are you planning on housing your fridge? i think that would help clean up that wall and make the fridge look more integrated

Fwiw I have lived with open shelves and they are really hard to keep clean - I washed everything when it came off the shelf before using it, it’s tedious so just think through that part of it

Can you please take a clearer image of the before and position it so we are looking at it straight on and not to the side? Measurements?

What is the space on the other side of the peninsula supposed to be? Looks like a lot of wasted space.

A to scale floor plan showing every window, doorway where those lead and every measurement clearly marked then psted here in a comment in jpeg format. That is how you get real help here . There are real pro KDS on this site for free advice , my advice listen to them . Kitchen design is quite specific so an actual KD is what you want. Do the plan on graph paper it makes it easier sometimes too. If water and gas lines are easy to change no need to include but if not then mark those . Sizes of all the appliances also need to be listed.

I do not like any of the proposed plans and think you can do far better

It's what you would ask for and the goals and ideas you have, which give a starting point for a remodel.

It looks like the biggest variation of kitchen schemes will be how much open "interaction" you want with the Living Room - whether you keep a peninsula or want an island to be the transition/barrier to Living Room. If you haven't lived here long enough to get a feel for how you live, function, and move around in this particular house, then patience helps arrive at a better remodel worthy of going through such an expensive and intrusive endeavor.

And regarding a kitchen remodel already being an expensive and intrusive project, from the MLS diagram, it appears including a rework of the backhouse (Laundry, Mud, Powder, Pantry) might give an overall better result - you might have room for a separate Laundry and moving the doorway into Breakfast to better define the Breakfast area.

Thank you all for input. These are the photos from listing.
I do plan on making all appliances panel ready.
36” fridge, and 48” range.
I have zero vision and am feeling quite stuck with the shape.

It's perfectly ok to not be able to visualize an unknown. It sounds like you are starting from zero even though you have a layout. Sometimes we can infer your goals from that layout, but reading between the lines it doesn't seem to apply here. So communicate how you live with a kitchen:

- what do you like/don't like about the current?

- what is your budget, value of house, . . . . ?

- what is your appetite for a remodel? A remodel implies anything is fair game, just a cabinet/counter change is something else.

- are you cook-centric (function before aesthetic, specific appliances, . . .)

- are you family-centric (visual/close interaction with seating/Living/outdoor)

- are you entertainment-centric (interaction with cook, beverages, wares display, . . . )

- specific needs (large pantry, baking, . . . . )

- etc.

Consider hiring an independent kitchen designer, not the in house one. Kitchen renovations, particularly one with the appliances you’re wanting, are incredibly expensive, so you do not to skimp on the service that can prevent mistakes. A kitchen designer will cost less expensive than a 48” range.

So much of this is dependent on your life style. I would start with asking yourself :

*where do you or where do you want to do most of your living?

*Do you use a formal dining room? You have a lot of square footage there for a home this size , will you use it on a regular basis?

*do you want a bathroom essentially right in your kitchen?

* how many people live in the home? Where will the majority of their time be spent?

* what does your lwish list consist of? What daily living items are on it that you want to have? Mud room? Large island? Eating nook?

Move into the house and live there for a while.

I'm not seeing a kitchen that *needs* to be redone. I'm seeing a kitchen that is a bit older, and has some potential layout issues to address. What the layout issues are, and how they should be addressed, are going to depend entirely on who cooks, how they cook, and all the questions raised by Design Interior South. The easiest way to learn that is by living in the house for a while, and noting what works and what doesn't work.

If you put in a little effort to make a scaled drawing of the space (= on graph paper or using a ruler 1/4"= 1' scale) that includes the dimensions (in inches) listed for all walls/doors/windows/doorways/etc., you will receive some very helpful assistance. You'd be surprised at the amazing layouts that people will develop - layouts that are more functional than what you currently have + what has been proposed to you by the in-house "designer."

I would include the laundry and bathroom area also on the scaled drawing - unless (i) making changes to that area = too much $$$ for this project (e.g., load bearing walls/expensive to move plumbing), or (ii) if you are happy with the existing layout of that area.

If you are going to spend money to do a full renovation that includes paneled appliances, preparing the scaled drawing will be well worth the small amount of time/effort needed to prepare it.

Also, include some details about how many people live in the home + how many people are involved during meal prep.

If you don't use the formal dining room, I'd consider switching the office to that area in order to include the current office area as part of a new kitchen/dining layout.

I would pay attention to what mad_gallica above suggests. Personally, I like the kitchen you have better than the layout of the kitchen, you have just shown us. I would seriously reconsider open shelving. Its not practical in a kitchen, unless you never use your kitchen.

I wonder how many people who say move and live in it have taken that advice. While I understand it in theory who wants to essentially move multiple times? No thanks!

following

We did it. It was years ago, but I honestly don't remember the kitchen being a major disruption. Everything had to be cleared out of the cabinets, but I know people who do that annually as part of spring cleaning.

