Hi - sorry it took me a while to figure out how to send this to you :)

It looks like your sketch does not match the photos. You should include more of the entire floor, like what's on the other side of the stove wall. It is possible to "recess" the range/cabs into that wall, if for some reason you had to have an island (vs peninsula). I doubt that could happen, but the point is design the kitchen, if wanting to alter the layout, with everything else in mind too.

This idea completely hinges on you not keeping your current breakfast area and being able to move appliances.

You could make this into a galley kitchen with narrow pantry cabinets on the

You would get rid of your breakfast area and the walls between your current kitchen and dining room. (keep the load bearing wall)

Move your stove and your fridge both to the exterior wall (I see your fridge going on the far left and your stove centered between the fridge and sink.

You could then make a 24" deep island running most of the length of the room and then put 12" deep pantry cabinets on the existing stove wall, and even the bottom wall in the current breakfast area.

This would give you lots of counter space, lots of pantry space and if you wanted you could even make your dining room a bit bigger and make the kitchen a bit smaller (only about a foot but still)

You could also talk to your contractor and see if its possible to open up the doorway from the hallway to the kitchen at all. You may not be able to remove the wall completely but opening up that door way would make it feel a bit more open concept.

Hi - thank you for your reply! I didn’t put the existing cabinets in my sketch which is probably the confusing part. Looking at the first sketch, the stove is currently directly across from the sink. Looking at my second picture, the dining room is through the doorway. Hopefully that info can help with linking the sketches to my pictures. ☺

Ahhh, from the dark pic I was thinking that was a utility/laundry area accessed through a hall. Is the formal dining used? Is there opportunity to reduce the size of the breakfast seating area (small table in pic)? How much of the living area would be encroached on if the interior bearing wall were opened up?

Yes we use the formal dining room, especially when we have guests. The sliding glass doors onto the front deck have a beautiful view. Yes I am thinking to reduce the size of the breakfast seating area but I am hesitant to eliminate it because again, out that window is a beautiful view of the garden so we often have breakfast there. The living room is quite large so there is some room to expand out (maybe 3-4 ft?) before it encroached on the living room area.