I know you are hoping to redo the kitchen before moving in but I would want to know how it functions first before deciding about keeping the cabinets. Could you live with it for a few months then redo? Can you cook pizza in a wood stove in the winter? I would keep it for sure if you can.

@roarah haha no need to do that :) We will be moved in when this starts but I don't have any need to live with this kitchen to know it needs to be changed. I barely cook so this is more about fitting the aesthetic of the house, which this does not.

We have redone the kitchens in our last three places on moving in. One was not in any way functional, one was functional but really gross and poor quality, one was just not to taste and needed a refresh. This one has good quality finishes which means I would hate to waste them but this is also my "forever" house so I want it to be exactly what I want. I don't believe in living with what you don't like any longer than you have to. Life is too short!

A 48” range would overwhelm that small kitchen. Have you explored the full 54” ventilation costs for something that large? Including the make up air system required in order to replace the air being exhausted? Your island cannot really grow any larger either. Not without negatively impacting traffic flow.

If those things are musts? Buy a home with a larger kitchen. Otherwise wait at least 6 months to do anything with this one. It needs smaller scaled options than you are proposing.

It’s very livable. I would change out the ceiling fan and bar chairs then live with it for a while.

@User we have plenty of room to extend the island a bit-- my designer did measurements and all of the clearances are more than fine. We are just planning to switch out the existing cabinets there for a recycle and trash can and some units with drawers. I don't like mammoth islands so I am happy with that.

I might agree on the 48" range, though my heart was kind of set on that :) We did talk ducting and airflow and its in budget if needed.

I am not a novice to remodels. This kitchen size is more than what we need as we honestly use it to chat with friends and drink wine :) Neither my husband nor I cook. We do entertain a lot. I just don;t believe in living with a kitchen I don't like for any length of time.

Thanks @Kate-- but let's take "do nothing and live with it for awhile" off the table (or the island!)

Big chill 1900 series has a french blue 30 inch range still I believe. And since you do not coom that would suit your form and function well enough.

Since retro painting never offers the best finish and since you do not have lots of drawers and your crown molding is very ornate I would most likely want to change my cabinets for ones that offered better function and storage. The price should be about the same and you could donate your existing kitchen.

You could have the cabinets nicely removed and donated and redo the kitchen from scratch. I would get rid of that wood burning stove..I don't know what purpose it serves there..I wouldn't add any shelving between those two doors. I think it would get in the way. If you need shelving, there is that large space where you have the sofa.

The stove is a fire hazard. It has to go. The sink can’t be repaired. The island is a barrier to getting to the fridge. It does need an all new design. But it doesn’t need an oversized range and smaller than 42” aisles.

@roarah yes, we are looking at the 30 inch model. Sigh,

@R Pera415 LOL, why not? Its a beautiful stove. I have always liked the look of the very large ranges, especially the colored ones. This is my "forever" house so no reason to compromise unless it just won't fit in the space.

Sometimes the heart wants what it wants, you know? Doesn't have to meet any practical reason.

@printesa I think it was the original heat source for the kitchen. Many of the beautiful details have been preserved in this Victorian, and I am sure past owners appreciated the charm of having such a stove in the kitchen. Clearly this was remodeled at some point in the last 15 years and the former owners kept it. I don't know how I feel about tearing it out. It makes sense on a lot of levels but i do also like that it speaks to the house's past. And my dog would love lying in front of a fire in the kitchen on a cold winter day.

@User so would you not have an island at all?

If you want a thing of beauty to gather around, then replace that wood stove with a cobalt Jotul, and relocate it to where the fridge is and close in that door. Do the island as an island banquette, so you can sit and stare at the fire. It’s a far better focal point than a dusty 9K range with a 10K ventilation system.

I would dump the fixed island and put in a work table instead, Boos makes beautiful ones, both modern and traditional styles. The island looks skimpy and obviously you can't put a much bigger one in its place.

@User there is already something similar on the way into the pantry... Haha I guess we really don't need two. I am just worried about destroying something of the house's original character. But this one is gas.

