Nice slideshow Elizabeth!..Your plants are BEAUTIFUL!!!..Thank you for sending!...Carmie

Les, thank you! That is it. I wanted to show a friend who will soon be building a home with a similar pantry & kitchen layout. Thanks again.

Beautiful Kitchen it is exactly what I would like to do. Did you paint your cabinets? I have custom red oak cabinets from the 1980's. I know they are made very well all solid oak with the shelving that pulls out like drawers. I would like to have my cabinets professionally refinished in a painted white finish. Last week we brought one of the doors as a sample to a cabinetmaker/refinisher & he said you can not paint oak. He also said that the quality of the cabinets are so good that they could not be replicated now. He said he could either stain them another color or whitewash them. I am hoping he is wrong & I can find someone to do a great job refinishing them in a white paint finish. Laura

Hey, Madeline Why, exactly, do you feel like "a dummy"? You got your picture posted just fine, an accomplishment envied by many here. Next time you'll know to just add in your question text right above or below the picture code, but it works fine the way it is. Remember, "Preview Message" is your friend. Good going and welcome to GW! As far as your question, my immediate reaction was "no," but after reading palimpsest's answer and giving it some more thought, I agree that because the 3 areas are separated in both space and function, it does work. Have you looked at the various kitchens which have the island in a different color than the perimeter? If you really don't like the dark color it is now, you might also consider doing a lighter stain or even a color. We've had a couple of painted color cabinets recently that are really good looking. Not saying don't do the white, just saying consider the possibilities before making up your mind for sure. P.S. I sure hope you can find a place to recycle that granite.