A surface mounted light fixture at the center of the ceiling will light the back of someone working in the kitchen and throw a shadow on the work surface. This is how the kitchen would have been illuminated in the 30's. We now know that for better comfort and efficiency such task areas should be illuminated more directly with stronger focused light from under the cabinets or recessed into the ceiling. Modern recessed light fixtures can be 3" or 4" in diameter and deeply recessed or with shields so the lamp is not noticeable. They should be placed about at the line of the front edge of the counter and be adjustable or wall washers. They are particularly effective over the sink. If you have an island, pendant lights are decorative and efficient but for a low ceiling, recessed Low-Voltage Pin-Spot fixtures work very well. A major decision will be if you want a ceiling fan.

kirkhall - what a brilliant idea!! talk about not being able to see the forest for the trees! the lower left room with the sunporch is our master, so it wouldn't mean any switch in that regard. and would make the two other bedrooms the same size. this is a great alternative if building over the sunroom just isn't an option. i just wish i had posted this before we renovated those two bedrooms!!!! ha ha. one question though (because i'm hesistant to lose an entire wall in the bedroom we'd be shrinking to a reach in closet). if we were to put the closets for the two upper bedrooms back to back on the exterior wall of the house, would 6'x6' be enough room for a small bathroom with a tub? i was thinking the tub could be placed along the wall with the closets, leaving a 6' x 3 1/2'-ish space for toilet and sink. is that just too small? would we have to give up both closets for those bedrooms for a total bathroom footprint of 9'x6'? the tub in our current bathroom is about 30" from back wall to apron front. This post was edited by aliciaandbilly on Thu, Jan 23, 14 at 10:25

If the kitchen walls are not load-bearing, you could easily remove them and redesign the kitchen to include a pantry and banquette seating by slightly expanding the kitchen in one or both directions. The kitchen design needs help anyway. A redesign would also give you a open, flow-through space in one or both directions. If the walls are load bearing, you could substitute appropriately sized new beams and re-design/expand the kitchen. 4,000 SF +/- is a lot of house to heat and cool, considering that the air leakage of windows and walls is probably high and the insulation remaining in walls and roof is probably low. Might want to consider some rehab to make the house more energy efficient. That would include checking the age and condition of all heating and cooling equipment and the water heater. Good luck with your project.

Amazing pictures and advice everyone, thank you! Thank you Dan, those look fantastic. I will ask my cabinet maker about that approach to the inset look. Rocky I know! I should stop looking for inspiration anywhere else (but it is fun to keep looking)! Nosoccermom, I just love the leather pulls on the second kitchen. I will have a large wall of tall pantry that would look fantastic if I modelled it after the pantry in your third picture. Perhaps the pantry in shaker, the drawers (which is pretty much the rest of the kitchen) in inset slabs. Not sure that I'll be able to do anything but blue and white now! When are you doing your Victorian space?? I'm definitely going for a slightly European old space / modern design look I think. LisaD, wow, that green kitchen is fantastic. I would love to have that space to entertain all my GW advisors! And I have about a dozen deVol kitchen pics in my Pinterest inspiration pictures, I just love it. Definitely prohibitive to ship from the UK though! Anglophilia, I'm all over the drawers as well, love them. No upcharge for full inset is a great advantage. I fortunate to have an exceptionally talented cabinet maker brother-in-law, so he will do my cabs custom (assuming he has time and I give him plenty of notice!). I will post a pic of my book matched walnut slab drawers that he did for me for my current kitchen. I will be sad to leave them. But I'm looking forward to the new place now!