Everyone here is going to ask for pictures of the existing kitchen and a measured on graph paper drawing of the floor plan of the entire house.

We need to know how many meals a day you and anyone else cooks, how many people live in the house, what is your budget, what do you most hate about the current kitchen and what have you always dreamed for a perfect kitchen. Otherwise, “ do you like this shirt with these pants or should I buy something else?” See? Not enough information to give you good advice. I am not trying to discourage you because I remodeled an historic kitchen in my farmhouse. It takes a lot of planning to make it functional and correct for the house. I spent a year looking at all the problems to overcome within my budget and planning for all the function I needed. For example, my husband loves to cook, but is messy. He also has the problem most men have—“Honey, where is ....?” I needed to make it super convenient to find everything he uses when he cooks. In a previous house when our grandchildren were little, I arranged the pantry so they could help themselves to cereal, crackers, fruit, cookies by loading their snacks on the lower shelves. This kitchen needed a smaller island than our previous house because we entertain differently here. The point is to decide what you need in your kitchen to suit your family. I got a notebook, jotted down all the wishlist things and the arguments for or against each thing. I noted colors I liked, wood tones that appealed to me, appliance reviews. I couldn’t get everything I wanted, but the compromises are easier to live with because I know why I didn’t or couldn’t have something I really loved. For instance, I wanted a long counter stretching on one wall. However, it would have required the removal of an original 1817 door leading to the creek. No contest! The original door is still there! Watching the sunrise this morning through that door is well worth the sacrifice of 40” of counter space.

Thank you for your advice. I have about 40 inches total of counter space divided in 2. It’s horrible. I’ve been fighting with my husband about it for about 10 years now. I have about 60,000 for the project. It seems moving it to the dining room and tearing up the floors would be more difficult than an addition but I’m not a builder or an architect and I’m not sure what would be the better way to go. I guess it will just be easier to have someone come in and check it out for me. Thanks again. Do you have pictures of your kitchen?

Farmhouse kitchen