I'm from the northeast and we aren't nice like the southern folks around here :)

My kind of gal! I'm a Nu Yawka and we winter in FL. My daughter was upset when she came to visit the first time. She said, "What's with everyone smiling and asking how I am?" LOL.

Ok here's my two cents. And please excuse my bluntness.

I think all floors need to be wood. Everywhere.

And as discussed the arches need to go in the kitchen as well as those awful braces holding up the bar areas. And regarding the kitchen, now that I see the whole house and think on it, I think you should also redo the counters by putting in a quartz counter that works with your cabinets and change the backsplash.

Picture 4: I would redo the fireplace surround. Something like a light stacked stone or something light and bright. Then restate with more contemporary furniture that is better scaled to the space.

Picture 5: The table is fine, but the chairs are dated looking and so is the easel with the old artwork. Once you put the wood floors in, I'd lose the rug too.

Picture 6: Fireplace surround should be changed to whatever you choose in pic 4 and you need to stage the room better. An old looking chair and a parsons table in green does nothing to show the room to best advantage. Also get rid of the rug.

Picture 8: It has the requisite couch in white but that's about it. There is nothing in the room that says, I want to come in with my family and put my feet up and watch a movie. Honestly it's sad looking. And lose the too small lamp in the corner by the window.

Picture 9: Find something more interesting than that sad looking potted plant for the table. That might be the one light fixture I'd change. It's very much in your face.

Picture 15: Here too I'd get rid of that arch over the bed and make it straight across. Then instead of the two pot lights over the nightstands I'd find two nice hanging fixtures and get rid of those nightstands that are dated and get something more contemporary. You need a larger rug.

You have this bed and two night stands and nothing else. Nothing says to me, I want to come sleep in this room. I want to cozy up in the bay area and read a good book. All the room says to me is that it's so large I don't know what I'll do with it. And again, it needs some color

Picture 16: Here's a tough one. You don't want to completely redo the bathroom because it is a huge expense. However one thing I'd do is definitely frame those mirrors.

The problem is that in Picture 17, the tub on the platform with the tile surround is so dated. My mother did that in her bathroom back in the late 80's.

I would square off the arch, remove the tub and the marble columns, replace the columns with square wood columns that reach the floor and put in a stand alone soaking tub. You could then use a different flooring that blends with the other flooring just in case you can't get the same flooring. I would also drop the ceiling in that area to make it feel more "intimate" and add a chandelier.

Additionally I'd drop the wall in front of the shower so it's just a foot or two above the shower door. Right now it looks bizarre.

Picture 19, 21, 22, and 23 : What are the rooms for? You as the seller need to show people what they can use it for. And put a nice cushion on the bench.

The chandeliers are fine (with the exception of the kitchen nook one). If they want to replace them, it's a small thing to replace.

However I think you need several large and colorful contemporary artworks for your walls. That right there will help "modernize" the house. Some galleries will let you rent out artwork, and the stagers definitely will. Mostly I would stage with more contemporary pieces of furniture and you want to make it look like a home.

BTW: My suggestions wouldn't cost you $100k. Definitely a lot less. Probably between $30-$50k and I might even be guessing on the high end.

Oh and I wouldn't move the cooktop, but I'd consider putting in an induction cooktop. Your realtor can play up how it's even better than gas.

Wow. I am astonished at the tiny, minuscule, unimportant things (radius or bevel on a countertop? seriously?) that you all think buyers care about (they would make their BUYING DECISION based on something so ridiculous? holy crap!). Except that they DO seem to care about those things, where you live. (Not where I live, thank goodness.)

My first thought on seeing the first kitchen photos was that most people's AFTER photos would look like those!! I would move the refrigerator to make the layout more efficient, but other than that, come ON -- it's a beautiful kitchen. Still, virtually everyone has been nit-picking so I guess those utterly stupid "details" can MAKE or BREAK someone's decision on buying a house? Where on earth did common sense go?!!

Honestly, I'm just flabbergasted.

