I can see doing a wider french doored (or pocket french doored) opening to the left to increase the accessibility of the kitchen to the rest of the house, but PLEASE do not make the mistake of "opening up all the walls" in this home! Part of any older home's charm is the distinct closed off rooms that are cozy discoveries. If you do the fireplace "keeping area" in the lower ceilinged part, that will be the most highly sought after gathering spot in the house and you won't want or need to "open it up" to any other room. It will be a destination area. A retreat. As far as layout, it's a no brainer than the sink can go along the right where the tall windows are currently located and the range and fridge can go on the opposite wall. I like the idea of a farm table in the middle, but my back does not if you would use it as a prep area! I would need a 24"x36" prep area that was at least 36"-38" tall. Now, if the farm table were to be T'd off of that prep area, that would be the best of both worlds. That prep area could be a chunky created butcher block, or other antique cabinet. Good luck shopping! I think that's more than half of the fun of an unfitted kitchen.

I'm loving all these responses!! It's making me really wonder WHAT IT IS I'm actually after. I think for the most part I'm driven by my fear of not loving something after a few years, so I'm trying to pick things I've always loved. I change my mind a LOT but when I really love something I wear it to the bone (I have four pairs of the exact same Levis, just different washes. ;) ) I realized the love for most of the things I've chosen is based off of the house I grew up in. It doesn't fit well into any period, it was built in the 1950's (all by hand - even the windows) by the previous owner's husband. I'm from a town in rural Wisconsin of about 150 people, so it takes a LONG time for trends to catch on. Some of the things in the kitchen I loved (that I still love) were the three windows behind the sink, a white drainboard sink (maybe I could find one at a garage sale?), the white cabinets (though they were 3/8 inset, but I'm not going to lie, I love the squeak of those rickety cabinets. Looks-wise, though, inset cabinets have absolutely won me over). Those are things I know I'm not going to grow out of. As far as laminate goes.. That has been a huge struggle for me. I grew up with beautiful (scuffed, but still beautiful) hardwood floors. Our last rental had hardwoods and I hated it with having boys. This house we ripped out the carpets and put in laminate (it doesn't make financial sense to put in hardwoods in this neighborhood) and we've had it for two years now... Not a single scratch. You cannot beat the look and feel of hardwood, that's for sure. But my plan is to use laminate to save initial costs on building (if I'm doing inset cabinets we just can't afford many other upgrades) and then after 10-15 years when all of my boys are older we can splurge and put in custom hardwood (I love when they lay it different ways, not sure what it's called or what time period, just that I love it). Hubby doesn't understand my desire for hardwood floors OR inset cabinets, but he said he's okay with me doing the kitchen however makes me happy (he doesn't want to here me complain I didn't get the kitchen I want ;) ).. I've just started looking at time period appropriate pictures. I have to stop it because I will obsess over it and just can't afford to put a lot of extra money into some of the things I know would make it more appropriate. My main focus is just to get the bones right. jdesign... I absolutely LOVE that island! Maybe if I found an old ornate table and had that turned into my island?! Wow! I wish I had time to respond to everyone individually, I love every kitchen that was posted in the responses.... But right now I have an overtired two year old, a waking-up one month old, and a home-from-school-sick seven year old!!!!!!!!!!!!!! LOL!

