glad everyone finds the dimensions helpful. my tips: just remember to always consider....

• a minimum 36" and perferred 42" between cabinets on wall and island. that gives good walk and work space.

• a 10" overhang on island with small barstools preferred at minimum with 12-14" overhang super useful. if you have quartz as the counter it will need supports like brackets or legs if it is over 10" overhang but can be 10" over with no support for clean look and no obstructions in a smaller kitchen.

• fridge doors need to swing out far so at least 3" filler space between a wall and fridge so once door is open you can fully pull out drawers to clean. bumping right up to wall closer may help with space, but not with useability in the long run.

• get a trash pull out in any small kitchen. you never will regret it - it has much more use and good feeling than having more drawers or cabinet space and then a free standing trash can.

• these days make sure you island outlets have USB outlets in them... not much pricier and really really useful as so many sit with devices at the counter... you can charge your phone easily without finding that darn square plug connector... we all lose those but always can find a cord.

happy kitchen renovations all!

carl

Thank you for all the tips and helpful information. We're trying to decide whether a smaller island is the way to go and to pair that with a table to eat at, or to just skip having a table at all and go with a larger island (or peninsula). Or only perimeter countertop/cabinetry. We also have to be budget-conscious, and I'm also only going to get one shot at a kitchen renovation.

My existing kitchen is 10'x13' (including space taken by counter & appliances). The majority of the countertop is occupied by a microwave sitting on the counter just to the left of the dishwasher. then the coffeepot and supplies all sit on the counter on top of the dishwasher. There's a 15" counter between the stove and refrigerator, but that's where the toaster lives. So my "prep space" is the corner between the sink and stove. Being that I'm short (5'0"), most of the corner isn't reachable for me.

I have the possibility of tearing down the wall between the kitchen and dining room (also 10'x13') to make a single space of 20'x13, but there would still be a wall on most of the 20' space separating that from the living room. But if we move the primary kitchen function to the current dining room, have the current kitchen area become an eat-in area, and then cut a passage through from that area to the current living room area "A" - then we would have much better flow in the house when entertaining people (or girl scout troops).

It sounds like if we have a counter on the back wall (25"), and one possible on part of the kitchen wall dividing the living room and kitchen (another 25"), that leaves 106". If we put in an island with 24" base cabinets, 1" front overhang and 10" overhang for sitting/eating - that's 35". That leaves 71". Divide that by 2, and it's 35.5" Or maybe go with shallower cabinets on the wall dividing the kitchen and living room to get a bit more distance all around the island.

We also have talked about making the kitchen and dining room a large eat-in kitchen, and turning the section called "Living room A" into a dining space. Right now, we have almost no countertop space and nowhere near enough storage - everyone in the house has different tastes for food and snacks.