I mentioned the borders to dh this morning and he likes the idea. Each of the long sides is about 14'. The shot side is about 10'. The other short side is there the 'bridge' is. I'll look at it tonight with dh and see what we can work out. As far as the layout of the living room. As the furniture is now. Looking at the back of the chairs, you are stading by the dining table and behind you, the kitchen. That opening is about 10' wide. Still looking at the back of the chairs, next to the chairs is the couch. And in front of it is the fireplace and the stairs that lead to the upstairs. The couch is about 12 feet long. I would love if it could put the couch where you could see the back, but it is just too big. We did every arrangement we could think of when we first got it so that we wouldn't have to close off the door way (the blank wall that is now behind the couch). Just to give you a little background of the house. When you stand looking at the back of the chairs, you are standing where the carport used to be. We added about 40' to the end of the house about 6 years ago, doing most of the work ourselves. So that is why the layouts ended up a little strange. The now TV area used to be the dining room and kitchen.

johnatemp, ty so much for the tips. I'm going to copy this and save for DH. He'll need all the help he can get when coming time to paint :) kmc, I really do love the antique what. I just wonder what it'd look like with my bright white trim. rose, I'd love if lowes or someone here would offer making us a template, but I asked. They said they'd only do that if THEY were installing. I even offered to pay them to come double check measurements, and they said nope. I did find a local company yesterday. They claim the starting price for their laminate WITH install is $8.50. Goes up to $9 something, depending on the edge. And just $6.50, if I wanted them to just slap some new laminate on my existing counter tops. I actually talked to two smaller companys, both were about the same. Sooo..we'll see what kind of estimate I get. Both are coming out next wk. I just know I don't want to pay the $1400 for laminate that Lowes priced us at. And I know painting the cabs may be a turn off for some. But, I can't live with them any more. I really can't, lol. I've consulted my realtor, as well. She knows the area, the neighborhood, the block, my house AND my cabs, lol. And she says go for it. She thinks if I can pull it off, it'll only help set ourselves apart from the rest of cookie cutter land :)

go to the kitchen forum, there is a thread called "Read this if your new to the kitchen forum" Instructions are in that thread. You may have to search a couple of pages to find it but it's there!

Thanks laxsupermom! That a fantastic work surface and so utilitarian. Its simply gorgeous and I love the side island storage, too. Is that your kitchen? If so, would you mind sharing a few of the mechanics/engineering details of your pull out table? Also, when you had mentioned built-ins on the"remaining" side. The green wall or the exterior? That's similar to what I have in my mind. I just have a hard time putting all the little pieces together. Odd shaped items are things like building plans, giftwrap, wallpaper, rolled artwork and canvases. Thanks for the laugh on the bottles- I used to house sit for a liquor distributor and Distillery owner, so "Dive Bar" indeed. I probably would only have between 8-10 no more than that. Thanks for posing such great questions to help me think more about the intended use. Big ideas small space(?) - the small homes forum? or are you referring to something different. let me know. Great ideas- Thanks again! -September