live-wire-oak. That's a good point, I actually did intend to center the range on the remaining wall. Don't know if I'm just not good with the homestyler yet (probably) or if I selected the wrong snapshot. The range would be centered and cabinets chosen accordingly. Would that make it okay in your mind? the window is a prominent feature on the front of the house it can nudge over a foot or so, but it's not going anywhere! Oaktown if we move the window over, the island will line up with the left edge of the window, and be centered on the 12' sliders on the opposite wall.

Thanks again, everyone, for all of the replies! To address some of things that have been mentioned... We will definitely talk to the landlord before making any final decisions. Our friends, the current tenants (who are wonderful people and a landlord's dream), are also planning to put in a good word for us. Our agreement would be contingent upon the rent remaining the same, the lease going month-to-month after one year, and the landlord not having any plans to sell the house. If any of those conditions are not met, we will not rent the house. The landlord does not know yet that the tenants plan to move out, so we have to wait for them to talk to him first. All of this is hinging on the deal for their new house, and they are currently still in negotiations. If their deal does not go through, which is certainly a possibility, then we will do nothing for now. I want to be ready with our decision as soon as they know for sure, though, which is why I am going through all the pros and cons now rather than waiting to see if the opportunity will actually materialize or not. If we do move into the rent house and put our current house on the market, we will not start looking for a new house until our house is sold and our lease is up or almost up, so there will be no issues with finding the perfect house and not being able to get out of our lease. Trust me, I remember how stressful house hunting was last summer, and I am not eager to begin the process again until we are completely ready. We were totally jumping the gun last summer (not even having our house ready to sell), and have learned a few lessons. Next time around, we plan to be ready to buy with no contingencies once we find a house we want. I'm prepared to be patient and just live in the rent house for at least a year while we get all of those things in order. We can't buy a new house now and just pay two mortgages until our current house sells because the monthly mortgage on a new house will most likely be higher than what we will be paying in rent. Also, we may need to dip into our savings to be able to pay for both rent and mortgage (especially if our house takes several months to sell), and if we bought a new house, we would deplete our savings for the down payment. Finally, we need to sell our house before we'll really know what we can afford and how much we'll have for a down payment. It may be that we need to save up for another couple of years, and I am OK with living in the rent house until then. Saving money will be pretty impossible while we're paying both rent and mortgage, but should be easy once our house sells and we're only paying rent. Thank you to those that suggested daily check-ins at our old house. If we do move, I'll make a checklist that my husband (or one of our neighbors) can quickly run through each day. That will be easy for us since the rent house is only a few minutes away from our current house. The more I think about this idea, and the more I talk with my husband about it, the more I like the idea. It would certainly not be right for everyone, but I think it might be the right decision for us. Of course, this all depends on whether or not our friends get their new house and whether or not the landlord agrees to rent the house to us at the same rate. We will see! We should know something next week. :)

"But I choose to trust the professionals we've hired, which itself was a careful process based on client experience from people we trust." I would suggest with all due respect that unless the projects of the people you trust were extremely close to the scope of your upcoming project, there is no way to be sure that your highly individualized project will progress in a similar fashion. I would certainly make sure to have enough in the budget for overages, and perhaps plan the project in stages so that the $250,000 cap is not reached before completion. If I wanted more data to consider for a project like this, with the aesthetic you want, I would research online local Scandinavian design projects, and also contact the owners/managers of companies such as Reside in Boston, who are familiar not only with modern Scandinavian design but also local architecture. You are getting the all too typical lowball quotes that rely on change orders to bring the total up to reality numbers. It’s what some contractors are forced into doing, because if they were honest about real costs, they don’t get hired. The cheap guy gets the contract. And the change orders begin. This. I wish more people understood this. My husband is a builder, and it's not unusual after providing a comprehensive quote/estimate to not get the job. The builders who do get hired for these project end up either charging more, or cutting considerable corners to stay within the original estimate.

Yes, I saw that, but it looks too muddy for the true color. But in any case, getting samples either by doing yourself, Judy, or getting peel and stick from samplize.com will help decide. I love the peel and stick. Saves a lot especially if you factor in, proper disposal of sample paint leftovers, and the hassle that creates, storage of sample containers, cost of sample paint and proper boards for samples, etc., etc.