I would get rid of the columns and make the bottom of the sides of the hood stop level with the bottoms of the cabinets. I would then add trim around the tiled area on the upper part and around the arch above the stove - they both look unfinished compared to the small panels and all the other cabinets. Finally, I would paint the whole thing the color of the island but keep the trim details the same color as the trim in the room. I have to ask, just because I am always the odd thinker about these things - why would one want the range hood to be the focal point in the kitchen, especially when you don't have a one of those monster ranges there, just a cooktop? Seems to me that I would want the island, with the fun chandys, to be the focal point. I say paint it out to match the island and the kitchen trim and let the eye just kind of travel past it. Your kitchen is great!

Thanks all! We are definitely open to looking for something to replace the media cabinet, but have looked intermittently over the years and had a hard time finding something that closes (DH feels strongly about this aesthetically, and we also have young kids so the out-of-sight-out-of-mind thing is very valuable for both safety and sanity) and is deep enough to accommodate the receiver, tuner, etc.--many of the newer pieces made for flat screen tvs seem to either be intended as bases with the tv out in the open, or do close but are quite shallow. I'll take another look around and see if anything new is out there, though! @roarah, thanks for the photos--your space is beautiful (and I love the window seats!) I can show DH and see if it's worth revisiting the tv on the mantel idea. We'd looked at hanging it rather than just setting it on the mantel, so maybe that would make a difference. We do have a 40" tv and replacing it is not in the cards, though. We've been considering what I think is normal-sized furniture--current sofa is 84" and you might be able to tell from the photos/plan that it has quite a big of space in the room (there's room between the sofa and the bookcase for a light and a side table), so thinking if we go with an 81" sofa (one option in a design I like) that would be a good bet if we keep it on that wall and then get a slightly smaller one (72") to form an L. If we go with chairs instead of one sofa/loveseat--and I do like that look in roarah's room--I'll have to rethink that a bit, though. Off to play with Homestyler--thanks for that tip!

Hi there. I'm by no means a lighting expert, but I can tell you my experience and hope you can benefit from my mistake. As a result of a hasty design and no research, I placed my 6" cans in the wrong spot along my cabinets. If you put the cans behind the counter - like yours are placed in the design, you will get shadows on your counter top...very annoying shadows. I then did some research and discovered that the proper placement for the counter lighting is such that the light is centered over the counter's edge. This does indeed eliminate the shadows. As for distance between cans, the simple plan would be to place your 6" cans, 6 feet apart; 4" cans, 4 feet apart, etc. This is for a standard ceiling. A taller ceiling can have them closer, but I don't know the specifics. This leads me to my next mistake which was to place the 6" cans too close together. My kitchen was too bright and I was never able to find the right combination of bulbs to satisfy my lighting needs. Upon this recent remodel, I did better research and I'm now using 4" cans spaced properly and at the right depth (from the wall out to the counter) and the first round of bulbs (standard 9 watt CFL/50 watt equiv) were perfect. HTH.

Hey there! There are always other options available! In fact, too many! I think subway tile is a good idea. If you want to add some color, a very subtle sage/green would be nice with the browns. Otherwise, I'd probably go with a cream-colored subway.