The one I go to is also Cherished Possessions! I got my antique pine Irish corner cupboard there (it came from Mulberry House) and also my beloved Chinoiserie ladies desk in the LR. I think they USED to be a lot better than they are now, so I seldom go there. Yes, the one on Riverside holds nothing for me, either, as it seems to have lots of BIG (ugly, IMO) things for houses larger that ours. eBay and Craigslist are my faithful companions. I check both each day. I can't wait to finish re-doing the old CL $30 pine cottage bureau I got last year above Farmington and get it in here to hold my TV! Come April, when she re-opens, check out the Mustard House in Buxton on Rt 22. (1420 Long Plains Rd, # 929-8558). She has some antiques and beautiful vintage looking accessories. I got my faux berries etc for fall and winter mantles from her. Would you believe that since I so seldom even walk through my dining room that I forgot I had this antique Ogee clock with pheasants on it?? An eBay treasure. Needless to say, I'll be hanging it above my sewing machine as soon as I finish work today. My sister is lusting after the print that I have there now from a Sturbridge Yankee Workshop sale years ago. Here is the bureau. I have touched up one drawer and will do the rest when I can get it outside so I can see the graining well. Pic is from the ad on CL. Before After

What is the thing that looks like a DW in the island? I like the plan but I think you should consider a few tweaks. Since we work ice-water-stone-fire, I would eliminate or move that thing in the island and put your sink closer to that end. You would want a good 18-24" in the corner to be a landing space for items coming out of the fridge, then you move left to wash, then you move left again to your nice, long stretch of prep counter. It's a nice workflow. The way you have it now, you're having to take items from the fridge to the other end of the counter and work backwards. And you don't have a good space for putting the to-be-washed item on one side of the sink and the washed on the other. If you move the sink down, you can put drawers facing the clean-up sink/DW on the end of the island so you have plenty of drawer space close to the DW for your daily dishes, eating utensils, glasses, etc. And nice job coming up with the additional pantry area outside the kitchen. It will be great for overflow items. Between that pantry and the under-stair pullouts, you will have a ton of great storage. Very cool. Oh, a couple more things about the island: What are your aisles widths? Particularly between fridge and the seating on that end of the island. You want there to be enough space for someone to walk behind someone else sitting at the end to access the fridge. I'd try to have at least 44" from the counter edge of the island to the stairway wall. And really think about the raised counter idea. There have been tons of posts here at GW where people are pulling those out and going to a solid counter-height island with the eating at regular counter height, not bar height. It is so much more comfortable to sit at counter height stools than bar height ones. And the raised bar counter, unless quite a bit wider than you're showing it, is a magnet for spills and breakage if people accidentally scootch a glass or plate too close to the edge. Most people don't feel that the advantage of the bar-height counter for hiding messes is worth the many other disadvantage. There have been a lot of discussions about this issue. You might want to do a search for them and read through before making a final decision. All in all, your kitchen is really coming together quite nicely. Yay!!

Wow, yeah definitely frame the hunky Aztecs. Love your space and maybe you have given me the incentive to update my home office/guest bedroom. When I was working and had a real honest to goodness grownup office, I had a collection on banana stickers on one wall. I'd have a banana with lunch and stick the sticker on the wall. I became a banana sticker connoisseur. I tried to buy my bananas at out of the way mom and pop stores because they tended to have bananas from more exotic sources than regular grocers. One day someone stuck an apple sticker on the wall. I spotted it immediately and unstuck the interloper. After a while, the whole wall was covered with banana stickers. I worked there a long time. Funny how we decorate our work spaces. Mine have always just kind of grown without a plan.

This is a long shot, but my office chair that I spend MANY hours a day in, is a Hancock Moore Berwind office chair that I got from Craigslist. It is by far the most comfy chair that I have ever had. If you could find any of theirs or Bradington Young in your area, I'd go see it for sure. I found a different style on the Boston CL - Computer Chair Leather Executive Hamilton Swivel Tilt Hancock Moore - $550 (Wakefield) This is the style I lucked out on, in burgundy leather. I think it'll last as long as I do.