I'm with bmorepanic, I don't mind the fridge on the other side of the wall if it makes the rest of the kitchen work better. My MIL had a set-up similar to yours and it was a tad odd, but perfectly functional. If you already own a FD fridge and that is what you're using, it really, really needs enough space to open the door fully, as in close to 180 degrees. Maybe swap the positions of the fridge and pantry? Small space kitchens need to maximize every square inch - I know, I have one! For this frameless works better than face frame cabinets. Ikea and Scherr's both get good reviews from folks here who've used them for both price and quality. I would avoid door + roll out shelves for standard bottom cabinets. We retrofitted our old cabinets to this configuration 20 years ago, and it was a big step up from crawl-inside-to-find-things, but a big step down from all drawers. They waste enormous amounts of interior space and you just can't afford it. Our new pantry (we never had one before!) has roll-out shelves in the bottom section, though, and that works well for the pantry. Counters: I'm not aware of a one-stop info page on the different types, but that's a good idea. For your kitchen you want to be good, but not the most expensive. You could look at the lower priced granites, which means more common, not less good. They've come way down in price evidently. Quartz will run you about the same as granite and are a great choice material-wise. Laminates come in everything from el cheapo to near the price of granite depending on the pattern. The link at the bottom is to a recent discussion of why laminate is a good idea. Wood countertops can be both fabulous to look at and cost-friendy. When you check out Ikea, check out their wood counters while you're there. Other choices can include stainless steel and tile, not my favorites, but loved by many. Here is a link that might be useful: Does anyone on here actually have formica countertops?

Camphappy, it's hard to see from your drawing how you could keep the slider and put the fridge on the right, aside from recessing it into the next room (?); however, that 3-4" of wall thickness is an asset that could be added to your storage space. Kaismom, I'm definitely with you in keeping private areas out of view from the front door; people at ours can see through the foyer and central hall to a tiny, unrevealing sliver of our living room, enough to be inviting but that's all. Regarding setting of main views, I also see where Kaismom's coming from. My sister put a stunning view in her living room, and it is a wonderful place to be. Everyone talks about that room. The thought behind my layout is that views are often overexposed, so they never have a chance to become fresh and compelling for the people who live with them. Our views are distant and very attractive, but not dramatic or stunning and can use a little "plumping" between uses. Also, we're usually reading, laptopping, or watching TV in the living room, none of which make good use of a view. With that in mind, I specifically placed windows to our main views where we ourselves would be able to enjoy them as we walk through the house, something we actually do a lot, then turn away from them to enjoy our home in other ways. One real plus (that I'm guessing Camphappy's initial plan would also probably confer) of erasing the walls ahead as one looks across the whole house has been to make it feel notably larger than it is. A number of friends visiting for the first time were surprised to find it so much "larger" than they expected from my descriptions, then surprised again at the actual, ordinary square footage.

Ovens can be a puzzle box. I have always used regular ovens but added convection this time. There are a few things that have changed good and bad with newer ovens. Are you using a gas or electric oven now? How do you use your oven or broiler? You are not only choosing between a range or rangetop and wall ovens but between gas and electric ovens. BlueStar ranges only have gas ovens. They are simple with less to go wrong but cook a little differently if you are used to electric. Many electric ovens allow you to change the direction of heat from the elements using bake, roast or all convection. It is almost impossible to get an oven with an open element on the bottom. There are a couple but they have other issues. I do like convection and you can ease into it slowly. It moves more air so accelerates the rate of heat transfer to the food. It isn’t really a speed oven but can make things get done faster depending on the food. It makes superficial moisture evaporate faster so better browning. It can change the direction of heat, coming from all directions which may or may not be a good thing. It gets marketed as making heat more even but that is not always true nor do you always want that. Some fans set up direct currents of air that cause faster browning on the food facing the fan or other hot spots. Manufacturers try to increase the turbulence breaking up direct airflow with 2 fans, baffles, reversing fans and GE has ovens that can have airflow from the top. I like it for most cookies and at least part of the cooking time for anything you want to get crispy. I don’t use it at the beginning for anything that rises because the drying can inhibit the rise. Others do but baking is a complex set of variables so there are recipes that work both ways. A combi oven(CSO) potentially gives control over humidity, direction of heat and airflow, if you get one that does those things. I don’t have one because I need the room in a regular oven but many people like them. Most like the ability to be able to add steam. I only need that rarely and am able to do it pretty easily other ways. Gaggenau’s CSO use and care manual is quite in depth and you can get an idea about how the oven works. Food itself adds a lot of humidity to an electric oven. I can see where it is the most used oven in many kitchens. It can function in most of the same ways as a convection oven, but smaller and only a few have broilers of any sort. I would avoid Wolf because of the long standing problem with the blue lining chipping. It is well documented on this forum with some posters going through multiple ovens. There are lawsuits over this. http://www.wolfblueovenchipping.com/case-information/ It continues with the “M” oven. There was someone who mentioned getting a full warranty for 6 years so if you could get that you would have a chance to see how it does if you really want it. It seems that Wolf will happily change out oven after oven as long as you are in full warranty. I would consider the E over the M. The M was designed to be easier to fix if the enamel fails with a replaceable bottom but there have been threads where people complain about over browning on the sides if you have it filled. This is a screenshot from Wolf’s own video. This is because the corner fans set up airflow on the sides. It only has the fast fan speed. This is the diagram that they had on their website to illustrate the “VertiCross” fan. They changed the diagram of the corner fans to this. The E has a slower speed with “convection bake” which they got rid of on the M. I found it to be the most useful convection mode. It has the dual fans in back which is a great design and bakes pretty evenly. Besides a Wolf oven, I have an Electrolux wall oven which is a great oven in the way it works with high utility in the way the cooking modes are designed, but has blue chipping issues and issues with the control panel. I will probably replace with Bosch when the time comes. Read the manuals carefully before you buy anything. Electric ovens have a lot of control but there is also more to go wrong.

Love the idea of beadboard in your vintage house bathroom. And, I’m still rooting for the subway tile in your kitchen for backsplash if you think it’s a manageable project for you and your wife together. I do think it’s an investment that will pay off if you do sell your house. Another idea I just had while looking at your kitchen pictures is, instead of subway tile, what about small sized hexagon tiles? When I looked up images of them I see that they are sheets of small hexagons - they’re attached to a netting. I wondered if they would be easier to manage with less cutting of tile pieces to fit around moldings and such. The look of them is somewhat vintage too and they are budget friendly also depending on the material. A simple white would work. Here’s a link to hexagon used as a vintage look tile Hexagon tile in kitchen And a link to a YouTube video installing hexagon tiles Video. There are a couple videos at this link on how to cut small tiles without a tile saw also. I‘ve never installed tile but maybe the videos could help with a decision about whether it’s a manageable project.