Sounds veeery nice (as your ideas always do), LavenderLass. That's actually been pretty much my notion for years. My MIL's big silver platter spent the summer in cool display over my stove hood shelf then came down for the holidays, replaced with an earthenware bowl filled with ornaments, etc.

I firmly believe, however, that "form" performs an extremely important function. Our eyes should dilate with pleasure as we walk in. Just how important aesthetic issues are varies from person to person, of course, just as baking centers do, but their function is as real as the needs they meet and so vital to most of us that I wonder at those who deny it. That's why the current oil painting of a cup of coffee on the hood shelf and the watercolor of a very territorial chicken by the table are as important in my kitchen as the platter, even if both are worthless for slicing or serving a tomato on. :)

Sounds like my kind of kitchen.

The only item I think might be iffy, depending on the situation, is the wood stove.

Wood stoves take up a lot of floor area, not just for the stove but for the ''buffer zone'' needed around anything that hot, and they also foreclose any other use of the wall behind.

Their heating function might or might not be useful - in many climates, that wood stove will just be an iron lump for most of the year. I think you're around the Tri-Cities? I've spent more time than I care to remember in that area - Yakima WA, specifically - and I recall some blistering hot summers, and not particularly cold spring/fall seasons.

Power outage, hmm. For the cost of buying and installing a wood stove plus ducting plus non-combustible wall, one could have a backup generator for electricity and a propane camping stove for almost-normal living and cooking. No need to load and start the woodstove by flashlight in the hopes of heating a can of beans an hour later, while listening to your frozen foods thaw. Of course, a gas range will cook happily through a power outage.

Call me anti-wood stove, I suppose. More functional than a kitchen fireplace, but mostly ''form'' in most climes, I think.

Rosie- Your MIL's silver platter sounds wonderful! I love silver platters, and they can be very fuctional. Art is not clutter, it's art, so I agree, there's always room for a painting or photo that lights up your space :)

Johnliu- I'm glad it sounds like your kind of kitchen, for the most part. No, we don't live in Yakima, but further north, about five miles from Idaho, zone 4 (on a good day) and we would definitely use the stove! We have the five month winters, over here. Right now, while most people on GW are talking about spring, I'm just happy that most of the snow has finally melted! LOL

We might get some daffodils by early April, followed by hyacinths and tulips, then lilacs in May. It does get hot in July and August, but that's about it. They can grow wine grapes in Yakima...I'm still looking for a grape (Valiant?) I can grow here. Our frost free growing season is not quite three months :)

You know, I think a lot of people worry about wood stove clearance, because they get big ones, to heat their whole house. We have a lovely fireplace in the living room (came with the farmhouse) so I just want a small wood stove, in the kitchen. Just big enough to hold a kettle of water, small pan or cast iron skillet. Usually, clearance between wood stove and combustible materials are 3' so I have more than that with the walk way and the stove is back in the corner...so I'm not too concerned.

My husband would love to get a generator (and we probably will) but you still need gas to run them. If the power is out for a long time....our town has one gas station and when they're out, that's it. On our property, we have lots of wood available, so that's an easy, renewable resource.

Sounds like your version of what I call the Deusenburg method. Make the car (or kitchen) function first, and when you put a beautiful skin on it, it'll be even more beautiful.

Knowing the kind of thing you like (i.e., your inspiration pics), I think you should pay special attention to the backsplash. You can put a lot of character and charm into something functional there!

Re the woodstove, I think maybe John hasn't been wading in your plans. It's still in the kind of sunroom area across from the kitchen proper, right? BTW, you can cook a heck of a lot more on a woodstove than a pie! I remember various places we visited when I was a kid where all there was was a woodstove and my mother cooked our meals on them. The important thing is learning how to judge temperature. Just while you're cooking normally, hold your hand over the pan before you make eggs or brown meat and get a feeling for how hot it is. When you know how to judge by feel, you can cook on anything!

Plllog- Yes the wood stove is planned for the same area...and I think it will work out really well. It's a big country kitchen (no separate dining room) but we do have a separate living room, for the TV and fireplace...more of a cozy, evening room.

Wonderful point! You can cook a lot on a woodstove, even a small one, so I should start paying more attention to temperatures.

I've been thinking about using tile for the backsplash. White field tiles, but with some decorative tiles, with a vine or floral pattern. They're easy to clean, fairly easy to install, and I could have fun with the design. In areas with less grease and water (behind shelves, plate rack, etc. I want to use beadboard. It's such a pretty accent to the cabinetry and goes with the vintage style :)

If the tiles aren't heavily carved or anything, and if they're well glazed, you can put them in the most goopy areas. Tile cleans beautifully!! I have fancy handmade tiles all over, counters and backsplashes, and I splatter with impugnity! A sponge later and all is forgiven. :)

Google "French tiles". I dare you!

Living on the West Coast, johnliu is just understandably a little extra sensitive about uncontrolled fuel and inadequate safety backups at the moment.

Lavender, you should read Fannie's Last Supper by that useful but pompous cooking expert, Christopher Kimball of "Cooks Illustrated" fame. He set out to recreate a lavish Victorian dinner with recipes provided or inspired by the original Fannie Farmer. Anyway, it seems that he bought, refurbished and installed a true cast iron wood-fired stove in his house, and cooked the entire meal on it. Seems like they nearly burned down an entire block in Boston's South End, but it also seems like it would have been an incredibly cool effort to watch in action. Some of Fannie's recipes did not in fact work at all with modern stoves, but came out perfectly in a wood-fired oven.

Plllog- Tiles sound like they'll work out very well! I'm going to go look at French tiles, right now :)

Marcolo- I'm only 300 miles from the coast, which is not that far, given the current situation...so I'm a little sensitive, too. Let's hope things are back under control, if that type of thing is really ever under control...very soon!