They have renovation can lights these days and I highly recommend their use. The electrician roughs in the Romex in a loop, the drywaller covers it then after the cabinets are installed, the electrician cuts the perfect placement hole, fishes for his wire, and connects the can. Several months ago, I did some attic time bailing an electrician out of trouble on my cabinet install because the wall oven covered the can. This is impossible with the new lights. By the way, the first time I heard of this I thought it was one of the most stupid things I'd ever heard of. After the first installation, on our walk-in closet remodel, I was hooked. Lights after cabinets; it's the only way to go.

Oh, golly, golly, I'm so thrilled that you all have taken the trouble to read my tome and offer comments! Thank you, dianalo, rhome and bmorepanic! I really appreciate the suggestions and will give all of them some thought because that is exactly what I was hoping to get: fresh eyes that haven't been over and over the same old thinking, as I have by now. A few quick thoughts: rhome: It's a good point about the small size of the counter to left of the sink (between DW and sink). I gave it that space just as elbow room in case I do have the DW elevated above the counter. Without that space, I thought it would make it feel like you were doing dishes with the sink nearly touching a wall because of the vertical side of the raised DW cab. I am definitely not wedded to it, nor to the little 6" space on the other side of the DW. That's probably going to evaporate, anyway, (except for an inch or to of framing to keep the DW door from being slap against the wall) because the room is about 2.5 inches out of square in that corner. Odds are on that I either a) won't have any DW or b) will have it at normal counter height merely to use as an expensive dish drying rack. I plan to set up the finalized "test" kitchen, and work it, live with all appliances and water installed, before we go too much further along. It'll be ugly as Hell, but I've lived with inconvenient and ugly for years. So getting it down to just one annoyance in the name of making sure I've got it right seems like a good trade-off. Since both rhome and bmorepanic have identified issues about the corner pantry area, that obviously needs more thought. The 30" door is fairly fixed in position; it can't move south (it may be possible to move it north) because this is a timber-framed building and its southern edge is right against an unmoveable framing member. That's what the small box with an X in it signifies. (Note the similar one on the opposite side behind the range; that one controls the placement of the stove vent hood.) I thought the diagonal step-in gave me more storage space than truncating it by running it straight across. The little closet is just a niche to store the fire extinguisher and emergency supplies. My current fridge probably won't last too many more years and then I thought a FD model would give me more useable space in front, which is why I'm planning for a larger appliance in that space from the start. bmorepanic's mention of the grocery-to-house pathway brings me to an admission about one of the driving forces of my plan. The grocery arrival path is actually through the sitting room door at the top of the drawing. One of my biggest issues with this house is the traffic flow from the outside to inside. It's a direct collision of three things: a)I live in a region of the country where no matter how formal the house, nobody except dead people in coffins ever uses the front door of farmhouses; b) even if I could manage to change this deeply-ingrained cultural pattern, the classical "front" Greek Revival facade of my house - complete with double door flanked by side and transom lights and appropriately dressed with columns and pilasters - is inaccessible to anyone who arrives by car; and c) it makes me ab-so-lute-ly nuts not to have a distinct, graduated, intimacy progression from outside to inside. This is the one thing (perhaps even more than the non-functional kitchen) which is at the root of this upheaval. I figure since I can't change either the people or the surroundings, the one thing I can change is the pathway they follow. So I've decided to alter the room functions to match my sensibilities; when people approach the house (by the inevitable backdoor entrance) they will find themselves, whether they like it or not, in my public reception rooms, leading to my formal rooms (sitting room, office, etc.). Buried deeper within the house are the rooms I consider more private, like the kitchen. It goes against the modern grain, I know, but to me kitchens are personal workspaces, truly the "heart of my private home", which is not something that I like to share with visitors. And definitely not where I want to entertain casual visitors from the census taker to local politicians stumping for votes to the man who comes to see me about the fencing. Right now the kitchen is the first space inside the house. Meh! It's not like I want to show off to my visitors or them feel uncomfortable - even my "formal" sitting room is very low key and approachable, and relaxed. But I so much want - and need - that step-wise gradation of intimacy, that I'll do anything to get it. I have gone and back and forth and back again weighing this. But in the end I have decided that if I can arrange my rooms to satisfy how I like and still leave the structure largely changed (because it is so old and I don't want to make structural changes), I'm willing to make some sacrifices: such as I'll have to bring the groceries in through the sitting room (actually the current kitchen) to get to my new kitchen. The additional the distance is only about about 6 feet longer (immaterial at a farm where the cars are stored in barns at least fifty feet away, not in attached garages), and it's unlikely it will be embarassing to us to haul the groceries through the sitting room, since we'll be the only ones present while hauling! I will put some more thought into the corner step-in area and see how it can be improved. Your observations are very useful to my planning. I truly appreciate the time and trouble you have taken. I'll post some updated sketches in this thread rather start a new one. May I also say thank you for your kind words about my amateur drawings. I have struggled to the point of tears trying to use computer room planning software. And because so many people who ask for advice have mastered this, until now, I have been too abashed by my lack of skill to post without a computer drawing. Back soon, with another version(s) of the corner pantry area. Anybody else want to put in their two cents? Nancy

