz counters and see how we like it. I like kitchens that are not too matchy so it may work. If it doesn’t then the rest of it can be redone in time. Thanks!

I am not sure an island will fit comfortably in your kitchen. Mine is the same width as yours with similar u-shape cabinet/countertop configuration--if I am reading your plan correctly. While I could squeeze in an island, it would be very crowded (visually and functionally) so I decided against having even a moveable piece that I could push out of the way if needed.

Before going to the expense of installing the island, consider getting a really cheap table from Craigslist or local thrift store to use for a test run. My "sample island" was cardboard on top of a tiny table I brought up from the basement. It took one day for me to nix that idea!