You guys didn't scare me away, LOL! All very good advice, and definitely a lot of solid arguments I can bring to the designer and MSO and convince them to drop this idea. It's starting to sound like the sink & prep area should be in front of the window, and the range should be either on the side wall, or on a center island that would need to be built (yay, another thread topic). palimpsest, that's actually exactly what the folks on Houzz suggested - hang an island hood in front of it. Pic attached. northcarolina and cstr, I agree 100%, just wanted to get a 2nd opinion. livewireoak and glitterandguns, good points about the time spent on various activities - also something to bring up as a counter-argument. marcolo, that was pretty damn hilarious, thank you! :) :) :) remodelfla and kitchendetective, that was some pretty impressive "detective work"! I like the concept, but unfortunately there's just not enough space to set up something like that, and anyway, it looks like we'll be scrapping the whole range-in-front-of-window idea altogether. Problem solved, it seems. Thanks a lot, everyone, for your VERY useful commentary!

That small bed will not grow a tree, even a dwarf hardy variety. It is encased in brick, which is then surrounded by brick, and so will heat up the soil inside it unnaturally, and also dry out quickly. The roots won't be able to spread to find water, but anyway water will immediately evaporate in such an environment. Rainfall will runoff that yard into the street and not stay in the yard. Plantings there will have the same fate of drying out. The entire area is literally like an oven. The reason pizza ovens have brick in them is so the crust will get crispy. You've done that to your front yard. And that's summer conditions. In winter, the tree's roots will not only be too dry, but also be unprotected from cold. Long Island is located within the "USDA Plant Hardiness Zones 7a and 7b, which experience annual average minimum temperatures of 0 to 10 F". No tree will survive that winter if it is in that bed. I do not know what the OP was thinking by all that brick. It was really a wrong choice. I'd rip out most of it if you want any greenery, and also if you would like your house's AC bills not to be astronomical. I bet your neighbors don't like what you've done to the appearance of the block. And come time for re-sale, your home now has no curb appeal.

You could do something sculptural, but I like the idea of more colorful art like you have on the other wall. You've got so much brown and neutral colors, some more color would help make the room less one-note. I'd even consider layering an area rug in that space for the same reason.

So we finished our room...before is above. Here’s the after...any feedback, changes etc?