I think a U shape has to be considered. The island would become the 2nd side and connect up at the top sink wall. Place fridge where wall oven is and the 2nd oven goes under counter opposite range[or where fridge was]. At the end of this part of the U-opposite range,place a 2nd sink[it will be near fridge-handy-and guests can use it without going all the way into the U-also handy]. The back of the U on family room side can have overhang for seating for all the get-togethers. You have even more under counter area now inside the U for a microwave-or over where fridge was. With 16 feet-you can still have a generous passage from living areas into kitchen and have that long useful counter run with 2nd sink. I do like island kitchens but with split entry because of the island you can't necessarily get all you want in,plus with so much activity I think the 2nd sink is key-you're getting a zone for people away from the cleanup and top part of the kitchen if you do a U. Good luck with decision making-there are probably even more schemes to play around with.

What cabinet options do you have with builder ? Are any of the cabinet lines from your builder semi-custom ? Our builder suggested we use UltraCraft which is a semi-custom line. We went with them and have been very happy with them. You can change the height width and depth of them in 1/16" increments at no extra charge. A lot of things that are upcharges with other cabinets are standard.

herbflavor - A u-shape, hmm...what are the benefits of the u shape? I'm just concerned because there are usually a ton of people in the kitchen (which I don't mind) and a ushape would "trap" them without easy access to the family room.

angela12345: Ours are pretty standard cabinets - they're the Quality line of Quality cabinets. I included a link to their spec guide below.

Here is a link that might be useful: Quality Cabinets Spec Guide

I was thinking of something like the picture below, but I'm not sure of the wall with the oven/microwave/fridge. I feel like it should have some countertop for a landing spot for things from the fridge, oven and microwave. Could I move the fridge to the wall by the range and leave the oven and pantry cabinet on the other wall with counterop in between them? Or push the wall oven and cabinet together and have countertop off to the side?

This is the rest of the kitchen.

Hi Kit, I really like what you've done. Can you share kitchen dimensions, faucet, sink, flooring color/mfg, cabinet maker styles?

Please post more!

Thanks - but I can't claim this as my own :) This is what I'm thinking of doing in my kitchen, but I can't figure out if I like the wall with the fridge/wall oven/pantry cabinet. I'm thinking there should be countertop there as a landing spot for hot stuff from the microwave/wall oven and ingredients from the fridge, but I was hoping for some input from the talented folks on this forum. I'm a complete newbie at all of this.

Do you bake? The other layout works because the island is oriented the other way and works for landing and as a baking center for the ovens which is on the same run as the frig. You could do that... move the oven against the frig wall. I'd then think about flipping the range and sink runs.

I cook more than bake and it's usually for at least 6-8 people. What's the reason for flipping the sink and range runs? Is it to keep the sink more centrally located?

TThink about the natural flow in a kitchen. Get stuff from the frig, rinse off and packaging in trash, then to range/cooktop. I have a convection/speed oven/mw above my regular sized oven. It works beautifully for any and all functions. With 5 people and a large extended family you may find benefit in the use of a second oven that can also be a MW.