What a pleasant surprise to see this thread revived! Yes, in fact, we are still in the design phase (we had to go back to the drawing board a bit after the bids came back too high and decided to hold off on construction for financial reasons). But now we're back going at it at full speed (just decided on a contractor yesterday). And we're working on final changes to the plans (so now's a great time to get this feedback). We had to get rid of the walk-out basement (and the slide and trap-door pits) and the office space and guest space over the garage. To make up for those losses, we have added a multipurpose room on the first floor (can be used as a master suite when my husband can't climb stairs in the future and can be used as a media room/ library/ guest suite/ additional bedroom or nanny suite now. We also expanded the mudroom/powder room (added a shower) and changed the three-car garage to a barn to reflect more accurately how we will use it (as a play area/workshop area rather than for our cars). I'll post the new plans on a new post rather than keeping this old one going . . . . But just to answer the concerns on this one, we did increase the size of the children's bedrooms a little by moving the laundry into the previous master bath/closet area. We do already intend for our two boys (yes, we've had another baby boy since this post - part of the reason for the delay) to share the larger room. And as far as furniture placement, we did change the location of the TV, get rid of the pit, and move the west wall of the living room back (since the slide is no longer there). I plan on putting two sofas facing one another and perpendicular to the TV in the middle of the room and maybe a chair or two on the side. I'd welcome your thoughts on the new plan. We really have made quite a few changes (and after this is finalized it will be much harder to make more). Thanks! -- Micah

I have a kitchen that sounds a lot like your living room as far as wear goes. It's the hub of the house, largest & brightest room. The garage door and backyard sliders open into the room. The floor gets the heaviest traffic and toughest use. We're also on a slab. We had a flood over two months ago and are currently without any type of flooring over the concrete slab while we 'negotiate' with our insurance company. I'm in my 50s and hope whatever flooring I choose will be the last flooring I have to put down. I'm sick to death of 28 years of cleaning vinyl. I thought I wanted tile. I decided porcelain was my best bet due to the hardness rating and best durability. Why I don't want tile: I am usually barefoot. The cement is COLD and HARD and my back and hips now hurt if I stand in the kitchen long enough. My 2 year old grandson has fallen twice on the floor--the thud was sickening and he really got hurt. Tile is too hard and cold a surface for me. Same for etched concrete. I considered laminate. Kitchen=moisture and spills. I am a decent housekeeper but not a slave to it. I worry that the traffic will be too tough on the surface or water will lift the seams. I also don't care for the artificial look of it or the sound it makes when walked on with shoes. A weird kind of clicking. After doing a lot of research and shopping around, I'm going with engineered hardwood in a distressed style. It will be warmer and softer under the feet (and grandkid's head and limbs). The distressed style in a matte finish won't taunt me daily to "come clean me . . .I'm not shiney anymore." I've been told a daily Swiffering keeps it mostly happy and presentable. I like that the finish is baked on in the factory and won't need on site finishing. We really can't afford to have the room out of commission for days while it cures. I'll use mats or area rugs at the doorways and sink. That said, I raised two boys in this house with vinyl in the kitchen and carpeting throughout the rest of the rooms. Where there are children, there is cleaning and upkeep and repairs to be done. You're smart to try and minimize your work.

I had the same height problem, but found a local cabinet maker who merely took some off the upper & lower reveals of the cabinet (upper one partially concealed by molding). It resulted in a perfect fit for new FD frig & you would never know anything had been done to the cabinet.

I don't consider anything after 1940'ish to qualify as an old house. And a house built after 1940 is 75 years old and a house built in 1965 is 50 years old. Not considering something of this age worth discussing, or thinking that something 50-75 years old is open game for gut renovation every time because it's not old is exactly the mentality that ruined so many Victorian and Edwardian houses in the 1950s. I don't believe every house has to be maintained as a time capsule. I dont believe any house really is ever a complete time capsule unless it's a museum. But there has to be a point when one asks oneself why XYZ is not worth saving and needs to be replaced with whatever is current no matter how bad it looks in the house. (And people don't think it's bad until later and its not the latest thing any more). There are enough options out there that a new kitchen or bath could look completely compatible with almost any age of house, without necessarily trying to be a period recreation, and without breaking the bank. Daltile ceramic or porcelain tiles in basic sizes cover the bases for practically any period of bathroom from after about 1920 and if you are okay with non rectified subway, you can do a compatible bath from before 1920. The Old House forum should at the very least support those who want to restore and renovate compatibly with their older houses instead of leaving them to the vagaries of fashion in the general Kitchen and Bath forums. I don't think this necessarily has to be a forum for complete purists--I don't think it is now, but apparently some people do (?). Many people may beg to differ but I don't think there is anything wrong with trying to maintain or recreate something from as recently as the 1980s. There is really nothing "wrong" with some of it, Late- and Post-Modernism can be kind of interesting. It's just that most people hate with with the same knee jerk reaction that they hate anything that they think is too old Not to hate and too new to not look back on as just another period in design history.