My advice listen to your KD if of course they are an independant KD not a cabinet salesperson. Every friend will have an opinion so do not ask for advice from them.If you want help here you need to post to scale plans of the areas you are asking about on graph paper showing all meaurements , doorways where the doorways lead and all windows > Then some info as to how you expect to use the space .I would not want a mud room open to my kitchen but that is how I live,

I also vote for keeping it the way it is. Each to his own. You're going to have to decide what will work best for you. If you think about it for a couple days or so I'm sure one option will start seeming like the better choice. What does the rest of your family think?

Yes, she is an independent kitchen designer with no ties to the cabinet maker. The mudroom lockers will have doors so theoretically, the mess should be hidden in the lockers. And, the lockers will match the kitchen cabinetry. I guess the worry is that as it is, does the kitchen feel boxed in with that wall behind the island? I'm wondering if removing the wall between the mud room and kitchen would make it feel more open or if it would just be open and wasted space...

The rest of my family is fine with it either way ᾒ3

hmmmm- the only reason I would consider removing that wall would be for the ability to clearly see the back door and whatever is outside that area more easily from the kitchen. I might consider a half wall there, so that you could keep some kind of bench or hanging hooks on the wall where you would have to loose the two lockers.

I also guess I should add, on the other side of the mudroom, dining room, and pantry is our living room which you can't see in these plans. You can see the doors in the mudroom. One leads outside, the one right next to that leads to the basement, and the third is just an opening that leads into the living room. There is a similar opening from the dining room that leads into the living room as well.