I totally disagree with Trailrunner. It IS ugly, but you need to send it out here to me here in New Mexico instead of to that stove-chasing Alabama gal ;^P (LOL!) Jane, it's wonderful and I'm so happy for you! I don't think it would work well in that corner of your dining room. The draperies and the small area there would both work against it. But, outside on your covered patio it would take center stage. Big congrats on your great find! Don't forget to take pics to show us once you've settled it in your perfect place. Lynn

I agree about living in a space for a while to figure out it's quirks, how you use it and how you like to store your stuff. I wanted to tear into this latest house when we moved in, but a loss of my remodel money in a stock market account forced me to wait 2 years. Yes, I hated the kitchen everyday, but I was able to pinpoint exactly WHY I hated it, like the only oven in a blind entry, no place under the counter for trash, narrow passage between pantry and peninsula that created a bottleneck in the traffic flow. Well, I know this isn't about me, but you get the idea. The list gets pretty long when you have time to really think about things. Is your "front" room going to be your main hang out with the den as an office? Or is it just a sitting room with the den as a TV area? How do you THINK you're going to use the space? Hmmm, the toilet thing is bothering me. I've got kids who almost never shut the door, so if it were my house, neighbors, UPS guy, whoever would get an eyeful LOL! Is there space on either side of the toilet where it can be turned? How about a wall where a doorway could be opened to the den? A top view floorplan would help. Or pictures from all the entries. Do you really want to trudge up and down the basement stairs with heavy baskets of clothes? An uninterupted lenth of counter top makes a great folding table. If you've got kids watching TV in the den, you're right there. Is the house a single story or two story with a basement? If it were my space, I'd keep the laundry there and get front loading stackable w/d. I'm not too sure about the back door though. Will it be used as the primary entry from the garage/parking? Does the Den door have better access? Maybe this one could be walled off. Or if it's the better entry, maybe stack the units and create a coat rack/shoe storage. I kind of like the range in that location as your main traffic looks like it is now on the right side, a continuation of the hall to the den to the dining area and front room. If you close off the back entry, that will limit traffic too, out of the main cooking zone. Most people work left to right, so food gathered from fridge, placed on an island or cleaned/prepped at the sink, then move to the range to cook. I'd center the range on that 67" wall. A 30" range centered would give you 18" of countertop left to right. Or a 36" range with 15". It's a little tigher, but still doable. That's mainly a personal thing, I'm not a fan of cooktops/ranges in the island, I love having A LOT of prep counter. I'm not sure the range would work in the old fridge space. It looks a bit tight, maybe only 48" or so? How about budget? To be honest, just about anything can be accomplished with a well padded budget, but for the rest of us... well, concessions have to be made. How about inspiration pics? What's the style or look you're going for? Here's some from my personal inspiration file. A LOT of white kitchens ; ). Here's one with a mudroom or similar next to the range. Here's one on a slightly larger scale. You don't have an issue with supports, but the walk ways are similar. Note the prep sink in the island and the fridge and pantry on the right. Here's one with the cooktop in the island and fridge on the wall. Here's one where the opening to the dining room is centered and they've added returns on each side. No island. Here's another one.

There are a ton of homes in my area that do not have the western feel. A lot of new builds especially are contemporary, though I'd say wood cabinets are still more popular than painted (when they are the premium woods like alder or cherry). I see a lot of varied styles in homes, such as Cape Cod, Victorian, Rustic, and Mid-century. Also, gray is a trend for a reason -- why is everyone so keen on knocking it? Just because you don't like gray or you think it's a fad, doesn't mean other people can't like it. Again, I personally would not change this houses' alder trim or cherry cabinets because those are premium materials and are really beautiful, but I also love white and gray cabinets too. You can mix cool and warm colors, gray and brown, and get really awesome results. The problem is when people decide to go gray and then everything is the same shade of gray. Don: I think that by just painting the walls, changing the lighting fixtures, then getting all your furniture in the home, you'll see a huge change. I would do a warm white for the walls in your house. For the flooring, if you wanted to replace all the wood flooring with white oak, I could see it costing 20k just for that, but get some estimates. Look at these homes with a mix of wood tones, grays, whites, and browns.

The first thing I would do is eliminate one of the interior doors. Having three different doors with two different interior access points looks/feels awkward. It would seem that the office/den should be accessed from the kitchen, especially if the exterior door is the only way out of the home in that area. If not and you’d like the new office/den to be part of the master suite, then I’d take out the French door and possibly the exterior door if that made sense. It would seem more intentional and provide much better options for utilizing the space.