@Zalco/bring back Sophie! now you are talking! Personally I HATE islands with a passion. I much prefer a work table. My husband likes islands. He wants to add a trash/recycling cabinet and switch out the cabinet types. Marriage is compromise. This is the house I wanted, so if he wants an island, so be it.

@User, removing a wood stove is easy but moving one is not. The current wood stove ties into the brick chimney; a stove in a new location would need a new chimney that gives the fire adequate draft, which depending on the layout of the house may not be possible and likely will cost $1k minimum. Wood stoves also require a pad and adequate clearance from flammable materials, further constraining their possible location.

@Isaac you are correct. Moving this one is not an option. We discussed cleaning and refreshing both the stove and the pad underneath or removing it altogether. In an informal survey of family and friends its about 50/50 keep and ditch. It really does add character to the space. But it also takes up needed square footage and is probably not practical.

Wondering if anyone has had experience with painting cabinets such as these? They are solid cherry. We got a quote to paint which is a 1/3 of the cost of replacing. We have the budget to do either, but my husband wants to use any extra funds to rehab an outbuilding into a guest house on the property sooner than later

If money is not a issue then I would keep the stove and get new cabinets designed to fit period of home. The current cabinets just don’t fit the old home imo. I love period kitchen design with modern conveniences

Agree @A Foster. We are noodling around with a few different ideas. My designer seems to think I will like the cabinets with paint. I am not sure if I will..

...rehab an outbuilding into a guest house on the property sooner than later

Use the wood stove in the outbuilding.

Is there space to the right of the chimney for the fridge? Maybe it can be incorporated into the pantry, but only if it doesn't interfere with the door to the right.

Keep the real wood stove ... ditch that white thing. I don't see a reason to keep a space heater thats trying to be something when you have the real thing right there.

The chairs are way too big for that island; removing/changing them would make the island feel less dinky.

Since it sounds like you're not loving the cabinets, I'd remove and donate them, including the island, get the cabinets you want, but I'd go with the smaller range. 1) The larger one is out of scale with the kitchen. 2) You don't have a ton of counter, so if you don't need the big range for the cooktop space, the counter space is more useful. Since you stated you don't cook much, I imagine you don't often need a ton of burners, and more counters would be more useful for entertaining.

While you're at it, obviously replace the cracked sink ... up to you if you want to track down more pheasants, though I'd probably skip them.

I would move your husband's new island over from where the current one is, to give more space around the hearth, and remove the grey bench. A window seat could go where that white thing is if you still want the seating. Consider also turning the island ninety degrees. If you're lucky, the floors run under the island; if not, you may have to patch in. You might want to at least show your husband freestanding islands ... he might be able to get everything he loves about islands without it actually being a traditional island.

If it helps your decision, we have a wood stove, and we love it. It's nice and warm in the winter, and if the heat goes out, it's also a nice back up. We're not sit around the fireplace people, but the wood stove is great.

@mama goose_gw zn6OH yes, I did think that. But ironically an even bigger, older wood stove is sitting in that outbuilding right now!

I did ask about moving the fridge into the little built in pantry by the stove. The door clearance is something to look at.

@BlueberryBundtcake - 6a/5b MA thank you so much for your comments. Yeah I am not likely to hunt down the pheasant sink again. Its actually discontinued-- I looked it up to try and figure out what it was because I was trying to describe it. It was obviously a splurge piece and I don't hate it hate it, but game birds are probably not on my kitchen "must have" list.

Yeah you are probably right about the range. This is just one of those things I think is beautiful (much like I am sure the pheasant sink ticked boxes for the folks before me) but it might be a bit too big for the space. Thanks for being helpful and not snarky. Sometimes there are some real sour grapes comments when people have legit questions on this forum :)

If moving the wood stove isn't going to happen, then moving the fridge to the pantry wall isn't any better than the current location--worse if one would need to walk around the stove with an armload of items from the fridge.

