Oh thanks you guys, you are soooo nice to come and comment. Holligator! I can't believe I forgot you- you were instrumental in the original plans, for sure :) The island has a cherry top and we LOVE it. The mudroom is so fabulous- every day I think to myself, or even say out loud, "I love my mudroom!" Especially now since I have been spreading compost and cow manure all over the yard and I actually have a place to come in and sit down and take my muddy boots off :) But the mudroom and pantry are not ready for pics yet. They need doors, trim, and pantry counter/sink installed. The *&^%$ bathroom mold debacle really derailed us :( The mold is gone, now, our insurance paid for professionals to come and abate it. They also gave us rebuild money, so we designed decided to take the opportunity to renovate the master bath area. Gorgeous walk-in shower with frameless doors, soaking tub, custom mahogany vanity, mmmmmmm..... We even hired Bill Vincent to do the tile work! But there was a problem with the marble shower floor, the tile discolored right away, so he's having to rebuild it. It has been a real struggle. We've been without that bathroom since last April/May. I got to take about 8 showers in it before we had to stop due to the tile problem. So we're all sharing the tiny bath that was our "kitchen" during the kitchen reno. So not fun. danielle- We havea pretty standard 25.75" countertop from wall to front edge. I did insist that the sink be mounted as far forward as possible... they had to notch the sink base cabinet's top support stringer to accomodate that. I promise I will come back and post more pics as we get more finished!

Wow, lovely home. Try to go with 30" deep counters on at least the bottom wall, although I would do both. You can do this inexpensively by building a 2x6" frame behind the counters, or more expensively by ordering extra-deep countertops. You will incur the extra square footage cost on the countertop materials, but it's sooooo worth it. I grew up in the tiniest kitchen but never really noticed because it had 30" deep counters. This will also make the kitchen easier to work in by virtue of shrinking the middle aisle. Also, those uppers over your prep space will be much less in your face, although I would try to get rid of them altogether or at least not let them come down to face height.. it's miserable prepping with uppers in your face. As for layout, I would make the bar sink 6" larger, the cleanup sink 6" smaller, and switch their positions. Like this: Top wall from left to right: 24" DW with dish storage above, 30" cleanup sink w/ trash underneath, rest of wall as shown in your plan. 18" lower next to Fridge becomes dish storage. Bottom wall from left to right: 18" dish storage overflow/cookbooks, 36" cab but with larger square prep sink instead of small round bar sink and trash underneath, two 27" cabs for your prep for a total of 54" inches of prep space (you gain 6" because of the loss of the DW from this wall), rest of wall as shown in your plan.

rhome410 - thanks for the suggestion around flipping the fridge / pantry area. I had considered it early in the process, but we were hoping to avoid in order to prevent changes to the dining room (wallpaper and paneled.) However, as you will see below I created an updated floorplan and included your suggestion. I think it helps with the overall functionality of the space. We considered the full range over the rangetop / wall ovens. We really like to idea of an oven that is up off the floor for both easy access and distance from small children. Also, the fact that the oven + rangetop combo is actually significantly cheaper is a factor. On the other hand, the full range makes the floor plan easier to arrange, provides ventilation for the ovens and also has the benefit of providing an excellent "centerpiece" to the kitchen appearance. I'd say we're undecided at this point. Do you think I have the right pro/con list? kaismom - thanks for the thoughtful feedback you've given on the overall flow and interaction of the spaces we're designing. I completely agree that this is one of the most important aspects of the design process and is also one of the hardest to figure out since it can be difficult to visualize. Let me give you a few more facts that I haven't already provided. First, we live in the Boston area (not VA). The funny thing is that we used to live in VA - up until about five years ago - so I know what you are talking about! Given the combination of relatively few truely hot days and the fact that our backyard has mostly indirect light except for in the early morning, we aren't to concerned about to much light heating up the house. The back wall of the kitchen that faces the backyard does face southwest, so I'd expect great morning light and then indirect light as the day goes on. Second, your suggestion about casual family dining is an excellent point. We were thinking that the island would be the center of family life in the evenings (homework, dinner prep, dining, clean-up.) You will see below that I've created a revised floorplan and added a placeholder for a table to the plan. My thinking right now is that we wouldn't add the table - but it gives us the option. You make some excellent points about how as the kids grow older, all being seated facing each other might be a valuable habit - I'll keep them in mind. Third, you suggested I consider how we interact with the house / yard today. I'd say 90-95% of our entrance / egress from the house happens via the garage. This is in spite of the fact that we have three other entrances (including two in the backyard.) Now that you've suggested I give this careful considering - I don't expect this to change much - so this is probably the most important entrance to get right. The second priority would be the backyard, as the kids get older I envision more time (especially on the weekends) being spent playing in the backyard. In fact, this consideration is why we are having so much consternation about giving up the side view. While not having direct access to the mudroom from the backyard isn't ideal, I'm not sure we can have both the side view and this access. Adding a door from the backyard into the garage or coming through the kitchen wall adjacent to the garage won't work because there is a bulkhead access to the basement in that corner that cannot move. That's unfortunate since this would have been an excellent solution - thanks for the suggestion! palimpsest - you asked about the right front room. It is currently a room that gets little use. We'd like to eventually turn this into a library / study of sorts since the idea of a formal living room doesn't appeal. Adding the powder room of the central hall would reduce the room dimensions from 17x18 to 13x18 - I was thinking this was still adequate space for the use we envision. Perhaps a little more of a rectangle than would be ideal, but still a space we could make work. What do you think? bmorepanic - Excellent point about the double french doors. The more my wife and I think about it, the fact that they swing creates space problems and also makes it difficult to have screens on the doors. I don't see that much opportunity to have both of these doors wide open with no screens as it's either darn cold or there are to many bugs around. Given this, we're leaning more towards a sliding door. The fact that it isn't centered on the hallway isn't all that big of a deal to me, but I'll keep an eye on it when I can get some renderings and make sure it doesn't look strange. I'm still thinking about the idea of moving the fridge to the wall adjacent to the garage. Biggest concern about this is that it moves it farther away from the family room and backyard entrance. Maybe this reduces the convenience factor? However, it does create some benefits around allowing open counter space across the whole backyard wall and what feels like a more convenient work layout. I'll keep this in mind. If you get a chance, take a look at the layout I'll provide below and let me know what you think. sundownr - it's great to hear the dimensions of your space and that you find it functions well. Very encouraging that we will eventually find a solution that will work for my family. Also great to hear you eat at the island and enjoy it - this is what we envision today. Also, the photos are helpful - thank you for providing them. As you mention, I see you went with the full range which solves the wall oven problem. We like the idea of wall ovens for their convenience and also like the ideas of deep drawers under the cooktop for pots and pans, but both the convenient floorplan as well as the asthetics of the full range certainly appeal. We're still undecided there. New Revised Floorplan: I've incorporated some of the suggestions everyone has provided in this update. Still isn't perfect, but I'd be interested to see what people think. Thanks again for all the helpful suggestions!

The custom shop I used pretty much only uses white interiors, no matter what the outside is. They had never upgraded anyone to something different in 8 years before me. Anyway, as long as everything visible from the outside matches, you will be fine. As stated above this will likely mean veneers and tape. But white inside stained cabinets is pretty common.