There are only two cabinets in the kitchen that open at eye level. We need more. My wife does not want to get on a step stool to reach each cabinet. We don’t NEED more counter space, but it would be nice. We are thinking of building into the breakfast nook, or some how pushing into the pantry/butler pantry area.
Link to blueprint
Love the size of your kitchen, that's a great set up for parties!
If I were in your shoes:
I would have a pot rack overhead to clear out as many drawers as possible, there's even some with auxiliary systems for kitchen utensils (spatulas, etc.).
A magnetic knife block either wall mounted (my preferred) or on the counter would clear up more drawer space as well.
Under cabinet shelves / cup racks have done wonders to maximize storage in cabinets & on counters.
A fancy roller prep table with a storage shelf could work with your set up. I have a mobile island with a foldable butcher block top which stores all our baking ingredients, prep bowls, silverware, & resealable bags.
A few tall pantry pull out cabinets to the right of the ovens going towards the breakfast nook would be pretty sweet, you could even have one made to hold a fire extinguisher & broom/dustpan. If you build more overhead storage you could also throw in a stepladder to keep close at hand & out of the way.
If you don't have it, pull out cabinets in your island would be great to maximize storage capacity, that island is huge! If you're handy with a saw & tools, you can fabricate your own pull-out drawers with specific configurations as well.
Replace the wall oven combo as well as your microwave with a combination oven, see example here . That would provide opportunity when remodeling down the road for longer cabinet space where that microwave & larger wall oven footprint once were.
IMO More overhead storage is the way to go when maximizing storage space as well. Consider it when/if you remodel.
I have an overflow closet for my tight galley style kitchen which holds most of the kitchen appliances I use periodically (5-7 times a year - think portable grill, sous vide, pickling jars, etc.), larger pans/pots for parties, & bulk food items, & seasonal/event stuff (folding chairs & picnic baskets, etc.). This pantry is not located near my kitchen, it's sorta inconvenient in the same way using a stepladder is. On top of that I actually do keep a stepladder in my kitchen, in a confoundingly tall & thin cabinet (2.5 ft H x 6 in W x 24 D). Anything you wouldn't use on a weekly basis should go in maybe a pantry or further back in your island storage.
My partner and I cook a lot, probably 95% of our meals are made by us and we like to explore different aspects of cooking, some of which require a lot of prep space (bread proofing, large batches of kimchi, etc.). Our kitchen is in essentially in a short hallway. so it's been a fun challenge setting it up, but it's paid off.
My apologies if this was too much of a ramble, I'm a big fan of kitchen organization & workflow efficiency. Hopefully this rant has helped in some way.
Please keep us updated on what you do!
This is awesome. Thank you. Will be a bit before we do a remodel but I’ll repost when done. Might be a year or two.