Hi GWers!

I am a newbie here and I'm hoping someone can help me out with my kitchen layout. I listed 3 options I'm contemplating over and need you to opine. Thanks in advance for all of your comments / suggestions. Hopefully the floor plan is legible.

Here is some background (sorry if it's too long!):

We are a family of 4 (2 adults / 2 kids - Ages 7 and 4). We live in a split-level home and if you ever lived in a split level home, you'll know that the kitchens and dining rooms are generally VERY small. I can see myself living here until the kids go off to college, but at the same time we've also been house hunting for the last couple of years hoping to find something. It doesn't look like that's going to happen soon given how crazy the housing market has been here. My thought now (not DH's) is we might as well update our kitchen to the way we like it and if something comes up, our home will at least be updated (and hopefully sell quickly) or stay where we are and enjoy our house with the new updates. Our kitchen cabinets were updated 14 years ago when we first moved in. It was built by a custom cabinetmaker who in the end did a terrible job (this is a whole other story), but bottom line was that the cabinets were poorly constructed.

I am by no means a cook, but do love a functional kitchen which is what I'm lacking right now. I do not have enough storage or counter space. There is usually just one cook in the kitchen (me) and very rarely 2. We cook probably half the week (DH and I both work) and we do enjoy cooking if we ever have time. We use the kitchen table everyday (which currently seats 4) for eating, snacking, homework, and the laptop. We rarely ever eat as a family of 4 though. Our kids usually eat dinner at an earlier time and DH and I sometimes eat dinner together, but the meals are generally quick meals during the week. We both have a big family so when there are people over, we like to keep it very casual. We lay out food wherever we can find counter space and people just find a seat in the kitchen, dining room or the living room. We do not entertain as much due to space constraints. My ideal kitchen would be double the current size (current kitchen is ~10' x 16'). My kitchen layout is challenging due to a sliding glass door, 2 entrances, and windows. Knocking down a load bearing wall and expansion is not an option due to budget constraints and we will never recover the expenses if we ever sell. Our informal dining room is right next to the kitchen, though we rarely ever use the dining space right now other than a drop off zone for paperwork and miscellaneous items. The dining room is ~11' x 9.5' and leads into the living room (which is also an open space). The opening to the dining room from the kitchen is 5' wide.

Appliances: I think we are keeping the current appliances. They are 14 years old. I figured we can use them until they need to be replaced.

What I dislike about current kitchen:
1. Pantry: I have a closet just before I enter the kitchen from the hallway that is used for storing all sorts of miscellaneous kitchen / house stuff and it is cramped up to the ceiling with stuff. I also have a pantry cabinet on the corner of the kitchen. There are only shelves in there and I hate them! I can never find anything as I find the pantry too deep. I am getting roll out shelves in the new kitchen.
2. Storage is lacking and items in the back part of the base cabinets are difficult to get to. I am getting drawers in the remodel.
3. I wish I had more counter space for prep work. I do most of my prep work on the peninsula. When I have company over, there is no place to line up the food other than the counters next to the stove or counters on the peninsula
4. My counters are filled with kitchen gadgets / stuff as I have nowhere to store these items
5. Lighting is all wrong in here. I have only 3 can lights in the kitchen and one pendant by the sink

I would love to have:
1. More storage space
2. More counter space
3. Prefer table seating over counter seating, but may consider counter seating if it makes sense

Proposed Kitchen Layout: Keep existing floor plan, but add to pantry wall (see options below and floor plans). Note that we don't usually access the sliding glass doors except during the warmer months and when we have company over.

Option 1: Put in a 60" hutch / pantry in the corner and leave space for our kitchen table (DH wants to keep the table, but I think we can use our dining room space for that). This layout closely resembles our current floor plan.

End result: I will have a more functional kitchen (drawers, roll out shelves), but no new counters or storage space

{{gwi:1841501}}

Option 2: Put in a 60" hutch / pantry in the corner, add a 24"D banquette storage bench, and get a new narrow table (30").

End result: DH gets his table and I get additional storage, but no new counter space. Aisle width to the sliding glass door may be tight?

{{gwi:1841502}}

Option 3: Put in a 36" pantry, add glass uppers and base cabinets along pantry wall. Add an 11" overhang to the peninsula which will allow counter seating for 2.

End result: I gain additional storage and counter space, but will lose the kitchen table. The dining room will be our new eating area.

{{gwi:1841503}}

Questions:
1) Which floor plan options would you choose? Would you lay out the kitchen differently than any of the 3 options I have? I am open to suggestions too.

2) Do you think it makes sense to update our kitchen given we may move?

3) Do you think getting rid of the kitchen table for counter seating would hurt resale value?

4) Would now be the time to replace the stove / hood to 36" from current 30" size? It seems like 30" isn't the standard anymore.