Kitchen Reno: Future Kitchen Design?

Last month was landscaping month, and this month is cleaning month.  This leads to very little to show you of what's going on here.  We do have plans though.
We have a kitchen reno planned for early 2014, if I can talk my dad into visiting for too long, and nothing goes wrong until then.  I have been thinking about this reno since our first walk-through.  My first thought was to blow open a large opening, and add an island.  I think it's exactly what the house needs to modernize it, creating a more open floor plan.

This is an Ikea rendering of our plan.  I plan on using Ikea cabinets, most likely Ramsjo in black-brown, but white is still an option.  We are open to moving the stove/range, and fridge, but I like the idea of an large blank island.  We are also open to removing the beverage fridge (silver appliance on right side), and replace it with a cabinet.
This plan will probably change about a half dozen times before we start the reno.

AFI Top 100 Update: We watched #15, 2001: A Space Odyssey.  14 down, 86 to go.  At this rate we will be done in about 2 years.  A movie marathon may be in our future.