OMG Leafy, you had me ROFLMAO! A house like the "Lighthouse house" would have me running for the door . . . what a nightmare! Rjinga, I feel for you! I think that Red's and Loribee's suggestions of compromise might be the answer for you. When I met DH, we both had our own places and established careers for a number of years. His apartment (he was finishing up his internship at the time) was a very elegant Contemporary style with rosewood and glass and done in cream, brown and navy. Mine, on the other hand, was done in a Cottage style. We married and moved here to New Mexico and we butted heads a lot those first few years trying to furnish our first home together. Being a physician, he's used to giving orders and advising people all day long at work, and could easily do it here as well . . . if I let him. And believe me, he tried hard and often! But, I'm nobody's doormat and with my design background, he eventually learned to compromise ;^D His furniture was in better shape than mine and that's what we initially ended moving here with us, but I quickly started adding my own touches. I hate to admit this, but our old things started to just disappear as they needed to be replaced and my choices, now more Southwestern, replaced them. We did and do still always shop together for big ticket items, like sofas, side chairs and even some art, but nowadays, if we need a new lamp, piece of art, coffee or end table, etc. etc, I just buy it and he (most of the time) accepts my decisions (LOL!). Lynn

Oh, I like your new ideas! Have you checked out Rev-a-Shelf for their cabinet organization stuff? It's expensive for a whole kitchen, but there may be a solution for a cabinet or two that would work for you. They have some neat solutions for lower cabinet appliance storage as well as making upper cabs more accessible. Are your counters still going to be pulled out to 29"? If so, I think, as rhome suggested, you could have the 12" glass cabinet like your inspiration if you wanted. I would make a mock-up of that range wall and see what feels comfortable. You could probably even just use painter's tape to mark out the spaces on your current counters or table to see whether a 12" cab would feel like too much of an obstruction. While it will work either way, I would go for symmetry around the window, either using the glass cabs or just blank wall space. If like the idea of a movable island, especially for your space. I wouldn't plan on moving it too often, but it will be great for parties, as well as for getting the positioning just so once you see how traffic and work flows. I think finding some way to wire the island as plllog suggested is a great idea, and if you can do it I would switch the dish and toaster storage. It will make the island lighter, and probably be safer for the dishes. Could the stool hang on the back of the pantry door?

My sister and I just bought the Best home Furnishings hattie reclining sofa for our newly purchased beach condo: http://www.besthf.com/best/Furniture/Sofas/Reclining/HATTIE-COLL Wish the seat depth was a little more. Other than that, we like it very much. I love that it has the little buttons on the side that make it move rather than a remote, Some stores only wanted to offer it in four fabrics, but we found a store that offered the entire fabric collection to choose from. We chose Dune 20969.

^This. How many people will be living in this apartment? Jan gave you the best option for seating. Stay far away from useless loveseats. I saw a coffee table offered by All Modern (https://www.allmodern.com/ )yesterday that converts to a pop up dining table in their section on 2 in 1 furniture. Check it out. But Jan is right, depending on the number of people in your apartment seating trumps an official dining table when working with small spaces.