My first comment is that the pantry is too small. I had one with double doors - oh how I hate that. Double doors are not as easy to open and close and for such an important area.

I think for the size of the kitchen etc, a walk-in pantry is more appropriate.

I do think lighting will be an issue - a few chandeliers would be my vote.

I am not a huge fan of the awkward angle off the island.

Sorry - but I am always negative when it comes to comments but why would you want to hear what I like about it?

I think under-cabinet lighting will be your best bet for delivering light to where you will work on the edges. That center island... chandeliers or several bright, not harsh, hanging pendants.

Before stressing over lighting issues, I suggest you seriously rethink the layout of your kitchen.

While the image you linked to doesn't show the dimensions very clearly, based on the depth of the lower kitchen cabinets (typically 24" deep), I'd guess that the aisleway between your refrigerator and the island with the prep sink is - at most - barely 30 inches wide. If your fridge is 32" or 36" wide and has a single door, you won't even be able to open the door completely. And, if you have French doors or a side-by-side, opening both doors will be almost impossible. Remember, YOU have to stand somewhere and, once you've opened one door, your body will be in the way of opening the other fridge door. You need at least 42" of free aisle space in front of your fridge. IMHO, 48" is better...especially since you have the prep sink right across from the fridge and someone may be working there while someone else needs to get something out of the fridge.

If you intend to have bar stools at your "bar", you don't have enough room between the bar and the window either. You need room for the bar stools PLUS room for someone to between the bar stool and the wall when someone else is sitting on a barstool. I'm guessing you have about 36" to 40" but you need at least 48 inches from the edge of the bar to the wall. 56" or even a full 5 feet would be better.

Second, I agree completely about the awkwardness of the shape of that little island. That POINT looks downright dangerous. Imagine coming in from the garage with your arms full of grocery bags and catching your hip on that point as you squeeze past to reach the fridge. OUCH! Even if you've "round off" the very tip, it would still be painful.

Third, even if your aisleways were wide enough and the small island didn't have that horrible POINT on it, the small island is a "barrier island." If you draw a triangle connecting the points where you would stand to access your cooktop, main sink, and refrigerator, you'll see that the legs of the triangle pass THRU the island. That means you would have to take extra steps to walk around the little island constantly as you work in your kitchen.

For all the above reasons, I suggest you cut the little island out completely.

Next, I'm curious as to why you've put the keeping room off at an angle from the rest of the house. Roofing the whole thing would be easier (and less expensive) if the keeping room were either lined up with the main body of the house or at a 90 degree angle to it.

Have you considered putting the keeping room where the breakfast nook is and then, if you really want a room sticking out of the corner of the house, put the octagonal shaped breakfast nook there. It seems to me that the octagonal room would look better there and I think swapping the nook and keeping room would allow you to make the large island a bit longer (giving you room to put a prep sink at one end if you feel you simply must have a second sink.) And, you could make the "pantry" smaller - just wide enough to function as a broom closet and put a row of cabinets - with extra deep uppers - next to the broom closet. With plenty of kitchen storage, you wouldn't really need a pantry and you'ld have extra countertop space. This is very roughly sketched but maybe something like this...

Finally, I can't help but wonder why you are planning a 2-story kitchen in the first place. What is your plan for using or decorating the walls above the kitchen cabinets? The tallest kitchen ceiling I can ever recall seeing was a sloped ceiling that was perhaps 12 ft tall at the highest point but dropped to only about 9 or 10 ft at the edges.
Have you collected any inspiration photos?

@david - thanks! I have a butler's pantry and storage in the laundry room, and I don't know where else to add a walk-in pantry.

@bevangel - Here is the full main level layout. The kitchen is 25x17 so I can't imagine that I don't have the clearance as you described. However, I'm meeting with our builder this weekend so I'll ask. Thanks for the good "points", especially on the island I hate the island too. There wasn't one in the original plan and I thought I needed one. I may very well change my mind, depending on if we can't take off that pointed end.

I love the angled keeping room and it really completes the exterior of the house. You can see from the whole house layout that I've added.

