Your intertwined and situational questions can best be answered by a competent Kitchen Designer whom you engage to work with you on your project.

@Designer Kitchen and Bath Been there, done that. Spent a few hundred with a designer, which was only enough to be shown (not given) a rough plan.

I'm looking to get a variety of opinions/experiences from this great community and what people have found from experience living with various kitchen plans, rather than an opinion from a single individual.

From my own experience with previous renovation projects, I've found that getting a range of viewpoints tends to serve me better, as opposed to getting a single opinion.

You should also check the code for your area. I had a stupid pony wall on one side which had at minimum 36 inches. But The main thoroughfare going by oven an refrigerator I wanted 44 at least. So I went with a furniture island so I could have the benefit of an island for baking and seating. But not violate code which would make resale impossible

You have a lot of seating around your island, but it looks like the spaces on the corner overlap. However, when planning the number of seats, you need to make sure you account for everyone to have enough leg space. Assuming you have about 48" in width for the two chairs on the end, you'll need a minimum of 39" for the single seat on the inside and a minimum of 87" for the 3 seats on the outside. That way everyone has their own leg space. I added a photo to illustrate this point visually.

Definitely make all measurements from countertop edge to countertop edge, not cabinet to cabinet - all recommendations for aisle width are based on countertop edge, not cabinet box.

For the 36" aisle, you mentioned you don't envision it being a major walkway. At 36", it won't be a walkway at all. You can only squeeze past sideways. That's going to make it tough to get into the inside seat.

The 36” measurement seems really tight, and I’m not loving the pocket door idea. What if you rotated the island and made it connected to the “south” wall?

That would give you the long side of the island oriented toward your kitchen work. As drawn, you’re only using the short end of the island for kitchen work, since behind the long edge is nearest the cleanup/dishes area.

In a kitchen where every inch must count, I'd use 1" front overhangs. I think the layout would work with a 42" (counter-to-counter) work aisle, since the primary prep space would be in the corner between the sink and range, and the helper could prep to the left of the sink, or on the island. I'd make the island 48", which would leave 41" behind the seating on the longer side. Putting the layout on a grid where 1 square = 6", this is what you would have. (Perimeter is m/l guesswork.)

Adding a sink on the island, while not necessary for function, would give you more options for prep:

Get a Kitchen Designer. A couple of hundred is only a basic consult. Of course you don’t get a functional plan in a couple of hours of a needs assessment interview. A couple of thousand equals a buildable plan.

IMO min. where there is seating is 60” when there is a wall behind the stools . a 3x4 pantry is close to useless and any 1/2 decent KD would not be helping without a to scale plan so not much help here without one either . Unless you have a cabinet maker that actully builds the boxes and the doors from scratch you will be controlled but 3” increments usually. Post a to scale plan with all measurements clearly marked and for sure the sizes of the appliances and where the windows adoor ways are and all those measurements too. I would not give a client an actul plan to work from for $200 .

@mama goose_gw zn6OH Thank you! As much as I'd like a second sink, it's just not feasible - it would require partially deconstructing the room below and moving a main lateral HVAC trunk.

However, I do see in the first picture what you're talking about. You're correct, the range is between the sink and the refrigerator. The main prep area is the upside-down "L" on the right.

This visual is very helpful. If there are going to be four seats, I think I'd rather have one on the top of the long side, one at the end, and two on the bottom long side, so that I can have the full width of the island with 24"-deep base cabinets facing the stove/refrigerator side.

I wish I could just move the bottom wall out to give just another 6" of space, but again - budget constraints.

As far as the space between the bottom aisle and the wall, I'm thinking that I don't need 42" there, but 39" kind of splits the difference and evens out the space a little bit. (Point of reference, in the current dining room, there's only 29" of space between the table edge and the nearest obstruction (wall or china closet) on either long side, and we've been squeaking by on that, so moving to 39" will seem like a huge improvement.

Using a 1" overhang vs 1.5" overhang is another good idea - thanks for that! I would be more inclined to do that on the island, but keep the 1.5" on the L-shape where lots of prep goes on. My teen isn't the neatest when cooking, and since we're doing full overlay doors, that 1.5" may make the difference in protecting the base cabinets beneath.

Forgive my rambling, but when I work through the math - here's what I'm thinking.... I don't think I'd feel comfortable with less than 45" clearance in the main working aisle with the sink/dishwasher, etc.

What happens when I allow only 45" clearance in work aisle:

156.5" to start

minus 25.5" (base plus 1.5" overhang) = 131"

minus 45" working aisle clearance = 86"

minus 47" (45" island with 1" overhang all around) = 39"

minus 39" clearance from island to wall = 0"

The island cabinets would be only 45" wide, so allowing 18" for a double-trash unit leaves me with only 27" wide for the pots/pans. Ugh. Not what I'd prefer.

