annkh your suggestions were genius! We talked about moving the fridge to that location, but there are a gazillion switches in that area. But 1: there are way too many switches in general in this house, in this area in particular,and 2. we would have to move electrical anyway to take down that partition wall. I played around with the Lowe's planner some more, plugging in your suggestions, and LOVE it! I did keep a LS base in the corner, but changed the upper corner to an easy reach. Taking the fridge out allowed me to move the stove down enough to have a 24" to the left and a 27" to the right of it!!!! Without even taking out the partition wall, but maybe shortening it to 24" instead of 36". Woo hoo! PLUS, this allows me a more useful island, even in the same dimensions I have now, because A. I can get it closer to the stove and B. moving the fridge allows that island to stand right where it should be- in front of the stove instead of in front of the fridge! PLUS, (this gets better and better!) there is room to move the fridge without reducing my 36" sink base, unless a filler/spacer is needed between fridge and DW,in which case I would only have to go down to a 33" !!!! I will think about taller wall cabs, but with the addition of such wider cabs already I don't think I will need them, in which case the soffit can stay and save some labor there (although I would love to cut it out at LEAST over the sink.) Can you tell I am super excited??? may flowers, you pretty much brought up every issue I had with the peninsula plan, but I considered it for its work space and additional storage. I added the open shelf because it felt so much more inviting on approach than a solid end. (Love those 3d mock-ups for exactly this reason.) Changing the layout according to annkh's suggestions eliminated all the reasons for going with a peninsula layout, returning that added benefit of walkway and openness. athomesewing, I think that it is quite possible, especially if we wait and save, and is an excellent suggestion. The only conceivable issue would be having to match siding on the outside of the house if we reduce that opening, which is negligible at worst. We had talked about getting rid of the window in the dining area, getting a larger slider and moving the whole thing down the wall some. but then we are adding major cost and time to the project. rtwilliams, I did not get much inspiration from those photos as far as layout is concerned, but (despite my vow to address function before design) really clarified problematic style issues I was having, thank you so much! I appreciate everyone's input more than you could know. I know it is good to start thinking now, but all of a sudden I want the project to start NOW! lol! Imagine that... Still playing around with cabinet style and placement on window wall (glass/no glass, cabs over DW and fridge, etc.) and am now thinking boldly of sacrificing some storage in the island to maintain a more open feel:

My master bath has brown cabinets and the window and crown molding are done in brown wood...my master bedroom has brown crown molding and brown accents. There is a common thread so the two rooms flow. But they are not the same color, not a lighter tone of the other...nope, two different colors, different styles, definately different linens (I only believe in white for towels because I believe God invented bleach for a reason). My hardware in the master bath and master closet are in similar gold tones. And the lighting between the three rooms is all antique, most are exposed bulb fixtures from the early teens but in different colors. So there's another little carry through. I think my three rooms, which are all different colors with different linens flow because I've kept a few key features similar, though not exactly the same. In the bath, brown is the main color, in the bedroom it's an accent and in the closet it becomes the main again. The walls of the master suite are bronze (literally metalic bronze tone) but the master bath is done in a marble like finish of cream and tan. The closet is gold. All different textures, but they still flow well and give me flexibility to do different things in the master bedroom if I want to. This is the view from the bath to the bedroom: And from the bedroom to the bath: And I do require the cat sit on the counter in the bath at all times because he matches the wall in the bedroom....

I'm bumping this back up because I've been thinking about scaling back. We are reno'd out after our kitchen, and now bogged down with painting nearly every room in the house. We also have to take out some carpet and install hardwood. The thing I hate the most is the sink right across from the toilet. We do use the bathroom at the same time, but there is barely enough room for toilet and sink use simultaneously. Plus, I hate having a mirror right across from the toilet. So, I'm thinking of keeping the vanity as a single vanity, 48", but moving the sink closer to the shower. Then we'd put tall cabinets across from the toilet for towels, toiletries, etc., which we currently keep out in the hall closet. Though I still worry about the huge size discrepancy between the bedroom and bathroom.

What color headboard do you have? What color grey for the walls? Sounds lovely!