(And someone just suggested an induction cooktop. Believe it or not, some of us HATE them and would vastly prefer gas. Really. So the idea of changing something like a cooktop out -- when you have no idea who will really like what -- seems insane to me.)

Karen- I'm flabbergasted that you're flabbergasted. The median home value in Austin right now is $301,400. Jessica's house has the potential to sell for $2,000,000!! The target demographic for this property is far from average. If it's a buyer's market you need to appeal to those buyers.

Can you imagine for a moment what the carrying costs on a property like this might be?? Sheesh. In addition to avoiding more of that cost, avoiding the stress of another six months of price reductions alone is worth $100,000 This house needs to sell!

Ok, time to get practical. It sounds like you're keeping the granite and the floors.

Get area rugs in beautiful, warm, rich colors, for under the table (round) and a long matching runner for the "long wall," a shorter carpet for in front of the island, maybe something like this by Karastan. They are expensive, but much less than replacing the floors.

Forget about the awkward cabinet. By the time buyers realize what a pain it really is, they'll be living there.

Is your electric cooktop a Wolf? If not, it's going to be. :-) I'm kidding, of course, but It should be a cooktop worthy of the price of the home, even if it isn't gas.

One of the things that's so weird about that long wall is that the uppers and lowers don't correlate at all. I'm not sure what to do about that. Can you post more images of the cabs on that wall? I want to remove and reorder the uppers in such a way that it looks like a hutch, a single piece of furniture centered with the island on that wall. If this isn't doable, I think the center uppers should be glass with glass shelves and internal lighting.

And now for my favorite part, the backsplash. A Mother-of-Pearl backsplash would be gorgeous, as would ceramic tile in a beautiful shape, or an interesting layout (herringbone, for example). I would consider any number of materials, but not stone. No mas.

Oh, forgot to mention, I'm a fan of squaring up those arches so they look like all the rest of the windows in the space.

And when you deal with the bs, we have to make it the correct height throughout, and you have to deal with all of those outlets.

How would you feel about replacing the chandelier over the table, and adding a second one over the island?

Its a beautiful home.

Wow. I am astonished at the tiny, minuscule, unimportant things (radius or bevel on a countertop? seriously?) that you all think buyers care about (they would make their BUYING DECISION based on something so ridiculous? holy crap!). Except that they DO seem to care about those things, where you live. (Not where I live, thank goodness.)

When people are paying two million dollars for a home, you can bet they care about stuff like that. Absolutely.

My first thought on seeing the first kitchen photos was that most people's AFTER photos would look like those!!

Yes it would be most people's after photos, but the majority of people buying in this price range want the latest and greatest. They want to be ahead of the curve and not part of it.

Still, virtually everyone has been nit-picking so I guess those utterly stupid "details" can MAKE or BREAK someone's decision on buying a house? Where on earth did common sense go?!!

When you can afford to buy a two million dollar house, you can afford to be picky and get what you want. Why shouldn't you?

(And someone just suggested an induction cooktop. Believe it or not, some of us HATE them and would vastly prefer gas. Really. So the idea of changing something like a cooktop out -- when you have no idea who will really like what -- seems insane to me.)

Yes some hate induction, but induction is better than her electric she has now. See above where I stated that people in this price range want the latest and greatest. And if they prefer gas, they can switch it out to a Wolf or better still, a LaCanche.

Hm, tough one, but in my neck of the wood, the counters would be a no-go in a higher priced home. Here, it's marble or quartz.

Ditto the backsplash, which really dates this kitchen.

As far as layout, I have to say that most people don't care too much as long as it looks good. But this could be, of course, that most people don't cook in their kitchens.

Finally, there needs to be a wow feature, either hood (which you can't do), statement range, huge island, water fall side of island, or at the very least a stunning backsplash or a a cool light fixture.

Another question: Would it be possible to stack glass cabinets on top of the existing ones?

Have you looked at Cote de Texas for styling ideas?

