The foyer has too much stuff in it. Get rid of most of it(items on the walls and the fake flowers and plants) . I would just have the tall plant stand in the corner next to the front door with real flowers in it and put up a large mirror over the sofa. Way too much furniture in the living room. Get rid of the side chairs and some of the end tables. The kitchen is very nice, like it and the color, not much to do in there. The library again has too much stuff. Remove the lounger chair and a lot of the books and magazines. The master bath is dated. The gold tone shower and fixtures need updating. Use a smaller chair or padded stool placed in the space it is supposed to be (under the vanity). There is absolutely no privacy in the back yard. It abuts a development on one side and some sort of school/business looking building on the other. For this type of house I did not expect that. Needs to be buffered either naturally or by fencing. Could care less about the country club pictures. Would have liked to see what the bedrooms and inside of barn look like. Doesn't seem like there are 9 acres with the house the way the photos are shot. The pond shot needs to be redone. All I see when I look at it is the housing development. Not worth the price they are asking until they start with some of the fixes mentioned in all these posts. But that location would be a deal breaker for me. NancyLouise

There is no room for stools, unfortunately, with the 42'' aisle. If I put stools in, you wouldn't be able to use that aisle. Once the thing is in, if it looks like they CAN be fitted in, we can reconsider. The thing is, though, that to put it two stools would require 48 inches of counterspace, correct? So with the overall length of 108 inches and 24 of them already committed to end 12'' cabinets, it's 108 (total) -48 (2 stools) -24 (end cabs) =36. This means the storage on the back of the island will be cut to basically 2 18'' drawer stacks, instead of big drawers now. Big loss. I think trash will go under the sink - would be 18'' wide. I thought I would put my cutting boards into the 12'' ft cabinet. They are all so big. You can visit with the cook!! There's an 8-ft wide booth open for your visiting pleasure!!! :) You guys are all so wonderful. This post was edited by nadya1972 on Wed, Jul 2, 14 at 15:34

I just checked my lighting plan done by a lighting designer. For the fireplace, she advised two low voltage can lights (not sure the size -- I will have to double check) but likely 3 or 4 inch size). She positioned them 30 inches from the back of the fireplace stone wall. She wants them to have an elbow arm on them. We will also have a pair of sconces above the mantel (the sconces will flank a painting). All other can lights I believe (not including kitchen) are to be gimbel style line voltage (probably with LED bulbs in reg can housing). The can lights are to be set about 24 inches away from the walls with the intention of directing the light off a wall and providing indirect light bounced off a wall (it will also light any art on that wall). No downward directed can lights will be used in main rooms (except kitchen). The kitchen can lights are a bit different. They were recommended to be set 10 inches in from the edge of the counter (we don't have many uppers though). We have replaced many can light in the original plan with fixtures or sconces. Carol

If you haven't come across the New to Kitchens thread, I'd suggest reading the section on storage (I'd suggest reading the whole thread, plus the NKBA guidelines, if you want to know the science behind the 'rules' we all want to bend on occasion ;). Then make a list and prioritize. Aside from cutting boards and knives, what do you use most for prep? Keep those items in the prep zone. Do you always use a colander for draining rinsed fruit and veg? Large salad bowl in use every day? Same for pots and pans--can the stockpot move to a spot a little more distant? Although in this kitchen, nothing is more than a step or two away--which is going to be great when you get everything organized. As lucky998877 mentioned, you could move the prep zone trash to an undersink pull-out, and use the narrow cab next to the prep sink for knife and utensil storage--unless you like a knife block on the counter. I don't know your style of cooking and prepping, or your family's needs. I do a lot of baking, so if this were my kitchen, I'd keep dishes in the uppers and drawers to the right of the DW. Mixing bowls and baking dishes could fill any unassigned space, according to use and frequency of use--casseroles, cake pans, roasters, etc. I would dedicate most of the kitchen space to prepping/cooking items, and keep foodstuffs in the pantry, but if your family members make a lot of toast or sandwiches, keep bread and peanut butter in a drawer to the right of the fridge, or in the appliance pantry to the left of the fridge, if that's where their toaster will be kept. If they eat cold cereal, make space for it there, too. Spices, oils, and vinegars in drawers to the right of the fridge--near the prep zone and range, but not next to the heat. If the MW is not used often, or you don't need a drawer model, put it in the appliance pantry or the WI pantry--or skip the extra seat on the short side of the island, and put the MW drawer there, facing the WI pantry, to keep users out of the prep triangle. I would look into drawer dividers, to keep everything organized--you can check with the cabinet supplier, or search for kits to customize for your needs (I made my own with some wood scraps). Take your time and do your research--it's apparent that you've already done a lot, and that you know what you want to achieve. NKBA guidelines New to Kitchens? Read me first.