You gals are so awesome. I love this forum. Ok. I've decided on the 2 windows instead of one. My husband told me that the window trim is not 4". It is about 3" and we would like to do the kitchen windows in the same trim. rhome - 1) Yes, I would like to leave the option open of adding a wall cabinet/ to the counter hutch in future. I think a wider (24"-30") hutch would be more useful than two 12" ones, so I am thinking of pushing the first window up to the corner near the porch. That will leave me enough space to put a wide-enough hutch on the side nearer the pantry if I need it. I feel like the tall rather than wide windows will look better from the exterior as they'll be more consistent with the window shapes of rest of the house. The information you and breezygirl gave about space around the trim is just what I was needing to know. Thank you! 2) My current fridge (which I will use in the new house) is a side by side, but I want the option to replace it with a single door in future. Think I've decided on 45" between fridge and island, and I'll leave the rest of the aisles alone. 3) The dw is on the right of the sink because we are right-handed and it feels more natural to rinse the dishes in the sink then load the dw on the right. I think it would be awkward for us to do it the other way. You make a good point about the dw door opening while people are crossing, I just don't see how we would comfortably switch the two around. florantha - yes, we have a lovely view of a large creek that surrounds the sides and back of our house. I love light and would love to have a wall of windows in my kitchen but we may already have overdone it on the windows and openness throughout the house! No real issue with fixed items in the window wall, except perhaps the 42" wood hood, which I have flexibility to move a few inches back and forth. Breezygirl and florantha: Openable windows - I have a sliding glass door between kitchen and porch, so that will bring air in. That's why I'm leaning towards picture windows. Like breezygirl, they're small enough windows without breaking them up horizontally, and the full glass will prob. frame the view better. I still love the idea of opening windows right above my counter though! I can't justify the extra cost of casements, esp. since we have the door for ventilation. DH cares only for the fullest, biggest view possible, while I like fresh air at least as much. Breezygirl, would you still prefer opening windows if you had another source of fresh air? Breezygirl, btw, I am thrilled that you are chiming in! I can't tell you how many times I have read your post about the same subject, and it was so helpful as I've been trying to work out this window/ assymetry issue. I am glad to hear that you're happy with your 2 windows! I have 2 trash pullouts - an 18" one as the last cabinet in island on cooktop side, and another 18" on left of main sink. On the space between window trim and hood, I have a couple options: 1) Leave 4" in the 4 spaces between trim and everything else: wall, hood, hutch cab. End up with a 24" hutch on wall next to pantry. 2) Leave 3" between trim, hood, and hutch, and ONE INCH space in between trim and wall on porch side. End up with a 30" hutch. 3) 6" between trim and everything else, and end up with no hutch. 4) 6" between hood and trim for 2 flanking windows. 3" between trim and wall, and trim and hutch. That leaves 23" for a hutch, so I suppose a 21" hutch. What would you do? Btw, do you need a filler between an upper cabinet and the wall? If I'm correct, you need to have at least a 3/4" filler wherever your base cabinet runs into a wall, but I don't know about uppers. Please excuse me if I am less than coherent. I really need some sleep!

Kbear- On your north facing windows, it is going to be the height of the window that limits your light admittance most. I'm guessing you meant 60 inches and not 60', right? :-) If your windows are 5 feet tall, the bay at 10 foot distance will be your only significant source of light in there. Afraid it will be a bit dark in there as you describe it. What is directly above your kitchen? These are solar tubes that bring in a ton of light all day. They run through an attic type space up to the roof.

I'm in Canada, so I completely understand that a basement FP would get used. The problem is that it's pretty hard to do any fireplace that isn't personalized. There are so many options for stone/brick/tile facades, mantels, hearths, etc, that it's either going to be really "you" or really boring. And it usually becomes a large design element in the room. Even the location of the FP can be a personalized choice. For some reason, developers here love to put basement FPs in corners here. And I don't know a designer anywhere who thinks that's a good idea. But obviously someone likes it. That's not to say you shouldn't do a fireplace. It's your house, and you've got another 10 years there, so enjoy it. My point is that even if everyone wants a fireplace, not everyone is going to love YOUR fireplace. The gas fireplace in my new house will be in the dining room. Oh, the looks and comments I get!! "But, the fireplace GOES in the living room!" Where it competes with the TV as a focal point. No, thanks. And most of these people don't even know that I'm doing brick rather than stone or tile. I'm sure their heads would explode. :)

Cara Lewis-Watts I love how you think! I was just reading a bit more about west/north lighting and thought Sea Salt might work. I had it for a different room and it was so washed out - but that room had a lot of natural light. I had just added Sea Salt to my list when I saw your notification! I would love it that worked - it would soften everything. I tried a few greens but they all seem so "yellow-green" and harsh. I tried BM Soft Fern (which we had some extra from painting a small office upstairs). It didn't look great with the brick. The one right above it on the color chip, I think it's BM Silken Pine was way too light and didn't look good at all by the brick. I love the idea of Sea Salt and I hope it works! Thanks for the suggestion! As for the room, we are only using it as a utility room at the moment and haven't set it up at all! I probably should have explained that better in the post. The black rug was only to cover the black and white floor temp and help our dog who has a bad knee so he didn't slip. They were on super sale at HD and are "utility rugs" - we needed something quick and efficient. Definitely not staying! We just had so many other projects we were spreading ourselves thin (the joys of a fixer upper). There is no tv on that side of the room - Bathroom door, open doorway to a closet/office and the door to the patio. This room has a lot going on - that wall alone has only about 4' of wall before there's another doorway. Oh, and w are def going to do a flush mount for the new fan too! The previous owner said the fan is from 1985 and we want it gone. Again, just triaging the repairs. I don't know if you can see it in the pictures but there's also some hideous track lighting aobve the fireplace. We are going to fix that too maybe a hanging lamp of some kind. Haven't through too far. Just trying to figure out paint before we decorate (backwards I know). The couch is covered in a canvas drop cloth and we will probably not keep it. Thanks for your suggestions. They are so helpful!