You don't want to trek from the fridge to the sink to prep foods under water, plus the island blocks your path. Try stacking oven/micro where the fridge is and use an induction cooktop in the island and fridge where the range is. If you weren't using KIEA, I'd suggest all drawers and pullouts, but theirs always look skimpy/fimsy to me. Saving $$ with no uppers might allow you to upgrade to a better line of all drawers/pullouts below. Here's why.

You said you “kinda fell in love” with the bigger island. I was positive I knew the perfect size of my new island until I did a full size mock up in my actual size. My ideal, from a storage standpoint, was 72”. Once I set up one of my 72” folding tables, I saw instantly it was too big. It crowded my aisles and overwhelmed my kitchen. My island is a perfect 60”. Taking the few minutes to set up boxes or a table of the size you dream will convince you which size works best. I also used my mock-up to visually convince Mr. Wonderful why seating at a counter wouldn’t work as well as a separate table and chairs. ( for the record, sitting at the counter placed the three best views behind us). My daughter used cheap wrapping paper to make patterns to actual size of fridge, range, dishwasher, and sink. We spent an hour or so moving those cutouts around the kitchen of the cabin she is building until-voila’-we discovered switching the range with the fridge gave her a small pantry space. We put plywood on two saw horses to decide the size of the island. Cutting that size by six inches gave her proper clearances. There was a post earlier this week about a too big island already installed. An hour or two doing mockups, living with mockups for a day or two in the actual space can either convince you the size is perfect or needs to be tweaked.

I have had Ikea all drawer cabinets in my last 2 homes loaded with pots and pans some of which are cast iron never had an issue in 20+ yrs so not they are not flimsy.

I don’t really understand some if the floor plan, but it doesn’t look like there’s enough space for a banquette or table. Also, the pantry cabinet makes a dead corner. I’d put pantry and fridge on the stove wall. That puts your fridge closer to the sink and might allow your island to expand.

Thanks all for the comments. I tried keeping the gas in same place to save $$. But I need to add 220v for dual fuel.

I thought having fridge and pantry on large wall might close off the whole space. I would prefer sink closer to refrigerator….would it be weird to build a floor to ceiling pantry/fridge in middle of room?

The banquette is there because we have a large support beam in ceiling delineating the dining area from kitchen.

Thank you all!!!!

Actually I think moving the fridge and pantry to the long wall would open the space up.