So I have been scratching my head as to what to do to make this kitchen a bit more open and to make the large empty nook at the end more useful. The weird empty nook is too small to be a breakfast area so not quite sure what it was intended for. I've cobbled together an approximate floorplan so you can see what I mean (each square = 1 ft) and put a big ol' red question mark where the nook is (please see images below). Some of the things we are considering: [list] [*]Moving the fridge (which is sticking out a bit) or pantry into the weird nook, but would require some modifications to the counter/cabinets sticking out at the end [*]Moving the laundry connections into the mudroom and divide the room so we can widen the kitchen and have a hallway [/list] [b]Floorplan[/b] [attach]101786[/attach] [b]Kitchen Images[/b] [attach]101787[/attach] [attach]101788[/attach]

** Conditions ** Current Unit: KitchenAid 36" 400 CFM Single Blower 6" duct New Unit: Kobe 36" 1100 CFM Dual Blower 8" duct Cooking Stove: Whirlpool Gas total 15000BTU Custom Wood Hood We cook a lot, mainly Chinese food and many of them are high frame cooking. I have already checked the new unit will fit in the current custom wood hood. Question #1: The old unit uses 6" duct and my new unit is 8" duct. I want to minimize my work and don't want to make the hole on the wall bigger. So I bought a duct reducer which will sits on the new range hood. It will reduce the duct size from 6" to 8". Do you think this will work in terms of airflow? Question #2: The new unit has electrical components in the same room as 2 powerful blower. I was expecting the electrical components should be in isolated room. Is this ok? I am worry about how moisture and oil will damage the electrical components since they are all located in the same room. Any suggestions and advice are appreciated.