I love the mirror idea. I agree -- no valance, looks dated. If you do tile backsplash up to cab height, it would be fine to have the tile run across at the same line above the sink. You likely won't hang the mirror lower than that, due to water spots from the faucet, etc. I've seen mirrors in bathrooms that hang on a painted wall and overlap the tile backsplash, and that looks fine, too. Another option would be to tile the entire wall and hang the mirror over the tile -- I like the dramatic look of a column of beautiful tile. It adds color and texture interest. Good luck and have fun!

OK, I think I'm following you: The ceiling on the sink wall is going to have to stay at 7.5 feet. The cabs with molding are 3.5, leaving only 12 inches from the cabs to the counter. For me, this would be unacceptable. First, I'd pull off the crown molding, which would get you back to 15 inches of free space. Then, depending on how short you are, I'd use shorter legs on the bottoms, dropping the counter height to 35 inches, increasing the space to 16 inches. Now, if the window is wide so that there's plenty of space on either side of the sink to stack dishes, this would probably be enough. But if the window is narrow, it would still feel pretty claustrophobic to me. So I'd call a local cabinet maker, inquire about having the cabs for that area modified. Essentially, cutting 3 inches off the top. The doors may or may not be able to be moded, may have to be replaced. If the finish can't be matched, I'd change it to a different color entirely in this area so it looks more 'on purpose'. This won't be cheap, of course, but it would be better than tossing the cabs out and starting over. In areas where the ceiling is a full 8 feet, I'd leave the cabs alone. I'd try to reduce that 42 inch protrusion into the room, though. At that width, it's going to look like a mistake, not a design feature. Just raising the former florescent area makes the problem worse, since all the cabs would be wrong, then.

The cabinets are already stripped and sanded, just in the process of staining and the match looks great. My husband planned to do the finish work while I took the kids out of town, but the stain/toner just arrived yesterday instead of the13th as scheduled. So, he's working on it now. Memorial weekend will be this project instead of going fishing... oh well. The only think we're waiting on is deciding the topcoat. I was going to use water based satin polycrylic, which I used on previous cabinets and is the same sheen as the manufacturer's, but I need to find exactly what the manufacturer uses... if they use oil-based, I'd like them to age at the same rate. I think they use shellac or laquer, but will have to verify. Citristrip is not an effective stripper in my opinion. Yes, it has a lovely orange scent, but it doesn't strip much and leaves such a waxy layer that it takes more work to clean it off than it does work to help. We used a nasty, toxic stripper that works well, even pulls out the stain... while outside wearing a respirator with lots of ventilation. The plan is the addition in 5 years... but things seem to always take a bit longer than planned, and I just couldn't stand the kitchen as is. The problem is that we plan to make the existing kitchen / dining area into a 2nd master. My husband doesn't want to do any tile type backsplash because it will ruin the walls. I think I would prefer the wavy glass with a painted back anyway, just because I don't really like cleaning grout, but I'm trying to figure out if I can get that in my small town. Also, we have breaks in our cabinets, with window over the sink and I'm not sure how to end the glass, then I was thinking, maybe I shoud just put a piece behind the stove (where I really need a backsplash for my splattering pots of pasta sauce), but maybe that wouldn't look very good. Still pondering this one. We saw the counters at the fabricators shop, and they look great, so I can't wait for those to go in. Yes, I think this will be enough of a change that I can live with it... I just couldn't work with the orange cabinets.

We have one window on each side of the soon to be range wall. The windows are in but nothing else is except frame for custom hood. Our sink will be in the island. Here is a pic of the windows as is: I am a firm believer in putting a window anywhere you can!! You won't regret it.