Okay, so there is a lot going on here. I created a post yesterday (https://www.houzz.com/discussions/6209419/best-kitchen-island-configuration-in-this-kitchen) about which kitchen island configuration to go with. Reading the responses, I felt I had to take a step back and provide more context and measurements in a 2nd post.

Recently closed on a 1970s split level house with a smaller and closed off kitchen (old appliances, cabinets, 1ft soffit above cabinets). We had the contractor take everything out in the kitchen and bring down the wall between the kitchen and the dining room. Plan is to have an L shaped kitchen (putting counter depth fridge and oven/stove along the longer wall, putting sink/dishwasher along the smaller wall) with a kitchen island to create that open space. We sat down with a designer (a free designer that works for a high end cabinet store, not a paid kitchen designer), and we gave him all the measurements and he was able to whip up something we were looking for (including a 4x6 ft island with a 1 ft overhang, spaced 39" from counters). The bay windows in the kitchen are tall and the only thing you can do with that space is to put a small breakfast table. The kitchen is a few steps higher than the family room and is separated by a banister. Plan is to remove the banister and put a coffee bar (1ft countertop) with cabinets and potentially a pantry since removing the wall removed the existing pantry. The question is: does a kitchen island work with this space or is a peninsula the only option based on feedback I received from my first post? What is possible with this kitchen??

Below are photos of the floor plans before the wall was removed, then the floor plan w/ measurements after wall was removed, then the shoddy photoshop version of the 2 possible kitchen layouts we were thinking of going with.