NKBA? The people paid to put in these things? Consider the source. The National Beet Board reports a study that everyone should eat one every day. Nice rule of thumb, maybe, but don't lose sleep over it. I agree, your diagram helps a lot. My existing kitchen is not much bigger than your future kitchen, and it's really not that bad. I have more space in my cabinets than I can use. Your kitchen may not be spacious, but it has room for everything you need, and room for 2 people to do it in. A restaurant I used to go to a lot had a chef, 2 sous and a dishwasher in half that space. And some REALLY fiery and dangerous equipment. I don't think you need to add structurally to your plans: I think you can add function to the space you have, and "borrow" space from existing areas. People who add on and shift without considering the overall plan end up with weird houses that they don't like and they can't figure out why. Move furniture, not walls. For example: Put up a couple of short shelves or hang a stack of bins on the wall to the basement stairs for can/pot and/or potato&onion storage. NOT enough so you have to lean out, just open the door. They make cutting boards that slide out from under the counter, either freestanding or supported by a drawer, that add extra "counter" space that goes away when you're done. Or cutting boards that go over the sink. Depending on how the window is, you may have room for a shelf for cook books and decorative/seldom used items above the window. Are you familiar with Carl Larsson's paintings? He's a Swedish painter who painted his house and family a lot. You can notice all kinds of low-tech storage nooks and ideas if you scan his work. The style, if you like it, is called Gustavian. If you have a door between the kitchen and the living/dining room, you can put a cabinet right around the corner, just a step outside the kitchen, with dishes (it looks like that's where you're eating anyway, right?) You could probably tuck a few pots or kitchen extras on the bottom of the cabinet if you absolutely had to. They'd still be nearer than some people with huge "efficient" kitchens. But I honestly don't think you'll need to. This could be in addition to or instead of the one you'd planned for your good china. It sounds like you're only feeding two people most of the time, and you sound disciplined and like you don't have a million appliances. It also sounds like you're making use of the basement for some things. Is there something SPECIFIC you're worried about making room for? I know vegetable prep takes a lot of chopping and counter space, and room for a compost bin or vermicomposter of some kind. And you shop once a week, so you need a bit of actual food storage space. Two ovens: you presumably bake or roast a lot: are you concerned about a place for proofing dough, or cutting out large batches of biscuits? These may spawn ideas here. Part of the problem may be that you're, understandably, thinking about what you have now and what you're giving up. That's always frustrating. Once the side-by-side comparison is gone, and you only have what you have, it'll be easier.

Is it me, is it the soap....sigh ;-/ So after so many +++ feedback about this thing Again, I went ahead and DIY on both the Kohler AS well as my previous older Grohe. The Kohler was okay after getting it primed but soap would not come out ~fluid-smooth~ but in spurts. The Grohe took forever to get primed and after doing so, it seemed to viscious for the setup. I suppose the soap can be the root problem ....but I like this soap for handsoap .

I'll chime in as a fan of contemporary myself, and a not-so-much fan of country. Your kitchen definitely has a country look to it for reasons already posted. The natural color oak cabs unfortunately don't fall into any description of contemporary, but I would expect touching the cabs to be off the table. If you need canisters for practical reasons (e.g. storage), then consider stainless steel. I got a nice set from Costco for not much money, and Crate & Barrel also have nice ones. Your family room has a contemporary look to it (with the exception of the table lamp). If you look at the elements there in comparison to your kitchen, what you see are solid colors, clean lines, and a lack of nicknacks. Look at the window treatments in particular. Solid color valence, and solid color drapes. Also look at the artwork over the fireplace. Dramatic dark frame that matches the color of the fireplace below, complementary colors in the matting, and a repeating dark brown mat towards the inside. So ask yourself, "how do I bring these design themes to my kitchen?" Well, replace the window treatment with a solid color. I would recommend a dramatic color that matches some other elements in the room such as your counters. Vertical pleating such as you have now is more country. No pleating (like your window valence in the family room) or horizontal pleating (like in roman shades) are more contemporary. Although roman shades always have a summer beach house feel for me, but that's probably just me. For the stuff on top of the cabinets, you should replace them with repeating items in solid or repeating colors. For example you could use a dozen clear/colored art glass plates that again match the counters. The key here is to use multiples of the same item in the same or similar colors, whereas currently you have a mix of disparate items (plate, jug, basket, bottle, etc). Anyway you get the idea - repeating elements, repeating colors, simple lines, no clutter. Those things say "contemporary" to me. Good luck and I hope that helps a little.

I'm so glad both you and your DH like the idea. I really love it. That room would be so dark and little used without the slider. Of course, if we still had both kids living at home, one would have that as their bedroom and then the slider would probably never be open. The door material is solid and heavy enough to block sounds well from the living room if it was being used as a bedroom. What kind of walls are you doing in your living room? I think I'd be inclined to doing the same quarter-round non-molding type edges I have and then simply paint the door the same color as the walls in the living room. Then paint the bed/play/office room side to match those walls. Personally, I would rather have the door almost disappear instead of being framed with molding. However, a lot of what would look best aesthetically will really depend on your style of home. If you will have interesting moldings in your house, then moldings around the door might work quite well. I'll throw out a couple other door ideas for you. I have a friend who had display-case swinging doors built to hide her W/D in her combo kitchen/sitting room. They are on very heavy-duty piano hinges. There are small rails built into the bottom of each shelf to help hold things on the shelf. The upper-shelves hold things like decorative plates and books. I think she also uses museum gel (or whatever it's called) which is tacky and keeps the plates from sliding around but doesn't damage the items or the wood shelves. The bottom shelves are slanted back with a rail in front and she puts current reading material like magazines and books there, with the front of the facing forwards. I have been there when she has opened/closed them to do laundry and I don't recall that she has to be especially careful when doing that to keep things from falling or sliding. And they don't seem to be particularly heavy to move. I think it would depend on super-heavy-duty hinges to make them easy to swing. It looks great. However, she obviously doesn't have them open any longer than it takes to do laundry. If you want the doors to be able to stay open, you'll have to have enough room in the room the doors swing into to keep them open without being in the way. And, of course, if you want to monitor small children playing, the open doors could block your view. Just thought I would mention it just in case it appealed to you. Another option might be using barn-door hardware instead of sliding pocket door hardware. Something like this but, of course, open to a room instead of a bar. Again, you would need a bit more space in the room the doors are installed to make this work. You couldn't have furniture up against those walls. Just throwing out more ideas so you have options to consider. Personally, I like the pocket slider because I tend to be more of a minimalist in my style. YMMV I just measured and I barely have 1/8" clearance for anything to hang on my door and still slide into its pocket. So even a tapestry wouldn't work. I would even be leery of a piece of paper simply taped on it. I'm afraid it would catch and tear and somehow get into the mechanism and mess it up. But thanks for the suggestion anyway. Well, I've rambled on long enough. I really hope these ideas help you create a space that works for all your visitors and for your lifestyle when you don't have a lot of guests staying with you.