Aisle size/Island spacing: 42" is still narrow for seating, but since that's not a traffic aisle, not too bad maybe? Actually, that is a major thoroughfare through the kitchen....from what I can tell on the layout, it's the only way to the rest of the house from the Mudroom & Laundry Room. It'll either be that aisle or the other side of the island...crossing every single work zone! Remember what I said about skimping on overhang? It won't help your aisle situation. People will still take up the same amount of room sitting at the island if you have 9", 12", or 15" of overhang. What differs is how close they can comfortably sit to the counter edge. The shallower the overhang, the less comfortable it will be. Yes, you may be 5' or less and have short legs, but you have a DH over 6' and I can't imagine it's comfortable for him... I'm 5'10" and I find my friend's 12" overhang uncomfortable to sit at...if I want to be close to the counter edge, I have to either straddle the peninsula or sit sideways. If you have your visitors sitting sideways, then you increase the linear space they take up....from 24" per person to 36" or more per person (so, a 6' counter would only fit 2 seats, not 3)! My 6'5" DH with short legs (he has a long body) won't even sit at our friend's peninsula b/c he finds it so uncomfortable. He actually wishes we had gone w/an 18" overhang...but at least he's willing to sit at the 15" overhang. However, it's your kitchen and if you're convinced it will work for you and your family, then fine. You've heard the cons to it and have accepted them (if they even apply to you)...so you're going in with your eyes open. Pantry...I would reduce the depth to no more than 15"...we had 18" shelves in our old pantry and things were forever getting lost in the back. 18" is pretty deep. In our new pantry, most of the shelving is 12" deep and all of my small appliances except the toaster oven fit in those shelves. Yes, the breadmaker is sideways, but that's the only one. We do store our KA stand mixer on the counter, but I think it would also fit sideways on a 12" deep shelf. MW/convection oven...I think you'll find they need a 24" deep cabinet. They may be 21" deep, but then you need air clearance & outlet space. That's an outside wall, so you may not be able to recess the plug into the wall so it doesn't take up extra space. To be sure, check the specs of your chosen oven. I will say this, I'd rather see the side of the refrigerator w/decorative door panels from the LR & DR than the front of it. I'm not saying the front is horrible, I'm just saying if I had a choice, that's what I would pick. However, it's up to you. I'm a functionality first, aesthetics second person for the most part, so I like the refrigerator closer to the DR & LR so snackers aren't walking through the kitchen while I'm trying to work with narrow aisles...PLUS, there's so much more work & landing space around the...

OK, the ceiling is about halfway down and the wood is not coming down without a fight. The contractors are being as careful as they can be, but still the wood is cracking and chipping. I could try glueing and puttying it back together, but at this point I'm thinking that painting is going to be easier and much less risky. And as far as the fireplace wall goes, Les, I almost always agree with everything you say but the photos don't really capture the true hideousness of the color. There's some kind of varnish over the top so I can't even restain because it won't take. Also, there are many cracks and gaps in the fireplace paneling that allow cold air in - part of the reason for painting that wall was so I could caulk the heck out of those gaps without the caulk being noticeable. (I used clear caulk on some of the biggest cracks a few years ago but it is very noticeable since the caulk is shiny.) The guy that built this house was apparently striving for authenticity, right down to the draftiness and lack of insulation of a 200 year old farmhouse. So, assuming that I'm going to paint both the ceiling and the fireplace wall, what are your opinions? I was thinking of choosing a colonial color and going for the look like in the links that reeree posted. The only thing is that I don't want to commit to colored trim throughout the house - I don't mind it in this room, but would have trouble figuring out where to transition it back to white. I could easily do the baseboards dark in that room without a problem, and could do the windows as well, but could not do the posts or the trim at the top of the stone half wall without connecting directly a room with white trim. So actually, I was thinking of a dark dark reddish brown - something like BM's hadley red or townsend harbor brown. I was thinking of putting it on both the ceilng and fireplace wall. But I'm worried that this will look too imposing, especially if the rest of the trim is white and the walls are light. I do like the look of the blue and green as well, but after 10 years of blue sofas, I'm a bit sick of blue. The green is pretty but since I have no idea what color I'll end up with as far as sofas and rugs go, I hate to commit to a definitely color - I'd rather stay neutral. I was also thinking of a dark gold color like BM Livingston Gold, Blair Gold, Summerdale Gold, or Yorkshire Tan. I think I'd rather stay away from painting the ceiling white because of the soot/dust from the stove. We have another beamed ceiling in our breakfast area that is painted white and it looks kind of blah. I'm considering rehanging only every other beam to keep the ceiling less busy. It is a small room, maybe 13 x 15 (in fact, when I'm ready to ditch the blue sofas, I'm going to be posting for room layout help - it's such an oddly laid out room that I can't figure out what type of furniture I even need in there!). But because the room is open to the kitchen and foyer (where the photos are taken from) and because the ceilings are high (they are about 10.5 ft) the room doesn't feel claustrophobic, so I'm not afraid to put a dark color back on the ceiling. So at any rate, assuming we're painting the ceiling, beams, and fireplace wall (and assuming the walls are going to be a yellow-ish cream), what colors would you suggest? What about the baseboards and windows? Thanks for all the advice!

Agreeable Gray by Sherwin Williams is an amazing greige color. We ended up doing Shady by Dun Edwards as our painter used that paint brand but it is an exact match. The house looks A-mazing! Or any of the deeper greige shades such as Perfect Greige, etc.

Leave the rock as is and pick up the lightest taupe tone from the rock as the paint for the siding. Then maybe a charcoal gray for the parts currently painted white, with a dark evergreen for the door and shutters. Keep the taupe on the grayish side so it doesn't compete with your roof.