Okay, bad news - talked to DH last night and it's a no go on adding recessed lights. :( Now we do have 6 recessed lights in the den which connects to the kitchen on the breakfast nook side. When those lights are on, that side of the kitchen is nicely lit - but, it would probably be silly to rely on those for kitchen lighting... farmhousebound - So glad you like the lighting choices (especially the stairwell light)! I'll stop stressing about the stairwell light now. :) I am still stressing about the nook light though. I agree with you and really do Love the look of "C" - but I'm so worried that the opaque shade just won't provide enough light. I'm afraid I'm still undecided on it. If someone else wants to buy it from you, please feel free - I don't want to hold you up. But I will definitely keep you posted! (We're in Long Island in NY.) That is an Amazing price on your fixtures. Wow! I talked to DH about making our own fixtures, but he's overwhelmed with all of the house renovations and doesn't want to add more to the to-do list. He just wants me to pick one fixture for the nook and be done with it. =/ Sigh. It would have been SO nice to have had a matching light and fan (and save money too!) I spent too much time yesterday looking at lights - I stumbled upon a school house shade that is Way out of budget, but soooo pretty. I probably shouldn't be considering it b/c of the price, it's not an exact match to the fan (sort of similar shape), and the concern of light output - but, since you're a fellow schoolhouse lover, I wanted to share it - http://www.antiquelampsupply.com/product/3169 - Pretty, huh? I think I'm drawn to the blue stripe that would go with the color scheme. lascatx - I really love the look of the pulley light - but, without adding recessed lights - would it be too dark? Should I keep looking? I'm wondering if we should do something completely different to ensure that we get enough light - like maybe a small, multi light chandelier (with lighting towards the bottom to avoid the soffit issue)? I'm open to suggestions. Thank you both for your help! I can't tell you how much I appreciate it!! Here is a link that might be useful: Please tell me I'm crazy to consider this since it's out of budget, not a perfect match to the fan, probably won't provide enough light, etc., etc.

We're almost finished w/the kitchen nook we've made for our kitchen remodel. We've tried to restore the kitchen more to 1920-30's era. House is 1918. We took out island from prior owner remodel because there just wasn't space for it w/more than one cook. It was a nice place for visitors to hang out at though even though there was no seating at the island. So, we put in a traditional nook in a corner of the kitchen, but still facing the cooks. My husband built the bench and it has storage underneath for his books and supplies for grading papers. We bough 2 18 inch tall stools for the other side, so they can be slipped underneath the table when not in use. People on the stools would have their backs to the kitchen. Also needed stools because large radiator on that side wouldn't allow another booth bench. We also built becasue we thought it would be easier to clean around than a small table with four chairs. The table we built is just attached to the wall on one side and just had one leg coming down on the other. We kept the bench not-too-deep and not too high off the ground because I'm short and rarely fit most chairs well, but my 5 10 husband is fine in the bench too. We did not want anything upholstered in there, just nice shiny paint for sliding in and out of the bench. Don't need extra things to clean. Was worried about whether anyone would be drawn to the space. So far my husband enjoys reading the morning paper or grading there and my 10 yr old son does better remembering to eat his breakfast when he's sitting at the bench where it is harder to just jump up! So, we did the nook for the era of the house, but also storge, ease of cleaning and a space to hang out while others cook. We also have a large built in window seat original to the house in the dining room. Used to use it as the changing area when my kids were babies. Unfortunately now, it often gets piled w/papers that we're not quite sure where to put, or projects taken off the dining room table. We do use it when we have lots of guests because we can push the dining room table up to it for lots of extra seatingn on that side. We hope to make better use of it after we finish w/kitchen remodel.

OneRidgeOff: fabulous idea! We use blankets on our couch so I can take them off when guests come over, even though our dogs are the non-shedding variety! benjesbride: We thought about moving the stove because we don't love where it currently sits (or the fridge for that matter), however if I move it next to the sink, I will have virtually no landing space next to it and certainly no space to prep between the sink. Even if we move the sink to the peninsula, the stove would still be next to the window and behind that is a laundry room and the roof above is where two points of the room meet, making venting for the hood difficult as well (there would have to be some jigs and jogs to get it out through the roof in a good spot). The walk way goes to the laundry room/garage and the other door is to the dining room; so not much flow through there except taking food to the dining room (only on holidays most likely) or doing laundry. However, if my husband is cooking, I can go through the dining room and into the laundry without ever disturbing the path from sink/prep to stove, which is why I favored saving money on moving everything versus sticking to the NKBA guidelines strictly. Also, making the peninsula the whole width of the kitchen (which I still want to do badly), still means I won't have 48" between the counter and my pantry for the main pathway into the kitchen if I keep the seating behind it. However, you have made me think and I will have to play around with those ideas in the Ikea planner; just have to weigh the pros and cons of the "best" layout versus cost. cpartist: thank you; I value your opinion. My thought was that a table can easily be set up in our three seasons room for large holidays and still be plenty connected to the kitchen without having to be "in" the kitchen. chocolatebunny123: we may have to just take the loss, as our needs are very different from most others as we don't have children and don't generally sit in our kitchen to eat. However, I know when we sell in 10-15 years, there will likely be families with kids moving in (our neighborhood is mostly owned by the original owners from the 80s and most have grown children and retiring). We also have a fourth bedroom in the basement I'm thinking about removing (gasp!) when we renovate the basement in another year or so and I know that will affect our home value considerably. I have been enjoying hearing the differing opinions in response to my post though. I feel like I have been seeing a lot of people who are building with just one large area off the kitchen for a large table and a lot of island seating, rather than our current setup from the 80s. Interesting how times change! Maybe when we sell, our kitchen will be "back in style!"

Yes... I was originally going to make the tabletop 36"W, but after reading those specs on Arhaus.com I decided to widen it to at least 38" to accommodate the bases. The mounting issue was another thing I tried to discuss with the online "designer" and didn't get any help with. In this picture it looks like there are holes on the top of them, but since my top is 2 cm quartz, I won't be using any screws into it to attach them. The stone fabricator will install the top similar to how they install countertops to cabinet bases, using a special epoxy glue. But I will definitely show these bases to them first to make sure it can be attached properly! As far as other coordinating colors in my home, I am planning on replacing most of the existing fixtures (except wood floors) so I'm basically starting from scratch with the 2 tables in question, the tan leather sofa and 3 kitchen chairs I already have. From there I will decide on barstools, light fixtures, rugs, banquet cushions and other accessories, incorporating an accent color or 2 in some of those. Interesting idea to do the bar table legs in an fun accent color, but I think choosing that now would be putting the cart before the horse! Maybe I'll skip that step for now and keep the existing black legs that are on it (knowing that they will eventually be changed) until I choose my kitchen table base and barstools. Does anyone else think the brass bases might look more (or too) formal than the black ones?