Great comments, they really made me think. Dh loved the Kitchler pendants for the island and so did our electrician( a long time friend). He's coming tomorrow to install them. I do like the orange of the striped shade, but think I'll tire of it. And I'm not sure what kind of light the orange would cast. I'm leaning toward the single cream drum shade with the bronze on the bottom for over the table. IF anyone has any other suggestions I'm open to them. Like I said before I like to bring in color with flowers, fruit and accessories. This way I can change it out when I want. Redroze, you had a great point about the green cushions. I took them off today and like the constrast much better. I just needed something for the kids to sit on and they only had green. Our house has very uneven floors,so they had to raise up the island a bit. It's about 37 inches, so a regular 24 inch stool is a tad short. The cushion helps to raise you up a bit! I'll look for a brown one that might work. crashboombang- I would love to see a picture of your pendants installed. Do you have the small 8 inch over your bar and the bigger ones on an island? please post a pic....I would appreciate it. I did see the larger ones and love them, but they are too big for my space. And remember if you have any better ideas for dining table light let me know. Still thinking of backsplash ideas and paint color. DH wants to paint soon....leaning toward Sag Harbor Grey( may be a little too brown) or Moselle from Pratt and Lambert. I do like BM Camouflage too, not sure if its too much green though. Hood and lights in tomorrow so I'll post an update. THANK YOU!

gb, sorry to hijack, but... Allison, that pantry is awesome! Love the light fixture -- I've never seen anything like it -- and the birdhouses. No wonder your DH wants to keep the doors open. (Puts the pressure on to keep it neat.) There's something about st@ples in glass jars that speaks to the gut -- very homey. gb, as you enter the k;tchen on that side of the U, what is on that arm of the U as you make your way to the pantry? Since it's inside the k;tchen and kids will be using it and there are appliances close by, I'd be afraid of the traffic getting in the way of your movements. You're trying to prepare dinner, they want a pre-dinner snack, they dart thru and open the pantry door and you have to wait or shut them up in there. It sounds like, if you have a place for it, it would be better to put it on the outside, at the tip of one of the arms.

Also got BergerPads in May of 2010, dont remember which of these we got but guessing for a $500 dining 4seat dining set, we went with just the good (especially since I'd only wanted black anyway). Its textured, really like it. We have a new table we'll still get 2nd quote on but will only consider if its significantly lower then the Berger ones for our current table. MAY 2010 For a square cornered table pad 54” x 54” Pricing are as follows: Best – Any Color / Any Bottom – Unconditional Lifetime Warranty $291.60 Better – Any Solid Color / Brown Cotton Bottom Only – 15 Year Warranty $233.28 Good – Black Solid Only / Brown Cotton Only – 5 Year Warranty $174.96 (Prices include $.01 per square inch for the magnets) We Guarantee to meet or beat any reasonable price offer!

Interesting thread! We have two children (~4, ~7) and our current house has an open kitchen into the family room. We all love to cook and my husband and I loathe the open concept. Actually, my Mom complains about it too. The kitchen does have a table and my kids can draw while I'm cooking and help out with smaller tasks. But if they, or my husband, choose to watch TV I notice the TV volume starts increasing the further I get into the meal. If my husband decides to do one of his marathon stews and soups weekends, I find myself reaching for the volume on the remote too. I also find that I will get to a point where I want everyone to leave so I can focus and get stuff done. This is when I tell everyone to go outside and play (including my husband) :) We now eat all dinners in the dining room. I'm one of those people who just can't relax and enjoy the meal when I'm staring at the mess we have to clean up, but this came more from my son, not me. One day he just said, "Why don't we eat in here every day?" and now we do. We're finally breaking ground on a new build next month and have been planning our new house and kitchen for a year and a half. In that time the kitchen has become closed off, the pantry was enlarged, and we got rid of a breakfast room, replacing it with a nook. Like LL pointed out, it was redundant to have a large eating space off the kitchen, island with seating, and dining room - especially since we now use the dining room. We also got rid of our upper cabinets because I want to able to see into the backyard and watch the kids run around while I cook, do dishes, or whatever else it is that seems to keep me in our kitchen more than any other room. Shannonaz: the one thing I've noticed while planning our build, and having it take for freaking ever, is we've been watching things change while they grow. We can ask them to watch a TV show when we're trying to get dinner finished and just need some space. They set the table for us so that keeps them occupied too. Two years ago, was a different story. Since they both have an interest in cooking, I also imagine they will become more involved in the actually preparation as they get older. So my point is, while it's hard to imagine your kids a few years from now, it's better to plan for the future abilities bc the toddler years fly by, and way too fast! Lastly, if I could have a "second kitchen" it would be sound proof so I could hear nothing else in the house, would lock from the inside, have a comfy chair, a toaster oven, coffee maker, small fridge with sparkling water, wine, assorted cheeses, and I'd lock myself in there and "cook" with a book once a day! :)