Hi,

We're in the process of a kitchen update. We moved into this house 16 years ago, put in new dark walnut floors (they're staying), painted the kitchen cupboards white, added new handles and a faux slate countertop. We also removed the "California" ceiling and put in pot lights.

THE PLAN

We will be retiring and moving in about 6 years so we want to enjoy the new kitchen but also plan for a future sale. The entire suite of appliances will be changed out. The appliances are slowly dying and the fridge has always been WAY too big! We're going to swap out the microwave fan for a low profile microwave fan. The fridge will be french door counter depth. The countertop and cupboards are in great shape but we plan to add some simple white subway tiles as the backsplash, maybe with a dark gray grout.

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THE DILEMMAS

The kitchen is small and the stove and dishwasher are next to each other. Should we go with stainless or white appliances? We love stainless, even thought of black stainless (but thanks to some good advice on this forum decided against that).

The kitchen table and chairs have to go - they should have gone years ago :-) We have a dining room and honestly never use the kitchen table. Would some sort of an island work? The issue is the door to the back yard. (sorry, can't move it) Something that would fit 2 or 3 stools, but leave a walkway to the back door. I've tried all sorts of configurations and just don't know if this is doable. Unfortunately none of the walls are coming down (again wish we could but it's not an option budget wise).

I'm attaching photos from lots of angles and a floor plan with the dimensions.

Thanks in advance for your ideas.