The granite color is uba tuba which I *hate* - it's dark green w/ gold flecks. I thought it was black when we bought the house but upon close inspection it was actually green. I have to repaint the wall color - I was going to try cooking apple green but then I got all fascinated w/ having a blue kitchen *sigh* What do you guys think of blue kitchen? I am thinking of changing the knobs out to crystal knobs as well to make it look more charming. Right now it's blah...the nook is very crowded in the corner as well! btw here is another pix of the kitchen. sorry for the large size. Another option is to sell the house and move hehe..:)

Thank you for the great suggestions. I would love to check out the walker zanger Gramercy park. There are no WZ distributors near us - Madison wi so I'm going to have to travel a ways to find a show room. Ellendi I think your spot on about there not being enough of a contrast between my creamy cabinet color and my danby marble so a basic subway wont wor as it does in Phorbin's beautiful kitchen. I need some type of transition. I know cararra marble is out as it has too much grey and white. I think I really need to introduce the cream shade. I love the glass tile look but I feel as if I'm going for the classic timeless look in my materials so I almost feel a ceramic would fit the bill better. Boy does tile run the gamut in price! I never knew. I also love Bee,s beautiful arabesque tile- not sure of the shade that would be best. I don't really want to introduce any "color" I like the uniformity of whites and creams.

How about pushing the island to the wall that will be removed and the up against the big wall. Still seating on 2 sides. Or, still move the island forward to d.r. wall, and then create an L, adding lower cabinets on the full wall side as well as the side facing the kitchen. I agree with your husband, don't get rid of island.

DNA, regarding making your laundry larger, a question that occurs to me is what would that allow you to do there that would be worth the cost to you? Where would you be folding your clothes as it is now? Where if it were 2' longer? I don't see you ironing in there in either case, or would you if it were larger? Regarding a screened porch, that's a very site- and lifestyle-specific question. Also climate. Not off the north side of the house in almost any climate because it'd be too cold and gloomy much of the year. Important to remember, by the way, that the north exterior of a building in almost all climates is not inviting and people tend to avoid it. Since most people in this country don't use front yards for enjoyment, and people are drawn to comfortably sunny areas, having the back yard to the south and front to the north works well. However, how much do you hope to use that front porch? In any case, sunshine will be blocked on the front of the house by the porch, no matter how oriented, making sunshine into the rooms at the back especially precious, and whereever you put a screened porch on the back would make the adjacent room a shadowy interior space. Inviting much of the time anyway, but where's your bright sunny spot to relax in? Screened porches are wonderful, though, and if it were my home, and ignoring critical but unspecified site and neighborhood factors, the two places I'd like it would be off the master bedroom wall in back, with doors somehow from the living room and from the bedroom (how about sleeping out there in summer or just sitting and listening to the crickets before bed?) OR at the end of the front porch with inside access created from the entry (do you really need that big closet? :). I can see spending long hours there enjoying the views out across our graciously sized front garden and neighborhood. Maybe not so much if our neighbors' boat and trailer are parked 10 feet away, though. A third possibility depending on site, views, space, and whether my cars could be kept from view might be off the kitchen side. A very attractive corridor inviting people out from from the center of the house and the kitchen could be created there with some thought. On the right site, that could be ideal, taking advantage of whatever views/assets there were, or could be created, on that neglected side and making the house feel very large. The patio's easy. I'd have it right where I could stroll out the kitchen in the morning with a cup of coffee. If that were the north side, I'd put some attractive plantings by the house to admire and shape the view from inside (with birdbath?) and set the actual sitting area in the sunshine a bit farther out. Hope my fancies spark some of your own.