Refrigerator...keep in mind some things. First, to open fully, the doors of your refrigerator must stick out past the surrounding walls/cabinets/counters. This means you can only recess your refrigerator so the carcass/box is even with adjacent walls/cabinets/counters on the hinge side(s). In this case, it's a counter...25.5". The depth of your refrigerator is approx 31". Unfortunately, KA doesn't give all the necessary dimensions, in this case, the depth of the carcass/box. You need this to know how deep you can recess it. Remember, you also need room behind the refrigerator for air clearance (1/2"), water lines for ice maker & water dispenser (probably an inch or two), plug, and, if used, the anti-tip device. The 31" does not include these items. (FYI...the doors on my refrigerator stick out 4" from the carcass/box. This does not include the handles.) If we assume your refrigerator is similar, then its carcass/box is probably 27" deep (31" - 4"). Add another inch for the water lines and you can probably only recess it into the wall 3" or so. (27" deep carcass + 1" = 28"; 28" - 25.5" = 2.5"; you can go up to another half-inch or so if the door hinges allow it...it depends on the hinges.) The handles extend out another 2.5". So, this means approx 6" of your refrigerator will extend out past the counters. This brings us to the second point...your aisle. According to your layout, the aisle b/w the counter and the island is 40". However, in front of the refrigerator, the aisle is only 34" (40" - 6")...rather narrow. That's bordering on too narrow to get the refrigerator in/out without removing the doors...and maybe still too narrow even then. It will also create a "pinch point" when the refrigerator is open...a minor annoyance in this case, I think, b/c it's not a path through the kitchen and a refrigerator isn't usually open for very long (and others could always go around the island.) The concern is the ability to move the refrigerator for cleaning, repairs, or replacement w/o damaging the refrigerator or your cabinets & counters. The cabinet above the fridge is usually installed so the front of the cabinet box is flush with the refrigerator's carcass/box. You might be able to install it so the cabinet + doors are flush with the refrigerator doors, but you run the risk of hitting your head on the cabinet since you're tall. I recommend sticking with the former. Dishwasher + Corner Sink...You really need more space b/w the sink and the DW. If you look at the pic with the "Sink specs from Thomasville", note that it recommends a base cabinet at least 15" wide b/w the corner sink base and the DW. You only have 9"...you really need at least 15"; 18" would be better. As to a corner sink, there are pros & cons. It's a great way to handle a corner and the less-than-optimum storage under a sink base. You combine the sink base and corner storage into one so you only have one place with inefficient storage. However, unless you have a large corner sink base (48" or more), only one person can use the sink at one time. OTOH, there's plenty of space behind the sink for your faucet, soap dispenser, etc. You also don't have to worry about how deep (front-to-back) the sink is b/c there should be plenty of room for everything. But, you do have to be careful how far back the sink is installed, have them install it as far forward as possible and don't let them put any more than a 3" piece of stone b/w the sink cutout and the edge of the counter. This is to prevent the need to lean too far forward to use the sink. (The taller you are, the more important this is.) Prep Zone...Your Prep Zone will most likely end up on the perimeter b/w the corner sink and the range. That's where your water source is as well as it's close to the range. While 39" is normally enough room for prepping with a "straight line", when you factor in a corner sink and the fact that some of the floor space in your Prep Zone will overlap with the corner sink's floor space, you may not really have enough. I would like to see you increase that 21" cabinet to 30" (and decrease the one on the other end by those 9" to 27"). It will make a big difference in functionality. I don't recommend putting the DW b/w the sink and range...you really don't want to work over/in front of an open DW if someone is loading/unloading it or a running DW venting heat & steam on you! (If you're very, very disciplined about no one ever cleaning up while someone is prepping or cooking or there's never more than one person in the kitchen at a time, then a DW might be OK, but it's not ideal.) Besides, you should try for as little overlap of Zones as possible. Seating at the island...The National Kitchen & Bath Assoc (NKBA) recommends the overhang of counter-height seating be a minimum of 15". You have 12". I suspect you've put in 12" so you can fit an island. However, you should be aware that even if you skimp on overhang, people sitting at the island will take up the same amount of floor/aisle space...they'll just have to either sit farther away from the counter's edge or have to lean farther forward...neither of which is particularly comfortable for any length of time. Some people here swear that 9" or 12" is enough, but I suspect they have very short legs. You, OTOH, have stated you are tall (6'1")...so I doubt very much you have short legs. Our