Hi all! I posted last night about the (what I now think are) wormy chestnut cabinets in our new house. There were some great ideas there so I’m hoping I can crowdsource a few more! We are buying a 100-year old colonial on a river. The current kitchen is a small-ish galley kitchen that will be tough for our family of 5. We’d like to take down the wall between the dining room and kitchen (already brought in a contractor to look at that) and make an open space with an island so that we can (a) have river views from the kitchen and (b) have a closer eye on our 3 boys. I have a few names of designers but seems smart to wait until we close in early November before spending money on plans! Until then, I’d like to figure out what this could look like so that we can move fast to get the plans to our contractor to spec the work. I know about the supply chain delays—we aren’t starting the work until spring, with a move in date of next summer. So hopefully that’s building in enough time.

Questions:
(1) thoughts on my very amateur layout? It keeps the appliances roughly where they are today. I included 3.5 feet at all paths around the island.
(2) is repurposing the lower cabs for the island a possibility? I guess it depends on whether we have enough to make an entire island. We’d probably also lose some modern functionality. But it would be pretty! And we’d save a ton of money while using cabs that are top quality.
(3) I’m worried about having enough storage space. There isn’t a ton of wall space at the back to build along.
(4) Any other feedback appreciated!

I’ve included the current first floor layout and pictures of the current kitchen. And my very high tech, not at all scaled sketch. 🤣 If you’re still reading 🤣 thanks!!