And now for something completely different. :-) (not to scale) Here's what I did. Since you want to keep the sight line from the front door to the fireplace, I removed the peninsula lay-out in favor of a galley-style lay-out, shifted the hall door way a bit over, enlarged it and centered it on the front door. This additional bit of wall to the right gives your wall oven column a safety buffer, too. (You can add a coat closet to the left of the doorway, facing the hallway to the right. Or you could purchase an armoire, perhaps more in keeping with your home's vibe.) Some people aren't keen on seeing the sink (and quite possibly dirty dishes) from the front door but you already have that view in your current and proposed lay-outs so I assume it must not be a concern of yours. You could, if you wish, install glass double pocket doors at the hallway entrance like this: [[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/druid-hills-master-bedroom-remodel-traditional-bedroom-atlanta-phvw-vp~76261) [Traditional Bedroom[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/traditional-bedroom-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_715~s_2107) by Atlanta Architects & Designers Soorikian Architecture I incorporated the seldom used closet into the kitchen, creating a gigantic pantry with additional storage space for other items. This also allowed me to set the full size fridge back so it mimics a counter-depth model. The pantry doors would work something like this: [[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/farinelli-construction-inc-traditional-kitchen-phvw-vp~622305) [Traditional Kitchen[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/traditional-kitchen-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_709~s_2107) by Mechanicsburg Design-Build Firms Farinelli Construction Inc Or this: [[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/teri-turan-traditional-kitchen-atlanta-phvw-vp~216308) [Traditional Kitchen[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/traditional-kitchen-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_709~s_2107) by Tyrone Kitchen & Bath Designers Teri Turan One wall of the galley holds the pantry, recessed fridge, 36" cook top and wall oven/Advantium column (I saw your other thread) with plenty of counter space for prep and small appliance use. I calculated counter and overhang depth at 25.5" (24" deep cabs, 1.5" counter overhang). The island is huge, admittedly, but it had to be in order to hold the DW, 36" sink cab, 18" trash pull-out and counter seating for 2. I angled the very end of the island across from the fridge so that there would still be plenty of room to move past the fridge even when the door was open. The island is 30" deep - 27" cabs with 3" counter overhang total (1.5" on each side) to provide a bit more clearance between back of faucet and counter edge. If you can't afford to do custom depth cabs, do 24" deep cabs and add shallow storage to the back like this: [[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/wood-and-color-kitchen-traditional-kitchen-phvw-vp~45952) [Traditional Kitchen[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/traditional-kitchen-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_709~s_2107) by Other Metro Interior Designers & Decorators Polly Blair or this: [[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/utensil-rack-traditional-kitchen-chicago-phvw-vp~44160) [Traditional Kitchen[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/traditional-kitchen-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_709~s_2107) by Glen Ellyn Kitchen & Bath Remodelers The Kitchen Studio of Glen Ellyn I also removed the half wall between kitchen and stairway. You don't have to do this - there is sufficient aisle between island and wall - but I thought that widening the hallway doorway and the stairway doorway would encourage people to walk to the left of the island and not through your kitchen work zone. NKBA recommends 44" aisles behind seating but 1.5" shouldn't make a huge difference, IMO. However, if you want a bit more aisle on this side, you could steal that 1.5" from your work aisle. A tighter work aisle will encourage people to walk to the left of the island but you need to make sure it will work for you and not make you feel cramped (NKBA recommends 42" aisles for 1 cook kitchens, 48" for 2 cooks but many here go with slightly narrower aisles and have no issues with that set-up). Or you could go with 24" deep cabs and 3" total overhang for the island. There is a bit of flexibility in this plan. You'll notice that there are no corner cabinets in this plan. That will save you some money - corner cabinet systems are expensive - which will help you stretch your kitchen remodeling dollars. Anyhoo, this is what my brain envisioned when I looked at your first floor lay-out.

Hi Denise, you don't need to be so concerned about the exact time to water, it's not such an exact science. You just want to see the top one inch or so very dry, not moist. If it's dry two inches down and soil underneath is obviously moist, it's fine, just water at that time. If you water when the top half inch is dry, I don't think the plant will mind a time or three. So no worries. The point is that you don't want to overwater. Crotons don't like to dry out completely, but watering every day would probably be too much. I can't explain that comment by Exotic Angel. They grow in small pots with a peaty mix, and maybe those do dry out quickly and need watering every day. Some people buy EA plants and set them on a windowsill rather than putting in a larger pot, EA's comment may have been aimed at those folks. On your beautiful pics of those bushy crotons, the only way you can maintain that look is to keep taking tip cuttings, or pinching the tips off once they get a little tall. Taking the growing tips off forces new growth and branching lower on the plant. Russ

Pick out colors or whites like you want. Paint on poster board, or buy the peel and stick color patches and put on poster board. Leave a white border all the way around the poster board, so it doesnt clash with the color you have now. Since you want the whole house the same color, then pick a color that goes in your kitchen with your cabinets etc first. Then try it in the rest of the house. The color in there now, does not go with your cabinets. It has way too much yellow in it. I would look for colors that have no yellow hues.

IMO you need storage for sure so I would look at adding a buffet on the DR wall and with kids stools are really not practical for eating until they can get on and off a stool by themselves . Get a small round table that has a leaf and IMO when you have money redo the counters so that that peninsula is the same height as the rest of the counters in fact in this case just remove that raised part and then the DR space will be a bit bigger .You could look at Besta from Ikea to put all along that wall on the left it could give you a place for the TV some storage and even a bit of display .