You have a lot of space, it's just not working very well, esp those little lips that pass for work spaces. If you could really re-do the entire space cost effectively, that would be best, not only for now but for longterm. Can you give us a good idea of what you have in budget and how much DIY you can expend? And where you are in the nation--climate, costs, labor, etc? One problem with planning on finding antiques and useful castoffs is that you will find them a week after you quit your search and commit to a plan B. Doesn't sound as if you have the luxury of time to collect useful stuff. I like to think that our G-shaped kitchen is somewhat like a farm kitchen. We can have 4 working cooks inside without saying "excuse me." We got new oak "shaker" cabinetry by a local guy at $8,000-10,000 and $3500 for finish and installation--you can avoid much of this if you re-use your oldies and work in some additional ones or perhaps just doors, trims, etc. We had to put in new floor and walls and plumbing and electrical fittings and had to marry three wood floors and accompanying walls, which was a big expenditure in time and money. You're in a better position--not making new spaces. As you note, you don't need to follow all the fanciest choices--we sure didn't for much of our project. I like the idea of Ikea butcherblock (we have two hunks of this in beech) but don't discount the new laminate countertops either. Don't feel the need to buy new appliances right now--you can leave standard spaces and swap out your stuff later. That's what we did--hard to trash or sell a 4 yr old Energy Star refrig so we didn't put it into a custom housing. When it dies or someone decides to trade it out, it can go. We have very modest appliances; affordable white enamel in sinks and appliances. If the old cabs are salvageable, it's possible to get doors to match new units. Or give your plain slab fronts a custom paint treatment, perhaps paint with one color and add a distinctive recurrent stencil motif along the bottoms of doors or such in a complimentary color. Then if the other new unit doors are similar, the motif can be used to make them match more. It's very important to plan for the young people when they become adults, or at least adult in physical presence. What will grown up women feel like in the space--you and a subordinate or co-cook? That collision potential was the worst aspect of our old kitchen and the best part of our better planned new space. I actually like other people better in an efficient kitchen than in an inefficient kitchen, or put it another way, my old kitchen made me dislike my own family sometimes. On one of my constant tirade topics, I recommend pullout breadboards/cutting boards to expand work surfaces and plunk space. Are your countertops less than 24 inches at present or do they just seem narrow? Eliminating the 1-inch backsplash at back give you another inch of room on counter. What amp electrical service do you have and how extensive will the work be to bring everything to code if it's not there already? Will you be opening up any exterior walls? If so, insulate, insulate, insulate. Even if it costs. Since you have marked that you are moving the sink, give yourself permission to really redo the room arrangement--you're committed to plumbing costs already. Strongly urge you to visit the paint counter each time you are in a store--ask about "mistake paint." One of our vendors gives it away; others ask $5 per gallon. This stuff might give you the freedom to paint insides of cabs & closets, clean up stained areas, etc. You can try some experiments with it too. Consider a movable work/island cart as a way to expand efficiency. If the floor cleans up but still looks sad, consider stencil painting a design on it, perhaps in a classic folk motif if that's your taste. Or just checks, stripes, rectangles for rugs, whatever. There are a lot of examples to look at and a wise pattern can reinforce or define a room's visual layout--walkpaths, work zones, etc.

Well, what on earth is going on? I updated my browser and the post is still showing on my computer. This is bizarre! I'll try pasting my post again so that you can see it. Thanks for commenting Rhome! I miss seeing your posts around here, although I'm not spending as much time in Kitchens these days, either. I appreciate all the help you generously gave when we were in the planning stages. We ended up setting up a sewing area under the south windows of the master bedroom in the farmhouse. I banished the grain bins and grinder to the basement, lol! It was a pain in the romper, but it worked for the time we were there. When life got crazy with moving and renoing the new house, we switched to store bought baked goods--blech! We are just now starting to bake all of our goodies again. Keep your eyes pealed for the new kitchen reveal maybe in late winter or perhaps spring. It's very livable at the moment, but not ready for a full reveal. We still need to make the island, the hutch, paint the wall oven cabinet, and tile the bs. This is what the new place looked like when we moved in: Makin' Do and Gettin' Through Here's where the kitchen is at a standstill: Midpoint, good enough for now... But the playroom/breakfast room just off the kitchen is now a library: "Bookworms welcome"

I love the casual comfort of your space, recognizing all the planning it took to achieve that feel! The wainscotting, soapstone, and hex tile floor make that happen for me, as do all the personal touches like the picture shelves and your lovely barnyard art. I love the thoughtful touches like the med cab placement, the shower' s window, and the foot-rest shelf in the shower - which I may be stealing! And saving the chute, even though that meant re-routing it, is just another example of the care and you took to get it right. I have a possible solution to the hand towel dilemma. Remember how farm kitchens often have those three-fingered towel holders under the sink to hold kitchen towels as they dry? The ones where the three rods come out from a center hinge and can be rotated into any position from all lined up together when not in use to spread far apart so that towels on them can dry? Ginger makes them now in two-rod style in nice finishes for the bath. 16" long. It would really match your farmhouse feel. Where to place it is your problem, you are thinking. I say, put it on the wall just in front of the vanity. You often step away from a sink when done, so the towel will be handy. Rings bunch up the towel and it takes longer to dry. Either this Ginger 0322-16 or any straight towel bar in a 12" or 16" size works, height-wise. Because I am on my Kindle and lost an entire post yesterday by touching somewhere on the screen on accident, I am going to post now, then try to link to the Ginger bar in another post. PS: I love the the violet wall color!

Anything with lots of nooks and crannies and wide grout lines will be hard to clean, whatever it's coated in. BUT - that depends on how you cook. For my mother, who does lots of things in the oven and is the maven of steam and boil - not an issue. For my husband, who is always pan frying, searing, sauteing, etc... it would require a power sprayer. I won't have beadboard anywhere near a kitchen he cooks in, either. I have nothing against beadboard - I actually like it and it's cottage feel. But I've been around the block with HIM enough to know that I'll never keep the grooves clean. (Tomato sauce that gets slopped down the side of the cabinet... and into the grooves. Been there!) So, when you get opinions, see if they jive with your lifestyle, too. A lot of the kitchens we saw in upper level houses at the local parade of homes last weekend are clearly for show and have no relationship to a working room. Think about the way YOU cook and they way YOU live when you pick both your finishes and your layout. Not just IF you cook, but HOW you cook. The hubs was incensed at one kitchen that had the double wall oven around a corner from the range. Because he likes to sear things on the stove and finish them in the oven. For people who never do such a thing, that might not be a problem. For him - huge safety issue. If you don't like subway tiles, give some thought to arabesque tiles. Or maybe a pretty porcelain? It think the reaction you got has more to do with things not meaning the same thing to different people. Pinterest-based trend words aren't really accurate style descriptors. I find it frustrating, too, from the other side of the coin. When I search for "farmhouse" I don't mean JoAnna Gaines-esque, I mean actual farmhouse. But that's not what I get.