So I've been obsessing about the layout day in and day out.

Here is where I currently am:

After spending a lot of time with blue tape and a measuring tape spacing things out, I don't think I have room for a banquette in this kitchen.

As Herbflavor pointed out, we do have a dining nook off kitchen. If we had gone with a banquette, we would have converted existing dining nook to additional living space. However, looking at footprint of room, I don't know that it would often be used, resulting in wasted space in a small house (2k sf).

I need to seat 4 at the island, and I like the idea of having 2 x 2. Does this work, or should island be a bit deeper?

Range Wall.

Should I tile to ceiling over range?

In lieu of banquette, I think the back wall is best utilized as additional storage. We don't have a formal dining room in this house, which means I have a lot of servingware, extra place settings, china, crystal, etc., that need a home. I thought about adding a prep sink and making it a coffee bar, but I'm the only coffee drinker in the house. It would be a good staging area for parties. Also would be good to have a place to store dog food. :-)

Thoughts? My contractor is on his way over and we are scheduling a start date, hopefully for end of month. eeeek!

I'm not trying to talk you out of the 53" aisle between the ref and island, but I'd spend some more time there noodling about the placement of everything and whether I'd be better off --
(1) with a counterdepth ref
(2) perhaps a single door ref instead of french doors or an sxs - its a little far to the island landing space and a little clunky to reach when doing dishes
(3) with a 28-30" deep counter on the range run
(4) without the ref and dw opening into the same piece of aisle - if we're cleaning up after a meal, the ref is being opened and closed while the dishwasher is being filled - leading to...
(5) whether to flip the entire island so the seating end was towards the dining room side which puts the stools, micro and ref together plus has improved views of the outside and fireplace from two of the stools and some improvement in fire safety. without stools backing into the actual fireplace.
(6) Big bit of counter space - really is only available on the end of the island without the stools. It's one of those spaces that exist on paper - but maybe not so much in real life - its the perfect drop zone and I would expect to see many book bags, purse(s), cell phones etc piled up there. And its the landing spot for things going to/from the dining room and for used dishes. It's another argument for perhaps reversing the island but also something to think about for exact positioning of the range.

Lastly, the only big issue is that people will cut through in front of the range to get outside. This is not the end of the world - its just so you know that's going to happen. Some people would decrease the aisle space, but that tactic may not work for you if multiple people use the kitchen at the same time.

I would like to have a closet with narrow shelving built in next to the fridge for my pantry and m/w. Is the space (3 ft) adequate? I have a huge blank space at the back of the kitchen now. I could have a long shallow pantry back there, but it's a hike to get there from the cooking zone, don't you think?

I could add more cabinetry to do hutch storage, as I had above...or I could just do furniture storage. Not sure what else.

What would the reason for increased depth around range be? Just so that it doesn't stick out?

Here is what it looks like with the island flipped and the fridge moved over. I had the post in the wrong location earlier, which affords me more room to the right of post for fridge...further away from sink.

I like this idea because it gives me more room to place 2 chairs near fireplace (under windows), and more pantry storage space. But not sure that the fridge is ideally located near island seating.

The left wall has nothing on it. 2 windows and a door that leads to backyard/pool/courtyard. I am exploring having it expanded into a double french door.

When the run is short, it can be a blessing to be able to have appliances or canisters on the counter, but still have nearly a full depth work area in front of them.

If you move the ref to the recess, increasing the depth would not matter as much because there would be no cabinets to match. BUT it would stick out into the main aisle and ref users would kinda gum up the traffic lanes.

Just to let you know, I always hate this stage of design - when you know overall what you're doing but you have to finally, finally choose stuff like the dishwasher on right or left; offset the sink or let it be centered, etc. I hope others chime in too, but I don't see anything huge wrong.