johnatemp, ty so much for the tips. I'm going to copy this and save for DH. He'll need all the help he can get when coming time to paint :) kmc, I really do love the antique what. I just wonder what it'd look like with my bright white trim. rose, I'd love if lowes or someone here would offer making us a template, but I asked. They said they'd only do that if THEY were installing. I even offered to pay them to come double check measurements, and they said nope. I did find a local company yesterday. They claim the starting price for their laminate WITH install is $8.50. Goes up to $9 something, depending on the edge. And just $6.50, if I wanted them to just slap some new laminate on my existing counter tops. I actually talked to two smaller companys, both were about the same. Sooo..we'll see what kind of estimate I get. Both are coming out next wk. I just know I don't want to pay the $1400 for laminate that Lowes priced us at. And I know painting the cabs may be a turn off for some. But, I can't live with them any more. I really can't, lol. I've consulted my realtor, as well. She knows the area, the neighborhood, the block, my house AND my cabs, lol. And she says go for it. She thinks if I can pull it off, it'll only help set ourselves apart from the rest of cookie cutter land :)

You are all too much-very good for a tired girl's ego! I so appreciate your feedback. I always hope to achieve that "accumulated over time" feeling, but it's very difficult on a low (make that NO) dollar budget. I am fortunate to have a husband who has a gift for being able to create whatever I draw out. He has been quite patient with my never ending projects. He actually tells our friends who visit not to stand in one place too long or "she'll either paint you or hang something on you!" I just scored an end table for my living room on CL for 10 dollars! I hope it actually looks like the description the seller gave me-the pic is blurry. I'll be picking it up Saturday. My neighbor just shook her head when I told her-she says nothing in my house "matches" and she doesn't quite understand how I do that. She has a beautifully "done" home and a decorator who places every accessory. I simply cannot afford that. I picked up 2 buffet lamps someone donated to our local thrift shop and I need to work on the finish and I want to monogram the shades-I'll post before and afters. I've always dreamed of living in a historicold house, but it's never been in the cards. My husband grew up in a turn of the century Victorian and I WISH I could get my hands on that. New construction is hard for me. The high ceilings sometimes make it difficult to achieve any intimacy and the open-ness of some of these homes makes it hard to transition. I also happen to love having a couple of more "elegant" spaces. I think society is losing by allowing some of the niceties of entertaining to disappear. Don't get me wrong-I'm a mom of 6 and 5 of them are boys. We live a casual, sometimes rather rambunctious lifestyle. But still, I love to share a nice dinner on a lovely table with friends and family. I think every house (heck, every ROOM) should have a reading corner and kids should always have something "pretty" to look at and surround them. Thank you all so much

My grandmothers had very different kitchens -we made the big car trip to my mother's mother only twice a year but her home and flower garden's were a big influence for me. My grandparents bought their big old home when they got married (one hundred years ago) and never left it. She was born in the 1880's. The kitchen was a huge room in the back of the home. The floors were wood, and the stove sat by itself on the back wall -a monstrous unit -in which she baked the best pies. White painted cabinets with glass doors extended up to the ceiling and covered one entire wall except for the window. A large table with an oil cloth was on another wall next to the door to the big dining room and the rest of the house. The sink and refrigerator sat by the porch door, a big screened cool place covered in vines. She put up all her own preserves and still canned much of their food when I was little. My father's mother and father lived near us and had a quirky farm house built in the 1700's. (she was born in the early 1900's) The long-before added on kitchen was a dark long very narrow galley that I hardly can remember but in the 50's was decorated with fiesta ware and mexican motif. My mother was a fabulous cook and interested in decorating. She was ahead of her time in many ways in the mid 50's and had my father pull down walls in both the kitchen and between the LR and DR. She removed another door and wall to a little laundry room off the kitchen (putting the washer in the basement) and built in a desk and bunk - making the kitchen live much larger. She had a small tv mounted high up in the kitchen as part of a peninsula she added. To my later childhood home in the early 60's she gutted the pantry and had a built in stainless steel wall oven w/ss wall tiles added to expand the kitchen, built-in cutting boards and a desk on another wall that was a large shelf to match the counters and supported from the ceiling with chains. Later she designed an addition so the kitchen window became a pass-through over-looking the family room with a big bricked area for the woodstove and TV. (you could watch tv while washing dishes) There were wall mounted speakers for the sound system. The original pass-through door for the milkman remained, along with a built-in ironing board. She still seemed a little ahead of her time after I left home in the very early 70's; her next home she designed with a totally open kitchen-dining room (keeping room). Mom always planned everything in her homes to suit herself and to function best for her. I guess that is why I care so little about what is "in" but more what I like and what works for me!! I have so enjoyed reading about people's memories!!

Enjoy it? :) I preferred the couch on the left wall (art could breathe) but as long as there's seating that allows for optimal music appreciation and conversation, what's wrong, really? Perhaps simply accept that this room will evolve with your needs and be an actual "living" room and not a "look-at-me-everything-is-in-a-perfect-spot" room? Is there comfortable seating for everyone, a reachable spot for each person to set down a drink or a book? Navigable paths to seats and anything that needs futzing (e.g. curtains)? Yes? Well, bravo then. You have a functional living room. That's the primary goal room for the room. If you're so inclined, keep tweaking the layout until you're both smiling but figure out why you think it looks odd now. It'll be easier to pinpoint what needs changing. For example, I'd prefer more symmetry on the fireplace wall and would want the art on that wall to be around the same size. I might also consider putting some books and records (?) on that wall (as long as they're reachable). Then again, I wouldn't want every wall covered because then the room feels a bit claustrophobic to me. Really depends on you. Regardless, it's obvious the art, books and music in your eclectic living room are meant to be enjoyed so bravo for that. :)