Here's an update: I bought a new rug. The picture quality is not the greatest as I took it with my phone, but here it is: It is returnable, so I would like some thoughts on it! I love the colour (a mixture of blues and browns), and I think the pattern will help hide our day to day messes (compliments of Bandit, on the loveseat, and her two teenagers!) I also like that it is a less traditional feel than the old rug. I went on my first fabric hunting trip yesterday, but came up empty. I'm still not sure what direction to go for the chairs. Thanks, Carrie

Thanks everyone! Jillius I love the closet pantry! Thank you for taking the time for additional options. I have thought long and hard about the layout and different options. Here is where we are after speaking with my hubby: 1) We would like to keep the sink where it is and have a nice focal point with the wall hood. We are doing a similar panel treatment to our fireplace and will carry this design into kitchen. This area will be bumped out a bit. We want to keep the sink view. It's the only real view we have of our side yard, rose garden (when they are alive and blooming), pool with the sound of trickling water and a place to see the kids if they are swimming out back. We have plantation shutters and sectional in living room so no unobtructed view like we have in the kitchen. Also, the back wall away from anything else is ideal spot to cook for us. We don't want gaps in the wall cabinets to add more windows on the back wall next to cooktop. We have 9 ft ceilings and the space isn't as closed in and dark as it appears in the pictures I snapped at night with my phone. We do not want a bulky fridge in the path near our patio door. Need some free space just to maneuver in and out of patio door from pool. Don't want to move the patio door either. 2) expansion: we would love a larger island. Seating is not necessary. If we were to expand, we would rather take out the buffet in dining room. We need to see if there will be structural limitations. The expansion into the side yard will cramp up the pool area too much. We would rather take the 19" from the dining room buffet assuming it won't obstruct flow of dining table. 3) we are willing to give up the desk area and see if we could move things down and open up the entry to dining room by the corner side. This option would leave us having to go around the family room when we come in from pool to shower. Ideally, I'd like to add a shower in the yard so this will only be a short term inconvenience. If we can't move the opening, we would like to see what else to use that space for. I would love some sort of nook seating. Would have to see what creative solutions we can come up with. Ann I would love to see pics of your pantry! Pantry: we love the closet pantry idea. Where and how to fit it in will depend on overall layout we choose. 4) without moving sink, we are exploring prep sink options. Ideally need a small garbage, soap and place to hang towel for this to work. 5) cabinets and storage is where we need to be careful to have adequate storage so we aren't tripping over each other. Right now our dishes are stored in the large drawer under cooktop because that's the only place they fit (cabinets have middle bar). It's a pain and we need to make sure our cabinet design solves all our storage and flow issues if we are keeping the u shape with island. 6) we find this plan really interesting except for the sink location. I wonder if a corner sink with a small end cabinet can work with this layout. Basically an l shape with a corner sink. I guess a g shape I think I have addressed everything that has been presented. Thank you all for your time and thoughts on this. We need to do some more research and see what options we have construction wise! And then weigh whether it's worth the cost.

I use "gray" and "grey" both..(we were taught "grey" as we were taught Britsh English..I usually try to omit "u" s..)) because to me "gray" is warmer gray than "grey" which is lighter and cooler.. I was very surprized when I stumbled upon some forum where a bunch of people felt the same-orthe opposite..but they definitely saw "gray" and "grey" as two different shades I've a problem with "lie down" and "lay down" too I also mispronounce "bowl". lol. I used to have impeccable sense of right grammar (from spelling to punctuation, which can get very complicated) in Russian..I was born with it..my parents made it my chore to check my older brother's compositions etc when I was six..)) (He was born with other talents..more useful I must say))) So yes..mistakes bothered me. To a degree. I thought I'd always stay like that, at least in Russian. Never a typo, even. Well it changed)) I can see that, with horror-I usually catch it on time-but it changed.. on forums, I forego rules often. No capital letters, and some other things. If I want to write something of more.. importance-I'll get back to the rules. I became much more relaxed about proper spelling..I know many incredibly smart people who have some form of dyslexia, or they've no visual memory when it comes to spelling, or.. My own brother-he's an avid reader, and some of books he read-frankly, I could understand mostly pronouns and such..)) Philosophy and whatnot... I highly value when he recommends me something..usually means a very good book..not always cheerful but good, it will be yet he can't spell for the life of him he never understood the point of writing essays either (we were supposed to write a lot of essays in school. Usually analytical.. We also had to learn poems, and sometimes passages from books, by heart-came very easy to me, but was a struggle to many. I discovered with great surprize that' here no stress is made on learning poems by heart..)

I think the back of the house could use a little dimension...it all seems a little flat right now and not sure how that will look from the exterior? I don’t know if there’s any specific nice view out the back that you want to preserve/enhance, but having 1-2 bump outs might be nice. They could also get you some new windows in different directions, bringing in some different light. For example, you could bump out your living room so it’s not in a flat plane with the rest of the house. If your living room currently has a western exposure (I forget what the orientation is), you could then get north and south exposure by adding windows along the sides of the bump out. You could maybe even add some doors to the outside on the side of the bump out so you don’t have to squeeze by the dining table to access the sliding door - that’s how my house is currently and it is sort of annoying sometimes. I’m not an architect, so I don’t know the term for it, but adding a little dimension along the back might be good, unless you’re going for a super formal symmetrical aesthetic, which I don’t think you are.