Did a cabinet salesperson do this layout? Because there are a ton of cabinets crammed in and not enough room for aisles. The fridge/seating aisle is impossibly small. There’s no way one could open the fridge with a chair there, let alone a seated person. You need an L-shaped perimeter, so put the fridge by the slider, no cabinets on the bottom wall.

Island is a barrier between fridge and sink - you will be walking around it 10000000000 times a day. @emilyam819's suggestions are spot on - move the fridge to the end near the slider and turn the whole thing into a large L plus island rather than a U.

Thanks. Those were my concerns

What do you do w a blank wall in the kitchen? Seems a bit strange but I’m not a designer.

You probably have room for shallow pantry storage on that wall, potentially recessed into the studs. Artwork. Etc.

What’s on the other side of the blank wall? Can it be partially opened to another room?

I think the space would be better suited to a peninsula layout:

New to Kitchens? Read me first.

Thanks

I appreciate the link as well. Very helpful. Thanks for your time.

Your are welcome. I edited to include a MW to the left of the fridge. Examples of MW in upper cabinets and shallow, side-loading pantry cabs:

Thanks very much. Very helpful. I was planning on microwave drawer in the island. Lot of options there

Can you tell me what the blue circle represents and what the second rectangle by the word dishes is supposed to be?

You should run away as fast as you can from whatever cabinet seller did that original “design”. It’s horrible.

Thank you - any suggestions on layout given your strong visceral reaction.
Must haves are not many - island with seating and table for seating. We are family of 5 (kids between 9-12) we cook normal amount - not big chefs like others. We obviously need cabinet and countertop space. It would be nice to be at the island comfortably and sit comfortably. The only concern with the L is the bare wall, which cannot be opened up much. Thanks.

My first thought was similar to Emily. Move fridge over by slider, but instead of no cabinets on bottom wall, do shallow depth pantry cabinets on that wall. You do the whole wall, or break it up with a countertop and uppers. Mix up 15” depth and 12” depth for interest.

Thanks

Can you tell me what the blue circle represents and what the second rectangle by the word dishes is supposed to be?

The blue circle is the clean-up and dish storage zone, which is outside the prep triangle. The box in front of the DW represents the fully open door, and likewise, the box in front of the dish storage cabinet represents open drawers. When a DW is so close to a perpendicular run of cabinets, the cabs in the corner are not accessible when the DW door is open. So, dishes would need to be kept in drawers beyond the open DW door, for easy unloading.

Ours has some unfortunate through traffic, but otherwise very similar. I would recommend fewer but larger cabinets. I’m not a huge fan of peninsulas when they aren’t necessary, but make sure the island isn’t an obstacle.

Thanks Those are great colors and I like the limestone look. Going to do an overhang to get the seating in. Maybe moving fridge is a good idea.