Does it really matter if the 50's BR's didn't have shaker? If you like it, and you're going to the trouble of replacing doors, I would do whichever style you like best. Otherwise, why not just paint your 'real 50's' doors? You're not putting in 50's light switches, and I assume you're not putting in a 50's fan. Doesn't look like a 50's toilet... I actually like the look of the shaker style drawer front in your pic, even though I have shaker doors in my kitchen and went with slab on my smaller top drawers. Problem with the shaker drawer front, is I am not sure if you can put a handle in the middle part, is there enough wood? So, if you wanted to position your new knobs/handles in the middle that might be a deal breaker. I am not sure if this option would work for you, but in our Master BR we did not have enough space to put in a 4 gang box. I positioned 2 2 gangs one above the other. You could do 3 and 2, or 2 and 2 using one double. I put my two programmable switches (and I strongly recommend using a timer switch for your fan) together, and the light switches together. In your case, I would put the three light switches on one gang, and the fan and the outlet on the other.

thregrad and dezinerchick - Thanks so much for your replies and suggestions - you both are thinking along the lines of hilltop, so I'll definitely be taking those ideas and see how they work for the room - if I get the house, that is. dezinerchick, you mentioned blinds on the window - what do you suggest for the door - I'm not one to have a pane of glass uncovered where, though it's in the backyard, one can look through it, esp. during the night. I love my modular I currently have, but it's too big for this room, and the color doesn't go. I don't know what's under the carpeting there - the owners say concrete, but hard to believe that unless it was an addition after they built the house - the rest of the house is wood flooring, though there is carpet in the living and dining room (can't understand the reasoning behind carpeting a dining room, but that's just me, I guess) I hate that carpet in there and will definitely be changing it to something else, probably wood. But that's a whole other issue. I think I'd like to go more cottage style in this room - any suggestions? Still hoping someone will post a picture of their room that looks similar and how it's laid out. Thanks again.

You guys are awesome! I tried to incorporate everyone suggestions (because they were all great!) and this is what I've come up with. Since I'm not sure which of the kitchen walls are load bearing, both designs incorporate the possible need for a beam to extend down, which is fine. LAYOUT A: large pass-through looking into the living room and the doorway to the kitchen has been expanded. Basement stairs and corner coat closet have also been removed and the doorway into the addition has been widened. Hoping the outer facing cabinets around the beam can act as a place to put keys and bags, otherwise, we have no entryway. Concern: I'm a messy cook and with that being said, I'm questioning whether the stove should be below the pass-through because I'm envisioning grease splattering and sauce flying into my living room. LAYOUT B: The same as layout A but with a smaller pass-through that begins after the stove. My concern for this is despite the pass-through being just shy of 5ft wide, based on this mock-up, it doesn't look like it does much to open the room. Would this be a waste of money to even bother with? Here's a loose floorplan of both A and B. What are your thoughts? The fridge jams me up a bit because it seemed too bulky near the kitchen entrance and moving it towards the addition opening made it too crammed again.

I bought 40 of these pulls and found a dozen knobs that match nicely, so these are my starting point! I picked up some green and some cream 4x4 tile samples. What do you think? Cream cabinets with green tile is my favorite. (I had to use a tile to simulate cabinet color) Navy cabinets and cream tile backsplash. Love the hardware on the blue, but feels off otherwise. Thought maybe tile the are behind stove with a decorative tile like the third pic??? constructive criticism & suggestions welcome.