plllog-- don't worry about overstepping-- any advice is good advice. I am coming into this only knowing how to rip down wallpaper and paint (which will come in handy), but that is a pretty short list of remodeling skills considering the undertaking at hand! I appreciate the question about the cooktop-- I was considering a down draft (I realize they are not as efficient as a hood, but a hood isn't an option). The floor joists are exposed underneath in the basement, so I am not sure what is technically involved with running the downdraft vent, but I don't think it will be too hard. (I hope.) I also agree with the short wall-- I have been thinking about it, and I agree that it would be a good idea to extend out the wall a couple feet there so that the countertops and cabinets have a logical end point and it is closer to what it originally looked like. I will wait on the trim until I find something that matches. Thank you ajpl and pickles--I am excited to look at the subfloors. This was something I didn't even think was a possiblity. (p.s. I really liked your kitchen, pickles) As for the vinyl tile removal-- I read that if it is done with the floor wet and you pop off the tiles with a tool that has a huge scraper attached to a long handle (not sure what this tool is called), that you can minimize and asbestos in the air-- then double bag and find a suitable landfill. Some people have told me to just install a wood floor over the vinyl tiles, but I don't know what that does to the baseboard trim. I read that the companies that do this charge an arm and a leg because of the repeated- exposure insurance they buy for their employees. Anyone have thoughts on this? Cleo, I have thought a lot about cork, and it one time was going to go with it, but I have read that it is a little fragile (needs to be sealed a lot and often?)and prone to fading. Also, it seemed like every pattern I liked was pretty expensive. Also, alittle OT, but if soapstone is too expensive, does anyone know anything about stained concrete countertops? Thank again, everyone :)

Consider putting an exterior door across from the laundry room to open to a patio outside the breakfast room. Consider putting a door at the bottom of the steps to the bonus room. Heat rises, and heated automobile exhaust smells with it. Whether summer or winter, you'll want the better control over your heat exchange and any heat/ac bills. You could put a door (perhaps a frosted glass French door or pocket door) on each/both side of the fireplace to access that hallway behind the chimney. This addresses not only visual symmetry but adds an extra door for sound privacy and potential fire escape access. Rather than make your pantry separate and walled off from your kitchen, you should make your "pantry" a walk thru butler's pantry by increasing the space for the pantry by having less of an indent between front porch and garage. The butler's pantry is a short hallway with floor to ceiling cabinets on both sides through which you may access the dining room directly from the kitchen without going through the living room. You could have an 18" countertop beneath the butler's pantry window and floor to ceiling 18" deep cabinets on the rest of the walls. You could make the built ins on each side of the fireplace be more shallow so they could serve as bookshelves for the living room side and linen and/or shared game/toy storage closets for the children's hall side of the wall. You could save some cost by straightening the exterior walls of the home. If you straighten the back wall of the house, you could add a roofed indoor/outdoor living area -- any combination of pergola w/semi-clear roof and/or sun room and/or open porch and/or screened porch the full back width of the house from the master bedroom wing all the way to the left back corner of the home. You might want to swap the locations of the laundry room and powder room, putting the powder room closer to your master bedroom -- the better to enable both his/her powder rooms for the master bedroom as needed. Flipping the locations of the laundry room and the powder room would also move the smells of the powder room farther away from the door to the breakfast/eating area. You could also make that powder room a 3'-4' wide "L" shape, with the longer side against the master bedroom wall and a pedestal sink in the corner angle of the "L" and the toilet in the short part of the "L", enabling you to have more room in your laundry room by keeping you from having an inaccessible base cabinet corner in the laundry room. On the left side of the house for the children's bedrooms, do straighten that left exterior wall of the house (rather than having those unnecessary angles at the front and back corner. Then, rather than three small bedrooms, build two larger bedrooms with a bath-and-a-half and the closets for the bedrooms between them. More sound/privacy issues addressed. (Depending upon the gender of your next child, you could make one of the children's bedrooms larger than the other. As the eldest child becomes a teen, the bonus room above the garage could become an extra children's bedroom.) The bath-and-a-half would be three small connected rooms: a single shared bathtub w/shower in the center room accessible from each side via a powder room, each of which would be accessible from one of the children's bedrooms. Then add a larger closet for each of the children's bedrooms between that bathroom (bath-and-a-half) interior wall and the children's hall wall. (House rules: everyone rinses out the shared tub/shower after each use and no child leaves anything in the tub room other than their towel drying on their assigned towel rack on the back of their own powder room door and/or exterior wall and no one ever leaves the doors to the tub room locked from inside unless they're actually in the tub room.)