I've never been attached to furniture, but I remember when I was little,we would travel from Alabama to Wisconsin every summer to visit family. We always stayed at grandmas. Grandma had this light blue shag carpet in the living room. I never really thought much about it until when I was about 18 or so, mom announced that all grandmas kids were going to chip in and replace the 30 year old carpet at grandmas house. I was very upset,and to my surprise ALL 5 of my siblings were too. She ended up choosing a light blue,non shag carpet. That helped,but not much. That house never felt the same again. She also had this big painting of a lovely Spanish woman. My grandpa was in insurance,and the painting was a payment to him. (She always called it "grandpa's other woman") I don't know why,I always loved it. Those are really the only two things that stick with me about her house. She died last year. A few weeks ago, mom and all 9 of her remaining siblings got together to clean out the house. Imagine my delight when a large box arrived on my doorstep,containing that painting. It's very big and old fashioned, and does not go with anything in the house, but it will be displayed on the hall wall with love.

Thanks so much for the replies. We've lived with the mock up for a couple of days now and I think it will work as is. Ideally we'd be able to make it smaller but I'd rather use that money towards somehting else. Thanks again.

Edible- Not at all....please, ask any questions you like. This is a thread, specifically asking for other members' solutions. MamaGoose- Thank you for the CL listing, but I live closer to Spokane, WA. For some reason, the powers that be at Yahoo list me near Boise...several hours away. LOL A drop leaf table would be nice, as would a larger table, but I don't think we have the space. I was thinking more of a bistro table size, since the dining table is much larger. Any projects will be over there....or next door at the old farmhouse. We're planning to clean that up and start using it as overflow (almost as you would a basement) in the next year or so. That means we'll have mom's craft table over there, my husband's man cave, our garden greenhouse space (old porch) and extra food and pantry storage. Probably even the big freezer. It's a little longer walk, but no stairs! :)

rebunky, thanks for the link! that is where i got the idea for a pull out table, lol. I did ask zorroslw about her table but unfortunately, her island is a standalone piece she purchased from a furniture store, so I can't replicate that one. i need to have a custom one because my island will have a sink on the other side.