I've been on this site for more than 2 years, after first coming here for what I thought would be a quickie replacement of my galley kitchen. I received so much useful feedback on what may be the worst current kitchen layout in history then that I sort of gave up, and have mostly lurked since then while I played with my options. I'm back for more layout help now because the place is falling apart and my husband has given me an ultimatum to get this done.

Quick overview: we are a family of 4, everyone but me is very tall, I'm the only cook. The house is profoundly imperfect but it's in a great school district and easy commute to work so we are probably here for the duration. The house is in a crazy expensive area, and must have began as a small Cape or cottage in the 1950s which was expanded twice by the previous owners (first up and then back, with a divorce and remarriage in the process.) They replaced the kitchen in the process but didn't touch the layout and put in a low budget galley which is 7.5ft wide and almost 12ft long.

The kitchen has every possible constraint - it is on a slab and bounded at both ends by load-bearing walls. It can't be opened up length-wise b/c of a utility room next to it. I've literally played with every possibility, and at various points have had contractors give me hope that I could at least widen it, or use some of the utility space, etc. B/c of the HVAC, that seems impossible. I know that I could, in theory, trench the slab to move the sink, but I really hope to avoid that, both because of the expense (where I live even minor plumbing stuff tends to cost 4 figures) and the prospect of creating more issues in the process.

So the best it seems I can do is to widen the opening to a front 'breakfast' room. I don't have a huge budget so I'm trying to spend on layout/functional improvements vs. aesthetics. I have done a couple of layouts using Ikea cabinets, which is a distinct possibility; otherwise I'll use a different lower-end cabinet line (Cliq? Am Woodmark?) I'm trying to keep some eating/homework space in that breakfast room - we have a decent-sized dining room for real entertaining. I'd also love to keep a vintage daybedish sofa there, which was my grandmother's and sat in the kitchen of the house I grew up in. I had every talk that ever mattered sitting on that couch while my mother cooked, and the sofa just came to me after helping my father move out of his house of 45 years. So it means a lot, and it doesn't look too bad there either.

I've worked out a couple of different options, and I'd be grateful for any gut reactions. I kind of suspect the banquette option is best, but that would require me to find another place for the sofa, so I would love to see if I can work one of the other options. Appliances (all already purchased after long-time scoping of the Sears Outlet site) are a GE Caf� double oven range (with small oven on top), the GE Cafe hood , the taller KA CD fridge, and probably dishwasher drawers.

OK, now for some photos.
Current kitchen view:

View of 'breakfast room' from front door:

View of front door from kitchen (shows the sofa I'm trying to hang onto):

Living room (at other end of the kitchen):

Layout option with counterstools in breakfast room:

Layout option with peninsula seating:

Layout with banquette seating:

Current first floor layout (not all measurements perfect):