Hi Fun to Learn. I am not sure if my answer exactly matches your question. With my Kitchen Remodel I decided to replace my old 30yr casement window with a larger window to attract in more light and better views. (the Contractor basically enlarged the opening by around 3ft w and 1ft H. I bought the window about a year ago for around $700, using the Home Depot no interest plan and paid it off in about 3 months. I had doubts about my choice because it was standard no frills anderson. The contractor that I am using gave me a price of $1750 which included installing the window plus finishing it on the outsie, wrecking out all the old plaster walls, lathe and ceilings down to the beams and rafters and taking down a non load bearing wall to open up my DR and Kitchen into one room. Prices really vary out there so my advice is just keep getting quotes. The less of a hurry you are in the better. I think the contractor that I chose was the least expensive but also the best of the 10 or so I got prices from. I thought this was very good value. It took him 3 days to do the work and he also jutted the window out about 12 inches to create a nice cottagy feel. His work gave me a nice 12" window sill which will be perfect for displaying pots of herbs or such... Plus his handywork with the way he finished everything changed the whole feel of the window. I think it helped that I bought the window ahead and so we were just talking labor. I would send a pic but I am still struggling with posting images. If I can finally get this working I will send you a pic. Also has your friend considered Craigs List. I have seen plenty of nice windows, used and new at bargain prices. Good Luck:)

Here is our overhang support. The granite guys used a router to make a slot in the tops of the cabinets for them to sit down flush. The overhang is 14". You don't see these supports unless you crawl under like I did to take a picture. As far as the cost of the electrical, we had 7 recessed lights put in, 2 pendants added over the peninsula, rewired for the fan over the dining table so both the light and the fan worked separately from a wall switch, vacated a couple of outlets, put in another couple in better places, put GFCI switches in the kitchen and added a switch by the garage door so we could see when we came in after dark. He also ran a wire for the undercab lighting behind the sink wall so the entire run works off of one switch. We did all the wall board repair and clean up. The labor on that was around $450, but it was the lights that were expensive at around $2300. It was the recessed lights and the undercabs that ran the price up, not the pendants or fan. We would have run a wire under the floor (we have a subfloor, not a slab or basement) for an outlet at the far end of the peninsula, but we could never figure out how to make a space inside the cabs for the electric box.

When we took down giant silver maple in back yard, a guy worked with me all through that winter, whenever he could make it. This was a huge tree-the largest silver maple in a city full of silver maples......and we worked on that thing for months. I only paid the guy $1500, since I also was doing the work, but if you saw this tree, you would realize what a bargain this was. We also blocked up and split 100% of that wood! I had a pile of split firewood that was about 30' by 30' and rose up to our second-floor windows! We took the big rounds from the trunk and ran the big saw in a ripping fashion, just to get these huge chunks down to a size where we could handle them and split them. Truly amazing bit of work. This represents just about the most difficult tree removal possible; back yard, wires, garages, houses, lots of stuff in the way. Yet we got it done and for not too awful much money.

Did the floors go down first? It looks like they did, but if not that would be a potential issue with moving the island. Any electrical on that island? Looks like you have a column at the end of the kitchen/bar area. What is in there? Your drawings kind of ignore it, and it looks like you're adding to the length of the kitchen. Can you really? Or were you ending the counters at the column? Is your house built on a slab? Are you adding any sinks to the mudroom or just a wall and cabinets?