Hi Sandy, Thanks for the article. I read it in bits and pieces. So busy right now. Since we do have what I consider a large kitchen I do not have the issues of some but I have had tiny kitchens in my time. I have found at this house is I have pared down so much on kitchen things I have so much extra space. I have all canning things jars and kettles roasters stored in this kitchen where before they were out in my storage room. A friend visiting cracked me up when he wanted a slice of bread and I told him where it was. He opened cupboard and saw toaster and loaf of bread and that was all. He had just commented on how his cupboards are so crammed with stuff the doors do not close. :^( I have noticed I started using the largest glass measuring cup/bowl for almost all mixing. I think it is Pyrex. It has a handle on it. Eight cup. For any one with storage issues and does not display their mixing bowls this glass measuring cup takes the place of the large space wasting mixing bowls. I have room for my bowls and will be keeping them but if I had to choose the bowls would be the ones to go keeping the Pyrex. Just my two cents. Chris

From what I've read linoleum itself was never made with asbestos. It's possible that the backing or glue could contain it, but I think in 1910 unlikely. Asbestos started to be used more widely in flooring in the 1920's with asphalt tiles and really took off in the 1940's and '50s with introduction of vinyl flooring. We had to remove our old kitchen floor in our 1909 house due to a 1950's remodel with vinyl asbestos tile, so you need to be sure the floor is original.

I hadn't been following your kitchen posts, so I went back and looked. The biggest problem with your kitchen is not hickory or maple. It does need some color, but the biggest issue is the layout. That kitchen was built to wash dishes, not to cook. About 2/3 of the kitchen is dedicated to a sink and DW while the food storage and cooking are crammed into the remaining third. I would not put more money than a can of paint and a rug or mat or two to break up the floor and give some comfort underfoot unless I was able to fix the underlying problem. The problem is how to do that. I have a prep sink in my island across from the cooktop. My DW and larger sink are across the room. It works well for us, but I have my cooktop in the middle of a 9 foot run, so I have some room to work. And my kitchen is a little more than a foot wider than yours, and my aisles are still at the narrower end. I have 34" cabinet depth for my island, so you would probably be limited to 21" vanity cabinets plus top to put you right at 24". You can get a 15" prep sink into one -- that's what I have. I do think that would be some improvement, but it doesn't fix the fact that so much valuable space is underutilized. You can test the idea with some boxes, a narrow table. If you want to test it in action, even get a commercial kitchen table like this one and then find another use for it (garage, potting bench?) or sell it (link below): I would suggest looking at whether you could rearrange some of the existing cabinets to keep roughly the same footprint but gain some better used space. To make that work, at least one of the fridge or pantry has to move (could be both) and it looks like the fridge would give you the most space. I would look at moving the DW to the other side of the sink, moving the fridge (including the cabinet above and surround) and possibly the narrow cabinet next to it and put them on the end of the run near where the DW was. You would have to figure out how to place the door cabinet where the DW would go and the drawer stack on the end. Both walls have a little give on the ends, so you might get lucky with the measurements. If not, then talk to the cabinet guy about cutting one down or making one to match -- or fill a space by finishing sides with a skin and putting in shelves for baskets, a pullout towel bar for the sink, or if on the stove side, maybe a pullout or tray cabinet. If you want to try both, I would try the pantry on the other side of the dining room doorway. You could also look at flipping that with the fridge against the wall on the DR end and the pantry at the other end, but you want to make sure you don't close up your sink and DW too much. If you lose a corner cabinet over there, then you could look at a small peninsula with a prep sink in that corner. Treat the cabinets like puzzle pieces and see what you come up with -- or post the measurements and let folks help you. You can look at a narrow island or a peninsula, but neither one is going to give you the room you want for seating without being in an aisle. You could give the girls a pint sized table in that area for play and eating -- then move into a bistro set or a couple of reading chairs and a side table. Or try a bench -- possibly a narrower table, a circle or a square that will give you a bit more room coming into the room. Here is a link that might be useful: John Boos Table

We finally found a place to rent that has 3 bedrooms and isn't insanely expensive, Yay! I've been playing with the ideas off and on while buying new cars, visiting potential rentals, and working on the house. I talked with the family about converting our 4th bedroom to expand bath and move laundry. My kids were aghast! Where were guests going to sleep? Where were we going to put the desk top (they watch movies on it occasionally, too)? Middle kid thought that it was going to be his room when ready. So, we've decided to keep laundry in the original place. I'm still stealing some of the 4th BR for our MBA, though. The island plan looks fantastic but I kept wanting more storage options once the laundry room had to stay. Also, there is significant cost savings by not digging out concrete for plumbing and installing a beam for the load-bearing wall. Some ideas I had: 1) Widen the existing 32" doorways from garage and into kitchen to 36". Those doors are a huge pain when moving large items through, like the washer/dryer/fridge etc. I can use a barn door or pocket for the kitchen entrance. This will shorten the pantry a bit (measurements are existing on drawing are existing). 2) 1-2 d/w in clean up zone. Bring the existing pass through to counter level so kids can help put dishes away on DR/FR side. Maybe have space for cookbooks under that counter, as well. 3) 30" deep counters 4) Love to keep Mamagoose's 3 panel doors to the patio. With the wall shortened over there, it will bring a lot of light into the house and northern light isn't so bad in the South. I'm not sure what to do with the cabinets between the fridge and sink. I'd like to plan for the future and have some kind of narrow pullout to the left of my 32" all fridge that can be removed if going bigger. The wall on that side can be shortened for french door swing and the pantry remain as sized. Maybe a narrow pantry using cabinetry and store packages of paper towels, grocery bags, etc, above the appliances in the laundry...or in the garage.