johnatemp, ty so much for the tips. I'm going to copy this and save for DH. He'll need all the help he can get when coming time to paint :) kmc, I really do love the antique what. I just wonder what it'd look like with my bright white trim. rose, I'd love if lowes or someone here would offer making us a template, but I asked. They said they'd only do that if THEY were installing. I even offered to pay them to come double check measurements, and they said nope. I did find a local company yesterday. They claim the starting price for their laminate WITH install is $8.50. Goes up to $9 something, depending on the edge. And just $6.50, if I wanted them to just slap some new laminate on my existing counter tops. I actually talked to two smaller companys, both were about the same. Sooo..we'll see what kind of estimate I get. Both are coming out next wk. I just know I don't want to pay the $1400 for laminate that Lowes priced us at. And I know painting the cabs may be a turn off for some. But, I can't live with them any more. I really can't, lol. I've consulted my realtor, as well. She knows the area, the neighborhood, the block, my house AND my cabs, lol. And she says go for it. She thinks if I can pull it off, it'll only help set ourselves apart from the rest of cookie cutter land :)

Here is what the layout looks like now. We will be taking two feet of space from the adjacent bedroom labeled 3rd bedroom/office, and adding to to the kitchen. The remining space in that bedroom will be turned into a small bathroom and closet. The double windows in the kitchen will be opened up to a door (still trying to decide on size and whether to use a standard sized door and keep one of the windows.and the half bath will be removed. The door on the other side of the current 1/2 bath leads to the garage, and the area on the other side of the bar is the living room. My plan is to create a U-shaped kitchen down where the new wall will be, then across where the current closet and bar is, with a peninsula down the center with 4 feet from counter to counter. My concern is the space for a small dining area. It is a tiny 3 bedroom rancher, and at most there will be 2 people in the kitchen at any point. I hope I answered all your questions. Please let me know if that helps.

Hardwood throughout my entire first floor, including the kitchen and all entry areas. Residents don't wear shoes in the house. Human residents, nor furry ones. :) Visitors are not given any rules upon arrival. :) Most people see you walking around in bare feet, or socks, or slippers, and immediately move to take off their shoes. Depending upon who they are and why they are there, I often tell them don't bother. For instance, if it's the HVAC guy and he's going to work in the cellar, I couldn't care less if he keeps his shoes on. As someone noted upthread, the nice thing about hardwood is that it does clean up very easily. I prefer the residents keep shoes off the floor b/c it does keep the floors cleaner, but there is no way I would ever make a guest remove their shoes. As far as damage - most of the damage to my floor comes from the toenails of the 20 pound furry lunatics who share my home. Yes I keep them short - no lectures on appropriate dog nail procedures please! They are young and love to run and play - nails dig in on cornering no matter how short they are. :) However there has been some damage from people in shoes who had rocks stuck in the treads. Most of it from the early days when the house was under construction because sadly my GC was an inconsiderate moron regarding things like this. TL:DR. It's hardwood. It dents. I do what I can to keep the dents to a minimum but don't stay up at night about it either.

Because of the length of the hallway and the symmetrical placement of the windows, I'd think about having a narrow bench built the full length of the hallway with nothing between the windows (except maybe art). Something modern (without the upper storage shown here and not as deep). You could have the shoes covered or not:This is very narrow, but functional: