Back in the 1920s, built-ins (such as built-in desks) were HUGELY popular. These items were called "Permanent Furniture," and it was thought that this permanent furniture would ease the financial burdens of buying a home. Plus, in the midst of The Bungalow Craze, built-ins addressed the problem of limited space. In the early 1900s, we abandoned the Victorian manses in favor of the bungalow, because of the newly discovered Germ Theory. And yet, those bungalows were pretty small. Here are some pictures from a 1927 Builders Woodwork catalog. Here is a link that might be useful: Permanent Furniture

Here's one idea, I drew this on my phone if you couldn't tell. Dining area in pink: if you want a sideboard/hutch for dining room I have placed to the left. I don't really like the idea of coming up the stairs to view the side of a sideboard, but you don't really have clearance to spare to place storage on the bottom wall (I'll call it South) because you only have 12 feet between the head of the stairs and the South wall to fit in a substantial dining table and walkway from the kitchen to the living room. I guess if you knew you wanted a sideboard where I've indicated, you could get a contractor to build a nook for it which would keep the look a bit cleaner but less open from the stairs. Music nook in green: window D kind of had me constrained in that I would've liked to of put a sideboard right in front of it for your music gear. As it is perhaps a full height built-in in the corner if the windows don't extend right to the corner. I put a couple of chairs there for additional seating and music selection. Another potential place for a sideboard is along the back of the couch, but because the couch is likely going to be placed quite close to the dining table, a sideboard behind couch would possibly impinge a bit too much on the circulation route to glass doors. If the stair railing is glass, you probably don't want to back the sideboard onto it, so your options for placement are a little limited in my opinion. But I may just have no imagination. seating area in blue: I think there may be a pinch point between the dining table and the seating area in the living room. I've tried to solve that a bit by using a sectional instead of the long couch and additional chairs. Not sure if it's successful.

Given that your kitchen isn't that big, your savings by re-using the boxes will not be much, if any, in proportion to the amount of work you'll need to MacGyver everything. Your results will be much better if you tear out and start fresh. I realize that is not the budget you have, but I really think you won't save money by keeping what you have, because you may actually spend more in all your efforts to fit a square peg to a round hole. You can gain counterspace by replacing the separate cooktop and oven with a range (I noticed in your OP you are using the wrong words; a "range" is an appliance that is cooktop and oven all-in-one, not separate). A range is also less expensive than a separate cooktop and wall oven. And while I usually do not recommend an OTR MW, in your kitchen an OTR MW would be another means to save space. A "counter-depth" fridge would also add a feeling of space to the kitchen. They are 24" deep so that they don't protrude from the cabinetry (which is likely the 24" standard depth, not the 26" you mentioned). The regular-depth fridge you have now will stick out and create a pinchpoint no matter where you place it in your kitchen. Sell it on Craig's List, or if you have a garage or basement, keep it there for extra fridge storage. You can find great deals for "scratch and dent" appliances at Sears. I think you need to get educated a bit more, and the best way is to lurk on these forums a few months, reading as much as you can. I guarantee you will have a fresh and better viewpoint if you do that.

Ok, well I asked about the built-ins and got much more! ;) JudyG - I can see why it looks that way in the photo, but it doesn't so much in person. I zoomed out so I could get as much as the room as possible, so though it is tall, it's not as out of proportion as it looks in person. The current color of the built-ins is a creamier color than the concrete fireplace surround and it doesn't look good together. Beth H - The install above the fireplace is made of steel sheet metal. As far as the fan, I did want something minimal so as not to add more to the space in addition to that major metal instal;, though I did question the size and length of the fan with company and the guy, who claimed to work in the industry for 20 years, said he'd never sold a download longer than 48 in and that this size was good for a 16x17 space. Ceilings are 19 ft. I wish we could've done stone; we committed to the metal and when removing the previous surround, found beautiful stone underneath that would've been lovely to put up, but it would've thrown us way off budget at that point - metal was made and ready to be installed. The the brick is still underneath the concrete surround/metal so that'll be taken into the next iteration of this home - which is WAY down the road. Our budget now includes paint and accessories. I love the ideas you've shared and wished I would've seen them sooner! So maybe paint the built-ins the same as the walls and then the cabinets a darker color to stand out? Like the 2nd or 3rd photo. Also adding windows to integration 2. The stair used to be white spindles and copper spirals, it was terrible and we wanted something cleaner, so no, the bars have to stay. Here's a pic of that part of the room: Also - nothing has been 'styled', just livable. I haven't done the bookcases, the sofa table behind the couch is the wrong size and color, also hate the light in the kitchen, but I didn't want to overwhelm this question with all of the issues in the room. Thank you, I appreciate all the suggestions!