Thank you all again for so many comments. I will respond to everyone in a little bit, I have to get moving but I made a new floorplan for proof of concept that I wanted to get everyone's feedback on. This assumes I take out the divider wall between the kitchen and living room. I think this will cost around $2k for the support beam and reassembly. Move the cooktop to the long ugly wall, make the island bigger and add a sink, move the oven/microwave to the long ugly wall, and put in a bigger fridge. I'd furr down the walls over the fridge to make it have a wall-recessed look. Not sure about the microwave wall and if I could get away with no uppers on either side of the hood. At this point, floors would be torn up enough that I might as well just put the wood in. I guess this really is my all-in plan.

onestly I don't see the point of rearranging the kitchen. Most people walk in and wouldn't know if it's functional or not. And wouldn't care as long as it looks good. You don't need to do too much to make it look good

For entertaining I like the boarder island, just get rid of the arches, posts completely and the sink or put a furniture like buffet in, that's what they do here (central VA). Often we use a modified piece of furniture too, helps with focal point and delineation during entertaining, unique. Most don't care about function, just setting themselves apart from everyone else. I would start there, do matching wood floor and replace backsplash. Reevaluate.

I was going to say the same thing about a buffet. People love the unexpected and originality.

I still agree with painting the island and using hardwood in the entire kitchen breakfast area.

Yes to hardwood. Blingie chandelier, some rich oriental rugs and a big antiquish looking buffet. And look into stacking cabinets on top.

Other than that, I'd spend my money on staging and play up the life style that the house offers. And since there's no way to easily streamline the bathroom, I'd actually emphasize its opulence, so art work, plants, somehow cover the glass block, and leave the columns. However, there must be a way to do something about this gallery of light fixtures.

I have enjoyed following this fascinating thread.

The thing that bothers me the most about the layout is the placement of the sink on the angled wall and the dishwasher placement. I would feel "trapped" when the dishwasher door was opened. Do the pictures make it look more squished/cramped than it is?

I would consider removing most of the cabinets that divide the kitchen from the eating area. moving a single basin sink under the window on the straight wall where the dishwasher is, and relocating the dishwasher down on the straight wall or in the area where the sink is now but down as far as possible to eliminate the "trapped" feeling.

The two areas with counter and bar height may be an issue for some buyers since most people seem to be doing counter height overhangs instead. I do not mind the counter area with the support beams but would prefer counter height only.

Have you had any buyer/realtor feed-back about not having seating at the island?

I'm curious as to the advice from the 2 stagers and realtors.

Lily’smom—I
wonder if I’m getting so much traffic because it shows well in pictures and
it’s hard to see some of the details that date it so much. I agree with you, the “features” aren’t
features to everyone—my gut reaction is that people who are still in the
$1.5-$2M market in this area are just not putting up with the idea of a
project. The focal point observation
came after years of staring at the room, scratching my head and trying to
understand what is wrong with it, you are right, they won’t know it’s the focal
point but they do know something is off and it doesn’t feel good.

The reason I’m looking higher than $2M is because I’ve had
realtors in who priced it over $2M.
There isn’t a ton between $2M and $2.25M, and the one that I referenced
earlier that went pending fast looked like I expect mine to look and was at
$2.35 asking, but was bigger (not necessarily in a good way—we get some really
big houses out here that are not desirable because of the size).

I have confirmed with one realtor that sold 2 houses in my
neighborhood that if I do renovate, it could go back up but under $2M and will
probably sell around $1.89M. I should be
able to add the wood floors, I have the exact floor and I laid it out so that
the directionality would be able to seamlessly integrate. I can’t say how much fading may have happened
though, so we would just have to have an artistic eye to mix it well.

cpartist—I walked
into a CVS when I first got here and someone said “hello.” I was very confused and started looking around
to see who they were talking to. I was
the only one there. That was awkward.

Thank you for your bluntness. Sometimes I need that. I’m with you—floors, corbels, arches,
counters, backsplash, check. Fireplace I was thinking to replace the tile but
leave the surround in the living room, but replace the fluted wood with
smooth. Office fireplace, check.

