Trail, your floor is Gorgeous, but I was howling in my seat at the before pic of your kitchen; I've admired it on the kitchens forum, but never saw the humble beginning...very impressive! Actually I like to show my kids pictures of gutting like that so they don't freak out when we do it (minimally, we don't want to gut the whole house, just a couple of walls). I will have to figure out how much beadboard I have before we reno, so I think I'm going to be doing a lot of exploratory pre-demolition. Poor dh. But I want to know what I've got so I can plan. Hopefully it goes all around the kitchen under the ubiquitous paneling. I think what you said about the floor guy is so true; for the pros who have to make a living in a day's work, it can be hard to do preservation demolition and make it pay, especially if they're tied to their original estimate. Pulling out nails without doing damage can be very slow going. The last time we had pro work done on our house, I was amazed at the lightning pace and quick decisions; really, it was too much for me. Guess that's why I'm on this forum. Karinl, it it will be interesting to see what the beadboard does come summer, as the humidity here is so low right now. If I had my druthers I'd finish all my raw wood in the winter, when it's smallest, but then the fumes...you can't win. Your 8 layers of paint has me grateful that the beadboard has been covered for at least 50 years. Ditto the floor too. There will be annoying nail holes to fill from the plywood, but it's a small price to pay for avoiding 50 years of wear, tear, and sanding. The carpet and linoleum fad may well have done us a favor in that regard :-)

We used to have a counter that was piled high with junk in the old kitchen. So I worked in a 'command center' but really it was just a place for the junk. KD suggested if it was too big, we would fill it with the junk. Reduce space available for junk and likely have less. Turns out, he was right again!! LOL We put the phone and a mail holder in this cab. I also have a notepad and a couple pens. I keep an envelope in the back for tax receipts and FSA receipts. Hung command hooks on the back wall for spare keys (we have everyday keys closer to the door) and for calendar on door. Also a clip for each kid's pertinent stuff. Stained drawer below holds other kid stuff that I don't need all the time - class lists, pencils, glue sticks, etc. Cell phones aren't in there b/c I keep mine on my desk and he keeps his on the counter under the cab with his vitamins. Then he grabs it all on the way out the door. But one phone on the counter doesn't bother me - it's mostly camouflaged by the fruit bowl anyway. So, all the other stuff we used to have on the counter? Well, now it gets put away where it should - filing cabinet in spare room, recycling bin, wherever. We didn't allow so much space for it and we are able to better deal with the clutter now. You'll also see I could have used more than one shelf here for command stuff, but I like having the cups/filters/tea bags right by the coffee machines.

This is not my oldest but it is one that I do treasure because it is practical and used everyday. It is a 30" laboratory sink from a university that was built in 1970. When they were renovating the labs, I got one of those sinks and it is now my refurbished "farmsink" that holds a prominent place in my kitchen. Another one is my large steamliner pressure cooker which is still going strong. Bought this in 1970 from an old woman who was leaving the island. Never had to service this vintage and cooks up a storm during the holiday seasons. There was another tall one that I had, can't remember the brand name but it had four stacked "trays" that would allow you to cook products of varied cooking time at the same time. That I gave to my mother when I was leaving home. It was too big for me then. Lastly, my grandmother had a brass plant pot that every weekend, as children, we had to clean it with burnt charcoal and lime juice. I could not wait to grow up to get the younger ones to do the cleaning. One day I went to a garage sale and found one just like it. I bought it because now I can buy silvo or brasso :). I love old things especially if they bring back memories. They must also be unique. Just my 2 cents.

Are you still planning on counter height? With kids that small I personally would not. We have a kitchen desk that is similar to what you have now. It is not a dumping ground. If kids do their homework there then they need it for the next day, and take it with them. If it gets a bit cluttered and company is coming then that is the best time to clean. The most important thing is to have places for everything so stuff doesn't just get moved around. Maybe a large drawer for each kid? Since you have the room that desk posted above is great. Ours is almost that wide, and we constantly bring a wooden stool next to it for more room. It will also be very hard to help a child if they are in that space. There will be no where to put your legs if you sit with them. We sat together at the bar or table. Once they didn't need help they did most of their work in their rooms at their own desks. I think anything bigger than just a simple desk is only going to draw more attention to the area and cost you $$$. I guess we are odd since kitchen desks get such a bad rap around here but I spend most of my day here. Our desktop computer is always charged, I know where it is, and everything I need is right here. We all use it every day. Good luck!