no.... you said DEEP DEEP SHADE .... but then you are growing GS .. i presume successfully.. including color... so i dont know if its as dark as you think.. as far as yellows.. all you can do is try them.. and if they tend toward green.. then its too dark... but it isnt going to kill them... just not color up ... the way you want... so if you have extra in the yellow/gold range ... then go for it... bragu says those noted by him.. grow in dark.. i dont know if his area is swampy like yours... you have TWO variables .. light level.. and damp ... how they play off each other.. its specific to your little slice of eden.. we can discuss it ad nauseum... but it will be for you to see how it works out ... go for it with your duplicates ... that is what they are for... unless you want to throw on on the driveway ... lol... ken

Thanks, everyone, for your ideas so far! Stan Z - Nixing the upper corner cab is an interesting idea! I love the balance it would bring to that wall. I'm just not sure if I would be able to reach everything, and I'm paranoid about not having enough storage (especially if the W/D goes in the "pantry"). Do you think it would look better if I put another upper cabinet to the right of the stove (instead of open shelves) to balance that out? If I end up with the second design (corner Susan and larger 24" to the right of the stove) I was planning on putting an upper there. I've definitely gone back and forth on the peninsula thing... but we're pretty set on keeping a separate dining room. desertsteph - sorry about the measurements on the floorplan not showing up well! I didn't realize the image would post so small. I will simplify the drawing so it's easier to read once I get home. The curved line is a door (in my terrible drafting skills). Those are the stairs to the second floor, and the stairs to the basement are underneath it (enter through the dining room). I just included that to show that the flow of traffic is going in that direction. The kitchen originally had the opening on the other side, but I think it makes more sense to direct the traffic on that side. No bathroom on the first floor, unfortunately, but we have a street level walkout basement with another bathroom. There really isn't space for one on the first floor, and probably less than half the houses in the neighborhood have added one, so I'm not too worried about it. mgmum - Switching the DW and sink is a definite possibility. I thought if I kept the bar seating there I thought it would be better to have the dishwasher next to it instead of the sink (since we probably wouldn't be loading the dishwasher while someone is there, but we might be working at the sink). Maybe that's just not true, though. That is an exterior wall by the bar - it's a garden window looking out at the patio (the shape in the mockup is correct but I couldn't figure out how to make the panes see through). buehl - I'm open to the sink going somewhere other than by the window... it just seems like the most obvious place that people think is "correct". I've never had a dishwasher so I keep thinking in terms of my old paradigm. It's going to be an adjustment (the good kind!). Honestly the window doesn't have a great view - it looks at the brick wall of the house across the street. I'm more concerned about the dishwasher door or sink being too close to the breakfast bar if someone is sitting there and snacking or chatting with the cook. At first I was being stubborn about the blind corner, but once I realized it might not fit into the design, I began to think that a corner Susan would be better anyway. I'm kind of the same size as a small child, but that sounds like a royal pain to deal with. I think I just got dazzled by the fancy pullout at Ikea! Maybe it's better to void the corner to fix the issue of the stove and sink being too close. I'll take another look at what that would look like. mama goose_gw zn6OH - Yes, that window is pre-existing. It's actually not a pass through and doesn't even open except a little vent at the top! It's not the highest quality window but I don't mind it and would probably prefer to change it out later down the road to save some money. It does seem like one of those "while you're at it" things, though... it's probably more cost effective to do everything at once if I can scrape up some more. I do like your U shape design a lot, but I was reeeeeally hoping to put some seating in the kitchen since the dining room is separate. Good point about the fridge - for some reason I was thinking it would stick out enough (though it definitely doesn't the way I drew it) or we would put a filler piece there to allow it to open. I'll have to double check on that. lavender_lass - You just said the magic word! I blew my bathroom budget by a mile because I went on a tiling spree... but I'll probably wait to tile the kitchen and DIY it later on, so that might make it feasible. I do love those feature tile walls in a kitchen! Is the breakfast bar what's screwing me up here? Do I need to give up that dream?? Would people think I made a giant mistake if the sink is still under the window but not centered? I could tell that idea gave my contractor a twitch when I brought it up!

To be honest, I would hold off on bothering with the sink until you've saved up for a gut remodel because there is nothing about that kitchen that says 1920s Spanish Colonial, except for the window, which looks original (keep the window). In that case, existing sink seems fine. I really wouldn't bother with piecemeal improvements because they won't really fix the underlying issue, which is that this kitchen is completely anachronistic and not remotely rustic or Spanish colonial looking, and will take money away from a more thorough remodel (which will fix the issue). When my husband and I were house hunting, we encountered a few houses with these incongruous kitchens - one was an elegant Edwardian Foursquare with stunning original woodwork and charm throughout, except for the kitchen, which was this super contemporary white thing. Nice on its own, but looked and felt totally stupid in that grand old house. For kitchen ideas, I would recommend tracking down some episodes of Restored with Brett Waterman in which he tackles 20's Spanish and Mediterranean revival houses. The original kitchens in these houses were super lovely - he puts back in the white wood cabinets with iron hardware, terracotta tile work, farm sinks (in lieu of giant 20's sinks) and they're all great and really fit in with the house.

yes, it is a fridge freezer. the larder stores al the food cans, pasta, cereals, milk, water, etc. Is this sketch close to what you describing before? (no coffe station needed since none of the adults drink coffe. However, microwave could be located in there -currently in the kitchen but in the rear wall next to the window not shown in he pictures) I already thought about this arrangement. I like the idea of moving the TV to the opposite wall. However, the wall is plasterboard and there are no electric sockets in there (but it is not impossible to bring electrical cable in there - I do not need TV antena cable). The challenge is to find the extra furniture next to the fridge freezer, since I cannot find anything that can match. Also ideally that storage should go towards the ceiling since I need slightly more storage space. Also bear in mind that the lower skirting board by the fridge finishes like this: Fyi, in the past I had a rectangular table and I played around with the different arrangements, but I still thing there is lot of room for improvement, mainly aesthetically wise.