As for a 2-story kitchen, it's my "wow" factor. There will be windows above the keeping room for additional light, and then a catwalk from the upper level overlooking the foyer, great room and kitchen. The only cabinets that will be exposed to the upper level will be the ones against the stairs.

I have a few photos I'm using as inspiration, and I will be meeting with the kitchen designer next week.

Here is a link that might be useful: Main Level Layout

Parachuting - Can you post pictures of your inspiration photos? I'd be interested in seeing them. Our kitchen has a vaulted ceiling, and it is very challenging to light it well.

@dekeobe @bevangel - here is a link to the pics. I'm not cool enough to figure out how to post them in the message.

Here is a link that might be useful: Inspiration Photos

Testing to see if can upload these pics:

[IMG]http://i52.tinypic.com/mj4is3.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i54.tinypic.com/993q77.jpg[/IMG]

I see your cooktop is against a stairwell wall. How will you vent the cooktop? Will it run up through the 2nd floor and vent out the roof? (Might need a blower at the top to function right.) Or somehow vent out to the side of the house? Down draft (if so to where)? I'd consider all your options for venting (many cooks don't feel down draft is adequate) and make sure whatever you get will work for the type of cooking you do. Someone on the kitchens or appliances forum might help, and talk to your appliance dealer and some hood dealers too.

Regarding lighting, take a look at Elizpiz's kitchen on the Finished Kitchens Blog. Beautiful vaulted ceiling with some spot lights; I think she put a chandelier in there after the pictures were taken.

Also lots of other inspiration on the Finished Kitchens Blog.

Here is a link that might be useful: FKB; look for elizpiz under

Re:"The kitchen is 25x17 so I can't imagine that I don't have the clearance as you described." 17 ft wide ought to be a nice wide kitchen BUT, width-wise, you've divided the 17 feet into SIX very narrow strips.

Starting from the left side you have:

Refrigerator: If you have a 32 inch deep model, you'll need a minimum of 3ft of space from the wall (Remember, you have to leave some space between the back coils and the wall for the plug to fit AND for air circulation.) If you want a 36" deep model, the fridge will stick out about 40 inches from the wall.

1st aisle: Needs to be 3.5ft to 5.0 ft wide. At a minimum, you need the width of the fridge plus a few extra inches so that the door can swing completely open but with the prep sink there, I'd want another 1 to 1.5 ft of aisle space.

small island: Looks like it is supposed to be 18 inches. I doubt you could fit a prep sink into anything any narrower and besides, anything narrower would look more like a wall than an island!

2nd aisle: Needs to be 3 ft to 3.5 ft. Just FYI - Even the very very tiny kitchen (8'x9') that I lived with before we finally built our new home had a 48" aisle-way down the center.

large island: 3 to 3.5 ft total width (I'm only counting the width of the non-angled part). The base cabinet will be 2 ft b/c that is the standard depth of base cabinets, then, you'll need another 1 ft to 16 inches for the bar-top.

3rd aisle-way: Needs to be 4.0 ft to 5.0 ft. (If you stick with very narrow barstools that tuck pretty much completely under the bar when not in use AND you don't plan to use the bar when you have much company, you might be able to get by with just the narrower width. But the more use your barstools get, the wider you'll want that aisle to be.

Total width needed = 17.5 ft to 21.0 ft from wall to wall. So if your kitchen is actually 17.5 feet wide, you just might be able to squeeze everything in. But remember tho that 17.5 ft is the bare MINIMUM. And, if you go with the minimums, despite the fact that your kitchen is really quite large, I think it will feel and look very crowded. Any "wow factor" that you might have gained from the vaulting ceiling will be overwhelmed by the sense of crowding caused by too much stuff in too little space. Plus, if more than one cook tries to work in there at the same time, the two of you will constantly be getting in each other's way just trying to move around.

****
After looking at your whole house layout, I'm afraid I must respectfully disagree that the angled keeping room "really completes the exterior of the house."

To the contrary, to me, the rear elevation of your house is a jumble of mismatched projecting-masses. If you were standing in your back yard looking at the back of your house, you would notice four separate sections (the sitting area, the deck area, the nook area, and the angled keeping room. Each section has a different mass (volume), a different shape, and projects from the house in a different direction. I can discern no unity, no "flow," no "rhythm." The parts just don't seem to fit together.

