Hi,
A quick note about our experience: Brigitte and I consistently design between 70-90 kitchens/year (for over 34 years) and have designed thousands of kitchens.....We also design full structural including below-grade foundation plans.....We have 2 Chicagoland locations and a Michigan location which cover the Wisconsin to Indiana borders, N.W. Indiana and S.W. Michigan.....Anyway, certainly nothing against your kitchen but there's nothing here that we haven't seen (and dealt with) hundreds of times.....Can't tell how much room you have to go towards the slider but try to take up as much of it as possible.....We do "design work only" for many clients so you should be able to find a kitchen designer to do the same.....You want an independent designer, not one that's tied to a kitchen dealer.....We have a standard order of visuals---#1 is cabinetry, #2 is countertops.....When you have these 2 in your hot little hands, #3 is a tie between flooring and backsplash tiles.....If you follow this basic order in your visuals, your kitchen will be beautiful (unless you have terrible taste!).....Just having some fun with ya!.....Hope this helps a bit.....John & Brigitte

Thanks for your help - I keep second guessing myself . Part of the problem is that my husband wants to tear up the flooring in the dining area and run it throughout the dining and kitchen area - so he wants to do that before the cabinetry is installed. We also can't decide whether to build an island or just add cabinetry against the long back wall - I don't like the idea of a big open space in the middle of the room - but he does.

We usually redo the flooring in our kitchen remodels.....He's correct.....You want the flooring to run to the perimeter of the structure and the cabinetry goes on top.....Also, on layouts like yours if we have room for an island we always demo the peninsula in favor of an island.....In a perfect world you'll have approx. 42" around island.....We will go as tight as 36" BUT you have to be very aware of cabinet door swings, D/W door, refr. doors and where 2 people will be working....."Butt-to-Butt" is fun but not always in the kitchen!!.....John & Brigitte

You do need to find an independent kitchen designer and pay them for some designs. A good designer will charge by the hour and give you a couple/few good ideas to work with and help you "think of everything". ( like moving outlets out of sight) You can certainly look at similar layouts here and show them what you like and don't like. The designs are yours to use to shop for builders. Unless you sign a contract with a kitchen company they are reluctant to just hand you the drawings. It seems that if you eliminated the peninsula, you could build a longer island. The fact that there would be/are no cabinets on the opposite wall from sink gives you great walking space. If you want the fridge at the end next to the sliding door, which seems to make sense, I would want it enclosed or have a "wall" on the left side of it so it does not look like it is the dining area. be sure though, that any side by side fridge allows both doors to open all the way back or it limits what you can put in either side.( I don't use them anymore) And yes, do your floor continuously for those 2 rooms. Looks like you are in for some fun!

Are you replacing your cabinets?

IKdrew is "right on" with his assessment.....Worth it to get plans which you can then use to comparison shop.....Don't know what you'll end up paying in your area but we charge $750.00 (for a basic kitchen like yours) to $2,000.00+ if it involves structural mods.....Look at the designers previous plans to be sure they have ALL the info you'll need when "shopping".....We've attached one our basic plans to give you an idea of what you should ask for.....John & Brigitte

Thanks for all the great information - I will continue my search for a designer - not an easy task in my area! Ikdrew- great suggestions, JandB - let me know if you decide to relocate to Ct. - your sense of humor would be just the type of infusion we could use!

Thanks for the invite.....Ct. is beautiful but we have our hands full in the 3 States we cover!