family ranges in height from 5'10" (me) to 6'6" and still growing (my DS). We have a 15" overhang and while my DD and I think it's OK, my DH & DS wish it was a few inches deeper (neither of them sit at the counter very often b/c of this). Honestly, I would have rather had 18" as well, but 15" works OK for me. One comment: You say everyone tells you they love an island even in a small kitchen. I wonder if they had a better designed kitchen if they would change their tune. Sometimes we don't know any better and think something is the best we can do. In the case of a kitchen, once you work in a well-designed kitchen, you're spoiled! What others think is fine, you know really isn't. People can adapt to anything...even a poor layout...and if they don't know any better they don't know how good it could be! Aisles...I'm concerned about the aisle b/w the back of the island and the porch door. At most, you have a 42.5" aisle (34" + 8.5"). It may actually be narrower when you start counting door trim, door knob, etc. When the door is open, you may have an issue with chair/door conflict (even an empty chair). Counter height...You were wondering about counter height. Have you calculated your "ideal" work height? It's not just a matter of height...upper arm length comes into play as well. To calculate your "ideal" work height (it takes two people): Stand up straight with your feet slightly apart and arms straight down at your sides. Now, bend your elbow 90 degrees. Keep your arm against your body. Have the second person measure the distance between your elbow and the floor. Subract 6" from the measurement. This is your "ideal" work height. Note that work height can be modified by raising the height of the cabinets, installing them on a platform, increasing the thickness of the counter, or by using large, thick cutting boards placed on top of a standard-height work surface (36" off the finished floor). Crown Molding...Most ceilings are not perfect and the floor-to-ceiling height can vary throughout the kitchen. To accommodate this and to make the differences "invisible", KDs usually either place a significant gap b/w the ceiling and top of the crown molding or use a 2 or 3 piece crown that includes a "filler" piece that is adjusted to accommodate the ceiling height discrepancies. The latter is, IMHO, better than the former. However, to do this successfully, the space for the crown does have to be tall enough so differences in filler piece heights are not noticeable. The shorter the filler piece, the more noticeable differences in height are. In our case, we have 6" of crown. We have a 3-piece crown molding with the filler (Stock-S) in the middle. The top and bottom pieces remain the same throughout the kitchen, it's only the filler piece that changes height. (We have approx a 1" height difference b/w the "tallest" and "shortest" floor-to-ceiling height in the kitchen.) Here's the design of our crown molding: Rev-A-Shelf Trash Pullout...I'm sure it will be less expensive to install it yourself after-market. Cabinet companies are notorious for marking up cabinet inserts tremendously. Since cost is a factor, I recommend ordering the cabinet you intend to use for your trash pullout as a full-height cabinet (i.e., no top drawer) with the door unattached. You can then purchase the pullout elsewhere (search the web, you can find it for much less than it is on the Rev-A-Shelf site) and install it yourself. In the end, this is your kitchen, so you have control over what you end up with. Please, really think about all the things I've mentioned b/f you decide on a final design. You will then be making an informed decision and whatever you decide you will know the pros & cons and know the compromises you have to make. Good luck!

Just thought I'd post the results I had in one garden bed that's clay-loam. Last year I had amended this bed with home-made compost. Everything did well last year as first year plantings. This year they suffered from too little light. (I just put the roses there to get them through the winter and hoping they might like the eastern exposure. Heathcliff, Sugar Moon and Falstaff like sun in my neck of the woods, it seems. I'll probably be moving the viking Queen next Spring as she's a fraction of the size of her sister in full sun, and hasn't bloomed since Spring while her sister would be non-stop if not for the midge.) Anyway, the soil was very dry even with rain. I thought the heavy leaf layer prevented water. I stuffed the empty holes with alfalfa hay, compost and leaf mold until I decided what to plant. I also put the alfalfa under the leaves in the rest of the bed and gave it additional compost. Wow, when I went to plant Lavender Lassie and two hydrangeas, all the soil was so soft and fluffy and moist, even though we had less rain that earlier. I'm now prepping my holes in advance of next Spring and filling them with the same and covering the entire bed with alfalfa hay, etc. The new plantings have taken off even in the reduced light of late summer. I repeated this in another new bed and Mme Alfred Carriere and Awakening seem to love it even in their NE exposure. (Of course, they could just be responding to being in the ground vs. in pots. : ) ) Lesson learned. : ) I'm also trying gypsum on some new beds I'm prepping since they're on an incline. I'll report back.

