Do you need a breakfast nook and a dining room? Can you have stools at the counter and bring the kitchen into the nook?

I would eliminate the breakfast nook. It seems a bit pointless with the dining room adjacent.

Agree with the above. Combine nook and dining room, move slider further down the wall and stretch your sink run far enough to have your fridge there instead of the opposite side of the island from the sink. You also want to be sure your aisles and walkways meet minimum recommendations.

I'm not an expert, but I dont care for current layout. I would keep the utility room as a mud room, possibly even enlarging it slightly. I would switch dining room and family room, and then just combine kitchen, breakfast nook and family room into large open area with a kitchen area, eat-in section, and family room. (just realized that is my current arrangement and we really like it, complete with sliders to backyard nd window at family room end.) That would open up lots of possibilities for the kitchen arrangement, and make an open entertaining area. But it depends on your style, do you want to keep kitchen hidden, or keep it part of activity?

Here's my idea:

(Select a picture to see a much larger version)

With Zones:

Edited to add:

Note there is a Mudroom with a closet and cubbies as well as a Laundry Room - and guests don't have to go through the Laundry Room when using the garage entrance. You might consider adding a "Command/Message Center" to the Powder Room wall b/w the Powder Room door and the Kitchen. It would be a convenient place for keys, mail, purse, etc. b/c it's near the garage/family entrance.

The Kitchen is a one-person or multiple-person kitchen - it will work both ways.

Hmmm...looking at the Laundry Room, I think I would make it a pocket door instead of a traditional door. It will save space and allow you to have the door open without it getting in anyone's way.

This post was edited by buehl on Sat, Aug 16, 14 at 9:33

YES! What buehl just shared! That is about exactly what I had in mind.

I think over time you will come to hate walking around the island every time you want to get into the refrigerator. The island is almost too small to be useful. Wait for some of the kitchen designers who frequent this board to look at this and help you. Buehl, Kompy and others zone plan for you. I know it is your first home, but it should still be special and function well. I think this is just builder basic easy planning. Don't rush into it.

I would switch the Family Room and Living Room - making the LR a "formal" room, if you need one. We found it especially helpful when we had small children - our "formal" Living Room was always straightened up while the Family Room frequently had toys and stuff scattered around! It gave us a place to go if someone stopped over without disrupting the kids, etc. You may not have children now, but if they're part of your future plans, it gives you some options later on. (You might turn one of the rooms into a "Play Room", for instance.)

your kitchen is very close to mine. we built about 16 years ago. if i could change some things in my kitchen, i would have more space between the sink and stove so if you can, move the window and sink down a bit. i have a lazy susan and a dishwasher between the stove and sink and it is a bit too small for my prep. i personally love the L layout as i cut all the vegies, etc right by the sink and plop it right onto the stove. i find a sink across from the stove like in an island awkward.
the other thing is i think your kitchen will feel cramped with an island. mine is 11'9" wide and i estimate i would need at least 2 more feet to do an island.
you could have the slider open on the right instead of the standard left open and do a peninsula instead of an island. i couldn't do that because it blocks the slider opening but i really wanted too! there are lots of lovely peninsula kitchen on gw but they really need planning in a kitchen with a slider
i took a pic of my kitchen as it is so close to what your builder plans are. no judging on the mess please:) i have been cooking all am!

WOW! Thank you so much for all of your input! This is very exciting! Someone mentioned for us to take our time, which we are. We are currently in the process of getting our land ready before winter, so we can break ground in Spring. We have plenty of time to make all of the adjustments we would like to make :-) Thank you very much for all of your feedback. It is so appreciated!

Buehl, amazing! Thank you! One thing is we wont have our Washer & Dryer downstairs, we moved it upstairs, so that leaves us extra room in that area!

I love all of your ideas and can't wait to put them all together!

our house was in a development so think cookie cutter. one thing i thought i would mention is that we do not have enough outlets or ceiling lights. retrofitting lights is quite pricey so make sure your plan has a ceiling light/fan in every room and recessed lights in the kitchen ( we only have 1 over the sink and 1 ceiling light in the kitchen area plus 1 over the breakfast area. lighting is terrible but i had no clue at the time that we built)