Just thinking about overall flow, I would keep some kind of opening from foyer into the living room, and widen the opening at the end of the foyer into the kitchen- otherwise a very narrow chokepoint for all traffic thru the kitchen to the living room. You could also make the foyer coat closet smaller, and maybe still have room to mount the tv, since you will have coat storage off the side entry. Looking good overall.

If you cut the foyer wall back to the closet or close to it, remove the small portion opposite and take the formal off the living room notation you have one solution with good flow and the open casual feel the plan suggests.
The counter with seating I like all one level for usability.
I think a wider to 33 or 36 island is good with your space- more usable and a stronger statement.

I had a similar layout.
Because my kids are LOUD, I chose to keep the wall between kitchen and familyroom up, but I extended the kitchen space from current to including the breakfast table area.
So yes, you'll LOVE the new additional counter space.

Here are 2 things I notice/worry about.
1. I don't like the fridge in that location = TOO tight when that's the main entrance to/from garage and, forcing it to be counterdepth. counterdepth = more expensive/holds less.
my suggestion =
shift everything right.
- move sink to peninsula (make that 1 level!!!)
- move range to center/where sink was, now can vent hood straight back to the outside (less turns = more efficient CFM
- move fridge to where range was, pull out cabs on that wall to be 30" so now you can get standard depth fridge.
-- Now you can put the TV on top of the fridge (like 2littlefishies.
-- and put the MW next to the fridge on the wall, w/ a deep appliance garage under it (can you see mine on left between window and wall oven? I LOVE it!!! (just finished putting in last night. it holds:
bottom drawer:
- my Vitamix
- toaster
above that:
- open door, pullout drawer for:
kitchen aid mixer
- blender
- electric canopener
NO MORE sitting on my beautiful countertop!!!

is that 15" pullout your only pantry?
that is an awfully big space foyer.
I would make the closet to be some sort of big walk-in or STEP-In or something.

Agree: now that you've taken away your other entrance to the LV, you need to widen the foyer doorway.

good luck,
Amanda

I would keep the foyer as it currently is except widen the opening from the foyer into the kitchen. Counter height on the penisula.

Another vote to widen the doorway from the foyer. I have an image of 10 people jammed in that little doorway like in a phone booth.

This layout is looking much better by just giving up the island seating. Much better.

I guess I don't get the message center concept. Do you need a message center? If you have girls, tape a message to the nearest mirror. If boys or DH stick one on the handle of the fridge so they can't say they didn't see it.

Could you move the fridge down to the end where the utility closet is and put the utility closet where the message center is? (Or is that water heater type utilities and unmovable?) Then you could have a bigger coat cubby OR you could get some awesome counter-depth all fridge/freezer deals. I like your sink where it is. It looks like you have more room to breathe overall (except in the doorway).

Oh and hey, if you don't have any obstacles in the wall behind the little pantry, what about a pocket door for the powder room?

I wish I had room for a message center. Maybe it would help if you can show us what you have now or what needs to be there. Wall mounted calendar? Telephone? charging station? etc.

Refrigerator idea. Use a standard sized refrigerator but bump its spot into the dining area. So that way it appears counter depth but without the added cost and loss of interior space. On the dining room side add some shelves or cabinets in the nook that this creates. Drywall is cheap and so is basic shelving.

Thank you so much for responding.

I think cutting back the foyer wall is definitely doable and I agree it would help.

I'm glad to hear most think as long as we widen the foyer entranceway, we can afford to close up the entrance into the LR from the foyer. That wall being closed is critical to the new space being comfortable and having a space for TV viewing, but I was afraid it was weird to not have access to the foyer from there anymore.

Amanda, thanks. Shifting everything right is another alternative that I think works well. The positive to having the sink on the peninsula is I would enjoy being able to be able to see in the great room from the sink. However, the drawbacks for me are greater. I'd really rather not see the sink on the peninsula as you enter the house, if we cut the foyer wall back as suggested, that's what you'd see, and my sink is sometimes messy! I also would love to have the peninsula counter open and available to use as buffet spot for serving food when we have larger gatherings. And finally, I really really really love the idea of a big sink & big window in the center of that long wall, and after seeing 2little fishies, I really really want it more!

The REF does appear tight. But that's where it is now and while it does occasionally get bottlenecked, its not too bad and I think I'm willing to deal with it, to keep it off the other wall. We could switch it to be at the end, next to the opening to the DR. I just feared the REF could be getting too close to the island if its on the end. Not an issue?

We could probably fit a counter depth into our budget and/or we will try to create a niche in the thick wall to set any REF back into. However from the basement we can see there is a heating duct running right up that wall somewhere near the REF so it might be cheaper just to buy a nice shallow REF. We can move our old one to Bmt for extra storage.

LOL about the message center. It's not for leaving post-its to family members! I meant, frankly, a place for the everyday junk! I'd be horrified to show you what our current situation is, but it's basically a calendar, kids artwork, and school papers covering the side of our fridge with magnets, next to a 15" falling apart cabinet counter top with bills, menus, and various papers oozing off every edge! I have seen "message center" labeled on other�s plans, I figured that's the type of area they were referring to. Yes, hopefully also a place for house phone and to charge cells/laptop. Is a 24" base cabinet with counter a good solution for this stuff? Worth using the space?

Current plan I have the 12" deep pantry near PR and a 15" wide x 24" deep pantry. I just called it "utility" bc I thought maybe I could store my broom and dustbuster in it as well as pantry stuff? Ew is that gross? Is that enough pantry space?

Any better ideas for the use of any of the space are SO very welcome!!

Also, any opinion on the island? Fitting OK? Someone mentioned making it 3-6"wider? I�m worried about the aisle widths if we make it wider, should I not be? I like the airier feel of it being just counter on legs like the houzz pic, but am I wasting valuable storage? Should I make it more traditional and have base cabinets under it?
Thank you so much for any further opinions!

Turn your coat closet 90 degrees so it is on the wall in the foyer that reads 41" in your layout (back wall of the closet to the kitchen). Then you can have doorway into living. Push the blue chair back a bit and you would enter the LR in front of the chair (between the chair and tv). I don't really have any other suggestions ... you have so many layout threads going that I am having a very hard time following it all. It's too hard to figure out what has already been suggested, discarded, ideas liked, etc, so I am going to bow out now.

I really like the idea angela has about the closet. It gives you another route to and from the living room while keeping your tv viewing area in tact.