cals, how long are the two sides (arms) of the U? How far out of the kitchen would you have to put the island to have clearance on the corners if you turned it to run parallel with the stove side? It seems that if you have a long island running parallel to the fridge and sink, people will gather on one side or another or both and be in the way, as artmoderne is describing. OTOH, if there is a way to run it parallel to the top (bottom?) of the U, people will not be coming into the kitchen to stand between island and stove. They will congregate on the other side. But if the arms of the U are too long, that would put the island way out of the kitchen and not worth turning it. In that case, I would personally prefer to have the extra storage and counter space even if the island had to run the way you're describing. I don't think 24" is too little. Our current one is 4' wide, way too big. We're replacing it with a 30" wide but for a while we had a 24" wide drawn in and it never bothered me thinking about it (can't speak from IRL experience yet). 3' is fine unless you have a kitchen like artmoderne describes (sounds like it's closed on all sides where people tend to gather?). I would give it a little more for the oven side though, since you can.

Thanks to everyone for taking a look and sharing ideas! The island is kind a "minty" green. The monitor can throw colors a bit. Although I loved it with the pale yellow walls I had originally, it is clashing IRL :) I am really loving the paint too. We went with a washable matte finish, and it feels totally different from satin paint we used previously. It almost looks like fabric on the walls. Ok- onto the fabric....I love both fabrics. Here are my concerns/ideas. I like the unexpectedness (is that a word?) of the toile and the way it "pops" next to the olive walls. But for some reason- I am not sure. At the moment(ha ha) I tend to be leaning towards the Jacobean ( didn't know thats what it was called- just liked the pattern) but was a bit concerned about it being too busy on both the cornince and panels. When I found it at the store, I went back to the toile prints and found a nice muted brown/green that works with it that I could use for the kitchen chairs. One more time - how about these options (please bare with me!) 1. Remove the cornice, and use just panels of the Jacobean or Toile 2. Cover the cornice, AND use panels with the same Jacobean fabric- 3. Cover the cornice with the Jacobean print and use solid panels of coordinating color 4. remove fabric from the cornice, have DH stain it to match wall unit and table, add some interesting mouldings, and then add Jacobean or toile panels underneath? If I go with the Jacobean fabric I love the idea of rusty red for the island. Do you think it might look like Christmas ? Going away for 2 days- no internet access, so will check back Monday morning. Thanks again for everyone for the suggestions and being so helpful. You guys are the best!

Sometimes it can depend on the type of blind and bracket used to install it with. With the blinds we got from Home Depot, the lady told us they could not be any more than 1/2 inch shorter than the window because then they won't be long enough to fit into the brackets so a 1/4 inch may not even be a wide enough gap. If you have a quarter inch space on each side of the blind, that is ideal. You know, the blinds we got at Home Depot and Lowe's are great. They have wide slats, are super easy to install and very price friendly. I liked them so much I've put them on all of our windows. If it were me, I'd probably just go price them at Lowe's and Home Depot to see if the added cost for new would be that much more. That way you can have them cut perfectly to your window and you'll know you have the right brackets to install them with. (and they won't be used/dirty already) That would make it worth it to me anyways.

This is part of an email from a friend awhile back who was thinking of having a Christopher Peacock kitchen. The Christopher Peacock cabinets are so well made it is incredible. They put most cabinets to shame. They are solid wood all the way through and have a thick solid maple back piece to the cabinet, even. Of course there are so many options it would drive one insane, trying to pick. The draftsman had drawn up a plan for our kitchen that was good. D seems very enthusiastic about doing CP cabinets. However, we have to find the contractor first to do all the demo, move the gas line, do some plumbing rearranging, etc. We have to find a design/build outfit pronto. The $185,000 that they quote on the web site for their top end kitchen is a fallacy. That is ONLY for cabinets. Not faucets, appliances, countertops, etc. Our rough estimate was $75,000 and that does not include travel expenses for the installers or for the painter. We have to put them up, rent them a car, feed them, etc. Sheesh. His painter is from Hungary. In Hungary they go through a 3 year course before they can call themselves painters. His brushwork was amazing. Then we got him to recommend appliances and we added those up. Another $30,000....Subzero and Wolf & Meile. I would go for those. They were fabulous. D said, why don't we just keep our Sub and have it faced. Because he had freezer drawers and a separate Sub and I would like a new one. Ours has always had a strip that does not stay attached. Drives me nuts on a $7000 refrigerator. We would buy the top for the island through him. He has a place from NY that does wood tops. They are teak and are finished with a marine grade finish. Love that look. He had honed statuary marble on the cabinets in the showroom in the kitchen that I liked. He said to be certain to do honed and not glossy. We will have to figure that out.