Just a point of safety - we just went through this with our galley, and I put the stove on the same side as the sink. With little ones, you don't want to cross the aisle to dump the contents of hot pots. We also put in a regular vent and didn't put our microwave over the stove. Again, we frequently use the microwave when we cook, and wanted to have a different zone for the microwave than the range.

A couple points to consider:
1. You will REALLY benefit if you can put the microwave somewhere else and use a real exhaust hood over the range. This means venting to the outside.

2. And outside venting is another reason to consider moving the range to the sink wall. Much easier to vent directly through the wall than up and over through walls and ceilings.

3. Prepping usually needs access to fridge, water, and stove. Fridge is pretty far from this prep area, but the proximity of water and range is very good. And for the person doing the prep, looking out a window is a nice plus.

I replaced an old recirculating hood that was useless with a powerful exhaust hood. Worth every penny that it cost. Just the ability to exhaust heat when the oven and burners are both going is priceless to me in our hot summer climate. And then there is getting rid of grease and odors, which a good hood does so well.

I realize that keeping the sink under the window and working the stove into that side of the kitchen is difficult.
How much time do you actually spend at the sink? Most people spend far more time prepping and cooking than they do cleaning up.

So here, for your evaluation:

This post was edited by Bellsmom on Tue, Feb 19, 13 at 12:20

Moving utility lines does not have to be expensive. Get the best layout you can first and then price out any utility changes if any. Much of that can be DIY.

We did pretty much exactly what Bellsmom suggested. In fact, we had a window over our sink which we closed up to give more storage space.

Below is a link to our almost final design. We added a door by the fridge to the outside for light, and notice that nothing that matters is across from each other. We also moved everything around from it's original L-shape to get the best layout.

Sorry it's rotated, but you get the idea.

Here is a link that might be useful: Galley Final Design

This post was edited by jansin62 on Tue, Feb 19, 13 at 12:29

Thank you so much for the feedback! I'm gonna pitch the venting idea to my DW as well as the sink, prep/sink ideas. Where do people put their microwaves? I really hate having them on the counter, and honestly, an under counter would be ideal.... But I think that rules out my Advantium... Back to the drawing board, thanks so much!

I would try to get the pantry closer to the mudroom door since you will most likely come into the kitchen with groceries from the garage and having a "landing zone for them" that is easily accessible to both the fridge and pantry would be ideal.

As for the microwave, could you do something similar to this in your pantry?

[Contemporary Kitchen design[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/contemporary-kitchen-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_709~s_2103) by Cleveland Kitchen And Bath Lonny @ Kitchen and Bath, Etc.

Just make sure you have proper ventilation space around your microwave.

Our current stove location is externally vented and the microwave has the option to vent externally at 400cfm... Would a hood still be better option?

If one person if using the cook top and another the mw they would be on top of one another. Even if I am cooking alone I like to be able to use the microwave and have a clear spot to put things down. I would not like to have to reach over hot pots and pans. We have ours on an open shelf. We had considered a cabinet with the mw on the bottom but decided on open shelving.

If you move your range to the other wall with the sink, could you keep your Advantium (is that what you currently have?) where it is. We undermounted our Advantium under a cabinet. We are not using it to vent, but with our layout it did not work to get a built-in Advantium.

Bellsmom- I drafted your suggestions into a new plan, and am taking them to the KD today! Thank you so much for the ideas!

Here's what I've drafted up. Please excuse my poor drawings. What do you all think? Any other changes? We've cancelled the idea of buying an Advantium 240v... somewhat a cost issue, somewhat of not being sure where to work it in without losing too much more cabinet space, my wife is somewhat worried she won't have the storage.

So... let me know if you have any other great ideas for this build, please and thank you :)