here is a couple of things that come to mind and are all my opinion 1- keep the oak. I replaced my fake oak with maple and it dings/dents like crazy. I am less than thrilled! in my defense my cabinets were not in great shape so replacing was my goal. I now wish I had gone with oak again 2- before you attempt to gel stain, use a bathroom cabinet as a trial. I stain a lot as we do tons of unfinished wood furniture and I find gel stain miserable to work with. I stick with minwax or another liquid stain. if your are a novice at staining wood, painting may be easier. also if your doors have a center veneer panel vs solid wood, I doubt it will take the stain well if at all. 3- I like your layout(kind of) the L shape gives you lots of prep between stove and sink so that's great. the fridge is a little awkward but not terrible. so getting new appliance would make a huge difference to the cook. 4- if you are concerned about budget, an expensive range hood may be too much especially if someone has to come in to create a vent to the outside. it is not popular here but I kept my otr micro that does not vent outside (for budget and convenience) and I like it just fine. I will say that I do not cook meat on the stove top so that can make a difference. 5- I love the orb/dark granite someone posted and it would give the oak a whole new look. plus you can always paint/stain them later so just chaining faucet,hardware and counter can be done first good luck!

It's been several days since I have posted, but that is because I have been giving these ideas much thought and have been talking to many professionals. What is your style? Do you have pics saved in an idea book of the look you are going for? This is an excellent question. I have looked at thousands of pictures of kitchens, and I haven't seen one that I can say, "That's exactly what I'm going for." So, to best answer your question, I'll show you the materials I'd like to use: ginger maple shaker fronts, white solid surface counter, "oak" LVP flooring, "painted" backsplash tile, and, if I keep some wall on both sides dividing the kitchen and dining room, I'd put the blue paint in the kitchen, yellow above the chair rail and the blue below in the dining room, and yellow on the walls of the rest of the main floor. So I'm not sure what you'd call it - transitional? Although I am very excited about being able to see and chat with people at the dining table while I am cleaning up in the kitchen, I think I do prefer having the more traditional mental division between kitchen and dining room with even just stub walls, and I do like the chair rail, if I am able to keep a bit of wall on the sides. Maybe that is the very definition of transitional? But practical matters of the small house and large family and a limited budget must be considered above my personal preferences. Although the contractor said "it doesn't cost that much to reduce the bulkhead," "it doesn't cost that much to move the sliding glass door," and "it doesn't cost that much to move pipes for the clean-up sink," all of it together - with the cabinet vendor that he uses - did cost much. He just came out this afternoon to do some measurements and discuss ways to reduce cost. This plan below is what I discussed with him: (1) Instead of messing with the bulkhead at all, keeping the wall only as far as the depth of the bulkhead (about 23"), but then have little to no wall on the other side. I can't have 23" on the other side for symmetry, because that wouldn't leave enough room to walk around people seated at the table, but I'm hoping that would look fine if we put cabinets up to the ceiling in the corner where the bulkhead is. He liked this idea a lot, because you just don't know what's in there. (BTW, I offered to pay him to open it up and see, but he won't open it up to have a look, or do any work at all, until a full contract is signed, first payment given, and cabinets ordered.) He did warn, however, that the cost of the cabinets and counter there will probably cost about the same as what he was including for reducing the bulkhead - so this solution does give more storage, it doesn't actually save any money. (2) Instead of a sliding glass door, put in a 30" standard door using the opening for the existing window in the dining room. A sliding door would be much better than a swinging door that hits those seated at the table, but it will be rare that we have people seated while others are going in and out, so I'll do it if it saves a lot of $$. He loved this idea, and said it would save me about $1000, but when I asked about what he'd recommend about the HVAC register that is currently on he floor in front of the window, he said it would be too costly to move it, and I should just leave it. It seems the register plate would get kicked up and rusted with traffic in and out, so I am not sure how good of a solution this is, after all. (3) I thought having a pantry closet with shelves and doors would save money over the cost of cabinets and countertop in that alcove, but he said the labor to put the shelves, doors and drywall would be more, so I'll go back to the cabinets. (4) Lose the second dishwasher. If I have a prep sink, it won't be so bad having one dishwasher with dishes piling up in the clean-up sink. As you can see below, I'm concerned about clearances and flow; losing the dishwasher will cut the cost some but also will give better clearances if I have to keep the 23" of wall below the bulkhead. I played with a few designs with two dishwashers and only one sink, but none of them seemed to work nearly as well as this one. Bbtrix - the range is centered in this design :-) and I'd love to know if you think if the stub wall that would stick out about 6" would still create a strange divide between the dishwasher and door, now that the dishwasher and door are much further away from each other. He liked this idea, but it still requires moving pipes, so let's hope that "doesn't cost that much." (5) I've fallen in love with the white solid surface countertops and the painted backsplash I pictured above, but I may just have to go to laminate countertops with the 4" backsplash if that saves thousands of dollars. He recommended granite over laminate or solid surface. Many granites are beautiful, but my countertops are primarily a work surface that functions better if it is light-colored and simple, and I find granite dark and very busy, and the few granites that are lighter in color seem to stain easily. I've heard laminates have come a long way, I just liked solid surface more because it's more reparable, doesn't have seams, the integrated sink, and I like the soft feel of it - maybe that's not worth the extra $$. Thanks to everyone who has stuck with me and has been liking my comments - I warned in my subject line that this would be a challenge, but I had no idea what I was getting myself into!

Why do you want this? It's just one more thing to clean because it gets grungy and mildewy from the damp sponges and the enclosed space. Also, to your question, even if you can fit it, it forces the sink to be installed further back from the edge of the counter, which is not ergonomic and can lead to backache at the sink.

"When I asked for the slight positive reveal he said they could but also said ”the silicone will turn black”. I have been retrofitting undermount sinks with straps and a slight positive reveal for 5 years or so and have never had a silicone joint turn black. Silicone "turns black" because of mold and mildew created by leaking clipped and blocked sinks. Clear silicone is an excellent choice for mounting stainless steel sinks. While it does have adhesive properties, its function is primarily that of a gasket. The straps do the work of holding the sink.