I still have the aluminum patio furniture that I bought 17 yrs ago and it's held up extremely well. During strong winds the chairs are light enough to blow around the patio but they've never lifted off into orbit! When I know there's going to be a wind storm sometimes I'll push them over into a corner where they will be more protected, just so they don't bang into other things. Usually those types of storms are in the winter so if you are really worried about individual chairs moving just buy a patio cover that is large enough for the table and all the chairs around it. Last year I bought a pair of wrought iron chairs from Smith & Hawkins, they've got a black finish on them to protect the iron. S&H sells a protective cream for this type of furniture, it's expensive but if it keeps the chairs from rusting it will be worth it. As you know we get our rain in the winter and ours is a dry climate so I doubt wrought iron chairs are going to rust like they might in a more humid climate. I use Koveroos covers for all my outdoor furniture and when I know rain is coming I just throw it over them and remove when the sun is shining again. I haven't had these chairs long enough to know if they're going to rust or not but with these precautions I'm taking I'm pretty confident they'll hold up for many years. And if they do rust, well there are products to stop that from spreading. This may sound like a lot of maintenance but they're still a lot easier to keep clean than the white vinyl on my aluminum chairs. My neighbor bought a complete set of patio furniture from OSH a couple years ago, including a gazebo-like tent for overhead. I couldn't believe all that cost her only a couple hundred dollars. The problem with buying patio furniture from discount stores or hardware stores is the cushions. Better to find a set that doesn't require cushions because that's what desintegrates first. The original cushions that came with my set all faded very badly. To replace them would have cost a fortune but I know how to sew so I ordered a bolt of Sunbrella fabric from Calico Corners and made new ones. Unless the fabric says "Sunbrella" you're going to end up with faded fabric. Furniture sold by K-Mart,etc is not going to have Sunbrella fabric on it. In that case, chose a cushion that is light in color and definitely no prints. It's one thing to sew new cushions it's another when you have an unbrella that is also fading. Even though all the red & green color on our expensive Brown&Jordan unbrella had faded to a disgusting yellow I had no idea how to replace it so that one we pitched and I bought a new unbrella, this time in a solid color and using Sunbrella fabric.

Pugrolls, I own multiple properties in Seattle. I currently live in a neighborhood in urban seattle with similarities to Queen Anne. Even for QA, you will have a challening place to sell when the time comes. Unfortunately, because you bought it at the height of the market, you have priced yourself out of the market for investors seeking bargains for rentals. Looking at the before pictures, my guess is that it was a rental for many years. I have also lived in many tiny apartments/condos etc in urban seattle area. One of the things that I remember from living in small places is that overhangs which were meant as seatings were unable to be used well due to not enough clearance for table/furniture placement around it. When one has to make a choice between a reasonably sized table/furniture versus island seating, most people will give up the island seating (which is what I always did even though the space was designated as such). I think we need to examine why people want island seating so much. It is because we want people that we are cooking with and eating with to be near us. If there is a table only 5 feet away, then it is as close as most island seatings. This is the case in your kitchen. I would visually open up but make the table function as an extension of the kitchen. What about bench seats under the window (instead of chairs) for the table which has storage for large, not often used items, ie roasting pans? (all boats do this.) They are not comfortable but solves the space problem. I actually like your initial kitchen with range on the wall by the laundry room but without the island seating. I would make a smaller island on castors so you can move it around (to fit the needs of the space). When you do that, you have essentially pushed your living to the edges of the room and opened up the center. I think there is enough for seating for 4 at the dining (with the built in seats/storage?) and seating around the FP, which is slightly akward but acceptable. That plan also gives you the most counter space. I would build the bench seating in the same materials as the kitchen cabinets so you extend the horizontal lines visually, and creating a sense of one large space. Not only that you have created open central part of the house which will give you a sense of open volume. Architectural problems are volume problems. You are sacrificing the island seating for this open volume. Have your uncle draw some 3D rendering for you for the entire space. You have a great resource, use it! Visually, you want as few tall things as possible, ie oven stack, which tend to close in the space visually. If you can afford to make it so, some will even get undercounter frigs to create that spaciousness... Colors should be almost monochromatic in a lighter color. You can't afford contrast in this space. Natural light is a bit lacking in this space looking at the exterior and interior pictures. You are trying to create an illusion that there is this vast space in a huge open house with no walls! This is a great architectural challenge. Any architect worth his salt will love the project. I would push your uncle to help you. Listen to him and see what he says. If he has a reasonably successful practice, he will have accumulative wealth of knowledge. The way you use your architect best is not to ask him/her to draw a kitchen plan: but you give him/her your desires; a sense of open living, enough seating for 4, a kitchen big enough to meet modern cooking needs (see I did not say multi cook kitchen), reasonable seating around the fireplace, not change exterior of the house etc etc. I wish you the best. This is a challenge. I think it will all work out in the end. I think I posted a few weeks ago about not going toward Craftsman type of remodel. It looks like you got over that. I think you can make a stunning modern open floor plan out of this.

We really like our Martha Stewart chaise lounge chairs from Home Depot: http://www.homedepot.com/p/Martha-Stewart-Living-Cedar-Island-All-Weather-Wicker-Adjustable-Patio-Chaise-Lounge-with-Dragon-Fruit-Cushion-DY4035-C/202436786 I ordered this daybed last year from Walmart and was shocked at the quality and comfort level. Love it! I don't use the canopy, I bought a big umbrella instead. At some point, this will go down in price to about $299 if I remember correctly from last year: http://www.walmart.com/ip/Providence-Outdoor-Day-Bed-Red/29002326 And Sam's Club outdoor furniture is very nice. I just ordered the Member's Mark Heritage set for my FL outdoor dining: http://www.samsclub.com/sams/heritage-7pc-balcony/prod15930293.ip?sprodId=prod15930293 I also have a very similar seating set to this one in PA: http://www.samsclub.com/sams/carnaby-4pc-seat-14-2014-seating/prod11800695.ip I bought some expensive custom wicker furniture for our PA screen porch last year, but all of these above pieces I linked to are much nicer and more comfortable than that furniture.

Good catch, Becky! I noticed the same thing. Back to the OP - we had a room like that off the kitchen, and at one point I made it the dining room and pulled the comfy furniture into where the dining/kitchen table sat. It worked really well on warm summer evenings when the air was warm but the bugs were excruciatingly determined. I had very comfortable dining chairs, and we'd be out there for hours. For the rest of the year, I did put the sofa on one side, and a couple of chairs vaguely angled opposite, so people could chat out there and with whomever was wafting around the kitchen. Would you consider a vintage rug? They're usually relatively inexpensive, and not genericWayfair type seen everywhere. They're surprisingly inexpensive to have professionally cleaned, too, if you're relatively near a decent urban centre.