No code, just common sense. Leave enough room to: - clear a tall faucet, - show any pretty backsplash tile, - allow for a possible future vessel sink, - not have the door knock over toothbrush holder / tumbler / soap But not so much space that: - the bottom of the mirror is too high for short people, - a light placed above would be too far away or too close to the ceiling.

I think you need to go into Word, Excel, or whatever program you use and make a list of everything you need to store. Do you have lots of oil and vinegar bottles and need a big pull-out for them? Do you need a big trash-sized container for rice or pet food? Do you have lots of canned goods that need low-height storage, or flours and pastas that need more head room? The dish storage opens up a whole can of worms related to where your sink, dishwasher, and refrigerator are. I saw your other thread on your layout - not sure if you've finalized it? Once you've decided for sure where your appliances are going, it'll be easier to figure out dish storage. It helped me to color-code my dish groupings (prepware in green, bakeware in brown, cookware in red, everyday dishes in blue) and assign a place for them around the kitchen. Give each drawer or cabinet a letter and number: for example, Pantry Pull-Out 1 (P-PO-1), Pantry Pull-Out 2 (P-PO-2). Play around with assigning your foods and dishes to different locations, in your table. It helps to have a print-out of your plan, with the codes written in. This sounds like a lot of work, but it feels good to do it. My apologies if I went over-the-top. :) Cate

Thanks everyone for your great comments! Buehl, love your idea but sadly, no, I can not close up that window. It is the window to the street, the porch and I love it. Even if I didn't love it the Historic Preservation people would never let me get rid of it. So it stays. It sounds like you all agree adding the fourth counter makes it too small. What if the counter was 18 inches instead of 24? Would 6 inches help much? I still need storage underneath. Bmorepanic - you are not the first to propose cutting down the other side. A second designer I hired suggested cutting that down to a 15-18 inch pantry only (pantry for dishes, not food - food pantry has a good home) floor to ceiling piece of furniture painted a different color. I actually love the idea but here's the rub...that counter is totally our favorite place to work. Our dishes are in the uppers there and that works with where the d/w is...we hate to mess with that part of the space. I am thinking I could make something that was a pantry-like cabinet but still had a counter...not as deep but we could still prep over there... and keep the 24 under the other window. My husband and I don't love the bigger counter moved to under "street" window because it is weird to face the street while you are prepping...and at night the blind comes down and that is even more strange. At the other counter you are facing whoever is sitting at the counter so that seems a happier place to work. Our goal in adding the counter under the window was to have a place to plate the food out of the oven. We also have to have room to store: all kitchen gizmos, pots and pans (we have alot) but I think we could also hang some. I would also love to have a spice drawer, pull out pantry for oils, and a tray storage. Am I high to think I can get all of that in? I know if I go shorter than 20inches it won't happen. Ugh! I can tweek my plan now but I have to decide by Monday if the counter under the "street" window is 24 inches or less. If it is going to be 24 inches then I have to reconfigure the garden window so the sink can be centered. If it is under 24 inches then I can tell my GC to center the garden window and take another week to figure it all out. But not much more. I would love to hear more ideas - it is so helpful to get input from people who understand kitchens as opposed to someone who designs kitchens. My guy threw boxes and uppers everywhere and now I fear I am cooking in a space the size of an airplane bathroom. Here is a link that might be useful: amacs renovation blog

We are on a low budget reno of our 2 baths. Both baths are small (main bath is 5' x 8', second bath is even smaller). Plan to tile floor, tile tub walls, replace vanity, mirror, lighting and fixtures. Shower/tub combo will remain. We have purchased 2 Tessa cherry wood vanities with grey quartz countertop(36" and 34"), Gladstone Grey Rectified ceremic floor tile 12"x24", white with grey veins 12 x 24" ceremic tub wall tile, regular walls will be painted Sherwood Williams Agreeable Grey. Shower and faucet fixtures would be chrome. Need help picking mirror color and shape. Should I look for a hard-to-find matching cherry colored square mirror or a simple white framed mirror? I have no design sense so any suggestion will be helpful. Thanks