First of all, THANK YOU for taking the time to read this, look at my plan, and assist me. In response to some of the questions/comments... The right side that desertsteph mentioned not being able to see/read on the drawing - right now there is a large old butcher block table there, with 3 wall cabs and some shelves above. We do not use the table - it basically collects junk. I think that area could be used much more efficiently. Yes, this is mostly "steamlining and prettying up"! I'm not opposed to changing things *if* it really makes sense to do it but am not looking to change things just for the sake of change. I think I have a good base and there is no need to tear it all out and start from scratch. I just want to be sure that I am making the most efficient and effective decisions. I was thinking of putting another oven beside the refrigerator; it seems like the easiest place for a new appliance. I do have a floor-to-ceiling pantry that holds a ton of stuff. If I don't put in a second oven, the space beside the refrigerator would probably be a combo of deep drawers and a good sized pantry cabinet, and/or some kind of built-in microwave as right now we have a countertop MW that just sits on an old dresser! The floor is pine planks - very pretty, warm color - all the first floor floors are the same material, and it will remain. The hall door sees the least traffic, so it seems like the cook center is already in the best place given that I need to keep 5 doors into this space. The space between the island and the kitchen table is basically a corridor to the living room, so that needs to stay clear. I briefly considered a new countertop with an overhang on that side but the overhang would make my existing top drawers unusable, so I ruled that out. We do not have an entry room or mudroom at this entrance to the house; there is a brick patio outside this door. Our laundry room is as long as the kitchen but about 6 ft wide; part of this is a half bath, some is laundry, and the rest is storage and "mud room" functions. There is a lot packed into that little space but it works pretty well. I have aspirations of building a covered stoop at the back since we do use this entrance all the time, but that will be a few years away. I don't think our site setbacks would allow a full mudroom or entry here. I like the shelf above the cabinets too, although I'm not much of a collector, so I don't know what to put up there. I'm short so it is too high for me to access for storage, and works as display only. I'm having outlets installed above the shelf as part of this project so I can install lighting up there to light the ceiling. My finish plan is: *keep the floors *cover the ceiling with an anaglyptic wallcovering that looks like tin tiles which will be painted white *install crown mold all around, painted white *paint the cabinets white, add a "light rail" piece of trim to the bottoms, switch out the hinges with something less obtrusive, change the pulls on the drawers to bin pulls, and change the door pulls to new ORB/white porcelain pulls *paint the wainscot and trim (now blue) dark brown, picking up on the darkest brown tones of the floor and the dark brown fleck in the laminate countertop *paint the walls a very light cream/yellow (BM Pearly Gates, I think) *I'd hoped to replace the countertop to the left of the range with Corian to match what's on the right. It's probably 20 years old and it looks great, but this CT is so old that I am having trouble matching it. I am still looking at options here - would like to use something white/light colored but have also considered the Ikea butcher block for economy reasons, although I am not sure I am up to that DIY project *I bought subway tile for the backsplash at the range, but I have to replace the CTs first because they are not currently at the same height (only a fraction of an inch off, but against the lines of the tile it will be really evident) I guess my biggest question is - is it worth it to consider moving the sink? Would I gain the same benefit by undermounting a new sink at the existing location on the island and having a butcher block piece made to cover half of it to expand the prep area? That would certainly be less expensive, but would it be as effective as the combination of a main sink and a prep sink? I appreciate your time and your thoughts. Thanks for your help!

Thank you all so much for your insight and input! We had a great meeting today to review all the layout & cabinet details and have incorporated several of your suggestions. We ended up eliminating those three glass cabinets over the sink and adding an arched valance which will soften that area up a bit. (Thanks bmorepanic!). The 2 sets of uppers flanking the valance will be 30" glassed cabinets. The smaller cabs between uppers & ceiling will be glass as well. Several of you commented on the somewhat useless 15" base cabs at either end of the run and I agree!!! Now we have, left to right: 20" 3 drwr base, 18" trash pullout, 33" sink base, 24" DW, 14" pullout (with false drawer front). Rhome410 - You were so right about the proportions and I think they are better now. I'll have to be neat with the glass, but I think it's worth it to make the wall more attractive. Breezygirl - thanks for pointing out that the trash pullout could be narrower. I have a big thing for symmetry, BUT I also need drawers and space that will function. When I asked my cabinet guy, he told me that of course it could be narrower - Thanks! Buehl - I got such a kick out of your comments as I am ALWAYS a form over function person (ask my husband). This is the FIRST time in my entire life that I am coming to the realization that the space (especially the kitchen) needs to WORK!! The divider detail was actually supposed to be on another page, so pls disregard. Your comments were very helpful and my cabinetmaker and I had a great conversation about the actual interior dimensions of the drawers, etc. He was impressed at my knowledge (Thanks to you & GW TKOers!). Sabijimata - Actually, I was thinking of YOUR sink when I mentioned the mirror. It was in my mind, so thanks for responding. You give me hope :). Bmorepanic: Yes, we did ditch the maniacal symmetry - though it was difficult for me and required medication. Question - I was planning on tray storage next to the range on another wall. Do you think a 14 or 15" pullout is useful instead? I am wondering if anyone really likes those. Hmmm, floor to ceiling dish storage on the left - I like that idea and am going to do some sketching. Ok, Ok, I'm done rambling. Y'all have created a monster!! Thank you, thank you for all your help. I could not have gotten this far without you! GWers are the best!

