mtnrdredux your house is absolutely absolutely amazing! It makes me want to sell my new-built one and go and buy yours! That window seat with the arched stained glass window is a work of art! And your fireplaces and floors!! I also love your style and ALL of your furniture. You aren't too far from us, so if you have a moving sale, please really let me know and I'll come and buy some of your furniture. That's so cool you got married at the house too and what a beautiful setting to do it. My fiance and I are planning on getting married at our new house as well. I'm sure your new home must be magical for you to leave such a lovely home! Thanks for the book ideas- there are a bunch of really cool ones! I definitely have more books than shelves. We've got a quasi-two story library with a library ladder and books to the ceiling :) We've been buying those readers digest books at estate sales, the leather bound condensed books. And old law books. I kept a few of my old law books from law school but they are nowhere near as nice as your husband's collection! beckysharp it is the sun blinding effect that I'm afraid of with the windows that is making me think I'll want to do at least shutters on some of the windows. macybaby, the swag of the chandelier is definitely a good idea. Then I could do the ceiling medallion I want to do as well. fori, I agree 48" seems a bit big for a table. That's why I'm hoping I'll be OK w/ space. That was the size I saw on the first three tables I looked at to get an idea of dimensions when I was talking to my cabinet maker, so I'm not sure why they were all so large!

An Advantium has a hard time with a full sized chicken. It can do a small "spring" type chicken, but the larger roasting chickens won't fit. It would die in fright if you showed it a 1/4 turkey. It is in no way a substitute for a real oven. You won't be doing a meatloaf in there, because of the amount of smoke and the heavy cleanup required. You won't be doing cakes or baking either. A pan of brownies, or couple of frozen biscuits, sure. But no real baking. If you need those tasks to be done, then a countertop convection oven is your choice for that. And, it won't fit a turkey. A wall oven of any kind cannot be positioned over a cooktop. Period. Stop. Go directly to jail after your home burns down! You can have a Over The Range MicrowWave (OTR MW) over a cooktop, as long as it has the proper clearances. It is designed (and certified by UL) to be able to handle the heat of the cooktop. The Advantium comes in such a configuration and I own one---mounted under a regular cabinet because it's fan isn't remotely adequate or quiet. If you decide it has a usable capacity for it's trouble and you can modify the cabinetry for it's needed clearances, it is a possibiity for you to get you through until a real remodel can be in the works. You are getting some dangerous and incorrect advice regarding the electrical in your home. If you do choose a 220 Advantium version, you cannot "split" the current 220 that serves your range module. It will have to be an all new 4 wire (NOT 3 wire) circuit from your electrical box to the spot where you want to add the oven. Even if you go with a 110 version, you will need an all new dedicated 110 outlet. It cannot be on the same circuit as anything else. You cannot run wire by just laying it across upper cabinets! That's highly dangerous! All wire has to be behind walls or in an approved protective conduit. No lines can be "extended" unless in proper accessible junction boxes. And you cannot extend a current 220 line at all because the NEC has changed and 4 wire circuits are now required instead of the old 3 wire ones. It's lucky that you have an electrician in the family, but that doesn't mean that you shouldn't still make sure he is licensed and insured for your own sake. And he should also pull the proper permits to work on the home. That can come back to bite you big time down the road. Um, and I have to say that there isn't a single contractor on the face of the earth that can redo a kitchen in 3 days. Even with working teams around the clock and having all kinds of production interns at their beck and call, they can't even do that on a HGTV show. It's unrealistic. And worse, it's dangerous. Any contractor that can tell you this with a straight face, even if they are family, is telling you a big fat lie. The rewiring and drywall work alone will take over a week to accomplish! And you are dealing with some issues that are going to need a lot of creative soutions. I'd expect your reno to take at least 3 months if not a year---because family is involved. That usually slows things down rather than speeds them up because your work is always on the back burner to them taking other jobs. You can have a quality job. You can have a cheap job. You can have a fast job. Pick two. You cannot have all three.

I really like the combination of white, oak (or the color you have on the wood floors) with navy walls. I would leave the little wood strip on the cabinets myself. I think butcherblock counters wood look very nice and I think they are not real expensive. They even have a laminate that looks like butcherblock. I would go with all white appliances, so that the appliances blend in with the cabinets instead of standing out. In a small space I think that makes it look bigger not having the contrasting appliances breaking up the space. I did quick search. This somewhat gives you the idea of the navy with white cabs and butcherblock counters.I saw that star on the counter and thought how a unique light would be a cool focal point. Do what ever you are drawn to, but have it be something different that really draws the eye. Then do under cabinet lights or if possible a couple recessed ceiling lights on the sides? Just a thought. :-) Have some fun with it! Edit: I just had another idea pop in my head haha! Why don't you make a wallpaper panel with the WP you found at the thrift store! Then it isn't a big deal if it isn't the stripable kind. Plus you can take it with you if you do decide to sell someday. It looks like a fairly easy DIY project. http://www.huntedinterior.com/2014/06/diy-framed-wallpaper-panels.html

What is the style of your furniture and surrounding decor? with low ceilings I would make Entire fireplace Wall up to ceiling very simple smooth large Neutral or white marble tiles.... no stone.....hang a gorgeous mirror over it to reflect light into the room...No mantle you will have area in the bookcase to place some pretty Acessories ..remove some shelves before painting so you can patch what is needed. I would only have 2 shelves...paint it all a neutral Or white to match fireplace tiles...