Thanks Alison! I actually found a picture in the "where do you put your recycling thread from lolauren that I think was really clever... I love this idea b/c it would make the trash accessible from the sink on the sink wall w/o having to step around the counter... I am going to check w/ our cabinet maker to see if this will work w/ a pull out bin that pulls out towards the front... of course I know it won't be able to pull out in both directions but even so it would be easier I think if there is some way to do it (I'm worried about how the glides would attach of course if that door is operable, but hopefully he can come up w/ something... IF it can work, I'll put a single door cabinet there I guess and then one to match on the other side of the drawers.

Hi holligator-don't apologize-I'm posting so I get this from all angles... The thing that I do like about bmorepanic and lyfia's plans is that they open up that door again to the living room to direct traffic there. But bmorepanic's plan just initially seemed very broken up to me. I think the other thing working on me mentally is--now that we've kept the kitchen in place rather than moved it, I'm finding myself less apt to change the things I actually LIKE about my current kitchen--and there are indeed a lot of things I like.So that may be a mental block for me. One of our other things is, we're re-using our 10 year old cherry cabinets. We picked them out, still love them and they are still available--so we're just using what we can of those and filling in with more. My priorities for the remodel as a whole are: -Master bed and bath -A more open kitchen/dining footprint that allows guest to hangout while I cook without being in my way, and has room to seat 8-10 diners on a fairly regular basis. (we're only a family of four but host Sunday dinners weekly) It has been hard not to be distracted by other issues in achieving these two primary goals--I think there are several perfect solutions here, we just can't afford them. We are in a stage of the design where a detailed itemization of costs will be provided soon--and that's where we can really get into what is and isn't possible on this more detailed level. We're dealing in such big squishy numbers right now... In a sense I do agree with you about the step backward--hubby and I had a few go-rounds regarding switching over to this sort of layout--but it's tradeoffs...and we think this might be the way to go---but everything is still on the table. The two triangles (top right corner) and one other that has moved around the plan quite a bit---are two built-ins that I'm somewhat irrationally committed to saving and using. Anyhow, still playing with all this-- Right now trying to weigh the benefits of opening that wall to the living room back up as opposed to the benefit of more cabinets/counters in that space--and where does MW go? :) We're not big MW cookers but use it enough for reheating... Your continued comments appreciated..... B

Just wanted to share my latest project. Image link:

Beckyg, I love what you said here: "When the kitchen designers and cabinet and appliance makers are telling me to spend 10 - 15% of my home's value on a new kitchen, I automatically cut it in half... it reminds me of how the diamond dealers came up with the idea that a man should spend 2 months salary on a ring - OR ELSE! That's ridiculous. What an arbitrary number." Totally arbitrary, I agree. I specifically told my sweetie that he shouldn't spend more than two WEEKS' salary on my ring, and he didn't. I couldn't stand the stress of walking around with $6000 or $10,000 or whatever on my finger, and there was just no way I could see that it made sense to sink so much money into a piece of jewelry. I guess the reason I'm more okay with the 10% thing on kitchens... ok, well part of it is because our house is worth maybe $270k. Actually I think that's the main reason I'm okay with it! Because 10-15% of MY house corresponds pretty well with the maximum that I think makes sense to spend on a kitchen. Haha. I can't imagine spending $150k on a kitchen. But aside from that, a kitchen--assuming you're going to live in it for a good while--has a much bigger influence on your quality of life than a ring does. The spaces we inhabit really do influence the ways we live--like the poster who talked about molesting her marble (haha) and said her kids used the new island and socialized whereas before they would've retreated to their rooms. It does matter how living spaces are designed and how they look. The way they look and they way they flow and function influences not only how you feel in them, but what you do in them. That's why I am dead set on having a banquette and table in the kitchen instead of the ubiquitous "raised edge of the counter with barstools" that our ex-architect kept pushing. We're planning on having kids soon, and it would be what, six years or more before they'd be big enough to easily use barstools and a raised counter?! Whereas little kids can easily sit on banquettes, space to hold kids' toys can be built into banquettes, AND our friends can sit there too when they're visiting. Space matters!