Thanks for your help petra! I could be completely off on my counter size. Let's see if I can explain it. It's a cross between a U and an L (I know that doesn't make sense!) I have a 10"W counter then my normal slide in stove/oven then 32" to the wall. The counter takes it's turn at 7 1/2". Then this is the longest one 137" wall to wall. The side counter is 71" wall to wall, taking it's turn at 24 1/2". Kinda resembles this: ] with the small stove area at the top and the bottom length extended out for the side counter. We also have a small desk drawer area across the room which will need a 21"W x 21 1/2"D area covered. I have no idea what size our slabs are! Guess I need to find that out. We are installing "Oyster Pearl" from Mont Granite (mid-west, ohio area. We are in Indianapolis) Not the lowest basic granite but not exotic or high end, either. It is a high grey intensity with cream, black and brown. No backsplash, we are tiling from counter to cabinets. I thought the Rojo was high, also. It's not normally used (at least I never see it mentioned here) but it's not exotic either. Our vanity is old but in great shape and has a built in hamper, so we are keeping it. It is 53 1/2". I really appreciate you taking the time to help me understand this, Thanks! I will assume from your screen name that you are in the granite business? :)

A couple of questions: Is this a house you actually own already, or is this a hypothetical? Leading to: Is there a kitchen there already? What is there? There's no point in worrying about finding cabinets if you have a kitchen full. Don't trouble trouble until trouble troubles you, as they say ... In your area, who is the most likely person to rent to? Students? Low income people? Health care workers near a hospital? Is it a resort area? A retirement community? These things may influence your decisions. "What people want" in incredibly subjective. Each of those groups named -- and there are so many not named -- would want different things, and individuals would want different things. Basically, though, in a rental, do as little renovation as possible without serious thought, and learn all your legal rights and responsibilities. Maintain scrupulously though. (I know I have rejected many apartments just by smell alone. Sometimes just by the smell in the hallways.) As for "vintage" hardware -- try salvage houses. People sell it by the baggiefull. I have rented several apartments and houses with simple, modest kitchens and strict, honest landlords. Personally, I prefer this style to the owners who watch too much HGTV, get dollar signs in their eyes, have their brother in law slap in bargain granite, triple the rent, and throw a badly-spelled, hyperbole and exclamation-point laden ad on craigslist. Bottom line: I would make the best choice based on the house for the area and the market, maybe access to public transportation and the things the renters would be interested in: schools if that's part of the target, the local business park if that's the target, the beach, shops, medical facilities, pool etc. THEN I'd look at the kitchen, and me? I'd look to making what you have the best it can be. At least while you get the hang of being a landlord.

We've converted two attic spaces (same house, opposite ends) to living space, with low ceilings. From my experience, the first thing to do, after determining whether you can safely/legally finish the attic, is to run the electrical wires. To avoid running duct from a furnace/AC, I'd run 220v for a couple of baseboard heaters, and use the portable AC units which sit on the floor and vent through a window. I can see some natural light, so it looks as if you have dormers, which might be fine for egress and the portable AC units. We used foam baffles between the roof and insulation, then sheetrock as usual. If you are not confident about finishing sheetrock, and don't want to pay to have it done, you can tape it, then cover with inexpensive sheet beadboard. I like your floors as they are, but you'd want to seal them, if not paint. Those are much nicer floors than I've ever seen in an unfinished attic. I'm impressed that there are floor boards at all--I've see a lot of attics with a few pieces of plywood laid across the joists to store boxes. Since the knee walls wouldn't be structural, I think you could frame them yourself, with some research, and basic tools. You might as well frame them in, since that space is too low to use as living space, and if you feel confident enough, you can turn the space into recessed storage--shelves or converted dresser/drawers--very convenient if the space will be used as an office or craft room. If you choose the portable AC option, you could even tailor a storage space to the unit(s), for the off-season. Following are pics of some of the kneewall storage in our half-story attic addition. I did most of the work myself, with limited construction experience. (Left the electrical work to the pro.) The white walls, and closet doors, are the sheet beadboard I mentioned above. I also had to work around closet space in adjacent bedrooms, and the old roof supports, which is why the recessed shelves in the first pic are so shallow. If you can find cabinets, drawers, and chests on craigslist, Goodwill, and the Restore, you can keep the cost down--but only if you have more time, than money, to invest in the project. It would be very difficult to estimate the cost. Our neighbor is a master electrician, and we traded him a strip of land that he'd been asking about, to wire the whole addition. We already had all the tools needed. A chop saw/miter saw, set up in the space as I was working, was invaluable. Circular saw for angled cuts on 2x4 framing. Reciprocating saw for cutting existing framing, and a jig saw for small cuts is also useful. Framing and finishing nail guns are convenient, but I don't like using them, so I did all the nailing with a hammer. I love hearing a nail 'sing' as it's being driven into the framing. :) If you have friends or relatives with construction experience, who will do favors or trade skills, then you can keep the cost down. Kneewall storage ideas/google Portable AC units on Amazon

Thank you! I hated to have to get rid of any of the original elements of the house, and tried to salvage what we could. The cabinet hinges and hardware were not original though and were probably added sometime in the early 70s when the house was moved to its present location. The wood ceiling did not extend to the breakfast nook and unfortunately when we removed the wall between the nook and kitchen, we found that the ceilings did not line up properly and had to do some work to correct that. There have been a lot of changes to the house that predated us. When we took down the walls in the breakfast nook we found that there originally had been 5 windows- at some point previous owners decided to board them up and drywall over the top!