Wow; Those are great suggestions, everyone. Let me respond to them ... willtv - Thanks for your comments and pictures. I actually have a different type of countertop than yours but with probably a very simi8lar look, though. I have Cambria with a color of Charston. My best friend sells that so I bought from his company. I was suprised yo used black but actually, it looks pretty good in your kitchen. My friend actually said that he's seeing lots of flooring the same color as the countertops and I just couldn't imagine having a Black floor but maybe I'll have to change my thinking a bit. Maybe not Black but a little darker. I was originally planning to go with a grey flooring that my flooring store selected but maybe I'll consider a darker shade of gray and also show them your pictures to see what they suggest. mcshoppy - try it again because when I click on the link, it works fine. and last but not least, wizardnm - Thank you for your pictures too. Your pictures are interesting because this was actually more similar to the color/pattern of flooring that I originally selected. I also want to thank you for mentioning the type of flooring you used because this is also a struggle I'm having. I personally like linoleum but my kitchen installer likes laminate/vinyl that come in squares and can be individually replaced so that's what I'll probably end up with. I, too want a flooring that is very easy to keep clean, and is impervious to spills and pet messes (I currently have an older cat and want to get a dog soon). The brand/type I'm currently considering is "Konecto". Other comments/suggestions/pictures welcome ... Tim

Hello to ALL, So very grateful to ALL of you....these pictures and Ideas are invaluable to us! Like that Tile Back splash, a lot, so classic! sparlekitty - just love your Kitchen, please make a copy and send to me, right away...I mean the real thing!! What are those amazing counter-tops and your floor and your Range, we still are looking for one? Do I SEE a WINDOW above your Range HOOD! This just looks wonderful! TODAY, we were seriously talking about cutting out a Window sized Area, into our WALL above the Range - this is the WALL between the Kitchen and the Dining Room! This would give the Kitchen a direct VIEW out of the front Dining Room Windows and look out to all the trees in the wooded area, across the street!! Also, the front of our new, old house faces SOUTH - so all that lovely light might be very welcome in the long winters, here! Or do you think that we will have enough light from the door into the Dining Room and we should just add more cabinets on the Range Wall? Has anyone cut out part of the wall in one of these 80+ year old houses? Is this really difficult? Yes, we still are giving very serious thought to selecting the Cherry Cabinets for the upper & lower cabinets on both sides that will have a counter-top! You are right, since the Pantry Cabinet and the Frig. Built-ins are already white, trying to match those does not look too great...we tried this week-end, again but were not happy with the white Cabinets that we found at three places! DH really likes the Adel Cabinets from Ikea but we have to try and figure, a layout using their non-custom sizes? Should we just remove the Soffit above our Sink Wall - will the Kitchen, Look Better without the Soffit? And then we can use the 39" Ikea Cabinets, right? Here is another picture of the last corner in the Kitchen - See where the Counter and lower Cabinet is recessed about 6" ? This allows the large old door to close, where the back hallway comes in? We do not want to take down any of the original wood doors, they are just too beautiful to us. And the powder room is across the hallway. You can See the Soffit above and this only goes across the Sink side of the room. Has anyone used Ikea, lately - are these any good, we went to one of their large stores near Cincinnati, today, never been there before, lots of walking and looking! We have always wanted the very simple lines, like you see in the Adel shaker style and this may be the answer to the budget! These are not real Cherry Wood, which we really love - does anyone have any suggestions for finding simple Cherry Wood cabinets at the Most reasonable cost, that have a descent looking finish? We would be happy even if they are nearly natural and even with the lightest of stain - since we have had Cherry many times before and we know that they will darken on their own, in time! Forgot to share that we are going to try and finish the 3 season Sun Room, into an insulated 4 Season Room with new windows and floor - before the weather gets cold here!! So we really need to save money on the kitchen cabinets, we feel that the windows are just as important and we will really miss our Sun Room when we move in less than a month! Every time I think about the count down - I get giddy, scared and excited, all at once! Just like all of you, we are afraid of making a mistake on a big ticket item! This G W and All of you, really keeps our sanity and we are so grateful for ALL of the Ideas that keep us thinking - too easy to get frustrated and we want to stay positive! Thank you all, again, this help is really appreciated - Does anyone think that we should try to Open up the Wall above the Range, how much and how far above the back splash on the Range is good! As you can see from the pictures, there is no Hood above the Range and maybe we can keep it that way since we mostly bake or use the GE Advantium? We will be able to hang the GE Advantium under the cabinet to the left of the sink. Is it better to have the new Opening that will look out to the South or to have the Range hood and extra Cabinets? Cannot figure out how to do both on the same wall - guess we can take the Tall white Pantry Cabinet out of the corner and use in the hallway since it is finished on 3 sides! Then we may be able to make more room for a new Opening - but should the Range be centered on the Kitchen wall? Will try to add these Pictures, Thank You All for looking and helping us to decide! roseofblue

Thanks for all the input, everyone! After taking your ideas and those of our builder and friends/family into account, husband and I ultimately decided to leave the plan as is. We figured the bigger room size will make the space more functional, whether as a dining room, playroom or office. Fingers crossed for a good pantry cabinet design! bpathome, I love the idea of storage banquette in the breakfast area! Had never thought of it but it seems perfect. Not only will it give us extra storage but I think it will allow us to have the table slightly off-center (so as to allow more clearance for the door to the back deck) without looking odd. I'm thinking maybe even a large L-shaped banquette, going under both sets of windows and into corner. I've attached a pic, which is dark (waited until framers left so wouldn't be in the way) but might give a better idea of the breakfast area space. The windows to right will be same sizes as those to left--framers just hadn't trimmed all the OSB yet. ILoveRed, we started with a stock plan as inspiration but needed some changes due to our lot, local regulations, etc. So, we drew out some changes on the original stock plan and had a local draftsman draw the full plans. It is not perfect (had issues with stair placement and a measurement was off on garage) and I wish we'd gone the extra mile and had an architect modify it for us but our builder is great and so far has worked around the issues. Thanks again everyone!

There are some great threads in the Building a Home forum about the design process, and also with book/reading suggestions. Here are some other posts from forum member Virgil, who's an architect, [What's A Well-Designed House?[(https://www.houzz.com/discussions/whats-a-well-designed-house-dsvw-vd~5370217) Tips for Buying Land, Designing and Building A Custom Home Part 1 of 3 Tips for Buying Land Designing & Building Custom Home Part 1 Continued [Tips for Buying Land, Designing and Building A Custom Home, Part 2[(https://www.houzz.com/discussions/tips-for-buying-land-designing-and-building-a-custom-home-part-2-dsvw-vd~5079485) [Tips for Buying Land, Designing and Building A Custom Home, Part 2 continued[(https://www.houzz.com/discussions/tips-for-buying-land-designing-and-building-a-custom-home-reposted-dsvw-vd~5213136) [Tips for Buying Land, Designing and Building A Custom Home, Part 3[(https://www.houzz.com/discussions/buying-land-designing-and-building-a-custom-home-part-3-dsvw-vd~5213150) and also What are you doing to make your house enrich your life? Here's several thread with book recommendations, https://www.gardenweb.com/discussions/5402585/books-for-building-and-designing-a-home#n=22 https://www.gardenweb.com/discussions/3281434/book-suggestions#n=31 Good luck! In so many cases, where one door closes, another -- and better -- one opens : ) .