Carol-very good use of space for different activities. We aren't finishing our basement right away but I am bookmarking his thread for later. Our 'family room' down there is 17x33 I think. Definitely room for multi-purposing. IKEA hack - ugh no. I do not have near the time necessary to plan and carry out that undertaking. :(. We ended up buying 2 cabinets vanity height and depth for $1,000 bucks. The rest we are winging. There have been strong disagreements about the built ins so we will see what we end up with. They will be more basic than my inspiration for sure. At this point I am very thankful for my arches. If that is what I end up with then I am happy. Have you seen Dutty's kitchen IKEA hack? Simply amazing! Your plan looks great! LL is an awesome visualizer. :)

Thanks very much, Sister! Laura Ashley paint is Valspar Signature Colors Laura Ashley Paint from Lowe's. My neighbor (professional painter)that painted prefers Valspar Signature Colors as I guess they contain primer and cover well. He said whatever color you decide on, make sure you get it mixed in Valspar. Once we decided on Laura Ashley gold, it all made sense. Considering her brick color, too as we speak... Take a look at them when you can- pretty colors! :)

I think even if you share a household, you need to learn some boundaries. To protect yourself, mostly. But also because it's right. True, your mom is too "lazy" to make those albums. But maybe that's just a pipe dream; maybe she thinks she "ought" to put photos in albums, and just can't admit that she doesn't really WANT to. That's often behind people's laziness--the fact that the benefits of that thing are just not apparent. If people don't do something, I believe it's because they don't genuinely WANT to. No matter what their mouth says. (and frankly, there is NO empirical benefit to putting photos in albums w/ fancy paper and stickers. The fancy paper and stickers are make-work, and should be done only by those people who get some sort of artistic satisfaction out of doing it. Your mom obviously doesn't get enough satisfaction to bother with it. She's ALLOWED not to want to actually follow through on her albums. Of course it would be nice if she could be honest with herself and say, "I'm content w/ these photos in boxes, and I'm going to stop kidding myself that I'll really make albums," and then toss the excess scrapbooking stuff. But having only recently been through that process, I can tell you that it's not an easy one. It involves creating an entirely new self-image.) I think you need to stop taking responsibility for "fixing" your mom--whether she's morally deficient ("irresponsible and immature") or ill ("psychological disorder"). You *can't* fix her. She's a grownup, and if she's going to change, it will be only because she wants to. You can't even make her go to a psychiatrist to see if medications would help her (say, if she has OCD), because she is NOT your legal dependent. I think you need to just NOT focus on her, and her stuff. No more going "room to room" and making lists of all the ways she is deficient. I know you live there, but it's not your space. Focus your energy on getting out, and on making your life be what you want. Try to maintain calm and order in the places where it affects you, and then, regarding all else, close your eyes, stick your fingers in your ears, and say "la, la, la!" Try to have your own life settled so that if you *need* to "be there" for your little sisters, you can, but don't take on that responsibility too rapidly. A 17-year-old can watch over a 12-year-old, and your dad is part of the family too. Few people have actually died because the corners of the living room are stacked full of out-of-date textbooks, etc. Also, you need to spend some energy, not on fixing things in your parents' marriage, but on getting OUT from "in between." Stop taking ANYBODY's side in any of their disputes or problem. LEAVE THE ROOM! I'm not trying to be snippy. I'm just trying to make you see that you are reaching beyond where you ought to. And your basic assumption--that *you* need to "fix" all these problems in your parents' lives--is wrong. You need to "declutter" that assumption--toss it in the garbage. That assumption is YOUR equivalent of old issues of magazines, etc. You can't fix those problems. So stop trying to. You'll find it amazingly freeing.

Bmorepanic, Thanks you for your help once again! Your design is good. I can see many excellent features in it. It reminds me of some of the two island designs we played around with, but with one bigger island. The flow between dining room and kitchen would be wonderful with your plan, which was one reason we resisted a peninsula for so long. However, I am now too happy with the L plus big island concept to let go of that idea. I am not bothered by the peninsula between kitchen and dining room (although shorter is better). I like the idea of having that block of the peninsula when I am entertaining and we are dining. I also really, like the idea of doing dishes in the peninsula spot more than against the wall (as you know I am not happy against a wall -- too jumpy for that -- wall spots are good for DH though). From the peninsula, I can chat with those at the dining room table, take in the fireplace, watch TV or look out (from a distance) at two large windows and a set of french doors). I can even see my younger kids on their climber in the backyard. When my teen son understood he could watch TV while he washed pots he suddenly was keen to do dishes -- priceless! Watching my neighbour on his deck out the side kitchen window does not have that much appeal. Also, by the time we do dishes it is often dark outside so you can't see anything out a window anyway. I see your issues with the DW around the corner. LOL about the bumps and leg jabs. I could see myself with some bloody legs, so, thanks to you, I am not going to place the second DW around the corner after reading your comments. I have it in the latest design (see below) as two DW together which allows a shorter peninsula than if we put one on each side of the sink. The reason for this is I would not want one DW right up against the corner which would block the storage above. I can imagine no time when we would be organized enough to be loading two DWs at the same time. I imagine one would be full running through a cycle or be in need of unloading, while the other was in receiving mode. So for me two side by side does work. I do appreciate the time you have taken to think through my kitchen with me! Below is the newest version. I think we might consider making use of a cart for distribution of groceries to their various corners, and even to help unload dishes to the glass cabinet. When entertaining, we could also clear the table with a cart. I realize that our DWs are not close to glass, bowls and small plates storage which will be in the glass cabinet. However, the benefit of having the dishes close to the snack zone is worth the hassle of unloading. Just can't have it all in a 20 foot long kitchen! We also plan to make use of a Kornerking drawer/lazy susan device in the corner for baking/cooking ingredients combined with a easy reach L cabinet in the upper corner area for food as well (not snack food). I went through a very long list of typical kitchen jobs and assigned each an area for completion so I can figure out what to store where (and hence make progress on the size of drawer, shelf, etc to incorporate). I was able to see that most of our kitchen tasks will not require too much walking and zones will not cross too much. If you see any other tweaks, please let me know? Carol