Back in the 1920s, built-ins (such as built-in desks) were HUGELY popular. These items were called "Permanent Furniture," and it was thought that this permanent furniture would ease the financial burdens of buying a home. Plus, in the midst of The Bungalow Craze, built-ins addressed the problem of limited space. In the early 1900s, we abandoned the Victorian manses in favor of the bungalow, because of the newly discovered Germ Theory. And yet, those bungalows were pretty small. Here are some pictures from a 1927 Builders Woodwork catalog. Here is a link that might be useful: Permanent Furniture

Ours is counter height with a stool, which is especially helpful to use as an extra stool for the island, without taking space there all the time. I don't sit there much at all, but I have on occasion. We have two offices, one for me and one for DH, so our kitchen desk doesn't get cluttered. We use it as a place to jot down notes and a place to store non-kitchen items. We keep note pads and pens, scissors, measuring tape, etc., there. I have a shelf for my cookbooks just above it. I keep a clipboard out with several copies of our shopping list. Speaking of organization tips, my best ever is the way we do our shopping list. I made a list on my computer that includes everything we get on a fairly regular basis. The list is organized by aisle in the grocery store. Under each aisle's list, there is a place for "other" where I write in anything unusual. Whenever we discover we are low on something, we immediately go put a blank line next to that item on the list. I write in specific directions (e.g., how many, which brand) next to the item's name. Before going to the store, we go through the whole list quickly to see if there is anything else we need. As we shop, we put a check on the line as soon as we put the item in our basket. With this system, shopping is a breeze and we never forget to buy things we need. Here is a link that might be useful:

Hmmm...you probably do not want to close up the wall above the current bar...but you could still put a calendar, etc. on the side walls. As to your comments/question, are you saying you will have 41" b/w the desk's counter edge and the island's counter edge? If the aisle b/w the desk & island is a walkway, then 41" may not even be enough room for an aisle. let alone any kind of seating! The appropriate aisle width depends on... (1) how much traffic there is in the aisle (through-traffic as well as kitchen traffic) (2) if you plan to have a chair at the desk (3) whether you plan to use that side of the island as a work station. If you're planning on seating on that side of the island plus have the desk w/seating, then you need a much wider aisle! I would venture to say as much as 5' (60"). If you make it a Message Center or no desk/desk chair on the kitchen side but still have island seating, then I would still like to see at least a 48" aisle with appropriate seating overhang on the island, and 54" if it's an aisle with traffic (i.e., not a "dead end" aisle) OR your overhang is less than 15"; 48" if there's no traffic. As to the "judges panel"...are you saying you would have the desk front be on the other side and have the back of the cabinet(s) face the kitchen? If so, then I assume you're talking about putting decorative door panels on the back of the desk cabinet(s)...and I think that's a good idea. If you're working on a layout, you might want to post here for comments...if you want comments, that is! (Not everyone does, so if you don't that's fine...just a suggestion.)

Searching for "sheer pom pom curtains" will get you plenty of options for curtains: white with white puffs, white with pink puffs, white with multicolored puffs, various colors, pom pom trim ... For similar rugs, I would search on something like "geometric pastel pink and grey rug" with variations replacing grey with charcoal, black, or slate, and so on.