Easy to read plans show good functional flow of food within kitchen.

However, I would nix the two-level island. It seems like it would be an expensive, inefficient, space waster. (And raised-height seating is so uncomfortable!) Having the raised bar may appeal because it seems to "conceal" the cooking function of that end of the room, but it doesn't really. If you are set on having an all-in-one space, then embrace it, don't try to fudge it. Those two-level islands are very vogue-ish right now and I think will be one of things that prompt renos in the future. You can't really go wrong with a generous flat surface. Much more likely to give satisfaction over the long haul, I think.

You mention wanting to maximise your work space -and I agree that would be important to me with your plan as drawn. If the island is all on one level you have more convenient eating space (the raised area is narrow) and more effective working area for big projects when you weren't using the seating/eating area.

I'd put the saved money into a real exhaust hood. Perhaps also adding a few inches on the sink end of the island to slightly narrow the aisle space and provide room for an undercounter MW that opens toward the sink (either a "drawer" one or a regular one on a shelf). If the choice was a MW at hood height or below counter, I'd choose the lower one. I have one mounted slightly below normal counter height and I don't find it inconvenient at all. Placing it as I suggest would make the opening convenient for the cook to use as well (MW are pretty much always hinged one the left side, opening on the right as you face them.) It would also be very convenient to have one just across the aisle from the fridge where a lot of the MW-able stuff is stored.

As I study your plan further, I noticed the two flanking 27" counters on the stove wall. That would bug me as 27" is not all that useful as prep space. (Counters that length tend to become small appliance-parking positions, further constricting the work space.) I'd be tempted to make one smaller and make the other larger - and symmetry be damned! The small size of those two spaces reinforces my recommendation to make the island one-level. If you keep any frequent-use appliances (coffee machine comes to mind) on the counter you put it on the left (as you stand at the rangetop) counter so non-cooks could access it w/o entering the "hot-zone". If symmetry rules your design, then a place for a prep sink would also be on the left-hand counter. Drains for sinks don't have to occupy the entire vertical space below. You can get a "handicapped" drain assembly which goes down a few inches, and then sharply backwards (or some other horizontal direction, as needed), before turning down again. This allows for better drawer space below, even if the top one is slightly truncated and the lowers are a bit shortened. It looks to me as if you could opt for deeper than normal counters (30") on that run to increase room for drain assembly behind the stack. I don't think you can have a GD on a handicapped plumbing assembly.

In fact by making the island one level and enlarging it towards the sink wall by 6"-9", you might have enough space for a prep sink on the island , which would be a good place, too. Having a prep sink (in either position) would allow the cook to operate largely within the cooking aisle/cockpit area, leaving the rest of the kitchen circulation space free for clean-up/DW and table setting activities. Fierce growling and sharp-knives-in-hand would eventually retrain the non-cooking inhabitants (two- and four-footed) to go around the island not through that aisle.

Hope these thoughts are useful to you.

Keep thinking of functional work paths, until the best layout that can be eeked out of your space is clear. Then go back and fine tune the "what's stored where" level of decisions. At that point some critical issues may emerge and force slight re-jiggering on the main plan outlines. But don't start re-arranging the big-picture bones to accommodate every storage placement conundrum. As a final step, populate your plan with style choices that make your heart go pitty-pat.

Have fun!

L.

Thanks. We have a list of islands to choose from, so I can't enlarge but I can choose other islands. The original island is the biggest and most expensive, so any I get won't cost any extra-just replace the original one. This island is the next biggest, I think. There are wider ones though. The page below shows the islands they offer. None are longer than the one I have on my plan.

Same with the counter depths. They only offer the standard 24".

We've had a low microwave and that's one thing we aren't going to do this time. We have a dedicated microwave cart that will go in the dining area. My husband and kids use it a lot more than I do, so that was their choice.

If I put the oven on the cooktop wall on the left, that would be a 33" cabinet which would give a bigger counter space there, and then I would have 23" on the other side. I think the closest cabinet size to that would be 21, so about a 23" counter with the overhang?

I'm not sure what kind of exhaust hoods they offer. The model they showed us had one that was integrated into a wood cabinet and I wasn't a fan. I'd rather have just a black hood.

I admit that when I look at this, all I can think is "it's got to be better than what I have". Right now I have a 10 x 10 U shaped kitchen with about 15" of space on one side of my cooktop and less on the other side. The cooktop is in the corner so one side is a small triangular shaped piece of counter. Same with the sink, which is at the bottom of the U in my current kitchen. I've had enough of cabinets and appliances tucked into corners so I'm thrilled that this new kitchen will have NONE! lol

Here is a link that might be useful: kitchen islands available

OK I've decided on a single level island. But now I'm hoping someone can help more with the counter space around the cooktop. If 27" isn't really enough for each side, should the cooktop be pushed to one side so that one side is small and the other is big? Should I make it 12" on one side and 42" on the other? Would that be a better use of the counter space? I'm wondering if it was 12" on the left, there would be a wall. Would a 12" countertop with a wall at one end be a waste? Or is it better to put the 42" or whatever on the side with the wall and the 12" on the side that is open? Seems like either way, a counter space that small would be nearly useless.

Or any other ideas for the cooktop wall?