The space is really tight between the sink and stove. If you end up keeping the stove there, you will need to have something fireproof on the wall only 3" to the left of it like tile or stainless. Did you design your kitchen with the online IKEA planner? If not, I suggest you give it a try. It might help you better visualize how things will look and function than on paper (it allows you to see your design in 3D). And then you can email yourself a link which you can post here so we can pop in and check it out and might result in better suggestions. How big are you in keeping the sink centered under the window? This made more sense in the pre-DW era when people spent a lot of time at the sink washing up. Now most people find that they spend more time on prep than cleaning. Consider moving the sink to the right and put that 30" cabinet where the sink is. Your DW will be on the end. This at least gives more room between sink and stove so two people can be cooking/cleaning without crowding for the same space to stand in. It also gives you more of what is considered the most precious counter space in a kitchen, between sink and stove for prepping. I can't speak to the issue of angling the stove in the corner. I know I've read many posts here on GW advising not to put a sink in the corner as it apparently isn't very convenient to work on in a corner. But I'm unsure if the same issues apply to stoves. However, I would definitely not move the stove to the corner unless you move that sink farther to the right as they would be even closer together and two people in the kitchen would be knocking elbows. Is your stove also on an outside wall? A stove on the outside wall is much easier to vent your exhaust to the outside. For this reason, I think you might want to put your stove where I previously suggested you move your sink. It can even be more to the right with just a 15, 18, or 21" counter on the right of it. Move your sink to where your stove is. Then put your DW where the 24" cabinet is on the fridge wall, closest to that unmovable corner. This would allow you to reach the DW from the sink. And would lessen congestion between the clean-up area and the cooking area. And you still have that nice, long counter expanse between stove and sink. I'm sure someone else will come along and give you better ideas but that's the best I can come up with. Best wishes.

You have a large amount of darkish wooden surface -- the individual bits are elegant but the sheer mass of it seems to make the space a bit claustrophobic. To modernize and brighten the kitchen without an enormous investment, I think you are quite right to start by painting your cabinets and the soffits as well. Unless you are really pleased with the window valence, you might also think about removing it for a more modern look. And I believe it is not a big deal to have a few of your upper cabinet doors glazed. Finally, in the realm of cost-efficient changes, you might think about tweaking your lighting scheme. Certainly look at installing undercabinet lighting if you do not already have it. In its kitchen displays, HD now has UCL that is not harsh, does not heat the cabinets too much, and is of all things GE flourescents. It is not dimmable, but the cost is reasonable and the effect is nice. And think about changing the receptacles in your ceiling cans from convex to something with baffles, so that the light is more in pools and less diffuse. If you like having the fan and do not feel the absence of a vent, I would leave the fan, perhaps either lowering it a bit or trying to find a light kit that gives you usable light at the cooktop. I would also leave the floor for now if you can. Cool tile is nice underfoot in a warm climate, and you would only have to worry about making sure that the colors of your cabinets and walls work with what looks to me to be pale gray. I would keep the granite you have now. After the painting and light tweaking is done, you can consider such alterations as having it honed or changing the backsplash if you think something more is needed. When you are ready to go the whole nine yards -- moving walls, changing the shapes of windows, and doing new cabinet layouts so as to create the handsome open spaces that so many people on this forum manage to create, then it will be worthwhile to look at new everything. Cheers and good luck. I'm sure you know that a few of us would give our eye teeth to be starting with your "before."

I ended up hiring a company where I bought our JMs. We ended up going with a red dragon under the window near the door and an aconitifolium on the right side of the house. There's going to be multiple boxwood (variety of styles), weigela, princess holly, daubs frosted juniper, blue star juniper, shasta daisy, and salvia. We're sitting down with him in 3 weeks to go over his plan (I already bought 90% of the plants during a super sale). We'll see if anything changed.

Well, you could add a small lip to the edge. That would stop it. I don't think it would look bad or weird. Probably it would be completely unnoticeable unless someone looked for it. Or you could have a groove cut into the edge. That would catch it but is likely to get super nasty. Or you could scotchguard your sofa and hope for the best! Another idea is to use a lower sofa table and chairs in place of the bar. Generally it isn't comfortable to sit on a sofa with a counter directly behind and above your head...