Have you considered a MW drawer? They work great for tall people (I assume you meant your DH is 6', not 6"). Our family ranges in height from 5'10" to 6'7" and a MW drawer has been perfect for us. The controls are angled up, so you just have to look down to see/work the controls. Opening/closing is easy as well since it opens/closes automatically and softly - a gentle pull starts it opening, a gentle nudge starts it closing. Accessing the food is also easy - just reach down to pick up the dish. I don't think I'd go any higher than 42" for any counter - not only does something taller defeat the purpose, but I think it would look awkward or as a "make do" for an issue. It's still 6" higher than normal counter height and you could easily put wall oven in it and have it higher than an oven in a range. (Thank goodness you're not suggesting installing a wall oven under a 36" counter - doing that put an oven even lower than an oven in a range!) A 60" (or even 48") tall wall reminds me of cubicle dividers/walls in offices... . Range hood...I would definitely not do a downdraft, they don't work well overall and an effective hood is going to be crucial with the extensive openness you're planning. A hood hanging from the ceiling will be fine - but, you will need to be sure it's... At least 6" wider than the cooking surface 27" Deep Strong cfms - I recommend at least 900cfms for the fan. The more turns it takes to get the duct to the outside, the greater the cfms you need since turns reduce the effectiveness of the venting. -- The hood should definitely be vented to the outside -- Be careful that your duct work does not exhaust to a location where people will be sitting. Installed properly - which, in most cases, means no more than 30" above the cooking surface. If you want to install it higher, then increase the width of the hood and the fan power. . Range/Cooktop Island...For the island with the range/cooktop, if there's seating at the island, the seats should be 24" from the back of the range/cooktop. If there are no seats, then you only need 18" to protect passersby from splattering grease, billowing steam, etc.

@Beth H et al.. yes, and I'm really thrilled with all of the recommendations, everyone has style and it's great to see varying opinions. So I don't want to think anyone has wasted their time, I think down the road in the near future, we will go with something built out pretty much like you were suggesting early on. As we just finished the remodel within the last year, we are not up for building anything out or even tiling the wall at this point. We don't need new furniture at the moment (kids will ruin it anyway). For now, we were looking for something minor / superficial, if that's the correct verbiage. While we know now, that it may not look "perfect", it's where we're at now. That said, we don't want to do anything (now) with the fireplace, what we are open to is: some type of shelving (which would have to be shallow in depth, I think), definitely plants (faux preferably), artwork or like I mentioned (which may have gotten lost), is maybe B&W canvas print collage (I'm a part-time photographer and we have zero photos of our kids displayed). We are also open to putting a small corner piece to the left side, but it would have to be very small footprint as we only have about 12" from the wall to the lightswitch near the slider, but after hearing/seeing some of the plant options, I think we prefer that. Another note, we (I) have a floor subwoofer to the right hand side, you can see my wife's aerogarden sitting on top of it until we find a home for it :) Hopefully, that helps, again, I really do appreciate everyone weighing in and taking a lot of time for the mock ups. -Matt

Most of my windows are on walls that slope down -- 8' perimeter ceiling height sloping to 10' interiors -- and with the exception of the kitchen window, I have empty space between the tops of the windows and the ceiling. I love curtains, and when mounted close to the ceiling, with a little puddling (I know, I know, a lot of folks hate puddling, lol), my walls look taller. They might still look taller without the puddling, so if you prefer curtains that kiss the floor, I'm pretty sure that would also help visually heighten the space. I don't know what kind of drapery you're considering, but I'm partial to sheers, and would like to mention that it doesn't look like you have much wall space on either side of the window to support heavier fabrics. Just something to be aware of. :-)

Strong statement. The rest of the room should be a soft white tile with soft white walls. Let the floor stand out. Everything else white, except the faucets and hardware. You might consider those to be a matte black. The layout and shape of the white tile is unlimited. But, I'd always keep it a neutral color with the same color as the tile grout.