For the family room, I was thinking to sheetrock over the
built-ins and just put an outlet/conduit for the TV. I’m not seeing people doing built-ins
anymore, and sheetrock etc. should be cheaper than updating the cabinets.

I’m with you on the light over the breakfast room table and
the bedroom arches. I was thinking to
bring the ceiling down to 1 level and paint it the trim color, the layers aren’t helping anything.

The master bath is really bad. The tile on the floor is polished and it’s
got the hideous brown edge detail. I
looked at it yesterday thinking I could save the tile that’s there and I really
don’t think I can. Builder thinks we can
just remove the arches and square it off, make it level with the shower
ceiling. New light fixtures in order
here too. For the wall in front of the
shower, do you mean where the towel hooks are?
I think that may just look weird in the picture, it’s ok in person
(although some genius screwed up the ugly pattern on the inside…neither here
nor there though).

And I agree with you on the staging. We left extra furniture that we didn’t need
immediately and the realtor’s stager thought it was fine. But I see what you mean about brining some
more contemporary pieces to make it look like somewhere people would want to
be.

The cooktop is a newer Jenn-Air—I pulled it out of my new
house and put it in the old house. It’s
in great condition. I also have the
downdraft to contend with and I don’t remember seeing any nice inductions with
the built-in downdraft. Maybe that’s no
big deal but I’d just as well leave that alone.

karen_in_nh_2012
– are you thinking of the cabinet radius?
I don’t remember discussing the countertop radius. The cabinet radius is very stylized and not
modern, which is what is the trend around here.
And it’s not timeless either. The
countertop issue is the color/material, as is the backsplash. The challenge with the cooktop is that there
isn’t gas service to the house, so I’d have to run a line through my tiled back
patio into the house from my propane tank to make gas (propane) happen. If all I had to do was swap out the cooktop
for a gas one I’d do it in a heartbeat.

benjesbride—I agree, and that’s the dilemma. I do think I can sell it quick with the $100k
renovation, and buyers at this price point want what they want and the market
is flooded. I have to have the prettiest
piggy in the pen to get it to move.

eam44—I think I
need to ditch the countertop and floors.
Nobody is going to be fooled if I do anything less. I’m intrigued by your hutch idea. I am posting another pic that shows a bit
more of the way the uppers relate to the lowers—if that doesn’t show you what
you need to see I’ll have to try to take one next time I am there. I think they are lined up at the seams but
off by a whole panel.

Looks like the same angle as the other one so probably won't help...but hey you can see the lovely fluted radius corner better!

I think the window really screws up the configuration, too
bad there are views and good light that we get through it or I’d take it
out. I’m going to go with the
cararrea-looking quartz I did in my other house. Not super cheap but it’s gorgeous and will
distract from the weirdness of the kitchen I’m sure. What backsplash do you like with that? I’m not loving the one I did at the other
house for this application, it was $22/sf so I’d rather something a little more
budget friendly.

Outlets I think we can do a lot better. One is the disposal switch and I can put an
air switch in the counter, another is the dishwasher kill switch that I can
hide under the sink. One is the light
switch for over the sink, and I don’t remember what the last one is, maybe it’s
an outlet. So at most we need 2 there. And I have to fix the sad trim around the
window!

I think replacing the kitchen chandelier and adding one (or
maybe a few smaller pendants?) over the island is a great idea. I’m in.

Nosoccermom—sounds
like your market is similar to mine.
What is a water fall side of an island? What backsplash would you pair
with a cararrea-quartz countertop to be a stunner? Suggestions on light
fixture? Those are my choices J

I was thinking to build in the refrigerator wall one way or
another to fill in above it. Would that
work with cabinets with upper uppers like you are suggesting? I was planning to pull of the trim and put a
smaller scribe molding, I don’t see why we couldn’t put cabinets with glass
doors above. Or even solid ones (pretty
sure they are cheaper) just to get the height up to the ceiling.

