Ok, thanks. i have read the instructions and am working on learning how to draw and post my drawings. i'm really good at somethings, but not that, at all! my drawings are on graph paper and pretty well fleshed out, and assumably i can someday figure out how to get the drawings into the computer and then uploaded to here. someday... meanwhile, this is just for fun, i wanted to see what others would come up with in this space. specifically, i do want to preserve the sightline of the water, so lower cabs only on the eastern wall and northeast corner. windows above those cabs. the west wall faces the firewood storage, so no windows needed there. the kitchen will have a big fireplace in which dh can bake pies and such, and our big farm table will be in front of it. he likes to sit at the table to do his prep, and we all gather around him and keep him company while helping. he has a 36" vulcan range, a commercial hood, restaurant sink station (it's a free standing huge stainless sink he prefers to use for prep and pots). dishes and dw will go in a pantry, sort of like willows--(only wider and more shallow--think 8' wide by 4' deep).) um, what else can i tell you? wish to HECK!!!! i knew how to post my dang drawings for you!!!! this would be so much easier!!

Okay, now we're cooking. So, this is the layout of our little house. We don't live there yet, we are gutting it for a total redo. This is what the floor plan will be when we are done. We can't add to the footprint r/t our proximity to the river and we don't really want to anyway. It's about 1100 sq ft. total. We are retiring here (someday:) and this is our last remodel so we are committed to doing it the right way, no cobbling or short-changing quality/desires. The living room will be knotty pine walls and ceiling in a honey pine finish from Buffalo Lumber in New York. My DH has his heart set on it and it's okay with me. Seems to suit the setting. Of course, the kitchen and living room need to work together. The entry will be the honey pine ceiling with whitewashed K.P. on the walls. Now, they offer a darker stain called fruitwood that I'm also considering for the ceilings. I've seen it on Houzz and LOVE the look. As in this: [[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/by-hardrock-construction-traditional-laundry-room-toronto-phvw-vp~37184) [traditional laundry room design[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/traditional-laundry-room-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_753~s_2107) by toronto general contractor HARDROCK CONSTRUCTION The doorway to the entry will stay where it is drawn..just enough to end the cabs and allow for door trim. The doorway to the porch can move E or W just a bit and the south cabs can shrink a little. The opening to the living room is wide open to possibilities. I would like some type of peninsula set-up there for daily meals and putzing on the laptop, etc. On special occasions, we'll be setting up a table on the 'river porch' as we call it. I cook from scratch a lot. We grow gardens so fridge space is necessary. (I like the idea of a counter-depth fridge) I make big shopping trips mostly and also buy in bulk for lots of items. I will have basement storage for that kind of thing. An 18" DW will be fine for the 2 of us... don't mind doing dishes by hand and kinda want a Dishmaster faucet. We do recycle and compost, so some kind of plan for that space would be good. Let's see: The only appliances I'd like out are my kitchenaid stand mixer, my food processor, my coffee pot, toaster and coffee grinder...wouldn't be opposed to an appliance garage for the last three. Oh, and the knife block or some other easy access solution for knives. Love open shelves for my bowls and whatnot... have them now and find them very useful. We have a 39" wide green Chambers stove: that is more mint green than the pic shows (at least on my computer)and will be on the south wall. The only window is over the sink on the west wall... the river porch will be solid windows facing south but the kitchen proper just has the one. If I could keep the window centered it would look good from outside, but the further to the right the sink goes, the better my view. (or the wider the window gets, but 4' wide is about it... possibly a little wider) I'm trying to cover all the things you guys always ask people so I'm not wasting your time. And I hope I'm not being presumptuous in thinking you all will help me... :) The flooring for the whole house other than bath and master is leaning heavily towards marmoleum ploughed acre with some thoughts of a small diamond inset design in the kitchen just for a little fun. Our budget is... well, I'd love to get this done for less than 20,000. Anything more than that makes me feel itchy and nervous. Not a huge fan of granite but having said that, we are repurposing some granite and quartz stones from a wall in the kitchen for the fireplace surround in the LR. There is a lot of red granite in there. The prev. owner worked at a local quarry in the 70's, so there is granite galore on the exterior. As far as appliances, we'll be purchasing a fridge/freezer or an all fridge/freezer drawers or something. An 18" dw, range hood and sink. Don't use microwaves. What else can I tell you? My mission statement is: I want my kitchen to function efficiently, be easy to keep clean and organized, feel like it belongs to the house and will inspire and energize me. I hope someone can help. Should I upload a closer view of just the kitchen?d Thank you!

I used to get the magazine "Cottage Living" and loved to see what people did with smaller spaces. I loved the look of the charming and carefully done houses. Our house is not small as in cottage-like, but it is also not a mansion. I think seeing what can be done in a smaller space helps when designing for not so small. Your house is not small, but the look is more of a charming one that an exotic style. If you embrace how nice it is and what it can be, you will have a lovely place to live. When I was younger, I always wanted to be glamorous, but could never pull it off. I looked like the girl next door and wished I could be more grown up looking. Now, many enough years later, I am grateful that I look young(-ish) for my age and had never been at a loss for suitors before getting married, so I wish I could tell the young version of me to be grateful because if one is wishing for something else, they miss what they do have. I still can't wear red lipstick, but am ok with that now that I am wiser, lol. I subscribed to Cottage Living for the decor and appreciated the smaller scale once I started to read it. I also love the aesthetic of what were mostly charming homes and the variety of what could be done while also keeping their appeal. The nicer ones were not mini versions of big houses, but were their own proud more modest size. It was my one foray into house porn, so I can't recommend many others, lol. It is out of print now, but you may be able to see back issues at the library or if someone is getting rid of them such as on freecycle or CL. I finally parted with mine last year or I'd send them along happily. I tried their old website that was up past the magazine going under, but it directed me to another site, which looked cute too. Apartment Therapy may give you some ideas. You will have a larger amount of space to work with, but the feel may not be far off from what would work for you. My kitchen is fairly large now and yet it was done in a modest way for the decor. Its look fits with the overall scale of the house. If we had done fancy, there would have been a disconnect with the rest of the house no matter how much we updated it all. If you have seen a woman who is wafer thin where all the bones in her neck and ribs are protruding, and she is sporting double Es or more, you know what I mean. More is not always better.

Agree with smm5525, the two inspirations pics are not really compatible. The LR would fit in perfectly in my traditional 1941 "colonial" house and the kitchen is more a 1990's "Mediterranean" genre. Neither are either tropical or beachy -- I am not sure what you are picturing in your mind's eye with those terms. The two spaces are going to be completely open to each other so they have to flow together smoothly. Also, they need to fit the style/era of the rest of your house! What is it like? You had mentioned that the kitchen would be "warm" and the great room/bar "cool" which, again, doesn't often work in real life when the spaces are juxtaposed like that. One or the other will always look "off" to you unless the colors are very carefully chosen and use a lot of mid range neutrals (colors that work with both warm and cool). I do like the color that you've chosen for the bar cabinets BTW. Find some more inspiration pics to clarify your overall looks and then call your ID soonest and get him/her working with you! You mentioned being on a timeline, but I strongly encourage you to have the whole project a bit more thoroughly planned out before anything is started.