I forgot to mention earlier--I don't find your kitchen deep, dark, or heavy-looking. The cabinets might not be the style you'd like, or the style that best fits the house, but the kitchen is attractive, has nice light, and seems rather airy--although that might be due to typical overexposure of realtor's listing pics.

If you need to keep the existing layout, then that's one of the concessions of living in an old house (I have my own), and if you don't need the kitchen to be the most functional while you're cranking out three meals a day, I'd leave the appliance in the current locations.

Someone mentioned a work table, but your husband wants cabinets. You can have both--maybe have a local craftsman create one with the trash cabinet in the middle and table on each end. Good luck!

This really boils down to budget and your must-haves. Obviously, a complete overhaul will cost a lot of money, but if having a 48" range is what you want and you can afford it, then the whole layout must be reconfigured. I'd think seriously about ditching the wood-burning stove or re-locating it to another part of the house, to add more storage.

If you're planning to be in this home for at least 7 to 10 years, the kitchen remodel will be worth it.

@Sabrina Alfin Interiors yes--that is the stage we are at-- figuring out must haves. We do plan to be in the home for some time and want to make good decisions.

My designer, contractor and I have worked together on multiple projects. Its always a process. You start out with certain ideas and go through several iterations. You give up things and gain others. That is part of the fun!

I like the wood stove and will be nice in the winter most certainly. Remember you can cook on them too, we use ours to reheat and cook. I don’t care for the ceiling fan, but they really do help move the heat around from the stove.

@Kate yes my sister raised a good point-- that we should live through a winter and see if the wood stove is actually a valuable heat source before tearing it out. Every room in the downstairs of this house has a fireplace save the ktichen, and they have all been converted to gas casting stoves. We think it must be difficult to heat the downstairs and buying in the summer you really don't see that. Its been very cool and comfortable during all of our tours and the inspection revealed that the house is well ducted for AC with multiple zones. The heat may be a different story with the height of the ceiling.

My biggest beef with this kitchen is the cherry cabinets and the counters. I LOATHE cherry cabinets with a white hot passion and have zero patience for heavy, dark, busy, shiny granite. I know this was all the rage in 2008 and thereabouts but it is just not my taste at all. I understand that the owners were trying to tie in the wood and brick in this kitchen and this is clearly a pro install and amateur design situation. We are doing some mock ups with simple fixes like removing the braid trim and painting/new counters, etc vs a whole new kitchen.

Funny thing about the fan-- its the only fan in the kitchen. That massive vent hood has no fan inside. Its all for show!

Other than the cherry do you like your cabinet molding and door choices. Can you retro a proper exhaust into that stove mantle even? I really believe starting from scratch will mesh with your design a aesthetic better than working with what is there now and it sounds like your budget is healthy enough to allow for this.

@roarah I think the cabinet doors were selected to get close to the millwork on the original pantry cabinet (painted white on the right side of the wood stove in the pics.) Doors are easy to replace as this cabinet line still exists. It would even be possible (so says my designer) to get doors in the "right" color and paint boxes only, though I have concerns about an exact match.

The hood--- well I don't hate it. I tend to do a more swooping kind of hood that has a wider presence at the bottom and narrower look at the top, but I have done three of those in some variation now, so I am open to change. I know why this one was chosen-- it has the same bullseye pattern in the corners as every window and door molding in the house. I am sure the former occupants saw that and thought it was the perfect fit. But what would you call the style of that hood? What kind of kitchen do you think that hood would be most at home in?

Yes we can retro a fan into that space. Not a problem at all on that.

Now that we know this is a Victorian home, keep the wood burning stove. Your desired stove sounds dreamy, in whatever size you decide.
This sounds like a beautiful home and a great project. Please post more pictures, before during and after remodel. Especially that outbuilding.

@Lisa T-- Thanks! Its my dream house/forever home...looks so much like the dollhouse I had growing up (The Arthur by Greenleaf, anyone?) Here are some exterior pics. Carpenter Gothic. Going to have some of the gingerbread restored that was taken off over the years. And the roof is slate and in good shape-- that was my first question as its all mottled. :) This house has been very lovingly cared for. It doesn't need a lot. Just the kitchen. Its such an airy house for a Victorian. I love the curb appeal of most homes of that era but living in one with little puzzlebox rooms can be a challenge. We are trading an 1890s rowhouse for this place and have done extensive restoration and remodels on every place we live (we only have purchased old homes.) So I want to do right by this one.

