u/Ok_ConfusedOne

We are redoing our townhouse kitchen, removing a peninsula and eat-in area to expand our cabinets and add a large island that connects to the dining room.

There used to be a fan/light combo over the eat-in area. Our new plan is to extend recessed lights over the cabinets and island, and put a chandelier over the dining table. I’ve included a layout drawing where the walls, island, and cabinets are to scale (doors and furniture are approximate). All existing lighting is marked, though one light will move inside a new corner pantry.

Note: Above the range will be a microwave. Adding hood ventilation isn't worth the pain in our townhouse, so it will just be the microwave fan.

I’ve always had a fan near where I cook for airflow, and we have no other fans on this floor. However, I know fans aren't common in modern kitchens/dining areas, so I’m struggling to reconcile what I want with what is actually practical.

Would you put a fan in at all? If so, where makes sense. Over the dining table, the island, or elsewhere? Any other lighting suggestions before we talk exact spacing with our contractor?

Any advice is welcome!

The cabinets come in a blue and a green (as well as your typical whites, greys, woods, etc).
Our living room and kitchen already has lots of blue accents so I was thinking blue island and white perimeter. (Or blue lowers, white uppers).

My husband thinks white is boring and like every other kitchen and wants blue and green cabinets (either blue island, green perimeter or blue lowers, green uppers).

Will this be too much?
Will this make our house unsellable one day (overreacting. But will this look dated eventually)?

I’m currently finalizing my kitchen layout and would love some feedback. I originally had a plan using tall pantry cabinets, but something felt off about it. I talked to my contractor about building a drywall pantry closet in the corner next to the fridge instead. He says it’s no problem, but I’d love to hear your thoughts on the flow.

A few details on the design:
-I included as many drawer bases as possible since the general consensus is that they’re way better than lower doors.
-There are 5 inches of filler shown on the far left, but the plan is to split that between the beginning and end of the wall for a better fit.
-The cabinet design program didn’t have an option for open shelving, so in the second picture I used those small upper cabinets as placeholders for the sizing.
-I don’t want to move the fridge because waterlines even tho it is slightly separated from the rest of the cabinets. I think the cabinet above the fridge will still connect it to the rest of the kitchen.

Does this corner pantry layout make sense? Are there any red flags you see?

My Wendy’s frosty has betrayed me! Most of it got on the yarn label. But I didn’t see that it spilled so it’s a little dried now. I included the washing instructions on the label. But I’d how to wash a whole skein without it becoming a tangled mess. Help!