I have never been one to follow trends. I don't care whether my kitchen is suitable to appear in the next glossy magazine, as long as it is functional for what I want. I look at "trends" just in case there is something new out there that looks functional for my needs, but I certainly wouldn't care if something I like is no longer "on trend" What is funny, I think, is that (having come from Europe) my grandmother's kitchen, complete with butler's pantry (not called that, of course) was very much like the kitchen I want today (with more power points, of course) I really think it is amazing how we are back to the future. When I came to Australia, no one heard of parquetry (or even timber - HAD to be covered with wall to wall carpet) I remember my Aunty was having a house built in the 60s and had huge arguments with the builder... She wanted ceramic tiles in her kitchen and laundry and the builder told her she was mad. She also wanted parquetry. She won the argument (had a lot of trouble finding a person the lay the parquetry) but the builder told her that she will be calling him back in 6 months to rip it all up. We also had an indoor clothes line, that you could pull up and down to the ceiling with a pulley. I just read about someone "inventing" this here. :-) Just remembered another thing we have recently invented here. Double glazing :-)

Sorry forgot to add the picture. This is the style of sink I would prefer.

Hi siriuskey, it's actually quite a big house, just awkwardly laid out. There are two other bathrooms - a main bathroom and an ensuite - and the laundry will just be a stacked washer and dryer, so not much space required. Yes, I think one door is a better option for the layout too. The house is on a very good sized corner block. The dining room side is open to a car parking deck, no roof. There is a flowering hedge between the dining room window and the car park area so visually it's private and allows good sunlight. Off the family room is a large covered patio plus lawn and trees, and a large shed that will be turned into a home office. Adjacent to the dining room is a bedroom and past that (so the opposite side of the house to the dining room and car park area), is the neighbouring fence. So there is only a narrow walkway between the house and the fence.

Note - This is what I think of the concept in general. It's not a criticism again the OP - I think Butler's pantries are better idea's in concept than practice. I've not understood the rationale for a kitchen thats separate to your kitchen, unless of course you are prepping all your meals in there in which case what is the kitchen for? I think it's a sign of the times that we have more space and more money than we know what to do with when we start installing two kitchens in the same space. Of course I understand the rationale for a pantry. A place to store food items that may not be used frequently and the same for appliances. In the days when food was only available in season and the only way to preserve certain foods was to pickle and bottle it then a large space to store those supplies was necessary. We live in the modern age now where any food can be gotten easily and cheaply all year round. So these spaces are housing mostly appliances that we rarely use. And if we rarely use them you have to ask yourself why you are holding onto them?