I'd keep that breakfast nook for sure. A galley kitchen is not an undesireable situation.

Thank you Beverly! Yes. I love the breakfast nook. I don't mind the galley kitchen. I just have to maximize storage.

Congrats on your house. I'm swooning over the breakfast nook bench. Wow it is gorgeous.

The most important thing is getting a great, functional cabinet layout. That is what is going to get you more storage. A cabinet box and door are going to be about 1.5". If you add a cabinet in a 5" space, that only leaves you with 3.5" of interior space. Spices are about the only thing that would fit there.

I have a galley and found 6" behind a wall where we were already adding upper cabinets so we added an extra 6" of depth to a 13" cabinet. That was a wonderful surprise!

As always, don't do your kitchen right away. Live in a space for a while first. Save money because you know some major system is going to break down soon. Murphey's Law.

I am super excited about finally getting a house and just trying to just get some ideas. We are planning on waiting until we get in the house before doing anything so we can figure things out. There is so much to consider and we will be doing things in stages.

Behind the cook wall is the living room. The flooring is different throughout the home. There is original hard wood in living room, ceramic tile in dining room, linoleum in the kitchen and some kind of vinyl flooring that looks a bit like wood in entry way, hall and bedrooms.

I wanted to put hardwood everywhere but since I don't want white cabinets I thought that may be too much wood and make it look too dark. There is so much to think about!

Get a certified kitchen designer to help you, not a cabinet salesman.

"Curb your enthusiasm" .......until you are in, and come back.

Your buggy is way out in front of the horsey: )

Thanks for the tip. Are the kitchen designers at places such as Lowes and Home Depot good or is it best to go with an independent?

I'll definitely be back:)

Kitchen designers at the big box stores can be great or awful. I had a friend who was a very talented designer who worked at one of them, and anyone who was fortunate enough to get a kitchen designed by her hit the jackpot. But it's a c#$pshoot. I'd personally go to independent kitchen and bath designers, but they will be more expensive.

A really great example of a MCM kitchen but we do not live in the 50s and our kitchens are not like they were. I have a MCM ranch it had the original kitchen just not good for my use . Do you want to go in the MCM direction ? I have to say those kitchens were often not really functional for how we live now . I moved the kitchen to the much larger DR space in my home . I like galley kitchens they are very functional but need real planning to get what you need . The booth is kind of fun but really test it for actual use . I really barely like a booth in a diner for 1 hr not what I want for my life . BUt if you love it then let it drive all the rest of the kitchen design.THis was my old and my new kitchen in my MCM home still keeping the vibe but the functionalways trumps all else The patio door yyou see behing theDR table was the old kitchen window . If you post a to scale floor plan here in jpeg format we can help you get the best for how you cook and live .

So sorry I missed this. Your new kitchen is beautiful and you managed to keep the MCM vibe. What a great idea to move your kitchen to the dining room area. I love how roomy it is. The "old" kitchen makes a great dining area too with the window conversion. Thank you so much for posting. Functionality is definitely important especially when it comes to a kitchen.

We are thinking we will get in and live in the house for a bit to see what direction we want to go. :)