I just purchased a home, which had the powder room entrance in the kitchen. I also couldn't bare the thought of this, and we wound up relocating the room entry into a closet which is off the dining room (basically, a butler's pantry of sorts). Now, you'll enter the large closet (we're taking off the door of the closet) and turn right, and enter into the bathroom. It gives the effect of entering a small "hallway" off the dining area, instead of actually entering from the room itself. I'm still debating whether or not taking off the door is the right thing to do. My architect thinks so, but maybe putting on a door with opaque glass might be better, just to give the illusion of 2 place to go through, instead of one before entering the toilet area since there still is the problem of someone sitting at the far end of the dining table being able to see the door to the bathroom (it will, of course, be kept close when not in use). Not perfect, but 100% better than where it was (or, the original entry which was IN the dining room - the prior owner had it relocated to the kitchen).

So it is unrealistic to know what you are paying before you basically agree to buy with someone? I have an estimate right now for my exact layout from one place, but he doesn't seem to want to give me a quote for another line, other than it would be 20% more. Which is fine, I can do the math myself (about $8,600 for Medallion Gold), just as long as it really is close to 20%. The thing is, I know I don't want to keep things exactly as they are. I need mostly drawers rather than regular cabinet bases, which I know is more expensive. The current oven and microwave are also currently smaller than anything on the market, so I would need to make space for regular sized ones, either by extending the cooktop peninsula next to them or moving the refrigerator on the other side of them to the other wall. Either way, this is adding expenses that probably have not been accounted for in this bid. Sometimes he seems super easygoing and other times I feel like I am bothering him when I ask questions (which may be just different communication styles as well). I do understand his time is valuable, and I don't want to waste it, but he never asked for any kind of fee or retainer for work and I can't just sign on the dotted line when I don't know if there are thousands of dollars of changes needing to be made. I did call another place because they have Diamond Cabinetry, which I have also heard is a good midlevel brand, and since I was feeling a bit uncomfortable with how the interaction was going with the guy at the other place. They have been so friendly and patient every time I have had any interaction with them. They also came out and measured and are even going to do a couple different designs and go over them with me. When they gave me a ballpark though, it was 10-15k, which I don't think is unreasonable, just after hearing under 9k, 15k is tough, especially considering this reno was not planned and we have a lot of other expenses right now, so 6k does make a difference. That 9k might be a big illusion though, since I think he was basing it on what is in place currently, but I'm not sure because I have gotten to the point where I am worried I am asking him too many questions. For a big budget, a 2-5k difference might not really matter, but for us right now it does.

We haven’t painted the walls or the back door yet. We just left the old color up to live in it for awhile, and get a feel for things. I appreciate your color comments. I am thinking painting the back door a mid to dark grey or a blue maybe and the walls a bit lighter then they currently are. Maybe a light beige with hints of grey?? I don’t want the color to be too cool, that white kitchen needs some warmth, and I am going to paint my entire main floor the same color, so it needs to work in each room.

Your cabinets may be 24" deep but with counter overhangs you can add another 1'' (give or take) to each side which leaves you with 40" of space left. We are temporarily living in a suite that has 17" between the open door of the range and cabinets. I have enough room to bend down with bent knees to get something out of the oven but I wouldn't want to live like that permanently. (I am also quite slender) This is also definitely a one-person kitchen. But it is doable.