Is the area behind the sink also open to the living room or is the sink up against a wall? i.e., is the sink on an island? If yes, I think you'll want a larger counter area on the backside of that bank of cabinets so that you don't feel like the sink is actually IN the living room.

I know that in a condo plumbing isn't very movable but I imagine you an move the the sink slightly so that you have your sink a bit more centered within the cabinets. I would find having a 15 inch counter top next to the sink to be very limiting. I'd prefer to move the sink a bit to the right and have the 24 inch cabinet paired with the 15 in trash cabinet instead of with the dishwasher (24 inch cabinet, 15 inch trash, 30 inch sink cabinet, 24 inch dishwasher). That gives you 24 or more inches of usable space surrounding the sink. Moving the sink connections that little bit will not be a problem even in a condo as it will all be done inside the sink cabinet or within the wall, not the plumbing stack.

When you say the left wall is open, do you mean also where the cabinets are or just the walkway at the bottom?

more layout info would be helpful - it’s always nice to see the larger context of the space. What is the goal of your reno? How many people generally work in there at once?

Jaykaym and damiarain, thank you so much for your replies. I’m extremely grateful for your help!

Jaykaym, the area behind the sink/cabinets does have a wall, and we could move the plumbing along that wall, if needed. I see what you mean about only 15” on one side of the sink being limiting. I really wanted an 18” trash pullout but there just doesn’t seem to be room without making the dining area even tinier. Originally, I was thinking that having the trash closer to the dining area would make it easier for people to throw things away without actually entering the kitchen and possibly disturbing me in my prep zone. I also thought it would be good to have the 24” cabinet next to the dishwasher to make it easy to put silverware/plates/mugs in the drawers. On the other hand, setting the table would be easier if that cabinet was next to the table. I’ll switch things around in the IKEA planner to try out your idea.

Damiarain, just the walkway at the bottom is open. Actually, there was an angled half wall where the proposed sink/trash pullout are, there but we’re in the process of removing the half wall and rebuilding a full height wall behind the proposed cabinetry.

The goal of the reno is to modernize the kitchen and have better storage (base cabinets with drawers, pantry wall). And to have a cool looking kitchen ;)

Generally it’s just me in the kitchen, but occasionally I have a child helping me. I do cook dinner from scratch every night and want to teach my two kids how to cook as they get older.

Here are some more pics. I hope the numbers are readable. The length of wall 4 in the hand drawn plans may be different from the IKEA plan in the first post, because we haven’t finished building that wall yet! Also, the half wall isn’t shown in the full unit floor plan.

Thank you!