To start, no pull-outs on either side of the range. People don’t like them and regret them. No L-shaped island. What will you put on the open shelves, and will you have time to be wiping them for dust, since they are more exposed than a closed cabinet is, including floating pet hairs?

I'm confused in the second one - there are windows? I thought that was the dining room? What's on the other side of the kitchen?

@anj_p yes there are 2 windows in the current dining room. If I was standing at the end of the island looking towards the dining room, my back would be towards a sunroom (the kids play room). It's a rather large walkway there as I think at one time it was meant to be a casual eating space but it's really just a large thoroughfare to the laundry room. This picture would be me standing next the fridge.

I have a hard time translating from picture to floorplan, so if you have a current floorplan, that would be helpful. For the new designs, do you have just the renderings, or the floorplans as well? Those would also be good to see :)

@Shannon_WI yes, I had that thought about the open shelves, but I do like the way the add some peronsality and lighten up that wall. The other company did glass cabinets there but I'm not sure what I would "display". I'm hoping to use the base drawers for plates/cups/bowls so the kids are able to get things easier.

@Elizabeth good idea

company 1

company 2

@Elizabeth my quick rendering of current floorplan

Unless you are planning another eating space that isn't the island, I would not get rid of the dining room. I also do not like the L shaped island - people cannot share an inside corner, so you will not gain much by doing that and might start some fights when it comes down to it when your kids "accidentally" bump each other. So I wouldn't go with Company 2's plan at all.

In Company 1's plan:

A 10' island with 3' at the ends will only really fit 3 seats as you need 2' per person, especially when you're boxed in on the sides. Make sure you are ok with that. We have 4 seats on our 10' island with 6" legs on each side. It doesn't feel like too much space at all, and we still have to take turns when multiple people sit down/get up at the same time.

A 3' deep island with a sink is really too narrow. I wouldn't want less than 4'. I would also not center the sink, even on a 10' island. My DW and sink are pushed over to the end, leaving me with 5' for prep. It's a great amount of space but I wouldn't want less. I use every inch.

Think hard about your oven and fridge placement. I would be tempted to flip the entire kitchen so that the fridge and ovens are opposite (DW would also flip to the other side). This way the fridge is close to the dining room and no one walks through the kitchen to get to the fridge. It's kind of a tough call, though, as the DW and dishes would be handy to the dining room where they are now, so pick your poison.

Do you have enough pantry space? If the wall pantry cabinets are all you get, I would probably prefer a range. If you really want 2 ovens, consider a 30" double oven range and get an induction burner for use when you need more range space. I'm a big fan of induction in general - I wish we could have done it in our home but the builder only offered gas. I HATE cleaning it.

I also agree with ditching the pullouts next to the range, unless you are using one to store utensils. The utensil pullouts are the only ones I will concede usefulness to. Spices are best in a drawer by your prep space unless you are cavalier about how you season your food (a dash of this now, maybe a bit of this later, maybe I won't even measure...). In my experience, most seasonings are added or mixed during prep, so having them in a pullout next to the range (where you can't read the labels anyway) would be useless. And oils/vinegars? The only ones I typically use AT the stove are oil for the pan. The rest I use in prep.

Open shelves/glass cabinets function basically the same. You need to have stuff that will look good on them. For open shelves, that stuff needs to be used frequently, otherwise it will only gather dust and (depending on how good your hood is) possibly grease. I have 2 open shelves in my kitchen (not by choice). I'm not loving trying to figure out what to put on them. I feel like I have to go buy fancy coffee mugs and cool beer glasses or something just so it doesn't look like a haphazard mess. So before you commit, look at your stuff and decide what you will put in/on them. That should tell you if you should do it. The personality of it won't matter if it looks a mess.

Option 1 looks professional. Option 2… does not.

I really like layout 1. If you have more open space near the sunroom you could use that end of the island for seating and stack the cabinets side by side on the end nearest the dining room, see pic below. This way no chairs will be pulled out in that walkway.

