Thanks for the reply Texaredhead. The decor in the room is semi-formal to borderline elegant casual. Its a straight ceiling, not cathedral or vaulted. We are using it for ambient lighting to augment the floor and table lamps. I think you are right that it will not be more than 10feet above the floor, as is the case of a chandelier in our two-storey foyer. The coppery look of the chandelier goes well with the earth tones in the room. Style wise probably not be best match(coz of the floral lampshades). We have lots of browns in the room, hand painted tables (that would actually suit the lampshades...but I see your point now as I am typing this email out! :-) Hmm, I think maybe I'll put up some pics of the room and see what u all think. I think I have some somewhere... Till then, can someone tell me if there is a thumbrule as to the wattage required to light this room, and if the bulbs should be pointing upward or downward? Even that will help narrow down a few things for me......like utility :-)

Well, such thoughtful feedback from everyone has been quite helpful. Suero, thank you for taking the time to check out the Corian and laminate to let me know that in real life there is quite a difference to the touch. I've always liked working on laminate counters and had them for 35 years in my last home. Gooster, wouldn't travertine and limestone be too cold for a desk surface in the winter? I don't know much about these lovely materials, just asking. I'm certainly open to looking at other materials. Holly-kay, you best expressed my initial plan, to use the same painted material as the cabinets, as yes, I do want a high end look in that room. In my last home I had a study with white painted library cabinets. The counter was the exact same painted surface as the cabinets. They held up for many years, but needed repainting at the end. However, my DH did the initial painting with an air sprayer at home which can't match a job by professionals, esp. a product produced in a large factory. I think I can handle the care needed with a painted surface, just was hoping something else would work and be care-free. I live alone and the grands are not allowed to be careless with nice things. However, a painted surface would still mean a seam somewhere in the 103" long counter. I think if the last 8 " were pieced in the desk area it would be noticed less at a distance,esp if a desk pad were used as holly-kay suggests. The general consensus seems to be that Corian is a nice product but may not give the formal look I'm going for. Thanks to all of you for taking the time to respond and to provide such open feedback. I really appreciate your help and will post photos when the cabinets are installed. I've slowly been collecting artifacts from whaling days for this shelf system so can't wait to finally display and enjoy them.

I have friends whose home has a similar kitchen layout and there is lots of room inside it for 3 or 4 of us ladies helping to set-up or clean up when our church fellowship group (20 or so people, including kids) meets there for Bible study and meals. The large snack bar wrapping around the sink area works great to allow lots of people to communicate with the cook, but keep out of her hair. It also doubles as a serving "buffet" of sorts. Also, with the wide sink area, the diagonal relationship to the dishwasher isn't as much a problem as the typical snug, stuck-in-a tight- corner sink/dishwasher. I like having a sink area like that which can overlook both the dining and family room areas. The refrigerator is a bit far from the dining area, though I can see why it is placed where it is so as not to block the light and view into the dining room (if it was at the other end.) Please don't swap the kitchen with the dining area---the dining area would have no windows !!!Yikes. It is more acceptable for an open kitchen not to have windows as it is getting lots of borrowed light and view. As others have said--the window placement and room layout of the overall house is far from ideal, though. All the windows across the front would have to be small due to the nature of what is underneath them, and none of the regular living spaces has a view to the front. You only have utilitarian- type rooms across the front.( And the windows where you have them in the walk-in closet either limit the rod space or mean you have hangers across the windows!) If your lot size allows, could you rework the plan and put the laundry between the kitchen and garage and let the kitchen have a window to the front? Then you would have a view to both the front yard and the back yard from that space. I do realize that would entail some serious reworking of your plan, however. I am not sure how committed you already are to this overall plan. I've also seen family rooms like yours with just two small windows on either side of the fireplace and the rooms just seem to "scream" for more light and view. Having a fireplace on the window wall usually works best if the long dimension of the family room is parallel with the window wall, allowing for larger windows. I know that would require serious reworking of your plan (again-sorry) if you changed the orientation of the family room to accommodate more windows, but perhaps it would also solve some of the other issues (if your lot can accommodate a wider overall plan.)You could also move the fireplace to the side wall, but I know that the venting of the fireplace gets more expensive. In either case, make sure you do a furniture layout on your plan before you finalize the family room--you may discover that the size and layout of your kitchen island may need to change in order to best accommodate your family room furniture layout. You may also want to plan an alternative, optional arrangement for that tv in case you decide after awhile that you don't like it above the fireplace. (I hate watching it above the fireplace at my friend's house, but they like it because they are usually standing up in the kitchen watching it. They also have a separate media room---maybe because they wanted a more comfortable arrangement?) I don't mean to discourage you, but as a former architect, I just want to point out some things for you to consider that you might not have thought about. Good design usually takes countless hours (really, days and days) of thought, trial and error, and "massaging" and tweaking. Don't give up--keep looking around and/or reworking until you get the best plan for the situation, budget, lot constraints, etc. I hope you end up with a plan that you are totally happy with. (Also, a 4' porch is really tight--if you can possibly add a few feet or more, you will be able to enjoy it so much more!) HTH.

We have option 2. It doesn't feel crowded and when you open the door you're looking at art work instead of a toilet, trash can, or messy sink (my kids use that sink to brush their teeth before school). It also gives you wall space to put a cabinet above the toilet for storage (I store toilet paper, a plunger and feminine hygeine products in ours) since there isn't a door in the way. We actually have a decorative niche inset into the wall opposite the door between the studs that holds a painting, a candle and a decorative kleenex box. It makes the room feel larger and gives us a place to put those things. Our sink is a pedestal sink.