OK, you've all inspired me. Now I have to go get some seed! :) I did buy 6 plants this morning of mixed varieties but there's room for several more. I'm of the opinion that you can never have too many 'maters! Every year I cover the paths in my food garden with a layer of cardboard and mulch to keep the weeds out. I spent the morning taking the top 3 inches of last year's almost broken-down mulch and the gorgeous soil below it, and filling a couple of my beds to the brim --- including the tomato bed. Maybe some volunteers will be able to sprout through all that. Thanks for the inspiration! I really enjoy having varieties other than the same ol', same ol', and seed allows me to do that where store-bought plants don't. Deb

Thank you all so much for your input and ideas and links. I spent a couple days REALLY thinking about the replies and then thinking about exactly what my problems are and needs are for solutions. I came up with some new realizations: I jolted awake Sunday in the wee hours, realizing that I had JUST given away to habitat for humanity the solution to my pot lid problem - grrrrrrrrr!!!!!!!!!! I HAD the perfect solution and gave it away! It was an upright roasting rack for chicken with a beer can but it was a certain shape that I COULD NOT find again, anywhere, now that I had given my vintage one away! In my case, I wanted something that did NOT impinge on the pot real estate (I was also worried that when sauteeing with a nearly empty pot and a heavy glass lid on the pot edge it might tip over with one of those edge clip things), was portable (sometimes I need a lid stand by the range, other times near the oven when using a dutch oven), either didn't get dirty while in use or very easy to clean, easy to store, and versatile enough to handle my little sauce pan lids up to my enameled cast iron lids and different knob types, too. What I ended up buying was the picture below, a stainless, commercial grade ham rack! I will put it upside down and put the pot lid upside down on the four "arms," and I can reach the knob under the hot lid easily without burning my hand. On the step stool this was agony to decide, but after REALLY considering how I want to use it, where I want to store it, and the fact that years ago even though I had a 6 ft high quality ladder I bought an ultra light one from Costco and it's absolutely been the GO TO ladder in the house ever since, so I know the value of "overpaying" for an ultralight - I went with the williams sonoma link, which is on back-order until March 14th. On the sponge, what I came to realize is that I'm having some significant hand strength issues due to unknown joint flare ups, and this has kept me from being able to scrub hard enough with a regular dish cloth to get crusty stuff off, therefore I need the sponge. It has also kept me from being able to wring out a sponge dry enough for it to be "dry" overnight. So I'm going to try a method where I put my dish cloth and sponge, dampened, in a glass and lidded glass small corningware each night and nuke it sterile. The lid and contained moisture should keep them from drying out and becoming a fire risk. I wanted a small carbon footprint solution, so running the dishwasher or washing machine every day is not likely to happen (we are a household of 3), yet I want a solution to the stinky sponge!! Thank you all once again! I love to read this board for ideas and of course eye candy! This post was edited by beautybutdebtfree on Mon, Feb 24, 14 at 8:01

You are all so helpful. I do not have vision what so ever and we are in the middle of remodling our kitchen. I have already painted the walls and bought the cabinets. the cabinets are a Maple glaze and the walls are Behr Toasted Almond with a Moca glaze. I can not find a floor to go with what i already have. I wonder if its because i will have too much texture going on? I want to get granite countertops and right now we are leaning towards Uba Tuba, but i just can't seem to pull the tigger and purchase something. For tile we have looked at Sedona Slate Cedar tile and Salerno Marrone chiaro also. Two totally different colors. I will try and post pictures of what i have already, but i have to figure out how to do that first :)

Have you thought through the paths that food will take within the kitchen from arrival to storage to prep to cooking to plating, etc. It seems to me that you have paths that will cross and double-back on themselves. That will make your kitchen less efficient and more likely to have conflicts as you make a meal. You do have quite a hike from fridge to sink and back to stove. Where do you eat your meals, in the DR? Have you considered having two sinks: one as clean-up on the DR side of the prep/cooking zones, w dish storage nearby; the other located closer to food storage zone or enroute from there and closer to the range. Your butler's pantry sink is not going to serve either of these needs, though useful on its own for other purposes. Although overlooked by many, and clearly not as fun as thinking about styling issues, for me the essential first step in kitchen planning is thinking about the food & work pathways. If you get those as right as possible (there is rarely perfection) then no matter what else you do in the kitchen it will be fab since it will work so well. Right now, your plan has the three main things the fridge/food storage, the sink and the range out of order. You'd have to walk from the fridge, past the stove to the sink to rinse the carrots before trekking back to the range to cook them. Then back to sink to add (and later to drain) water to the pot. You are correct to be wondering where to store the dishes. If they are stored near the present sink location then you'd have to walk back to there to get a dish, before schlepping the plate past the stove where the carrots were cooked, onward to the DR, etc. Using the outlines of the space that you have, start by thinking through where the food will arrive, be stored, be prepped (with easy access to water) cooked, plated and served. Then where the plates will come back from where ever the food was eaten to be cleaned and leftovers stowed. Think about whether you will be going out through the french doors for outdoor grilling. Forget, for the moment, the notion that sinks need windows. Keep in mind that ranges need direct, or easy upward venting. Some people with young children like to have a fridge near the DR. Just ponder the food flow, then afterward walk through in your mind each step in a dozen or so commonly prepared meals. Every time you have to double back make a note of it, when and why. Use those notes to smooth the paths out. HTH, L.