Styling is beyond me.
I am moderately comfortable with hard surface design, but soft is way
outside of my capability. Cote de Texas
is a beautiful website! If I tried
though it would end up looking like a flea market table.

Cpartist and
Lily’smom—ok, you’re right, I won’t rearrange the kitchen. I just hate bad design.

heatheron40,
aktillery9 and nosoccermom—interesting idea about the furniture. Can you
post a picture so I can understand better?

nosoccermom—you
don’t like the home depot special light fixtures in the bathroom? I can’t imagine why…

rantontoo—you’re
right, the dishwasher/sink corner is a choke point. I don’t remember feeling trapped but it was
not a 2-person walkway for sure. I think
that as long as the island is located where it is, it is going to be too tight
around the sink and dishwasher. The
weird angled spot has the better views so that’s why it’s there. I like your idea of doing counter-height bar
instead of offset, and since I’m convinced we need to replace the countertop
that’s easy enough. Interestingly, nobody
has complained about no seating at the island.

caligirl5—the
realtors are saying the same thing in different ways. Realtor 1 is confused by the market and
thinks I should lease it until it stabilizes.
Realtor 2 wants to aggressively drop the price until we are giving it
away. Realtor 3 says we can try to clean
it up some more and see if that gets it done, but if we are too fast everyone
will see through that we didn’t do much.
The stagers helped make it look better but both were fine with the finishes
(clearly out of touch with the market as we now see).

Have you considered hiring that realtor you mentioned above as having a reputation for pricing too high? If that person is getting contracts s/he must be good.

Who worked with you on your new kitchen? You know, it's OK to hire a kitchen designer. We're good, but a professional on site could be better.

It does look like those cabinets are offset by one panel. I would pull down the three uppers, mount one to line up with the center of the base cab, then have side panels applied to counter height, and shelves installed between them. You'll love not having an upper right next to your window.

Start browsing images of homes with white cabinets and whatever wood you used for the floor. My friend, it sounds as though you're going from a kitchen that's a sea of beige to an all-white kitchen with white cabinets and marble (not Quartz). In this space I think that might not be the best option. So start searching images and see what you like.

I also think it's possibly the fact the oil market is down?

As for a backsplash, I'd personally look online. Overstock has some nice looking tiles for less as does HD and Lowes. Once it's up, no one will know that it's cheap tile.

If you are replacing the counters really think about getting the sink off the angle; the plumbing is close so it should not be that expensive to move it. Given the choice, I would rather not feel trapped by the dishwasher door...looking slightly sideways for the best view would not be a buggy!

Waterfall --- the issue is that it usually goes with a more streamlined look. Here are some in more traditional kitchens.

Actually, do you have any idea who your potential buyers are? Any international buyers?

Nosoccermom, that last kitchen is amazing! Very unique and warm.

Wow. I'm drooling over your new kitchen. Can you please post some more pics and especially this corner? I'm doing something similar and would love to see more pics

As for the renovation dilemma, at that price point I'm surprised buyers wouldn't want to put their own stamp on it. I think I would try some creative marketing. Hire an interior designer to come up with a plan and 3 D renderings and then market the potential After while giving an allowance. You are not out much money. If that doesn't work, you can still use the design plan but just try to do it on the cheap! Good luck. If it were me buying that house I would want to pick my own stuff. It isn't priced as a first time homeowner move in ready property. More like a forever home for most folks.

Ok so after flipping through your whole house pics, at the very least I think you need to do the wood floors. Just continue the ones you already have throughout since they are at least partly already in place on the first level.

This is a terrible mock up but it is what I had mentioned earlier using a buffet between the living and kitchen. I still think the wood floors should extend into the kitchen and breakfast area. I do not think you have to add them everywhere. You could always use a different buffet. This is just an example.