So...what if I have the trash bin in the island facing the dishwasher, and instead have a 33" wide pots/pans drawer paired with a 6" vertical for baking sheets? (or a 30" wide with a 9" vertical), so that the island cabs are 39" wide, with a 1" overhang on each long side for a total island width of 41"? Either should work for me. (or eliminate the vertical tray cab entirely for a 39" wide pots/pans drawer).

If I then swing around to the island facing the dishwasher and sink, working from the right to the left... the first 24" is the side of the cabinets facing the stove.

So how does that work in a kitchen length of 247.75", following the top side of the island?

247.75"

minus 25.5" (depth of stove/cabinetry on right-hand wall plus 1.5" overhang) = 222.25"

minus 48" (countertop to countertop on stove/refrigerator side) = 174.25"

minus 1.5" overhang on side of island facing stove = 172.75"

minus 24" (depth of the side of cabinetry facing the stove) = 148.75"

minus 30" (width of drawer base unit for cutlery and dishes) = 118.75"

minus 18" (width of double trash pullout) = 100.75"

minus 27.25" (allowance for one seat facing away from the work aisle) = 73.5"

minus 48" (aisle between island and cabs on left wall) = 25.5"

minus 25.5" (base cab on left wall with 1.5" overhang) = 0" every inch accounted for

Following the bottom side of the island:

247.75"

minus 25.5" (depth of stove/cabinetry on right-hand wall plus 1.5" overhang) = 222.25"

minus 48" (countertop to countertop on stove/refrigerator side) = 174.25"

minus 1.5" overhang on side of island facing stove = 172.75"

minus 24" (depth of the side of cabinetry facing the stove) = 148.75"

now we have 75.25" on the bottom side of the island to play with. I think it's possible to "squeeze" 3 counter-stools there (25" wide for each person), but it might be better to plan for two stools there and allow 27" - 30" seating width. If allowing 27", that leaves me with 21.25" that I could put another base cabinet in. If allowing 30" seating width, that leaves me with 15.25" for another base. Or pretty much anything in-between that 15.25" - 21.25". ....

This could be a good spot for a planned "junk drawer", a space to charge/store tech (laptops, kindles, cell phones) and/or a small file drawer for keeping current coupons/paperwork to be handled, as I would be losing my current paperwork/file drawer space).

Thoughts?

@Patricia Colwell Consulting I wish there was space to have 60" when there is seating. Frankly, that's a luxury that I've never had. My current dining room space is only 10' wide. With the 44" wide table and a china buffet/hutch taking 18", we only had 29" of space from table edge to obstruction. And even that was an upgrade from my previous house's dining room which was only 8' wide, as that only allowed 26" of space for seating and clearances combined.

The 3x4 pantry is primarily going to be storage for appliances, bulk item purchases, and bins for cat/dog food. It's an odd corner that currently has a 24" wide base cab and dishwasher. The problem with this this is currently the main place for stored food items, and when the kitchen door to the patio is open, it blocks access to both the cabinetry and the dishwasher. I can't tell you how many times I've been on my hand-and-knees digging in the base cabinet, or bent over the dishwasher and gotten whacked when someone flings the door open. My thought is that I can put small/medium appliances that aren't used on a daily basis in the planned pantry closet, as well as the larger bulk-container sized items to refill from less frequently. It's a way to get use out of that space and store bulkier items close to where it would get used. (As opposed to storing it in the garage or utility room) on an entirely different level.

The contractor I plan to use connected me with a cabinet maker, so I'm not controlled by the typical 3" increments with the exception of 3rd-party accessories (trash pullouts, etc.).

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I think your aisles sound OK--if that better suits your needs and cooking style. Standard advice here is 60" between seating and a perimeter cabinet, but in a remodel, we can't always follow the ideal. I would want to keep the path between the prep area and the pantry clear of seating, but if the extra seat works OK for you, 45" is better than 42". Can you put the pots and pans in wide drawers facing the DW, with trash opening toward the fridge? Trash would be convenient to all zones, and you could still wipe debris from the island top directly into the open can. Have you considered blocking the corner to put trash pullout to the right of the sink?

Red rectangle is extra cabinet, if you do only four seats.

@mama goose_gw zn6OH Thanks! Are you using a freeware or shareware program by any chance for the scaled drawings? (If so, which?) How would it look if there was only one seat on the far end, centrally placed - I think then I could still have the one on top, and two on the bottom along with possibly one narrowish cabinet. That would give me 3 seats with no one sitting directly next to each other, and then the fourth seat could be the "extra" when needed.

I really am looking forward to having a super-susan corner cabinet again (had one in my previous house) and my thought is that it will be a good place to store a variety of mixing bowls and other items. I also would like to keep the "main trash" location out of that corner, because I don't want people (such as my boyfriend) pushing past me to get to the trash can there, and it would be right between the sink and range - like prime traffic path there.

I do plan to have a small trash can under the sink for truly yucky wet stuff so that it doesn't need to be carried over the surface of the floor.

I downloaded a graph from the 'net, uploaded it to Paint, and then I just draw little boxes and circles. You are welcome to use it.
One seat on the end: