I'm a bit late to the party here and not a lighting guru at all, but I wonder if you have any ability to put some skylights in this room? If it were through the lowered part of the ceiling I guess it would have to be one of the solar light tube type - they perform quite extraordinarily. With respect to the light box, I can see how much of an issue shadows will be, and for that reason I'd actually be curious to see how the original installation performed. And to use the problem as part of your solution, if you had not already embarked on a course I would consider lighting aimed at the sides of the recess to reflect at a better angle to your cabinets and work areas. If you can't get the light radiating to where you need it, then bouncing it might be a useful concept to work with next, if you find your solution unsatisfactory. Karin L

I saw an incredible idea on the Design to Sell show with a $2000 budget for the ENTIRE house (and they include accessories in that budget). When they first showed the kitchen I thought, OK they have met the impossible, what can they do for those cabinets (just like yours) that will entice buyers. They added a thin 2"(?) wide strip of wood and outlined the cabinet doors and drawers making them into a shaker style cabinet. There are lots of ideas for priming the laminate so the new wood and laminate match. I've noticed knobs and pulls (contractor pack) pulls your eye away from slight inperfections if you do this. I didn't see the end but it looked like it was going to do the trick. Shaker cabinets are in style now and this should work. Hopefully you have some additional money for countertops, but if not put some beautiful things out to draw your eye to those items instead of the countertops.

I think either design works. It really depends on your own preferences at this point. If it were MY kitchen, I would nix the wall ovens and get a double-oven range. I would rather have more counter space than ovens. Do you have room in the laundry room for an additional oven, if needed when entertaining? If so, I think I would also just consider putting something like a Breville in there. It's not too far to walk for occasional use. If it helps any, we have a beverage center outside of our kitchen for mixed drinks when entertaining and all of our drink glasses (wine, margarita, pilsners, highball, etc.) are stored there. To me, it makes more sense to have the glasses stored where we use and fill them, next to the alcohol and wine, not in the kitchen itself. However, if you are thinking of storing them in the option 2 glass-doored cabinet to the right of the fridge, how about opening the wall on the dining room side and putting glass door on both the kitchen and dining room sides. It would look nice to have glass on both sets of doors and this way you could access the wine glasses for either side. Hope that helps.

"Mint green" can mean different things to different people so you should show a sample of what it means to you and Granny. Also, you should say exactly what you're painting. Will it include the brick? Without knowing the exact color, I'll venture to say that it does not sound good to me. I'm imagining something on the low class side, as colors go. To be sure, what is killing any potential the front of the house has is the hedges lining the walk. It is negative to the maximum and no matter how you trim it, it will remain so. Ditto for large shrubs in front of windows and porch. Just plain grass at both sides of the walk would be vastly superior. We can't see the yard, but based on the hedges, I imagine the general landscaping is in need of a major overhaul.