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!

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.

Earlier I showed my wife this thread and she like to thank everyone for the help. She couldn't believe you folks actually spent the time perusing the floorplan and provided us with valuable feedback. Ok back to business.. So she ruled out moving the fridge beside the DW. In fact, she was very much against it. I do have to admit it will solve all our concerns. Also she wasn't keen on moving the pantry/laundry room wall, she like to keep her walk in pantry and not stack the washer/dryer. Thinking about it some more, we are leaning towards the idea idea of shrinking the patio door from 6' to 4' double French door(not sure if builder offers it). This will allow us to add an additional 24" cabinet and counter space beside the DW. Based on all your feedbacks, it appear fridge and island are the bigger concerns. FRIDGE: For easier fridge access, we are thinking of shrinking the space between stove and fridge. Currently that space is roughly 24". If we do decide to shorten it, what will be a small enough counter width to still be useful? I like to create enough space between fridge and wall to install a pull out pantry as some of you suggested. If it gets too tight, another option we considered is move the stove "up" by 12" towards the sink. However I am not sure whether it will be too close to the sink or not, thoughts? ISLAND: Wife wants an island, so it's here to stay. The good thing is it's floating and not fixed. I still don't have a good idea of what to do with it, might just push it further out for now so it won't impede traffic. At the same time I don't want to push it so far out that we can't fit a table in the breakfast area. Also I don't want to pay builder more to make it bigger. *sigh* so much options, so limited $.

I would use a 60" wide x 40" high picture window with a 20" high RO operable transom above it. Then you could use the transom for ventilation and not have screens on the lower window. The wall above the transom would be about 7" tall, enough for trim and a ceiling molding. A structural header could be substituted for the second floor band joist/rim board. I've done it many times.