Thanks again everyone! I was sort of underwhelmed finishing this one; partly because the "thrill" of remodeling isn't as great the 2nd time around, and partly because it didn't feel like a "new" kitchen because the cabinets and floors were basically the same. You all are helping remind me that it is a new space. And don't get me wrong, it's not that I think the kitchen doesn't look fancy, as but that's only b/c I put a few "bling" items in to make it look fancier than it is. The sparkly chandeliers, sink, and wood hood and backsplash (hopefully) draw the eye away from the older cabinets and older floors. Igloo, I think you could still pull off a farm sink. You'd LOVE it! Celticmoon, I thought the same thing about the FKB! What do you do when you have 2 kitchens listed under your name? (Aside from getting a therapist, that is.) Chiefneil, I can see where it looks like the stacked crown is thicker over the sink, but it's the way the carpenter made the hood. It's constructed as sort of a box, then the box indents down to the arched part. The way the crown is sitting on the upper part of the box makes it look like it's really thick crown. And the hutch height was designed solely as the "clutter zone". I learned a good lesson from the last kitchen; the busiest corner in the kitchen will quickly become the "drop zone" for daily mail, keys, cell phones, etc. I raised the height so that there would be no chance of that corner meshing with the cooking part of the kitchen. Socalthreems, I LOVE the actual stone. DH was super nervous about using dark counters, as we had light granite in the last house, and it never looked dirty. He was afraid it would show everything. But there's so much white, gold, etc, that it doesn't show any dirt at all. I don't see fingerprints or smudges either. I really really like the stone. Nellie820, I'd LOVE to see your plans! Now that I'm done here, I need to find something else to channel my energies into! amck, I hope you like the range as much as I do. I LOVE it! muscat, the floors are so weird. I really like them, but a lot of people don't. I wanted the kitchen to be a "refined rustic with a nod to the traditional". I just don't think any other flooring would give me the same look. rmlanza, I found the sink at a local builder's supply warehouse. Since I'd wanted a copper farm sink, and knew their price tag, I was shocked to see the prices they had on their granite farm sinks! I normally hem and haw about such purchases, but I bought it on the spot. It ended up being the star of the kitchen! caminnc, I think all together it was around 2-3 months. We started before we lived here, and were trying to get it all done before we moved out of the old house. That didn't happen, but we at least got the major stuff done. We were simultaneously selling our other house, and had LOADS of projects we were finishing over there as well. For about a 2 month period, we were working non-stop. Ugh. Don't EVER want to do that again. And thanks all, for the kind words about the backsplash. I'm surprised at the responses about it, and I was surprised that I picked such a simple color/design (esp. after my last backsplash!) I only recently realized why I kept gravitating toward plain white. The upper cabinets are *so* close to the countertop. My tile guy said the normal height b/w counters and upper cabs is around 18". My height is only 14.25 inches. My coffee pot barely fits! Somehow I think that I kept wanting white to help visually extend the cabinetry, so that it didn't look choppy. Claybabe, I loved my last house, until my kids started getting bigger. We really outgrew it. And I mean it when I say I *hated* cooking toward the last year we lived there. 'Course I'll probably say the same thing here, when the kids start leaving home in a few years! LOL!

@mama goose_gw zn6OH I do want all drawer bases, and I completely understand their utility (Ikea has so many awesome ones in their example kitchens!), but I wanted the clean lines of the slab doors, plus the expense of all drawers is significantly higher, and that concerns me. I did consider making the one under the sink a pullout. My compromise, thus far, was to do slab fronts and add pull-outs to the inside. I have an interior pullout drawer in the cabinet by the range and it serves me well. My earlier layout does keep with the same plumbing, though I'm not averse to changing it, if I can afford it. Part of the consideration for the layout was to keep the existing boxes for the cabinets, veneer them, and replace the bottom of the cabinet in the sink box. I think (by my estimate) it would save me around $1500 on those wall/base boxes, excluding installation. I still need to find a pro to give me real estimates, though. I made simplified versions of your plans in Ikea (takes a lot longer in sketchup). I like the corner one, though I lose a lot of storage cabinets. I can't get myself to like the plain Galley-Style kitchen. I'm not sure what bugs me about it. I do want a hutch-style, if I can, because we are big tea drinkers (boba, hot & cold) and I'd love a "tea station." That was the reason for the spot on the left in my earlier post.

I think a lot will depend on the stain you choose for the floor. Do you have any examples of what you're aiming for with the floor? I have a midcentury home and spent a ton of time researching flooring because we just replaced the original wall-to-wall carpet and changed the flooring in our kitchen. Grayed out wood flooring is very popular right now, and is going to look very out of place in a midcentury modern home if you're trying to stay true to the style. My personal feeling is that 'in' colors for stain come and go, but natural wood is natural wood - harder for that to be dated! I also didn't come across too many (any?) original midcentury kitchens with wood flooring. There are plenty of midcentury modern-style kitchens being done with wood floors now, but it doesn't seem to have been a common kitchen floor material then. (Not sure how closely you are trying to stick to a midcentury modern style, and if you want a time capsule look or a current version of mcm style!) I certainly think that mixing woods works. We went with unstained white oak floors, and I have lots of teak and walnut furniture and I think it works! Here's a pic, since I think the flooring color looks similar to the cabinet photo in your inspiration photo:

oh and thr measurements are 22 x 37 deck area. 37 x 31 full yard to fence. 40 x 15 side yard