Hello to ALL, So very grateful to ALL of you....these pictures and Ideas are invaluable to us! Like that Tile Back splash, a lot, so classic! sparlekitty - just love your Kitchen, please make a copy and send to me, right away...I mean the real thing!! What are those amazing counter-tops and your floor and your Range, we still are looking for one? Do I SEE a WINDOW above your Range HOOD! This just looks wonderful! TODAY, we were seriously talking about cutting out a Window sized Area, into our WALL above the Range - this is the WALL between the Kitchen and the Dining Room! This would give the Kitchen a direct VIEW out of the front Dining Room Windows and look out to all the trees in the wooded area, across the street!! Also, the front of our new, old house faces SOUTH - so all that lovely light might be very welcome in the long winters, here! Or do you think that we will have enough light from the door into the Dining Room and we should just add more cabinets on the Range Wall? Has anyone cut out part of the wall in one of these 80+ year old houses? Is this really difficult? Yes, we still are giving very serious thought to selecting the Cherry Cabinets for the upper & lower cabinets on both sides that will have a counter-top! You are right, since the Pantry Cabinet and the Frig. Built-ins are already white, trying to match those does not look too great...we tried this week-end, again but were not happy with the white Cabinets that we found at three places! DH really likes the Adel Cabinets from Ikea but we have to try and figure, a layout using their non-custom sizes? Should we just remove the Soffit above our Sink Wall - will the Kitchen, Look Better without the Soffit? And then we can use the 39" Ikea Cabinets, right? Here is another picture of the last corner in the Kitchen - See where the Counter and lower Cabinet is recessed about 6" ? This allows the large old door to close, where the back hallway comes in? We do not want to take down any of the original wood doors, they are just too beautiful to us. And the powder room is across the hallway. You can See the Soffit above and this only goes across the Sink side of the room. Has anyone used Ikea, lately - are these any good, we went to one of their large stores near Cincinnati, today, never been there before, lots of walking and looking! We have always wanted the very simple lines, like you see in the Adel shaker style and this may be the answer to the budget! These are not real Cherry Wood, which we really love - does anyone have any suggestions for finding simple Cherry Wood cabinets at the Most reasonable cost, that have a descent looking finish? We would be happy even if they are nearly natural and even with the lightest of stain - since we have had Cherry many times before and we know that they will darken on their own, in time! Forgot to share that we are going to try and finish the 3 season Sun Room, into an insulated 4 Season Room with new windows and floor - before the weather gets cold here!! So we really need to save money on the kitchen cabinets, we feel that the windows are just as important and we will really miss our Sun Room when we move in less than a month! Every time I think about the count down - I get giddy, scared and excited, all at once! Just like all of you, we are afraid of making a mistake on a big ticket item! This G W and All of you, really keeps our sanity and we are so grateful for ALL of the Ideas that keep us thinking - too easy to get frustrated and we want to stay positive! Thank you all, again, this help is really appreciated - Does anyone think that we should try to Open up the Wall above the Range, how much and how far above the back splash on the Range is good! As you can see from the pictures, there is no Hood above the Range and maybe we can keep it that way since we mostly bake or use the GE Advantium? We will be able to hang the GE Advantium under the cabinet to the left of the sink. Is it better to have the new Opening that will look out to the South or to have the Range hood and extra Cabinets? Cannot figure out how to do both on the same wall - guess we can take the Tall white Pantry Cabinet out of the corner and use in the hallway since it is finished on 3 sides! Then we may be able to make more room for a new Opening - but should the Range be centered on the Kitchen wall? Will try to add these Pictures, Thank You All for looking and helping us to decide! roseofblue

Katie, Many on this forum dismiss refacing, saying that it can cost nearly as much as replacing cabinets. But I think in certain scenarios it makes sense. Particularly in your case if you are not looking to change out the counters, it seems like refacing might give you the nicer-looking cabinets you're interested in. We did a combination of new cabinets (to replace an existing L-shaped island and some uppers around our new range hood) and refacing. I didn't want painted cabinets, and our cabinet guy suggested we could reface with quarter inch plywood veneer on the cabinet boxes, stained to match the new cabinet doors (our old cabinets were maple). We're very pleased with the result. In this picture, the right-most upper cabinet is a brand new cabinet (narrower than the one that was there previously). The two other uppers are the original cabinet boxes, but refaced. In the photo you see new solid wood full overlay cabinet doors, matching trim, and a side panel (next to the sink). All the lowers visible are our original cabinets, with new doors/drawers. In this closeup picture, you can see how the quarter inch plywood veneer was applied to the front of the cabinet face frames and stained to match the new doors. If you look at the cabinets this closely, you can see that the veneer has been applied. But, it is not noticeable if you aren't looking for it. I can't give any specifics on cost because our cabinetry work involved both new and refaced cabinets, and I don't have a breakdown. But, refacing a portion of our cabinets was less expensive than the cost of completely replacing. It sounds like in your situation it would definitely be worth looking into.

Seeing the diagram in your first post reminded me a lot of the floor plan we have at our lakehouse. Our combined kitchen/dining/LR is set up that way. DH & I cook together up there and I am happy we have all the workspace on the counter our island provides. Your peninsula would offer similar counter space. We have a microwave built in the island, as well as a pull-out trash. DW is to the right of the sink, and dish drawers to the right of that. We're happy we have a venting hood. Our build was completed 8 yrs. ago and the only thing I'd change in the kitchen set up is to replace the gas stove with an induction range. I got one last year in our home remodel and I prefer it to gas. We altered our plans to include a walk-in pantry. I love it! If your plans would allow for even a nearby closet to have shelves and be delegated to pantry staples, I think that would be far more desirable to stacks of food items on open shelves. I have a couple pics from when we first moved in to show the layout of the kitchen & combined rooms that might help you visualize possibilities for your space.

the good thing is when your house is at the beach, you don't need to try so hard. you don't need signs like 'this way to the beach' or 'manatee crossing'. you dont need lamps shaped like anchors. all of those items are for people whose houses are NOT at the beach. i recommend under decorating. under beachifying. nothing fussy, everything easy care. don't worry about your kitchen right now... stock up on olive oil and fresh veg, a good knife or two, make a great grill space outside. thats the good news. the bad news is even if you bought the place full cash and you have no mortgage, a second home is expensive. doubling all your utilities, your taxes, your trash pick up, etc etc etc. you'll be amazed how much it costs when you have to paint twice as often, replace roofs twice as often, its endless. don't spend a penny on your perfectly nice kitchen that you don't need to spend because it isnt quite the right color at this time. when things need to be painted, soon enough. anyway, thats more advice than you asked for, but there it is. enjoy your house near the beach. we've had ours for 18 years now and havent regretted a moment.