Can't thank you guys enough for all your advice. This is awesome. Ok, a little bit about the house: it's a foreclosure. We are renovating it from top to bottom using a rehab loan, which means we really need to do as much as we can all at once. Funky, it is over a crawl space. I didn't realize it wasn't that costly to move electricity/plumbing. That's great to know! Would you guys have a better layout to suggest given that we can possibly move that all around? What annoys me too is that window, which is smack in the middle of where the old kitchen used to be, but which is obviously weirdly off to the right in the new layout. That's why we wanted to widen the window, but we also considered adding in another window on the other side (symmetrically). We sort of nixed that idea thinking it might be too costly, but maybe we'll re-visit? To answer your other question, yes, you can access the dining room both from that opening off of the kitchen but also from the family room via french doors. The bottom left corner: the kitchen is a rectangle with the bottom left 90 degree angle removed. So there's space there, but if we extended it more, it would feel like it was going into the family room. Just occurred to me that I should post some pictures of the space! They're not great, but i'm linking them. Maybe they will help make sense of the space. http://imgur.com/IZ3lkHI http://imgur.com/b6Lf6p7 http://imgur.com/r6vUf4V http://imgur.com/E3DQMNa Oh, also, we weren't envisioning using the island for seating - just extra prep/counter space and cabinets. Not sure if that matters...? Now I'm rethinking that, though. I didn't think we had enough room for seating.

Alrighty, here's design #3. You're not wrong about the budget, Carolina Kitchen ;) The running total is at $4,160 right now, but including a pantry cabinet would push it higher. We're cutting quite a bit of costs by doing a builder grade maple butcher block countertop and cheap $2-3 / sq ft ceramic tile for the walls and floor. It's still tight though. For that reason alone I'll probably have to ditch the pantry. I agree that it looks like valuable storage in your kitchen though, Janie! Wine cabinet is gone, I agree. The trash pull out in that pic is spot on - that's the exact model I was looking at (Rev-a-Shelf, correct?) and I was thinking we could add it later if we don't have the cash now. We compost and recycle most of our waste, and barely fill our trash once a week currently. I do think the drawers would have to just be junk drawers and office supplies. I replaced the two drawers with one large one, maybe that will be more useful? It could hold trash bags, big packs of batteries, etc. That's too funny that the farmhouse sink might be pretentious. I will graciously accept that opinion and probably do it anyway. I just like how they work! I love sinks that are full counter depth and don't leave a strip of counter in the back or front to get soaked with water. It also makes the most sense for us with butcher block countertops to have the sink that is least likely to get the counter wet. In this new design, it's moved 8.25" away from the corner which is as far as we can get with the current plumbing. Not sure what to do with those 8.25" though. The bottom of the range hood is 32" above the cooktop. Is that too high? My husband is 6' 2" and always complains about ours now which is 29" above.

Why not have Ikea help with the design their designers are the most knowlegable about their product. I have the old ones from them in a the high gloss white and they still look like new 11 yrs later. I use Ikea in many of my design projects with great results.

Hi, Tiffany I understand you're not wanting to move things around, but I wanted I wanted to show you another option for your kitchen layout, anyway, to get you to think about what you really want to get out of the remodel. Remodeling is a huge disruption to your daily life, so you should make it count. :) It looks like the dining room is beyond the arched opening? And you have your refrigerator pulled forward so you can open the right door fully? That's a common problem with refrigerators placed right up to a wall. So here's my idea: If you moved the dining room opening you could have an L-shaped kitchen with an island. Moving refrigerator water lines and electrical are not very costly in the grand scheme of a remodel. However, once you start opening walls, hidden problems could emerge and then the costs could escalate. Anyway, this is just an idea. I agree with others who are advising against remodeling if you're selling in a year or two. Also, my condolences to you and your family.