My first thought is to see about putting the stove on the staircase wall and moving the entry over. Something like this:

You just need to be careful of that yellow dimension. Use angled end cabinets to help with the flow of traffic through that area.

Thank you Deb...that's a good idea.

This space will see flow compromises. I like the counter run along the staircase wall. I'd put a counter-depth frig at the living room end. Remove the wall between the living room and the kitchen that now holds the frig. You now have room for a good sized island. I'd remove the window over the sink and do a slide-in induction 30" Bosch industrial or Frigidaire range in that location with an exhaust hood. The island gets a 24" sinkbase with a single bowl sink with interior dimensions of 21x18. DW on the side that doesn't conflict with the range. You'll need recessed 4" led lights 6" in from the counter edge for task lighting at the work zone areas. Two to either side of where you stand to use the counter or sink to avoid shadowing. All lower cabinets are wide drawer units.

Thank you, Dan. Sounds interesting. I'll have to draw that up to get a feel of what you are suggesting. Do you mean remove the entire living room/kitchen wall to make it open concept? When you say put the fridge at the living room end do you mean on the center wall or the outside wall? I like look of open concept but our kitchen is often messy since we both cook a lot so I had left that option off. Also that wall is load bearing so that would entail extra $. Sounds beautiful though. I could put two windows in on either side of the range..

If you use the back door a lot, removing that wall and shifting the range over creates a major traffic pattern right across the front of the range, which is a problem that you do not have with the wall in place. I don't think you gain as much as you lose by doing so.

If you want to remove that wall you can create an island with the stove and range in the island

But you'd have to get rid of all the cabinets where the fridge is that would become a pass through and you'd move the fridge left of the dishwasher sink area and no more lazy susan

Your island can be about 32 inches deep and span the length of kitchen wall

Try not to faint......

If anything, you need MORE wall, not less.

"There are two adults, no children. I’d like a main prep area but.............."

No kids equals no grand kids ? Sometimes ? Never?

I think you could pick a poison - or not.

I stole the "hallway" inches for the kitchen ( 36" ? and stole a bedroom for dining with friends or family or whomever.

Yes, took the wall, and that is x's out

Scary below? Do you NEED 3 beds?

Not to mention.....

"I like look of open concept but our kitchen is often messy since we both cook a lot"

You could add the dimensions of all the other spaces? Show your current living room?

Thanks everyone! You've given me lots to think about. Dan, I watched the video and am now rethinking my whole plan. There is no second story so I'll make a drawing of the space with wall removed and check out costs. I really like the idea of the two windows with the range with hood in between. It probably means more money but I want to get this right the first time.

Thanks Jan, I did post a drawing of the entire house, main floor, above. I laughed at the "don't faint"!....right, hard not to. I hate the thought of all the disruption that the kitchen will cause, let alone tackling other rooms!! The room you designated as dining is currently a den with TV, computer, couch etc. I had thought of removing the wall between the living area and that room but the logistics of where the closets would go or maybe losing the closets were daunting. That would also entail replacing the current flooring but i might have to do that anyway.

If you don’t want open floor plan here is another option…Keep traffic out of your Kit work area by extending the hallway wall and creating a new opening from LR, reconfigure kitchen layout to a galley kitchen with new wall separating Kit from DR, place Fridge at end of cabinetry run close to LR, vent cooktop outside, add a wall oven and put separate MW by Fridge where it is used. If you need more landing space by wall oven put cart under window or switch DW and wall oven.

I figured it might have been a study or something : )

The point I think is...how long will you be in the house, how do you want to live while you are there. Where do you watch tv......do you have guests and where do you eat? Can you have a tv in the living room? Do you WORK from home, or you're clinging to more computer than you need.......when a lap top or even an I pad would suffice.

If you want a really great omelette? You need to crack up the eggs: ) Mess with it once, and especially when floors are involved,

Thanks, Marylut...that is an interesting idea but my goal was to remove walls, not put extras in! Funny, but there was a wall there between the kitchen and dining area that the previous owner had put in (although he had the doorway in a more awkward place). I removed it maybe thirty years ago to open up the space. I've always hated the lazy susan area because it can get cramped between a person using the stove and someone at the sink. That was why I wanted that half wall gone...and to let light in from the back door. I get that your idea adds tons of handy, useable wall space for cupboards etc. But i think the house is too small for dividing the space up. Thank you anyway... love all these different ideas...gets me thinking.

Thanks Jan, we probably have another ten to 15 years here...if all goes well :-). TV in the den...happy with it there. I don't want it in the living room as it kills conversation. Guests occasionally...yes, i work from home but my work area is in the basement. I agree with the omelet analogy...I only get one chance at this so my first thought is go big or go home. The floors add an extra complication as changing the living area means changing the entire main floor.

How about this? Or do you want the kitchen open to the LR?

Open to LR

Thanks for all these ideas. They are helpful as I'm getting a much better understanding of what i want now. And what I don't want. I tried a variation of this idea on a kitchen planner but giving up that entrance to the hallway in question has been nixed even though it would mean an efficient L shape. We decided we use both the basement steps and the back door too much for that to be blocked off. So this is good...it's narrowing down my choices.

Here is a 3d of the thought I had. It's not perfect , but it gives you a bigger space. The doorway is moved over and the opening of the dining room is 7ft.

The angled walkway to the back door is about 40" - wider than what you have now.

@Debbi Washburn, where would the dining area be?

The dining area is at the patio door end of the kitchen. Not very big but that's what it is. I like the previous idea from Debbi Washburn but slightly rearranged with the stove and the fridge reversed. Here's a picture of what I'm thinking of. It gives me more counter space than i have now and also more storage.

Hmmm....the picture did not come through for some reason....

You need to wait for the picture to lose the grayed effect, and to clarify fully: )

It's a really bad picture but hopefully you can get an idea of the layout.

Be careful of all the potential walkway issues in this plan ( see yellow lines ) .

Here's what that would look like:

Have you thought of maybe going with a bigger renovation? Moving windows and the slider?

Here is what that could look like:

Might be worth a look - this will of course depend on whether you can move the slider to that position based on what the deck is like.

That is a very innovative solution but in our case, impractical because of the set-up of the deck , patios and gardens. But interesting....

Out of curiosity, do you have a TV in the living room and if so where is it?

Never mind - I see where you said that upstream

Hello