So you can't move the door down that goes into the bar/desk area? 2' of aisle space, is way too narrow. You are going to be moving the rolling island multiple times daily.

I have not followed your posts, but I see a couple issues.

Between the island and the fireplace, the flow is blocked. You're just going to run into the island going from the keeping room into the kitchen and again when you're cooking. I would just toss the idea. Maybe put a small round table with two chairs towards the wall across from the fireplace - assuming you want a place to sit.

The other issue I see is with the corner you have marked for the toaster oven. My current kitchen has a corner like that with the fridge where your oven is. It's dead space - difficult to reach anything, so it just becomes a dumping ground.

Unfortunately, I don't know how to fix it. Not because it can't be fixed, but because I'm layout challenged myself.

Sorry that I can't be more positive. Remodelfla is right. The island is too close to the stove run, so the island will be in front of a major-traffic doorway. Even if it could stay where it is, the seated kids or guests would be right in the doorway.

Dishes and glasses stored in your 'one-butt work area' seems like you'll have people reaching into that area and around you a lot.

That secondary mud room (with the mail hutch) seems to use a lot of square footage without offering you much in the way of use or storage, because it has so many doors situated as they are. As E asked, can the door move down, giving you more room for the island and seating, and giving you more wallspace in the mud room?

A dishwasher seems like an expensive dish rack, but maybe I'm not understanding how you'll use it.

If the island is movable, where will it go? I've always felt like if there is room for an island there's room, and if there isn't room for it to be fixed, there probably isn't room. It's so large, and will be heavy and awkward, not like a little cart that is light and fairly easy to tuck away. For me, flipping the counter up and down, and moving the island back and forth (on what looks like it might be a daily basis) would be too aggravating. But I understand we're not all the same.

I agree... I can see how much you're trying to make this all work while whittling down the costs, but I really don't think you have the space for any kind of island in this revised layout, and if that is a must-have, then perhaps hold off on the reno until you can afford to open up the wall into the larger mudroom. I also agree that the second mudroom is not the best use of space. If you take out the island in the current layout, I'm thinking the keeping room needs to be a dining area - or possibly consider just having the door into the larger mudroom be a cased opening and have a breakfast room there with the keeping room a seating area.

Hola,
I should have known better than to try to pull the above layout off.
Thank you very much for your gentle disagreement to wake me up to the reality that sticking a large heavy portable island in front of doorways will not work.

Question about REMODELFLA: "move the door down that goes into the bar/desk area": do you mean this? Does this layout work better?

This modified layout is moving the current doorway down toward the porch, allowing more space for the island. This then allows me more wall space for a full bar/desk.

As always, I really appreciate your help in reviewing my layouts.
Thank you very much, Amanda

Moved doorway down layout:

Overhead view:

Another view of walkway between island/fireplace:

Recall, the island is 5ft wide by 2ft wide with a 1ft overhang for the 2 stools. The glasses drawers would pull out toward the fireplace (instead of toward cooktop) since it will be used more often than the Tupperware drawers.

Familroom mudroom, and porch 'foyer'/desk/bar:

I thought about doing a wide shallow U-shape kitchen, where the cooktop would be on the wall of the doorway (facing opposite of the wall oven/fridge). But the way I function, I like having a little barrier from people when I prep/cook. W/ the U-shape, people could stand near me and actually be in my way. Also, I need seating for my 2 kids (7.5 and 6yrs old) for snacks. (Meals will be in the diningroom, which is in the opposite corner of the house � labeled Livingroom. Need the space for my 12feet long diningroom table).

1929Spanish: The distance between the island and fireplace = 4ft. I think that is very spacious, since my current aisle is 28inches!!!
The toaster oven area will be flushed w/ the wall oven. It�ll be the appliance garage mainly for the kitchenaid mixer that will slide out (so I never have to lift the darn heavy thing again).

RHOME410: I wish I knew how to better utilize the good-size room (~17ftx13.5ft - currently the familyroom). But with the 4 doorways, there is no good way to set up the room as a famiyroom. This design feels very wasteful of a perfectly good room, but I desperately need a mudroom, which cuts into the room (instead of building out). That leaves a 'foyer' for the porch entrance.

2DWs: I ALWAYS have something in the drying rack. I cannot stand looking at it anymore. So I need the 2nd DW to hold all the drying stuff: plastics, knives, pots, etc. Also we host a few big parties each year, so having a 2nd DW would be great!

AOKAT15: I kinda gave the condensed reason for needing to shrink the budget. We actually have the money for the renovation, but my husband got a wake-up call when we got our home appraisal back. In the comps, he noted that homes with Central air conditioning were valued more than our home (which currently does not have CAC). So he suggested that we do not renovate the kitchen, but instead install CAC. That is part of my plan, but my order of priority is to do the kitchen first, then CAC in a few years (I can live with window AC for now).
DH does not see the value of spending so much money for a kitchen renovation, when CAC actually adds value, but renovated kitchen does not. So in our compromise, instead of the full-blown renovation (see link to full-blown layout thread), we would not go hog-wild, but renovate just to meet our top needs.
There is always something else that needs our time/money. Waiting a few years does not help. Waiting will just eat the time/money of the future projects (masterbath, patio, finishing familyroom above the garage, outdoor ice-rink, new roof, cobblestone driveway, etc etc etc).

We have a great diningroom that we use daily. I do not need a breakfast table/area. (In my previous house, I had a small diningroom right near the kitchen/breakfast table that is right next to the island with seating. A bunch of useless space.) Now we either eat in the diningroom or a quick snack at the island.

Thank you very much,
Amanda/huango

Here is a link that might be useful: hog-wild layout thread

That is much better. I think you get more out of the storage, probably better function in the 2nd mud room, and room for seated kids with someone coming through the door from the mud rooms. I'm not sure a desk or bar will be very convenient where shown, and before I spent money there, I'd give it a trial period somehow after the new kitchen is done to see exactly what will be the best bang for your buck there. The kitchen seems skimpy on storage and with that big room right next door, you might want some substantial storage of some sort combined into whatever you do in that spot.

Where will you keep pots and pans? The tupperware drawers are the best place, it seems.

I assume you won't actually have a base cabinet under the toaster and a space between it and the oven?

Wow, this is going to sound negative, but only because I think you could have a much better plan. Do all these additions already exist? Is the fireplace currently in that area? Can you move any other walls or spaces?

It seems like you've got a ton of space for desk/mudroom area, but a very small keeping room...with a fireplace opposite the door. Can you take down the wall, between the kitchen and desk area? Was that already your family room...or just a planned family room? Do you have a dining room? Do you need one? I can't tell, what's to the left of the stairs.

If the fireplace is already there...then I'd try to make it more of a feature, than an after thought. It's very nice, but I think it would flow much better, if you opened up the space, between the kitchen and former family room/current desk area. If you want a bigger kitchen work space, I think you need to include a place to eat or sit, that isn't in front of doorways. That fireplace could be such a wonderful focal point, but you need to design the space so it's featured, not something you just walk by, to get to the TV.

Can you post the floor plan, for the rest of the first floor...and let us know which walls exist and which ones are going to be new construction, if any? That would really help :)

Much better, but in this case I think I'd move the stove onto the blank wall to its right, so that you have a protected U to cook in, if there's room. Now you can use Super Susans for pot and pan storage. A prep sink on the peninsula might also help, giving you an almost completely self-contained cooking area.