We would leave the original wall in the kitchen as is, except put in new counter tops. I love the look of soapstone, but don't have the $ or want the upkeep, so was considering Formica Basalt Slate to get the look of soapstone. The counters would need to be raised to the normal counter height. Our present cabinets are a couple inches shorter and less deep than those made today. That would raise the sink (it would also be installed top mount with the new counters) and bring it out from the wall. We would add on the the edge of the window sill, making it deep enough for flower/herb pots to sit there and also allowing my husband room behind the wall mount faucet to work on it if necessary. We would add a section of crown molding under the countertop for added support and to blend the top to the existing lower cabinets.

For the dishwasher, I came up with this idea after seeing Colliope's old pump and sink. We have a laundry room just off the kitchen. The door is between the stove and the housier cabinet that holds my dishes. I'm thinking we could turn that into a butler's pantry/laundry area. There is a 6' wall to the left of the doorway that could have upper cabinets to match those in my kitchen. Then, we could place two 24" base cabinets with a white dishwasher in between them. I would use the same Formica Basalt Slate laminate on the countertop there. That would double as a folding area and extra storage area for food/supplies during friends and family gatherings. The right hand wall is where the washer/dryer/water heater is. I'm thinking we could add a sink on the shorter wall (behind the stove) that could serve as a laundry sink and place to sit/rinse dirty dishes before loading into the dishwasher. I would love to have a pump like Colliope's mounted next to an old galvanized wash tub there. Second choice would be to mount a wall sink with an apron around the bottom of it.

It will be easy to run the water lines for another sink since the washer and hot water heater are in that same area. I'm not sure about how to make the pump work with regular running hot/cold water though. That is really my favorite idea, but will that work?

With this set up, the dishwasher/new sink would actually be as close or closer to the table for taking the dirty dishes. My kitchen sink would then remain clean and neat without dirty dish pile-up (hopefully). Didn't the original butler's pantries have the dishwashing sinks in there anyways?

The kitchen has been painted green since a few of these photos and the antique stove sits between the counter and the fridge.

Please give me any thoughts or suggestions about this idea.
Looking forward to hearing from you.
Terry

I love the look of your cabinets on the wall by the window, with the smaller uppers. I'd like to have that in my kitchen remodel, but two designers so far haven't seen fit to include them in their designs. :-)

How tall are your long upper cabs and how tall are the small ones?

Thanks in advance!

LaKoala, I love having the small cabinets over the tall ones. They are great for storing hardly used stemware, tea pots, vases, canning jars, etc. I will definately use that same format in the butler's pantry too. I did a rough measurement and the top ones are about 18" long and the long ones are about 36", for an overall height of 54". If you can, I'd make the designer include both rows of cabinets!
Remember, they are working for you.

Madeyna,I'd love to see photos of your new kitchen and how you changed it up. Could you please post here? My upper cabinets won't hold my dinner plates either :( but I resoved that issue by using my grandmothers housier cabinet. I have a set of everyday dishes (12 place settings), a set of fall dishes (4 place settings), a set of clear glass dishes (8 place settings) a set of floral dishes (8 place settings), 16 dessert dishes, a set of china (12 place settings) and fancy serving ware all stuffed neatly into that one piece of furniture! That is one piece that I definately want left in my kitchen, along with the antique stove that my hubby and I rebuilt. Because of wanting to keep those pieces in the room, I'm afraid that limits my ability to rework the workspace. Also, the old stove houses all my baking pans and cake pans, hot pads, cookie sheets and on top my staple grocery items. It doubles as a desert serving area when we have parties and an extra prep center during the other times (I have a big silicone surface I roll out on it to cover over the burner covers).

Thanks a bunch.
Terry