Obviously different people have different tastes, but in general I think a certain amount of repetition in a building design is necessary for visual harmony and, unfortunately, I think you're totally missing it here. Has your architect provided you with an "artist's rendition" of what the rear elevation of your home will look like? I think you should ask for one because I am terribly afraid that if you build this, you are going to be very disappointed with it.

Sorry to be so negative. In the final analysis, it is YOUR home. You have to make the decisions and you should build what you want. So if you're sure this is what you want, go for it! And I sincerely hope that it will turn out just as lovely as you envision.

@bevangel - thank you for being so thorough. I measured from our plans and we have 3.5 feet from the fridge to the small island, in front of the cooktop and between the small island and the sink countertop. There is 4 feet between the threshold of the keeping room and the bar, and 4 feet between the breakfast room and the bar.

The small island measures 4'x 2' and that pointy end is getting cut off.

I've posted the rear elevation and I don't think it's a mishmosh. But like you said, everyone has their own tastes. It will be full brick and a full walkout.

Here is a link that might be useful:

You really need a KD who cooks to help you with this layout---unless you don't cook. It's not going to be fun to work in that kitchen. And it's not just the lighting that will be an issue. Just preparing a sandwich will be a pain. Mentally walk yourself thorough the steps. The other big thing besides poor layout for prep function is that your aisle width is pretty small for such a large kitchen. And, it's beyond awkward for the traffic patterns.

It's a very pretty kitchen on paper. But, it doesn't work. On paper, and especially in real life. You're spending a lot of money here, you need a professional that understands how to make it worth it.

I wish I knew of this forum when we built our home in '98. We were inexperienced in home building, and this would be our second home to ever purchase.
There are many things I wish I could have had constructive advice about, but the kitchen is the main one. While we loved our builder, he wasn't versed in kitchen design, and neither was the architect. Drawing a plan on paper is one thing. Making it work and functional in life is another.
I have 47 linear feet of counter top, 1 entrance/exit, which makes for a one butt kitchen.

This is looking from keeping room towards kitchen. I cannot use bar stools because they are in the path of the walkway. Sure, there was room on the plan, but only if they were tucked in. Sufficient room was not available for them to be scooted out and actually used. In addition, when the pantry door is open, it is int the way of the doorway. The fridge is also directly across from kitchen opening, so if the fridge is open or someone getting water from dispenser, no one can get in or out. If I put them on the second angle (which is cut off here) they would be in the way of the breakfast chairs.

Sorry so long, but I just wanted to share how so many angles can really mess up a flow and usefulness of a kitchen, even when it looks good on paper. I wish I had had constructive advice way back when before I spent so much money on a layout that is so impractical. Just my 2 cents.

Hmmm, your inspiration photos show lots of windows up high in that 2nd story space, but your floorplan and rear elevation show only that small exterior wall between the keeping room and breakfast room that would be considered "in" the kitchen. The rest of the walls are interior and I don't see how you'd add windows to them like what are shown in your inspiration pics. I suppose you could put art niches or something up there to add interest, otherwise they're just long stretches of blank walls above your cabinetry.

Did you see the new kitchen posted on the kitchens forum? mythreesonsnc has a two story kitchen with some great beams and a chandelier. You could post a response or try sending an email to ask what other lighting is used and how it is working.

Here is a link that might be useful: mythreesons 2 story kitchen

I have a two story kitchen. Lighting is not a problem with the 10 can lights I put in. I may go for a chandy but have not found one I really like. I have vaulted ceilings and beams as well.

{{gwi:1497201}}

Parachuting I hope you're still checking back. Here's another one to look at, posted on the Kitchens Forum. They have a 2-story kitchen and have some pendant lights on very long cables. You might want to ask the poster for pictures of the ceiling above the kitchen, to see how the light cables look when you look up.

HTH

Here is a link that might be useful: 2 story kitchen (and wow house!)

We have friends who have a 2-story kitchen very similar to the picture posted by Chicagoans. It's actually not as echo-ey or cold as you might think. They have space for tapestries hanging way up high that help with that. And the very top windows open via remote.

Though it's not my taste, it's actually kind of neat.