I can appreciate why this is your dteamhouse and forever home.

That is one beautiful home. I love old houses.

Aw thanks @Lisa T and @printesa. Its such an amazing place. The side porch is screened with a fan for enjoying meals on a hot day without insects. The master has a fireplace and two balconies with french doors. All original molding, wainscotting, mantles, etc, call carved with crazy attention to detail. Porch and patio with boxwood hedge and roses off the kitchen. Finished attic with window seat looking out onto the gingerbread gable and that cute little window. View of a tree farm and pumpkin patch from the porch with mountains in the distance. Barns, outbulldings, gorgeous big fenced yard for the dog and a myriad of gardening projects. And only 10 mins from the little city center where we are now but less money on a mortgage every month. We are SO excited. This house has absolutely everything we have ever wanted. So the kitchen is the fly in the ointment. And objectively, its not awful, so that ain't too bad.

Beautiful! My childhood dollhouse was Barbie plastic MCM with the surf-board coffee table (the latest thing in those days). You couldn't get me near MCM now. ;)

I am glad you found your dream home. A few changes here and there will make it the way you want it. There will always be something that we want to change based on likes or needs.

I was really tempted to buy a house not too far from where we live, but it would have been too much..nobody needs two houses. The inside of the house was beautiful..tall ceilings and big windows..just beautiful

@printesa i LOVE that house!

Haha, you shouldn't talk to me about owning too many houses. We have 3. One is our primary, another is a stone cottage we rent out on Airbnb and use as a weekend place (converted from an 1850s one room school. Its absolutely magical and I had to have it.) One is a little Italianate rowhouse in the city where our primary had also been located. Rented long term though we lived in it briefly to do some rehabbing. We have owned many houses over the years and we are both relatively young (30s-40s). We just love old houses and will live in them, fix them up and sell. But I have always been on a hunt for "the One" and this is it. We thought we had to up our budget by a few hundred thousand to find everything we were looking for but got really really lucky as it is a trade with a little savings on monthly costs that will help offset maintenance.

They aren't making more of these places and SO many people are gutting them to "open plan" the design or tearing them down for new build developments. I just love the craftsmanship on old homes. I can't imagine living in a new build. Actually, I can, but I would not be able to afford all the things I would want it to have at the level of quality of an old build.

@mama goose_gw zn6OH my husband is from Southern California, and one day when we are older I am sure he plans to move us there to live in a MCM ranch. I don't hate that style, but I am hoping he changes his mind :) Barbie did have some odd taste. She lived on a shelf in my youth that I decorated as her townhouse.

The wood stove is not even installed properly and unless you do not have any other heat source it needs to go or be installed safely. No one and that includes you , needs a 48" range and the cost of venting it . You say you don't cook so how would that expense even make sense at all. I have no idea what the rest of the house is like so I have no clue how this space relates to that. IMO get a kitchen designer and stop going in circles for no purpose.

@Patricia Colwell Consulting well wow.

We had a thorough inspection. I can assure you the stove is installed properly and working.

I have a kitchen designer as I have mentioned several times.

No need to be cranky. There's just no reason.

My thanks to those who have offered kind and productive suggestions without snark

I am glad you can have all these properties and be able to rent them. For the house I mentioned above, we were thinking to make it into a B&B,,it had 10 bedrooms and it's close to a few touristic/historic places..I am sure it would have worked. We just didn't have the time to do that on top of our daily work; even though you hire someone to take care of things, you still have to oversee everything just to make sure that things are done right.

I hope you find a plan for the kitchen that works for you and goes with the rest of the house.

What a delightful house! I love the semicircular detail under the front gable. We have a few carpenter gothic homes in our neighborhood and they have so much personality. I am glad you are intent on honoring the original architecture.