desert, I plan to get out to some showrooms this week to see what's there and I'm really hoping that will help move me forward a lot more. When we built this house, we hooked up a trailer and drove to Dalton GA and came back with all the flooring needed to do the entire house. It was easier to make choices when we were looking at the entire roll and not just small samples. We got terrific deals and then just paid the labor to have everything installed by a friend of DH. For the majority of other items we spent hours at Lowes. lanval, I plan to give the island a new top along with whatever we choose for the countertops and I know that will help spruce it up more. Originally we were told there was no room for an island at all, but our cabinet guy designed the funky shape to fit one in. I wish we had space to redesign it to allow more of a rectangle shape with an overhang to fit a couple of stools, but there is just not enough space around the u-design of my current layout. Anne, DH is assigned the reno to his brother. He doesn't have time to get involved in the work itself. That's probably a good thing since we end up disagreeing on details most of the time. I've learned we just see things from different perspectives because I'm considering details he thinks are not important. And since the kitchen is not really his domain, I don't want to get into a power struggle over the choices I make. I tried to discuss the timing with him yesterday and he sees no problem moving ahead with the April schedule. I pointed out the events coming up that will coincide with the time the kitchen is torn apart, and his basic outlook/comment is "it's no big deal"...he's just a 'get'r done' kinda guy. I tried to remind him this is not one of his empty houses that is unoccupied and the fact there is more involved than just slapping on a countertop and being done. Maybe I'm just thinking too hard, but I can see the entire kitchen torn apart and me being stressed enough over that while trying to juggle our spring busy season and my DD's precious time left living at home knowing the activities associated with that. Plus the responsibilities of finishing up our eoy business details is difficult enough alone, and now I'm sposed to be doing research/legwork to plan a kitchen reno. I'm sorry if I'm rambling, but when I say 'overwhelmed' I'm not exaggerating. If I could just put everything else in my life on hold right now, it might be no problem, but everything else is not going to just stop. I'm glad you see what I'm feeling about the timing of my DD last days at home. Just last year when she wanted to have her after-prom party here, I had some mini meltdowns feeling overwhelmed with my regular daily workload and then adding more to it. This year isn't looking much better... Anyway, to clarify some of the questions you asked: I broke the measurements into 2 sections since the bar seems to separate it into 2 areas. The nook area is 13'x9'8". The kitchen area is 9'5"x13'2" but that is only the actual floor space. The cabinets are 25" deep so you could add that to the width of 9.5 for a size of the actual room. The garage is on the other end of the house. There is door to the backyard patio in the nook area. The original plan called for columns and a more open floorplan. DH chose to change it to large c.o. I posted pics from different angles to try to show this. I measured everything you asked to help clarify; fridge is 35"Dx35"W - cab depth is 25" - MW cab is 29"D - raised bar is 12"D. I checked the face frame of cabs and it appears the only ones sharing is the section to the right of the sink where the raised bar is. The rest are chopped up due to the DW, stove, and corner that leads to the MW cab. I'm trying to visualize the changes you suggested...I guess I need to sketch it out to understand it completely. Since his brother is doing the reno, it actually gives me more comfort b/c I know is fully capable of any little details I bring up. At this point...right now...I'm in panic mode after talking with DH last night and he totally doesn't get my lack of enthusiasm about the schedule. He makes it sound so easy. The ct can be done in one day, the floor can be done in one day... what's the problem??? Arrggh!! happy, Glad to hear of your wp sucess, painted and stripped. I hung every bit of the paper in this house and have 3 baths of wp also facing stripping.

Thank you for all of your comments and compliments... You have reminded me not to rush into changing things. The house has alot of trim work throughout, including on the dining room ceiling, dining room walls, living room, windows, entry/foyer, doorways, etc...In those areas, all the trim has been painted white, but it appears to be the same style and type as what's in the kitchen/family room. I guess I was thinking that the rest of the trim work should be white too. But, I see now that it doesn't have to match and will leave a bit of character to the family room! The wood for the built-ins do appear to be an upgrade over the kitchen cabinets. As much as I love the look of all white trim, the family room has such a warm feeling, as is, so I will probably just keep any furniture in the room light for contrast and accent with color. I will definitely not rush to change to quickly! Some of our main reasons for choosing the new home is because it was custom built, is loaded with trim work and moldings and is in an older neighborhood with lots of large trees and yards. Of course, there is also plenty of shiny brass in all of the bathrooms, door handles and foyer lighting that we will be busy replacing. And, the landscaping needs some updating from the overly manicured large bushes surrounding the front entryway of the home. I may have trouble with interior design/decor, but I am in my element with landscaping and yard work! I appreciate all the comments about the kitchen...My husband and I have done a lot of work ourselves in our current home. He does most of our home repairs too; he hates hiring out! Life has gotten extremely hectic these days, so we have less time for DIY work like the time it would take to do paint the cabinets. But, I think we can easily handle the backsplash and modifying the cabinets with beadboard on the sides, but will find someone for counters/sink and help with whatever we do to the cabinets. It sounds like if we have to hire someone to paint the cabinets, it might put us way over our current budget. While I still love my inspiration kitchen photo, I may entertain the idea of darkening the stain/refacing the existing cabinets, possibly painting the center island as one of you mentioned and updating the counters, sink and adding backsplash and other details. This would buy us time (and save us money), until we can afford to get the wood floors we want and the painting of the cabinets the way GreenDay detailed. I appreciate all the advice.

I find the cabinets being very nice looking, but boy that layout would make me re-work the kitchen asap if I had the money. Are the cabinets built as one piece or are they each separate individual cabinets? If individual you can probably move the stove into another spot and re-use the cabinets. You'd likely have to replace at least part of the granite to do this, but it is possible you could work it out without having to do so too. Since we can't see the whole kitchen it is hard to make suggestions that are more specific when it comes to the layout part. I agree with Nelly Bluth that the tones of everything isn't working together. However on my monitor the granite works better with the floor than the wall-color does and the wall color doesn't work well at all with either. Undertones are very tricky to work with and I think you'd need a warmer gray to work with the tile if you decide to keep it. That said on me liking the cabinets. It doesn't matter at all if you don't like them. If you'd be happier to paint them then do so. You are the one living there. We have painted bath cabinets that have never chipped in the last 10 years - no matter how I wish that they would have so I could convince DH to change them out. They were painted with oil paint though I've used latex in other houses and they were fine too, just need to do the proper prep work to avoid any issues.

Cool, Anglophilia. I didn't get a KD for my new kitchen because I (like you) didn't trust HD or other big boxes on doing it, and nor did I seem (as far as I know/knew) to have a KD in this area not associated with a line or so of products that I'd be forced into choosing from. Instead, I basically utilized the resources here at the Kitchen Forum to hone down some of my thought processes, and they helped me make a better kitchen than I would otherwise have created on my own. (Under counter drawers; ice, water, stone, fire; landing spot before fridge, induction range, a prep sink, even the brand of sink I went with... a few other things like the entry to the pantry...) Yes, I didn't take every bit of advice, but I certainly appreciated it all. If I knew of a reliable KD in my area who I knew up front (this is hard to determine...) wasn't promoting his or her own line, I may have considered. And again, as long as I have the choice to do certain specific elements to my own needs, after fully considering suggestions I will usually take, a KD could be very useful. EDIT: As of this date, are there things I wish I had done that I neglected? No. Well, discounting the things the GC didn't do that I requested, but I'm so done with 98% of the build (most right but ... ) that I no longer care about those little specific things... place for vertical pans... the amount of drawers vs cabs I originally specified... I gotta remain focused elsewhere.