Another vote for the desk. It will be a great addition to your salon and the kidney shape is perfect to work with customers. You could probably even take this as a write off once you start up your own business so you may want to ask for a receipt. As others have said, a single chair is much easier to come by. Before finalizing what to do with that corner, first get in the buffet and make sure it works in that space, then finish the decor for that with the mirror and lamps. Only then decide what to do with that other corner. You are a lot like me and go in several different directions at once. Advice to me about 6 months ago was to slow down, take it piece by piece. Well decorated spaces take years to evolve..... If you are looking for several items on a tight budget, try checking out estate sales.

annab6...my oven cabinet is all one cabinet...just partitioned into a cabinet on top, opening for the ovens, and then a drawer on the bottom. The entire cabinet is 24" deep, so my tray space is as well. Two things about that: (1) The 24" depth allowed me to store my platters lengthwise and my cookie sheets the same way. (Notice the cookie sheets, etc. are on their sides & the platters are the "long way" in...no horizontal storage needed...I can fit a lot more this way. Did that make sense? BTW...my longest cookie sheet is 19".) (2) Behind the shorter items, there is some empty space...but I've been considering putting some seldom-used items there...for some reason empty space just seems "wrong"! (Probably b/c in my old kitchen I had so little space that I couldn't afford to have any empty space!)

I wish I knew how to post photos! I too wanted a desk area in my small kitchen (@ 12 x 18 ft) We designed our small kitchen like a ship - every inch is usable. My desk is an L shape - the short part of the L is @ 42", the long edge is 60". The desk height is 30" and has a normal chair. On the outer side of the small part of the L, we have an 18" wide set of 3 drawers on the lower part - two regular drawers and the bottom drawer is a file drawer. This short L part is a standard 24" deep as it is the wall that continues from the other cabinets (it is next to built in ovens/cabinets to the ceiling though, so the lower desk height is not next to the other counters which are 35.5" high). Over this short L part of the desk, are bookshelves to the ceiling. On the part of the desk over the drawers sits my printer. The rest of the lower area (an L shape @ (42 - 18) = 24 x the 60" long L part is open. I tuck a small recycling bin for paper near the wall, hidden by the drawers, and there are plugs, etc. for the computer. The long L is only 20" deep (this wall continues on to be a 20" deep window seat that have deep drawers that can be opened without disturbing the cushions). We have the necessary cords come up through a grommet. There are additional plugs above the desk level for the phone and to recharge things. The wall above has Italian pottery plates as art. Thus, when sitting at the desk, the drawers and bookshelves are to my left. To my right is a 7' window seat and tall windows. Thus, the entire 12 ft wall at this end of the kitchen consists of the 5' (long L) portion of the desk and a 7' window seat with storage underneath (the window seat is also an L actually - it mirrors the dimensions of the short L of the desk, so it is all symmetrical. Thus at this end of the kitchen I have more than 200 linear feet of bookshelves for my cookbook collection/accessories. A desk surface that has 78 linear feet (42 + (60-24 depth)), and a window seat that includes five - 18" deep x 18" high x 20" wide drawers where I store large shaped things like vases, deep stockpots, baking things (rolling pins, boxes with cookie cutters, waffle irons, etc). No clutter, lots of storage, and with the tall windows to the yard, it makes the whole kitchen feel open and light.

It can be overwhelming because there are so many levels of concern. On the right track with your radon resistant new construction thread and think everything gets easier when bringing your home's performance up to meeting international level building code prescriptive minimums and EnergyStar certification. Obviously picking a good designer and builder! Tough to beat Oaktown's brevity and would emphasize an outdoor air ventilation system into the HVAC plans. It's more important than any finish material's concern with the possible exception of new carpet. Having heightened needs for chemical sensitivity warrants better selections of hidden and finish building materials. The title's quoted words and terminology carry political and emotional feelings for many people. I think green is more environmentally focused and puts reducing dirty energy use as the main priority. Materials and systems that achieve energy independence often contain ingredients which some may consider toxic or unnatural. I'm natural minded and think meeting the newest building code's energy and outdoor air minimums, gets you most of the way there. Might also plan for current or future PV production.