This is really funny. Not trying to hijack but... OHHHHHH what a grand idea for a collection of everything calendar related! After I read someone on this forum has a hosta for each letter of the alphabet (cool idea), I thought it would be fun to make collections based on something else as not to copy. So far: Mice Quilting & Sewing (SIT, Kiwi Gold Thimble, etc.) Sailing (Sailor Take Warning, Viking Ship, etc.) Patriotic (Revolution, Independence, Patriot, etc.) Fun Food and Drink (Orange Marm, Pineapple UDC, Cookie and Cracker Crumbs, etc.) and now the Calendar and Holidays (whoo hooo!!!!!) And then I think it would be fun to collect Tetraploids. Oh where to begin? I suppose with the mice... Regatta (begin with saving $$$ for my own dirt and my hosta collection would be a good idea)

Stephynb, In all reality, as blocks come open, you'll do like everyone else... you'll pick up your seed packets and see what "fits" in that spot best. Will carrots or radishes grow quickly, or do you need a square of beans to make up for the ones that aren't producing yet? Oh, or would lettuce be better there because the tomatoes are getting big and the lettuce likes the shade better than the beans like it. You can plan your crop rotation and everything else to your heart's content, but your garden will tell you when it's ready for something else...and that something else may not fit the "plan" you have drawn. I rotate the heavy hitters from year to year. I planted my maters in a different bed this year than last year. I used what I learned last year about the sun patterns on my beds to lay out this year's garden.

We've been playing with this some more and are in the middle of pretty serious discussions with a contractor now about some of the major structural work that this entails to see if the how the construction budget impacts our overall dreams. This is similar to the first one we posted on this thread. Biggest differences are: - we put the double ovens near the entry to the dining room. I know that some folks will think this is in a major walkway, but it's not. We don't eat in the formal dining room much and that's a good place to put the ovens a bit out of the way of the rest of the cooking zone. - We are trying to expand the length of the island by putting a diagonal door from the mudroom. Having a longer island gives us a drop zone behind the fridge. - This meant a new home for pantry - now most likely some sort of pullout contraption by the fridge. In response to some one previous question: - We don't want to put the ice machine near the beverage center because we want to be able to use it for daily use (convenient to the regular drinks) and we don't want to add a water line to our beverage area. Still struggling with how we keep this space light. By adding the mudroom, we will enclose what are currently 2 full length windows into our current breakfast area. We might consider keeping the door from the mudroom into the kitchen a glass door instead of solid. The other idea that we're wrestling with is whether we could add some sort of glass wall or window on the wall that is between the new main sink and our current office. It isn't at all clear from our picture, but in the current house configuration, if we can center the sink on that wall, it will back up to what used to be an exterior window that is now covered up as that space now looks into our office. Our office does have 3 exterior windows though. Our contractor has the idea that we should actually open up the old window and put back in some sort of glass block wall or something like that. Seems a little crazy to us (not to mention, we're going with much more of a traditional look than glass block seems to suggest). We would *really* appreciate any creative ideas here. Best one I have going now is putting in a high window/transom type thing over the sink that would at least let in some natural light. Thanks as always!

@herbflavor Very good point. As for the sink basins, they have not been selected yet, but they will be big enough. @rhome410 Good food for thought, integrated, more or less, in to this new iteration. @springroz I really like the idea of a prep sink/prep area. Especially with where the fridge and stove are now, I think it will be a easy pull out of the fridge and place on the island. The island can also be a staging are for foods going to the stove. Not that you do not raise some valid points, I just see this working better for us. Ok, here is my latest iteration. I do not even want to know what version I am up to now. This kitchen design thing is more difficult than designing a network/phone/IVR for multinational call center :P Notes and stuff: - Loc A: 2 shallow drawers for cooking utensils. An open vertical area for cookie sheets, cooling racks, etc - Loc B: 1 shallow drawer for alum foil, parchmnet, plastic bags and the like. 2 deep drawers for regularly used pots and pans. - Loc C: 1 shallow drawer for flatware. Pullout for garbage - Loc D: 1 or 2 banks of 4 drawers - Loc E: Full height pull out for garbage and recycling - Loc F: Appliance (Mixer) lift and a bank of 4 drawers - Log G: Narrow (12") drawers or a door (or both) and an open corner. Message center, home phone, charging center, etc. This will also be the "flex area" for expansion. The way I see it is that I will have the cabinet and corner fitted with a sacraficial peice that the counter will be glued to. When/if the time comes that we want a wider fridge (up to 48"), we just remove the cabinet section, attach a new sacrafical peice and put the cutdown counter on that. It is all very simple in my head, not sure if I typed it out as simple as I see it. - Basement steps: When I go to look at the house again today, one thing I am going to look at the feasability of mounting a recessed MW in the wall there as well as trash and recycling center. Either to eliminate one of those area in the kitchen proper or to suplement them. There may be some other things I can do there to. (Recessed buffet and/or dry bar area or other convieniance. - Dining room wall. I know I can open up the doorway to a full 10'. Currently at 3.5' (I have it on here as opened to 5') and the partial wall is 6.5'. I may explore the potential of opening it all the way to the angled storage area, for a total of 13.5' of opening in to the dining room. I think the design is all coming together nicely. Thank you everyone for the your feedback and suggestions. Please keep them coming. Jason