benjesbride, thank you for the suggestions – I appreciate all ideas. I should have included an earlier render of the layout in the TV room (including the largest double recliner we’ve found but not purchased). I’ve added it below. To give DH his dedicated coffee making area, buehl put a coffee bar in the tv room, suggesting we make it a combo snack bar (love this). Yes, this room is for TV viewing only, but also works as a small man-cave (other than the coffee bar) – we have another tv in the Great Room. We’re going with a double recliner because: We don’t entertain - it’s just the 2 of us; Not there now, but as we age, circulation issues may arise, so legs/feet in elevated position; Wish to make this room about comfort for DH, thus, a (double) recliner. In the current location below: the recliner won’t obstruct the passthrough view as it sits lower in both positions. It’s the perfect location – I can easily see DH and talk to him at the passthrough (or close it off for noise buffer)! This is DH’s dedicated room, and he loves the ‘vintage industrial’ look, so we are building the tv/coffee-snack bar as a large cabinet. I built furniture, refinished antiques, and was a decent woodworker 2 decades ago, so have experience, and DH can build pretty much anything mechanical/metal. We intend (for now, plans change!) to go with a distressed copper countertop to make the coffee bar masculine/bar-like for DH, add shelving to display his man-tiques (masculine antiques/collection), enclose the mini fridge, snack, and bean storage areas, and I’ll refine some of the industrial look to go with our whole-house décor. As you wisely mentioned, that’ll be a narrow room and I’ve been very concerned about this. We’d marked it off with painter’s tape, but that’s not adequate. Last weekend we brought a large (temporary) sofa from storage to the room, got his huge tv hooked up, and have loved the set-up! The distance is perfect: no scanning the tv (moving eyes side to side for complete viewing), and in the reclined position, the higher position of the tv will also be perfect. We’ll build vintage wall lights at each side of the recliner. cpartist suggested a mantlemount, and we are keeping this option in mind to raise and lower the tv. Later, when all is done, we’ll decide if we have room to add simple seating if DH wishes to have a hangout area with more than 1 friend at a time… as well as more wall display areas. Tho’ I love the idea of a window to view the herb garden, windows aren’t conducive to tv viewing (on weekends during daytime sports). If you see any flaws in what I’ve described, please point them out to me! Thanks!

Front entry. Kitchen island Living room. This one is my favourite and was originally thinking of doing over kitchen table. Just thought it would look better with stone fireplace. Kitchen table. Not totally sure about this one. But something similar. And then a fan top of peak just to the left of centre of entire area? This is more for function than fashion but just not sure if too much.