The basic plan it to draw an imaginary line between the "inside" conditioned areas and the "outside" areas. Any place that those 2 meet, you want to seal up any air movement and then add a layer of insulation. (If you have plywood or similar on the floor, you might have to take that up temporarily to seal and add the insulation. ) For venting, you want vents at the lowest point and vents at the highest point and nothing obstructing air from flowing between the two. That way, cool air is pulled in from the bottom and hot air vents through the top. That keeps the attic cooler in summer and keeps heat from building up and melting snow in winter.

We are just finishing up a new build that I wanted to look classic...white inset cabinets with soapstone, as well. I ended up with Restoration Hardware's Clemson pendant. Restoration Hardware's school house pendants and flush mounts would also work well with a classic kitchen. Rejuvination definately has some good classic options. I would also check out Schoolhouse Electric as they have some cool pieces. I also really like Visual Comfort lighting. Good luck!

Here is an option that does a few things: - Keep most of the walls in place (cost savings) - Keep most of the plumbing in place (cost savings) - Keep the better kitchen layout. If you want it bigger you could pull the peninsula out toward the living room and gain more space. I can actually offer a better kitchen layout also that doesn't have the fridge blocking the view from the foyer to the living room. - Great size and bright master closet. - Better placed sink in powder room. - Used some odd foyer space for the laundry. - Can add some bench/lockers in the foyer on the master bedroom wall. Weakness: - Powder room opens to living room - living room may get cramped to fit a dining table. Consider moving powder room to foyer on master bedroom wall. (adds cost but allows for larger master bathroom or use that space for living room built-ins etc.) Enjoy!

Continuing...our custom house needed painting after eighteen years, inside and out. We had replaced a small kitchen island with a large custom one. When we moved to our 1803 dream, it needed paint, inside and out, including our famous 1927 roof. It needed some electrical work and plumbing done because we gutted a twenty year old kitchen to install a kitchen to accommodate both of the cooks in the family. We spent a (planned) fortune to line and cap five fireplaces, but we had budgeted for that, fireplaces being so important to us. We had to remodel a twenty year old bathroom for our aesthetic, not for function. Most everything we have done has been for our design vision and to be a good steward of this historic property. My husband is an amateur woodworker and restored the shutters, showing me the difference in the construction of the shuttered on the original portion of the house versus the latter 1836 addition. We didn’t replace them with vinyl shutters, he repaired them. We haven’t ripped off the plaster from the walls, we cherish it. For those of you who don’t love an old house, that’s fine. Just please, please don’t buy an old house and “modernize” it by tearing down walls for open concept. The mantles in the front and back parlors are too formal for my taste BUT they are staying, being original to the 1836 addition. They are part of the history of the house. How many posters here are ripping out a perfectly functional fireplace to “update” it, even if it is original to the MCM or the Victorian or the 2010 house they just bought. The Scotch Irish in me cringes when people “hate” the solid maple or the cherry or the quarter sawn cabinets and rip them out or paint them gray. Stop discouraging people who buy history.