We have stairs going down into the basement from the kitchen and also stairs in the garage going down there. Our kitchen is 8 x 17 and we could add 3 ft or so if we take out the stairs and push the wall back. Has anyone else tried this? We never use the kitchen stairs...it's steep and the garage ones are laid out much better. We have homemade varnished cabinets from the 60's and we're planning on stripping and painting them white. Sam's going to try to laminate or tile the countertops and add a sit at bar for the grandkids. Any ideals? mlou_51