It's so funny, I was about to post an earlier thread in which someone put a photo of their spectacular ss apronfront sink- and low and behold, it happens to be the sink of gglks! I'll put the thread in below, gglks, you have an amazing kitchen- love the window right to the sink! I'm glad you put this in, because I was tossing around similar ideas/ concerns. We went to dinner at a friend's house that has a white sink (I don't know the exact material) that is stained with part of the enamel off of it. Before thinking of re-doing our kitchen, I never really noticed, but I don't want to put in a sink that can't deal with the heavy traffic of our family. We have three small children and we aren't easy on anything. But, how to do that and keep with the look of an older house? I'll definitly be watching this thread to see what others say! Thanks for posting... Here is a link that might be useful: Fabulous sink!

cpartist: I misunderstood about the MW and the corner cabinets. I do wish to go with an upper garage door enclosed microwave so I can swap it out – and realize I completely left it out of the Side View above. I'm not a fan of corner cabinets. I would rather have the storage in drawers on either side and have a blind corner if it meant that other cabinets on my run would be small like the 12" wide cabinet next to the pantry. To me a 12" cabinet is useless except to collect junk. I misunderstood this statement and understood it to mean lower: Whereas perhaps you were referring to upper: Not that it matters. I just misunderstood. Make the coffee bar narrower in depth…. mantlemount… Coffee maker can’t sit directly underneath TV no matter how high TV sits above, even if fully enclosed in a garage as steam escaping from blooming the grinds during brewing would eventually damage the TV. Also, if we make it narrow no room for mini fridge. The mini fridge needs space so as not to overheat. That Mantlemount is awesome, but w/o going into elaborate details, we are incorporating the TV into the cabinet in such a way it won’t work. DH will look at this and may change his mind tho’! As we go through this, we learn so many new ideas and it’s such a fantastic process! Doing a 30" upper with 18" above that is going to make the upper look top heavy and push down on the 30" cabinets. I would do a 36" high upper, a 12" high above that and then have your 6" crown. This was why I wanted to post the Side Views and I so appreciate your input. I wasn’t sure about heights of stacked upper cabs. Since your comment, in looking at various photos, seems the taller cabs below, with shorter above, as you just said, makes for cleaner lines, less heavy: vs. Therefore, I’ll change the stacked cab’s to the 36” and 12” as you suggested to see what it looks like. I feel we’ll both prefer it. I was allowing 5” for crown molding (included in that is a 1” filler to sit underneath to even out non-plumb ceiling heights). I am thinking the crown molding shouldn’t be over 4” in our kitchen as it might look overwhelming in respect to the rest of the house… I do want 18”, not 15” clearance between countertop and upper cabinets. 48" is the width of two cabinets together underneath. Yes, it was the arrow. Thanks for clearing this up, I was concerned we were missing some pertinent measurements a cabinet maker would need to know. I’ve made some mistakes I think in the Side View… #1: the 2” piece of stock (for side of fridge facing the Great Room) is fine, just showing it here. #2: the 2” piece of stock on the other side of the fridge shows it stopping at 2nd stack of upper cabs, which wasn’t intended and the measurements include it going all the way to the crown moulding. However… #3: needs to be the microwave garage, in which case, it needs to be wider. Question: So, and I don’t wish to appear stupid, but there may be rules I’m unaware of: if the stock on the oven side of the fridge (#2) only went on the side of the fridge that is exposed, I could add another 2” to the 24” wide upper cabs, 2” to the lower drawer bases, giving more room for the MW garage (and by garage, I mean garage door). See image below. Are there any rules/reasons Re: stock pieces on this side of fridge that would make this impossible to do? Question: Also, when I did the side view yesterday I didn’t add it all up… I’m coming in at (including leaving 2” stocks as original) 172” across for uppers, 171” across for lowers. Have I missed something from buehl’s layout? Lastly, I understand we are asking a zillion questions and very heavily relying on the 2 of you right now. If at any time this becomes too laborious, time-consuming, or tedious, please let me know.