And to add I really love my two pull outs on either side of the range, I have one for spices and oils and one for sheet pans and use them all the time, so convenient!

@itsourcasa —I really like how that does clear up the walkway a little more! Didn’t think of that at all—showing the picture to the designer.

Thanks for chiming in about pullouts—we had one for slices in our previous kitchen (much smaller u shape but very functional) and liked it a lot. I was thinking one for spices and one for utensils. Most likely putting sheet one under the oven or above the oven

@anj_p thanks so much for such a thoughtful reply! Hasn’t thought about moving fridge—I get way you are saying about traffic flow; however the fridge is right by where we would come in and unload groceries so I think that may be better. If I could rework it somewhere I’d love a small beverage fridge or fridge drawer closer to the dining room for kid snacks/drinks/entertaining

Planning on keeping our small 48x30 dining table in the current dining room as the opposite side is really just a large walkway that we like with two kids under 3!

Any ideas in to make island more functional? Arrangement of cabinets/appliances? I want the dishwasher moved to be on left side of sink. Hoping for single wall over and microwave above that (our current setup). I’m not opposed to range but just used to having the drawers under our electric cooktop now. We are looking into induction but keep finding mixed reviews. Currently the plan is to run gas and get gas cooktop.

That tall pantry and some upper cabinets would hopefully be our food storage. Which would actually be more space than we have now. Wanted to end up with space somewhere to put a few kid items like crayons/coloring books/play dough but I just don’t know.

What are your thoughts on that built in hutch from company 1? Should I make it more of a coffee bar area? With counter top?

@km51571 You actually don't want the DW on the other side of the sink if you keep your current set up. Reason being, the DW would then be in your prep space, which means no one can use it while cooking is happening (including the cook). Handedness has nothing to do with the best spot for it, so don't get caught up in that. DW closer to the dining room is better, as that's where dirty dishes will be generated. If you keep the DW on the right, you'll also put the dishes away on that side, which means they'll be closer to where you use them (the dining room). My biggest complaint about my kitchen is that my dishes are on the other side of my kitchen from the dining room.

My island goes DW - sink - trash with spice drawer above, and a 36" or so 3-drawer stack that holds all of my prep tools and bowls. I think it works wonderfully.

RE: gas vs. induction. The only reason I would pick gas over induction is if you do a lot of stir frying with a wok. I just convinced a friend of mine to try induction - they were also going to run a gas line to their kitchen, but after I talked to her about induction (specifically the GE Cafe range with the double oven, which is what I'd get) they switched. Her husband just told me "I'm SO GLAD we didn't run a gas line." Something to think about!

Take a look at pullout pantries and see if that's something you'd find useful.

Regarding the hutch/coffee bar, I think that's fine as long as it doesn't encroach too much on clearances. Regarding how it looks, I think that's totally up to you and the style of your kitchen.

Plan 1 looks like the right idea and worth tweaking a bit. Plan 2 looks insane.

I have a 3' wide island and it's great, don't see what the issue is there!

Here's a 4 foot island with a sink and a plate for reference. Take a foot off of that and whoever is sitting there will be uncomfortably close to the sink, and likely to get wet if the sink is in use. It's not unworkable but it's also not ideal.

@km51571 post the new layout when you get it!

@itsourcasa I'm back with hopefully my final kitchen layout! Can't quite see all the angles from this mock-up but the island has wrap around seating (1 seat on the window side of the kitchen), 4 stools fit on the long side of the island. The opposite side of the island is a draw base for extra store. Thinking of switching that to be 1 draw at the top and regular cabinet doors on the bottom. On the island will be pull out trash, dishwasher, sink, 15" cab, and 18" cab.

Please give me all the feedback. Thinking of switching for exposed chimney style hood but want to make sure I have all the necessary cabinet space first.

@km51571 it looks great!! How tall are your ceilings? Cabinets to the top? That'll determine whether or not to go with chimney style hood. When do you start demo??