Offering our two sense on a "focal point"

A copper fixture such as a sink or range hood really helps bring a focal point to the kitchen, especially in a kitchen of that size. If you want something that pops, a copper sink with a patina on the apron usually does the trick. If you want something more modernistic than a stainless steel sink helps bring the kitchen together. Some of our customers with larger kitchens will have us build a big copper range hood for the focal point. It's all personal preference. Hope some of these photos help

Any thoughts on putting a nice range and hood on the wall where the current fridge, MO and oven are? You can make it a focal point. I would add the sink to the island or move it down. I would just put some lovely flowers or plant where the sink is now. Maybe beef up the island. Paint it a different color so it stands out. Just some thoughts.

For example our range and hood are the main focus and sit alone on a all wall.

Here are some pics.

gw · More Info

gw · More Info

You mentioned somewhere dry walling over the build-ins in the family room. I would not do that! To me those built-ins are desirable, even though it probably dates me big time. Lots of old (and rich) people still have books :)

The issue with the buffet is that you'll have a solid back, and it may be hard to pull it off right. What if it's like peninsula with a wine fridge and doors on both sides?

Yeap AK, that's what I,m talking about! That would face out and the kitchen side would house the snack center. Mini fridge, wine fridge and miscellaneous cabinets. Great for serving a buffet and unique. Then floors, backsplash and possible hood. Good luck. Most of our big homes around here sold last year. This year the market seems to be a little slower.

To me, it looks like it will be hard to do the buffet idea without cramping the aisle way in the family room, making it feel small and awkward.

Maybe for now the op and the thread could just focus on the kitchen. And by focus, I mean deciding on a scope of work, finding inspiration images, and firming up layout and materials in that room. I think we've scared poor Jessica away.

benjesbride—funny
that you say that about the other realtor.
He sold me the house (and I think I paid too much for it). I gave it to him as a pocket listing for a
year and he priced it at $2.2M. When it
came time to list it in the MLS, it took almost 2 weeks for him to get back to
me so I moved on. He is super
charismatic but very busy. Most of his
stuff sits on the market for a very long time.

eam44—y’all
helped me design it here, and then I finished it (for layout). I picked the countertop material and the
plumbing, and my designer helped me with the paint colors. I ended up randomly finding the tile on a
facebook swap page, not sure why we didn’t come together on tile but that’s how
it happened. And she was the second
designer I had working on the project, so I don’t have much confidence in
on-site professionals.

I’m not sure I understand what you are describing about
pulling the uppers down, would you mind drawing me a picture?

I was planning to reuse the color palate of grays from my
new house so the counter is white calcatta metroquartz and rockport gray/deep
rock on the cabinets/island respectively.

I suppose if I was to leave the perimeter cabinets Ashwood
that they are now, I could do a honed absolute black granite and contrast on the
island with a dark base with the calcatta—that has a nice timeless classic look
but still bright, I’m looking at a pic of that now where they had a carrara
tile backsplash—

The Melbourne Gourmet Kitchen, WoodCreek · More Info

It is so hard for me to focus sometimes, thank you for
reminding me why I posted! Maybe a
peninsula would work, but I don’t know that a buffet would work on the living
room side. You guys have such great
ideas and I was travelling so I couldn’t adequately respond : )

cpartist—could
very well be the oil market. Who
knows. I’m going to check out
Overstock—hadn’t thought of that before!

rantontoo—thanks,
will keep the sink location idea in mind!

nosoccermom—I
love the waterfall island. I also really
like the furniture-looking island, but not sure that would look as good since
the cooktop is going in the island and venting goes down. Unless of course I change it. The glass is pretty!

Our buyers are typically coming from NY or CA. Haven’t heard of many international
buyers. What decisions would that help
make?

Maybe I will leave the built-ins alone. Just depends if I’m painting them or
not. It would be cheaper to sheetrock
over them than paint them I think. I
took them out of my new house and my designer said to just put nice
freestanding bookcases up. Just for the
living spaces—not for the office of course.

I like the peninsula idea, going to have to let that digest
and see what comes out.

smm5525—would be
glad to post more pics! Maybe after cleaners come this week...I have 2 little
kids and life is crazy so it’s always a mess except for after they clean, then
I have 2 hours before it explodes again.
Great idea about plans--I actually had some plans drawn up (just
floorplan and elevations, not 3D) and left them out for folks to look at and
got my realtor up to speed but still no bites.
They just don’t want to do it.

