Why not treat the media wall as one large apace and ignore the AC? Get a long low media cabinet; wall mount the TV with a swivel mount so you can see it from either end of the room and accessorize the space under the A/C. You can add a sound bar below it You large bowl would be a great start and museum wax will keep it from getting pulled off by the kiddos. There isn't a lot of space for a big coffee table. A couple of cube tables would give you storage and serve as seating for the kids or hold the popcorn and drinks for movie night. Replace the floods with LED lamps and add a dimmer switch to control the lighting at night and save energy. You really do need to add some sort of blackout window covering to watch TV glare free during the day. Roman shades that extend beyond the window casings would do the job without being perceived as taking up space.

I think when threads go off topic it's fine. After all we got together because we are interested it renovation and creative design. Getting rid of clutter. And upgrading dowdy kitchens and horrid bathrooms. Nice to tell people and get advice and opinions. If a little family history creeps in, who cares? often it's related to the topic.

Honestly, I'm a bit lost as to where you are in the process. I read most of the posts and perused the rest and one minute it was keeping the cabinets and the next not and vice versa - or so it seemed. So, if you AREN'T keeping them, I just want to say that I'm a bit sad because I think there is always a place for unique. If you are getting new cabinets and are looking into a standalone piece over that palm tree, it really would be a nice homage to use the old doors where you can on it. It might be 80s and not "real" art but it does have a nice vibe that really identifies your home as Floridian. I'm not a huge fan of the backsplash - it's very heavy looking. The countertop is nice but make sure with it being light that the material won't stain. I'm not a big fan of beige but I make exceptions for countertops! If you want green, put it on the walls, a piece of furniture (like a cabinet on your long wall) or accessories. The right backsplash in green could also work but it would have to be just right. Again, you'll be living with it for a long time. As a final note, don't switch to stainless steel just because you think it's trendy. SS has a lot of problems of it's own - it limits your style, looks poor after a short time, shows fingerprints, smudges and cleaning efforts, etc. The tide is turning on it and designers/manufacturers are actually going back to white & black. I've had white appliances ever since I got rid of my avocado ones (just aged myself!) and they always look just as good years later as when I purchase them, as well as helping to make my kitchen look bright and clean.

When I see you as I come home, I feel so good already, it still amazes me. I have always loved you, and always will. It is not only how you look, or how you look from someone else's view either, that is important to me, no, that is not why I enjoy dressing you up and planting beautiful flowers in your gardens, or putting lights around your porches and fences, although I do love to create beauty and have friends enjoy it as well....it is rather your energy that first drew me to you, and that is still here now- it is within the earth here, your stories and what the land you were first built upon, has seen for hundreds and thousands of years I sense, as surely you do, too.....it really is like magic~ and to think that we found you one day, when driving around the county, I myself did not even really know which county line we had crossed when there you were~ on a hilltop, with cedar trees lining the tall cedars, along your dirt and gravel drive as I had always imagined my ideal home looking...in a sort of mist, like a photo or a scene in a movie. I saw the fences lining the fields, "paddocks for horses", Jim said, "and they are the proper, best sort of fences for horses. I have been out this way before but never have seen a For Sale sign". Everything was ideal. I knew that this would be our home. You appeared as an old Irish cottage, precious and ancient beyond your actual years~ there was something with your low sloping roof-line that hung just so, over the porch, and the color and feel of nature surrounding you. I thank God for that day, and for our lives intertwined. It is like a relationship we have, respect for you and love and hope. You have sheltered us from storms, snow and ice that lasted weeks, a hurricane mid-state, tornadoes, and barely were you or anything touched...lightening has struck our land around you several times . I have heard it happens here often, and was told it was actually seen as it danced around the yard once, electricity moving faster than could be described. You witnessed, then held us close and safe as we wept when the ancient oak tree that sheltered us, was split straight down the middle by a bolt of lightning when we were away, and there was nothing you could do...only a limb hit you, breaking a window, and otherwise you were fine. If houses can have protective Angels as humans do, then you surely have a very strong one or two. I hope that I have honored you, that I may adorn you and continue to work on you like a fine work of art that is always perfect as it is, and still never finished. You will always be protected. It is clearly God's will.