@oldbat2be: too funny, don't you know that I was obsessed with both of those tiles during my kitchen and FR remodel. The circles were too large and I decided to just go with the marble in the kitchen -- then for the FR fireplace I decided to go with a painted surround and using another tile from Ken Mason. I do love them both, and forgot that they came in that orangish color (the same color I think AnnieD was encourage). One issue -- that wall is like 9x15 -- that's over $10K in tile (gulp) at the pricing that I recall. I also looked at wall paper and some other wall materials. .

This really calls for some time on Craigslist to see what type of stuff you have locally--you may be able to save a lovely piece from being painted aqua. Even if you have to poke holes in the back for ventilation and cords. A lot of older buffets/sideboards (1940sish) have that simple Duncan Phyfe style that blends in with traditional settings and no legs. I don't suppose you can fit an art deco popup bar into your decor can you?

Alrighty, here's design #3. You're not wrong about the budget, Carolina Kitchen ;) The running total is at $4,160 right now, but including a pantry cabinet would push it higher. We're cutting quite a bit of costs by doing a builder grade maple butcher block countertop and cheap $2-3 / sq ft ceramic tile for the walls and floor. It's still tight though. For that reason alone I'll probably have to ditch the pantry. I agree that it looks like valuable storage in your kitchen though, Janie! Wine cabinet is gone, I agree. The trash pull out in that pic is spot on - that's the exact model I was looking at (Rev-a-Shelf, correct?) and I was thinking we could add it later if we don't have the cash now. We compost and recycle most of our waste, and barely fill our trash once a week currently. I do think the drawers would have to just be junk drawers and office supplies. I replaced the two drawers with one large one, maybe that will be more useful? It could hold trash bags, big packs of batteries, etc. That's too funny that the farmhouse sink might be pretentious. I will graciously accept that opinion and probably do it anyway. I just like how they work! I love sinks that are full counter depth and don't leave a strip of counter in the back or front to get soaked with water. It also makes the most sense for us with butcher block countertops to have the sink that is least likely to get the counter wet. In this new design, it's moved 8.25" away from the corner which is as far as we can get with the current plumbing. Not sure what to do with those 8.25" though. The bottom of the range hood is 32" above the cooktop. Is that too high? My husband is 6' 2" and always complains about ours now which is 29" above.

I'm not opposed to cook tops in islands or peninsulas but your set-up is really poor. There isn't any venting, at least none that I can see, and there isn't even close to the recommended counter on each side of the cook top (min of 12" on one side, 15" on the other) or behind it (9" minimum). And you've got a tall thing - the wall ovens - splitting up a decent run of counter between your sink and your cook top. No wonder you want to add more counter! Someone must have been drinking when they came up with this lay-out! Even if you're only going to be in this home for another 5 years and you likely will be the last owners, it would be a more pleasant 5 years if you had a more functional kitchen for a minimal investment. Are your cabinets modular units? If so, it may be possible, without too big a ding to the budget, to rework the lay-out using the existing cabinets, gaining a much more functional lay-out and your desired goal of more counter space. For instance, I'd take advantage of the wall jog and move the fridge to the deeper section of blank wall with the wall ovens to its right. You'd have room to add pantry cabs between them. This would give you a "wall of tall" with lots of storage and a more open feel to the sink side of your kitchen with more continuous stretches of counter. It would also allow you to move the cook top off the peninsula to the wall where the ovens currently are, giving you more counter between sink and cook top and the ability to add venting over the cook top. Doing the above would eliminate all the odd angles, which would make it less costly to redo the counters. It would also make installing new counters DIY friendly. If this is a possibility, provide us with room dimensions and sizes of the existing cabinetry and we'll help you come up with a better lay-out than what you currently have.