I think you are right about the wood floors, some feedback
that I got too was about people not wanting a formal living room and that would
help make it less formal feeling. People
specifically complained that the wood wasn’t throughout (I provided the wood
info and they weren’t interested in doing it themselves).

kiko-I was
thinking about painting the whole thing Dove White, but I already painted all
the ceilings Nacre---and the trim is Kelly Moore Bone. I hate the columns outside, that’s the main
reason I got the curtains. I also got an
estimate to do it and it was insanely high, something like $1k per column so I
passed on that. The house used to be a
nice warm white on the outside but the previous owners painted it the ugly
butter color it is now. That was $11k to
change. I think the outside shows well
enough and if I fixed the inside a bit more that would be enough to sell it.

Not sure why it’s not showing up on the MLS, we use ACTRIS. If you look on Redfin it shows the property
history where we had it on and off with several price changes. We started at $2.2M off market, $2.1M on
market, and were down to $1.79M when I
finally pulled it.

aktillery9—thank
you for the mock up! I think it would
look so much better with the wall down between the living room and
kitchen. So the buffet would be an
actual piece of furniture that could move out?
Or does it go against the wall/is a built in?

Love the look of your kitchen! I hadn’t thought about moving the
hood/cooktop to the short wall. I think
a dark color is in order for the island one way other the other. There isn’t a lot of room around the island,
are you suggesting we replace it? Maybe waterfall the sides like nosoccermom
suggested?

Havens Metal Works—thanks
for the pictures! A stainless steel farmhouse sink may be a nice addition. I love the way the hood brings a focal point
to the room!

heatheron40—interesting
idea to put the mini fridge, wine fridge and misc. on the divider island. What market are you in?

I had mentioned international buyers, specifically targeting Chinese buyers.

https://list.juwai.com/news/2015/10/9-things-chinese-look-at-when-property-hunting

Of course. Who can blame him!

Something like this.

keep in mind your white cabinets look yellow here, they aren't irl.

I just remembered, there is another house by the same architect/builder dream team that is a knockoff/perhaps slight improvement of mine. Here are some pics, what do y'all think about this compared to mine? Particularly the layout of course. Notice that I have one more window than this one has. I think this has a similar feel to the hutch idea eam44?

Eh...same floor granite backsplash beige-ness. Honestly, the only improvement is the paint on the wall and the oven placement. What I was trying to do was to break up that monolithic back wall of uppers. Not sure if that's coming through.

I agree, breaking up that back wall is key. I don't think it would be a big deal to move the oven as in the other kitchen, and it's not where I was envisioning it. What do you think of the alternate layout? I'm wondering about taking the wall down in between the butler's pantry and small stretch to the oven, and have a little bump down from the ceiling to define the space. I have this in my new kitchen.

Love it!

I drew this to help myself visualize--my thought was to center the hutch/oven build out on the wall and then use uppers to balance the window on the other side. I think this is what you were saying?

Thinking I will shorten the island on the dishwasher side by a few inches and do a waterfall countertop over the short edges. That way I can get rid of the build-out over those sides and neatly cover it off, while making the dishwasher area feel a bit less cramped.

What do you think?

I think it's great. What would it look like if that were just a hutch, then no uppers, then the ovens?

A waterfall edge is a very specific look. It can be very pretty but it is also very modern - no escaping that. Your home is more traditional in style. I'm not sure it's a great match.

I'm having trouble getting the balance to feel right. I tried making the cabinets higher but that didn't do the trick.

Hmm... Well I really like the latest version, but the spacing has to be right as well. You could add open shelves and artwork, but if the spacing of the windows, hutch, and ovens is awkward, you'll have another expensive awkward space. It's absolutely fine to have the uppers stop at the lower window height. This looks a little gargantuan.

Wait, what happened to moving the cooktop to the back wall?