Why is the closed kitchen so important to you? Because of the L-shape, there is no direct line of sight from the living area to the cooking area. And the way the kitchen is currently planned, I don’t see any cooking fanatics preparing exotic 10-course menus at work. With the planned sliding doors, you are taking away a lot of space and sensible design possibilities. The island from the last plan is a joke as a workspace. If you plan a real kitchen island as a room divider instead of sliding doors, you will have many more options to accommodate a small seating area.