Layout of the Kitchen

Hi. I'm buying a house. This is an amazing time for me, and I have been trying to figure out how to remodel this home to suit my needs. Yes, my first instinct when buying a house is to tear out the ugly parts and make the house mine.

This house has the ugliest cabinets ever. They are cheap looking and they are in all the bathrooms and the kitchen. My first need is to take them out of my kitchen, so that I can put my dishes and food in fresh cabinets. Of course I can't just replace them-- I want to tear out the wall that separates my dining area from kitchen area. Open kitchens are the present and the future. People don't want to be alone when they are doing the dishes.

The other thing is that this kitchen is pretty small... to be fair, the whole place is kinda small, but this is my first home ever, and I'm making it work. Too bad my couch is so huge, because my dining area is going to end up being just 82" wide. yeah, Maybe I'm nuts. I love my huge couch though. I might end up getting a new dining table  to fit the space better... even considering going nook style.

 

So this is basically the kitchen I am putting in. Using dark cherry colored modular cabinets, made with plywood and hardwood... NOT particle board. And I will be using a pre fabricated white granite because it looks great with dark cabinets.
I am allowing a small space for an eat-in island. Basically the amount of space two bar patrons would expect to have. I have found that eat-in kitchens, with islands is something the majority of home owners want. What's great about this particular island is that it is two levels. The taller portion helps to hide the clutter of the kitchen and provide a more interesting look.