Installing a Vented Range Hood

It is summer here in Boston and time to catch-up with some 'homework'. We recently replaced our stove when the old one gave up after almost 25+ years of service. As we replaced the stove, we decided that it was also time to get rid of the small, crappy recirculating hood over our old range with a new better looking one. However, better looking does not make for more functional unless we vent the new hood to the outside. Our stove is against an interior wall and this makes exhausting to the outside a rather complex project, something that probably lead the previous homeowners to stick with a recirculating hood.

To do it right we would need to sacrifice some cabinet space above the stove, run new duct work across the kitchen and breakfast nook ceiling and drill an 8" hole on the side of our house to exhaust. In addition the new duct work would have to be covered with an interior soffit!

Here is a picture of the kitchen when I started this project and after replacing the old range and removing the old hood. Basically we were thinking that the hood would exhaust approximately where the clock was. Also note that the kitchen nook has a vaulted ceiling. I will post more pictures as the project progresses.