The biggest issue by far in our kitchen gut was that one of the sink shutoff valves was faulty, and the plumber couldn't get back to fix it. He had a day job working for IBM, and was pulling double shifts that week because a serious cold snap was freezing their pipes. So it was Christmas Eve, and he is under the kitchen sink replacing the valves while talking with my parents.

We moved into an old home and lived there 7 years before we tore off an ill conceived addition, rebuilt it and moved the kitchen - when we first moved in, I was focused on materials & appearance but after living there I better understood flow, how natural light was in the rooms during different times of days/seasons, where people tended to gather etc — and our changes ended up being way more structural (and $$$ ) but the result was a 100x better - i am glad i didnt know at the time it would be so long, that would have made me sad 😅

It is always easier to have any type of renovation done prior to moving into the home if possible. Renovation and even just having a home panted is a major disruption in the home. Even worse if you are a family with young children. There are a lot of risk factors to havings people stay in a home during renovation. If someone knows they want something done we always advise doing it before move in if at all possible.

I can’t imagine living in a home i was ready to renovate for years. But I am a big fan of get-together stuff done

I'll just say this. The floorplan appears to be from a tract builder, the pictures support this. Is this a house that demands panel ready appliances and a 48 in stove? How long to you plan to live here? Those are significant outlays that you won't get back.

I do agree with living somewhere to see what works and yes I have lived thru a kitchen remodel and a whole house flooring change at another time.

If you are planning to keep your flooring then 100% wait and live with it for a bit. I can understand wanting to do it before you move in if all of the flooring will be redone. But I’d still tend to err on the side of waiting regardless.

Is the house on a slab or is there a crawl space? If on a slab, relocating that island sink is a big $ item.

Wow, these are all points I did not even think about.

Unfortunately, living elsewhere is not feasible for us during the renovation.

It is just me and my husband living there and we are hopeful that this will be our forever home.

Unfortunately, we cannot scrap the bathroom attached as that is the only bathroom easily accessible from the pool and outdoor cabana.

The house was bought for 847k and I’m willing to put 100,000 into it.

Depending on where you live you are going to seriously need to compromise on your wants then. I am sad to say that costs are very high for things. Are you only doing the kitchen?

That is my kitchen budget solely.

Could you please post a fully-measured layout of the space? One that includes the widths of each window/wall/door/doorway and the distances between each window/wall/door/doorway. Similar to this:

More information can be found in the "New to Kitchens? Read Me First!" thread. In particular, see the Featured Answer.

Can you tell us what you don't like about the current kitchen? Maybe we can come up with ways to change or work around them.

Perhaps the lack luster design you have been given is a direct result of your budget. Sadly $100k doesnt get you very far where kitchen remodeling is concerned. You state you want a 48" range and panel ready appliances including a 36" fridge. That alone is going to eat about 25% of your budget alone.

The info trickling in so far is first time buyer, the 2 of you, expected long-term, haven't lived in yet, and pool. So it seems you're still a little "pliable" on what the kitchen scope is. Some people will just "go through the motions" and get new appliances, or just let a contractor lead them. There's nothing wrong with that, but this is a design website, so you'll probably get advice that is much more extensive.

Whether $100K is enough is unknown as the scope is unknown. But, consider your house after work is complete to be around $1.0mil. So peruse houses in your neighborhood in the $1-1.5mil range to get a feel for the quality and amenities they have, which might help you zero in on a scope and ideas. Reading between the lines it seems some more homework might be warranted.

For the Powder Room, I don't think anyone suggested eliminating it. What you may find is you don't like traversing through the open Laundry Room every day and sometimes wetness on that pathway from the pool use. Maybe neighborhood houses have their own exterior entrance to a bathroom, and space for changing, or maybe they all have cabana bathrooms.

Maybe you have/will have dogs and 11 kids and the current Laundry/Mudroom pass-through is too small. Maybe you have your first party and the door to the deck is a bottleneck. There are a lot of unknowns, and looking at this with respect to design, you get a feel for the whole house and everything is based on that. In my opinion, the backhouse entry is not at the same level.

As far as living there first or remodeling prior to moving in, for some people it works one way and others another way. It just depends on you, the house in particular, and what you can live with or not live with.

If you have a $100,000 budget, I would prepare the scaled drawing of your kitchen (and maybe even add your laundry room/dining room/powder room) ASAP. You really will receive an incredible amount of assistance/advice - IF you provide the scaled drawing with all dimensions listed.

You are currently planning on this being your forever home - please don't miss out on the opportunity to have a kitchen that is both beautiful + functions well.

A 48" range and the venting required will eat a large part of that budget for no real reason. There is no reason for a 48" range unless you truly cook for 20 3x a day. But we need that scaled drawing to honestly help .

Appliances aren’t included in budget, we host around twenty people every weekend and holidays will be around 40.

What is the area in the bottom of the plan?

Living area

Can windows and doors/doorways change? I'm asking b/c you didn't provide measurements for them - usually that means they can be moved, modified, or removed. Is that the case? If not, could you please provide their measurements? We need the widths of each wall/window/door/doorway and the distances between each wall/window/door/doorway shown and labeled. Example: