Thanks for all of the nice encouragement. There are several areas of the kitchen which I feel pretty strongly about, and then there are the ones I am uneasy about. I think the Marcolo / rhome concern of too many steps for something as simple as a bowl of cereal is certainly worth considering, and I am going to work to tighten up those functions which are common for us. I have one of those little "planning desks" in my current kitchen and at any given time it is piled with papers, bills, kids pemission slips, and mail. If I have somebody coming over, I quickly dump it all into a basket which quickly becomes a black hole! My little room behind the cooktop (Rachel's space) is to allow my mess, keep it close by, but keep it out of the kitchen area. I know this little space will be a favorite, and it is really there only to handle a roofline issue. The home planning area, is where I was thinking the kids could do homework --- they would be close by, but not in the loud main room --- I knew it would be darkish, and would have no windows, but that is a bit by design as the computer will not have a glare and the printer and all of that stuff can be tucked away in here. The butler's pantry will likely house the more formal china, and it is where guests can help themselves to wine, beer, drinks and a food buffet, though I think it will mainly function as a bar during parties, and food will likely be on the island. My thinking is the butler's pantry is a good connector to the dining room, and the great room, kitchen and porch. The corridor is wide enough for some milling around, and there will be a sink in there, but the related clean-up area will really be on the island. I'm OK with that. One of the other things that you've all made me consider, is the steps to do things like get cereal. What if the 2 cabinets flanking the kitchen table have a fridge and freezer drawer, coffee maker, mugs, sugar bowl, glasses and bowls on one side. On the other side, what if they have 2 big drawers (size of fridge drawers) filled with the cereal boxes. Silverware is another issue. Would it make sense to keep the daily silverware over by the table? If so, couldn't I just take the silverware basket out of the dishwasher and take it (or have the kids take it) over to that area to empty. In that case, a daily meal (cereal and coffee, and juice) would all be handled right there at the table. Clean-up would involve setting the dishes through the little pass through (I could make this a door, but I think I like the pass-through) and then loading the dishwasher, etc. Not too bad, it only involves the breakfast and clean-up area. Now, things are more complicated for other meals. Setting the table would mean getting plates, etc. out of the "dish pantry" area. In my little baking area, I think the comments are totally on --- I think I need to put uppers here for baking supplies. That would allow me to put drawers below for things like mixing bowls, pans, mixers, etc. The toaster could also go out here as well. I know I have lots lots more to figure out --- but thanks for all of the help thus far. Marcolo, thanks so much for the design and reclaimed wood, etc. encouragement. I have always loved these things and sometimes people look at me like I'm crazy, but I really love them. Good to know that I'm actually going to be current for a little while at least!

The PB ones are pretty darn reasonable priced actually, because they're import. In my cheapest cabinet line in oak that can do what you're asking about, a 6"W wine cubby that is reduced in depth to 18" is $460. For a 6"W cabinet. Not kidding. If you were to be OK with the standard 24" depth, you could save the $120 charge to reduce the depth, and that 6" cabinet would only be $340. And then you'd still have to screw a series of them together to be wider than 6", and apply the toekick. Now, the 18"x18"x18" X shaped "wine cube" that we show on the end of our island here is only $260 in oak, but you'd still have to join them together, create a toekick platform, and apply toekick. [Transitional Kitchen[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/transitional-kitchen-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_709~s_2112) by Other Metro Kitchen & Bath Designers ProSource Memphis I'd suggest you buy a few tools and learn how to use them. Really. It will save you a lot of money in the long run. It's not as hard as you think to be able to do the plan linked above.

Bbtrix, thank you so much for your input. It has been very helpful as I reflect on this project. I want to make the IKEA work because of $ and for simplicity. I considered the Laxarby because it will match the other elements and be paintable in the future if needed, as it is wood. The white selections that IKEA offer now, are all foil wrapped or some other product. I would have preferred a color to the cabinets other than white though. White would not work with my DH. I am thinking, after discussing this, that the dark Laxarby would be fine with the table. The room won't be really contemporary, the desk/table I am reading as more rustic. We live on a farm next to a major river with lots of woods nearby. The desk/table, to me, speaks to the countryside around us. The cabinets will blend and contrast with my kitchen. So maybe I am off the cherry cabinets for his office ;) I will be using a whitish countertop with the cabinets, but will need to consider that now, if I go with this table. I couldn't go walnut!!! Could I? It might be too dark for the room. Speaking of counters, I just saw on craigslist a bunch of walnut slabs that might work for countertop at my depth. OH NO! I wanted simple. But I love projects. I have the means to make a countertop out of a slab I think.

This looks like a lovely, *big* house. Please excuse my going off topic by suggesting that you do a light fix-up of the kitchen, then list the house for sale. I'm thinking about what you've said about your ages and your mobility issues. My experience and family situation may be very different from yours, but it may apply. My DH and I started building a single floor home fifteen years ago. I was nearly sixty. Since then I have had two hip replacements, pneumonia, a staghorn calculus, and on and on with minor stuff. Back then, I ran around lugging plumbing, lighting, and decorating catalogs, tile samples, etc. I climbed ladders while the house was framed and tramped around to brick- lumber-yards. I walked miles, choosing trees and shrubs. There is no way I could do that today. Heck, I need my DH to carry the heavier grocery bags! I have no debilitating problems and require only one medication for asthma. I am not the fabled Energizer Bunny Elder who will be running marathons into her nineties. I am a reasonably healthy woman, just *older*. I feel lucky to have gotten us moved into our new, 'right size' house *in time*. I can't believe how blind I was to the realities of my *own* aging, having been responsible for an elderly mother and MIL. I totally failed to understand the vast difference between 'almost sixty' and 'almost seventy-five'.