I think your kitchen looks so nice, but I understand you want to improve on it. Be careful with the flooring as it may not look right next to the natural wood flooring in your house. (If it is natural).

I vote for a table and chairs, not the peninsula.

i dont see how a peninsula would work. there is room near the window for table/chair or two obviously. I'd stick with that. eight feet by ten feet?? You can extend counter and cabinets into the space in question on stove side by reducing depth.... you will have some usability/more storage/more counter and not impede the seating area terribly. Watch out for expanding fridge too much. the french door models will be more efficient than what you have w regards access within . so go have a look because you may not need to increase the model size...you'll be getting better configuration

If you put up a sketch with measurements of the kitchen and neighboring spaces, you'll get some specific advice. Your kitchen doesn't appear to be all that small, but real estate photos tend to exaggerate things.

Here's the key to having more storage.

Galley is my favorite kind of kitchen. How many need to be seated. If you search the box above under Photos for " narrow galley kitchen" you should see lots of inspiration. Here's one with a banquette.

Park Avenue Modern · More Info

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Here's a peninsula idea.

Bespoke Shaker Style Kitchen - North London · More Info

Beth H. There is a load bearing wall next to the dishwasher. they build a small reach in pantry about 24 inches.

btw I'm loving that you are all disagreeing with my sister!!

What is that to the left of your dishwasher? The walled in area with the open doorway.

I like the idea of extending the cabinets but reducing the depth a bit. I really just need more counter space.

It's a small reach in pantry about 24 inches wide with about 8 shelves

I get it's load bearing, but what is on the other side? i'm talking about this blank wall next to the dishwasher. you say it's a pantry?

so you have plenty of storage?

can you add onto the ends of this cabinet?

and, if you can close off that doorway, you'll gain even more space

If you added on more to the left side, then you could do a built in banquette

what if you closed off the doorway or made it smaller?

can you take a picture of that end of the kitchen so we can see that wall space on both sides?

what about the entire space by the vertical blind window? what do you want w/that? another eat in area? can't you eat at the other table?

what if you made that room a large buffet w/built ins?

imagine this on that one wall. this is an Ikea Hemnes hack

Your sister prob imagined this, but you don't have the depth. (unless you remove one side of cabinets)

what if you did this in the doorway, maybe cut back part of that wall?

I can add on the end of the cabinets on the side of the stove. I could eat at the other table I think I'm just used eating in the kitchen.

I didn't think of a buffet. That could work.

I notice many of your photos appear to be MLS photos and I see a couple of boxes against the pantry wall. Have you just moved in? If so, spend some months (6 - 12) living in the house and adjusting to the existing layout before you get too crazy with changes. For the moment, buy a microwave cart or island on wheels for extra workspace and spend lots of time thinking, measuring and researching before jumping into a kitchen project.