Before and after

I've been to Puerto Rico twice. It's one place in the US I would definitely go again. Have you ever been there MM? I ask, because I was surprised how many Puerto-Ricans I've met who haven't. If not, take both your boys with you. It's beautiful and so different, unique. I loved it there.

I was born there but came to Florida when I was 20, my father is from Italy, my mother Puerto Rico. She had a home on ten arces just outside of Ponce, on the other side of the island. I wanted to take Morgan for a visit but I found out his been there 5 times now.

Awesome. Ponce is a beautiful city.

Funny story.. My grandmother and two sisters emigrated from Ireland to NYC. When they arrived they met some Puerto Rican girls and they all got a place together. They were all maids, working different shifts. This was at a time when it wasn't uncommon to see signs, Room for Rent - No Irish need apply... I'd imagine there were similar feelings toward her roommates as well.
Regardless, after a few years, the sisters all went home. Two became Nuns.. thankfully, my grandmother didn't. When my mom was a kid, my granny always talked about the Puerto Ricans. Mom had no idea what this Puerto Rican was, she though it was something unique to NYC. It was years before she realized they were people, not a thing... I guess, Puerto Rico didn't get a lot of press in Ireland.

Smart...

I love Puerto Rico! It’s such a fun place to visit. The food is excellent, beautiful beaches, rain forest, and the men are not too shabby.

Our neighbor didn’t move in today, she took possession of the house, perhaps she’s moving in this weekend.

In the mean time I’m experimenting with our own kitchen. I had this glass/marble/stainless steel backsplash installed today. Having a gas line installed on the other side of the house so we can get a stainless steel gas stove. After that’s in I need to Photoshop the cabinets and countertop to see what works best, got an estimate today for new granite counters.

Are you going to keep the cabinets white? If so, I'm thinking the middle tones in the backsplash might look good for the granite tops. Not the darkest nor the lightest color, but the two or three middle-toned tiles.

This may be just me, but I like some counter on either side of a stove, for more elbow room - given you are bringing in gas, maybe the new stove could move over a bit to the right, say to the mid cabinet line, since you will be having new cabinets anyway... still leaving plenty of room between the stove and the outlet. You may prefer the one long stretch counter though.

I’ll be changing around the whole kitchen. Not sure what cabinets I want, but going to have them replaced, probably put these white cabinets in the garage. The granite will be light so I'm thinking light wood cabinets.

I like that idea too! That's actually a pantry, I can have that taken out, there is plenty of room on the other side of the kitchen for a pantry.

I agree with osso! The stove in the middle is much better, plus it looks better when the stove is centered in the middle. Look here are similar mosaic tiles.

Oh I like that!

I'm forever designing and re-designing things. I use Google sketch-up a lot. It helps me figure out space, what is and what will fit or not. It's like CAD, similar just not as powerful.

Me too! I always put everything in Photoshop and then move things around, change cabinets, color and design until I see what I like. Marco has no taste at all, he thinks it’s fine just the way it is. Geez!

I would have had it changed long ago but I never used the kitchen until recently

We're going to get you to go into a design field yet, Morgan, you're a natural.

The only kitchen I've ever had that didn't have a counter of some length - very short or nice and roomy - on either side of the stove to at least put a stirring utensil down or place a mixing device, was in my last (wonderful, I miss it) house that had a great old stove that somehow also worked as a sculpture in place.. and that was huge enough that it had a pretty wide area between the burners. If you can work it, I also like centering the stove re the length of the work area since my eye likes the symmetry. I liked CJ's photo too.

Yes, me too. Well, I designed as a job - but I agree, noodling about is really worth it. Once in a while a design just happens right away, but playing with it has usually brought good ideas. What if, and then, what if?

You can use the IKEA kitchen design in 3 D
http://kitchenplanner.ikea.com/US/UI/Pages/VPUI.htm

Do you have a IKEA close by?

I love that kitchen photo! Looks similar to ours!

The closest Ikea is in Tampa, I love going there, not sure Morgan is an Ikea kind of boy though

Oh what a pity! I actually have an IKEA kitchen and I love it! It has this slick pull out pantry and other neat built-ins that make life easier. They even sell great European appliances now.

I like Ikea style and pricing - have a friend who told me about Ikea before they ever came to the U.S., she's swedish and back then ordered her bookshelves shipped from the factory in Sweden.

So when I was remodeling one time, back in the early nineties, I fit Ikea cabinetry in my new kitchen. I ran into trouble when I wanted to put a real enamelled cast iron sink in. Duh, the Ikea stuff was too flimsy to take it. I built a wood support system within the cabinet to hold the weight. Otherwise I was pleased enough with the cabinets - but I'm a real wood type, and loved the cabinets in my next house. Those were built in something like 1922.

Re your house, I can see the ikea style working. Dunno about granite atop the counters as maybe clashing/or a weight problem. I also don't know if Ikea has added different types of cabinetry since I worked with it in 1993.