kitchen dreams (in plan)

Just before moving to Ann Arbor, my husband and I finished renovating the kitchen in our old house (yes, perfect timing, I know).  I left beautiful porcelain tile, quartz countertops, a butcher block peninsula with seating, lots of friendly drawer storage, a huge, deep sink, and a comfortable amount of square footage for, well, none of these things.  And ever since moving in, I've been dreaming of ripping our current kitchen completely apart and tackling another renovation.  It is apparent that a previous owner made some updates (it's such a stretch to use this term), but Ted and I still curse the kitchen every time we set out to prepare a big meal and inevitably run out of space to work.

Here is the floor plan of our kitchen now.  It is small but I don't think that small kitchens function poorly because of their size.  They function poorly because of their design and layout.  And this layout is terrible.  Can anyone spot the refrigerator?  Oh yea, it's hanging out on your way to the basement stair!

What would I do differently, you ask (because I'm sure you're incredibly curious)?  Well here is the plan of my kitchen dreams (for this kitchen anyway, and for this house sans addition).  I'm a big fan of opening rooms up, and with a toddler running around, an even bigger fan!  I would love to be able to work in the kitchen and see her coloring at the dining room table or playing in her own kitchen.  The new plan is a modified galley style kitchen, narrow, but with a lot of counter space (the longest run being almost 5'-0").  The previous plan had too many openings, and thus paths of circulation,  breaking up the wall space and kitchen functions.  Here I've eliminated two of them, relocating the door to the basement and the back door.

This plan would be a huge project and I highly doubt it will ever come to fruition (especially since we'll only be here for one more year).  But I am determined, at least, to give the kitchen a facelift before we leave.  More on that to come.