Brainstrust,

We thought we had our designs locked in on our home renovation. It’s a historical home with some challenging conditions as it relates to the kitchen (sandwiched between the yeard and a historical room we can’t take from).

I’ve attached the original design. As laid out, the island bench is 3’5” in front of a main entrance, which feels claustrophobic and impractical when taped out. The 17’8“ bench was a dramatic design that does look very good and does afford a lot of storage. It has to live well though.

I’ve also attached a slightly revised design that shrinks the size of the island. That affords space in front of the entrance to the yard. The downsides, as I see it, are the following:

1) Sink and dishwasher move to the west wall. There isn’t that much room between the sink and the range in this configuration;

2) There is potential to solve #1 above, by eating into the pantry and taking ~9” of space. This involves a bit of a rethink around the pantry (which we’ll have to rely on for storage of non-daily used goods)

3) There will be 7’8” between the cabinets housing the sink and the beginning of the island. That feels a little disproportionate to me

Increasing the size of the island by 1’7” may address #3 above but introduces the bench / door conflict again (albeit, not to the same extent). Would greatly appreicate your thoughts on this and #1 and #2 above. Also any thoughts you might have on the layout generally.

Cheers,

Tom