I see your dilemma -- We have a very similar set up with our new granite island/gas cook top. The hood is original to the home so everything new had to align with it as best as possible. We ultimately went with what the eye would notice most and was still functional. In other words, if you feel that visually it is important that the cook top be centered directly under the hood, then I would move it as far back as you can without it becoming awkward for you to reach all the burners comfortably etc... But you might find that the eye doesn't really pick up the difference.

We found this to be true with the three pendant lights over our new bar table. They share one canopy and because of a beam it was impossible to center them perfectly over the table. Below the beam is the last 13 inches of the table which rests on a low wall separating our kitchen from our informal dining area. It turns out that the eye doesn't really include that portion of the table and so the lights don't look off center after all.

Hope this makes sense -- and helps.

Appearance is less important than functionality - if you put the hood too far back, it won't cover the front burners. Also, with an island setup, it is usually a good idea to get a hood wider than the cooktop, 42" for a 36" cooktop. People do that with wall hoods too but it's more important in an island setup.

This is a little off topic, but I have a question for "cloud swift"... I noticed that your cooktop is not centered on your island. Presumably, it's to make room for the prep sink. We are running into the same issue with designing a new island. My wife loves things to be centered and symmetrical, but in order to get the sink, it won't work. How do you think yours looks, visually? Do you like it? How wide is your island and how much space is on the side of the cooktop and between the sink?
Thanks.

Second thread on exact same topic.

Here is a link that might be useful: Thread: How far is your cooktop from front of countertop?

BTW...you're probably not receiving emails of follow-up postings, even though you checked the box requesting them. This is b/c you don't have the email option turned on in your profile. See the "Read Me" thread for more information. Scroll down to the post with the subject "Getting Emails Sent To You...3-step Process".

Here is a link that might be useful: Read Me If You're New To GW Kitchens!

Thanks folks for the advice. I think we've got it figured out! I appreciate your input.

buehl - my computer froze and didn't show that the first one had posted, and then I found the renovation forum and put it there too.

Xicano, our island is 8 feet wide by a bit over 4 feet deep. There is 1 foot (plus 1.5 inch of overhang) to the left of the range top. The range top is 3 feet wide. There is a 24" inch cabinet holding the spice drawer, microwave and another drawer between the rangetop and the sink cabinet which is also 24" wide. Definitely not symmetrical.

1. Symmetry was never a design goal for us. Neither my husband nor I find it necessary or desirable. An L plus island layout is inherently asymmetric anyway. Even more so with a refrigerator and wall ovens at the end of one leg of the L.

2. To us, the kitchen is primarily a workspace for making food - a big tool holding other tools. We cook quite a bit and it has to function well both for a single cook and multiple cooks. We spend a lot of time there, have family visiting and sometimes entertain there so we want it to look nice and be a pleasant space, but it has to work. So even if symmetry was something we wanted, we wouldn't sacrifice usability to get it.

3. There is more than one way to look at symmetry especially with an L layout. It turns out that by putting the rangetop off-center in the island, the rangetop and hood are centered against the wall (the long leg of the L). I think it ends up looking more balanced than it would if we had put the rangetop in the center of the island.

We find that this layout works very well for us. I wouldn't want any less space between the rangetop and the sink. We have times when 3 or 4 people are doing food prep and the space works well for that. Sometimes we have two people prepping at the prep sink. One at the end of the island with the sink on their left and one between the rangetop and the sink. We thought about that when we chose the sink and the position for the faucet. The 1 foot wide cabinet to the left of the range top is a pull out for bottled staples (oil, vinegar, etc.) which is very convenient when working at the range. I wouldn't want any less space there. If we had room for it, another few inches would be nice but it is workable the way it is. Possibly, we could have gone with a 15" wide sink in an 18" cabinet and had 6 more inches of counter to the left of the rangetop or between the rangetop and the sink. However, there are times when the sink is pretty fully utilized too, so that might not be any better.

It would not have worked well for us with the range centered. That would have left only 6 inches between the rangetop and the sink. I think that would also have looked odd and out of balance with the prep sink, wall ovens, fridge and rangetop all piled up at one edge of the kitchen.