Kordes Flower Carpet survived my zone 5a winter better than Knock-out. Zero diseases for the past 16 years. Didn't fertilize nor water it for over a decade. Peggy Rockefeller Rose Garden in NY rated the top 115 no-spray & disease-resistant roses by score. Quietness came 3nd place, after Belinda's Dream at 8.6. Quietness got the second best score of 8.55, higher than single-Knock-out at 8. Julia Child gets a score of 8.3. Austin Heritage gets a score of 8.8. Alkaline clay folks complained that Heritage is stingy, due less acid-phosphatase. Roots secrete acid to utilize phosphorus in soil for blooming. Too much of that ends up with fungal diseases. http://www.nybg.org/gardens/rose-garden-top-performers-2010.php If you click on the link above, it ranked the most disease & no-spray roses by a score. Knock-out scores at 8, while many Kordes roses are at 8.3 and above. Kordes roses have vigorous root system, mean better winter-survival and perfect foliage. HybridizerVariety (Sorted Alphabetically)Overall ScoreAlexander Hill GrayAlister Stella Gray7.75LimAll the Rage8.15KordesAmadeus®7.90MeillandApricot Drift®8.10BayseBelinda's Dream8.60PriorBetty Prior8.15UnknownBlush Noisette8.00RadlerBlushing Knock Out®8.10MeillandBolero™ 20048.50MeillandBonica™®8.00ClarkBorderer7.75LensBouquet Parfait®7.91BedardCape Diamond®7.85KordesCaramella®7.85AustinCarding Mill®8.50BuckCarefree Beauty™8.25MeillandCarefree Delight™7.75RadlerCarefree Spirit™7.95LimCentennial7.85MeillandCherry Parfait™8.50KordesCinderella Fairy Tale8.50MeillandColette™8.00MeillandCoral Drift™8.40KordesCream Veranda8.75FoundDarlow's Enigma9.00LimDaydream7.90KordesDesmond Tutu8.25RadlerDouble Knock Out®9.10DucherDucher8.25BernèdeDuchesse de Brabant8.25MeillandEaster Basket™9.25HarknessEasy Does It™7.85KordesEiffel Tower8.25KordesEliza®8.00KordesEscimo™8.00MeillandEternal Flame™8.40ShoupF.J. Lindheimer8.40KordesFelicitas8.00KordesFloral Fairy Tale8.00LesterFrancis E. Lester8.00KordesGardening Joy8.25KordesGebrϋder Grimm® (Brothers Grimm)8.50KordesGolden Fairy Tale™8.00AustinHeritage®8.80CarruthHome Run™8.10KordesJasmina®8.35WilliamsJoe Grey™8.10CarruthJulia Child™8.35KordesKarl Ploberger7.85RadlerKnock Out®8.00KordesKordes Golden Gate™8.00KordesKordes Moonlight®8.75KordesKosmos9.00BarbierLa Marne8.15KordesLa Perla8.00NoackLady Elsie May™8.00ShoupLady Pamela Carol8.00KordesLaguna®8.30KordesLarissa8.50ZuzekLena7.90KordesLions-Rose®7.60KordesLupo®8.00LimMacy's Pride8.95DesprezMarchesa Boccella8.25SportMarie Daly7.85AlégatièreMarie Pavié7.85KordesMarie-Luise Marjan®8.40CarruthMemorial Day™8.25DelbardMichel Bras8.25MeillandMother of Pearl™8.70UnknownMutabilis8.25LimMy Girl7.85PissardNastarana7.85ShoupOld Baylor8.45ZuzekOle7.85MeillandOso Easy Cherry Pie8.50WarnerOso Easy Fragrant Spreader8.00MeillandPeach Drift®9.00FoundPeggy Martin 'Survivor'8.75RadlerPink Double Knock Out®9.00MeillandPink Drift®8.75CarruthPink Home Run®7.15RadlerPink Knock Out®8.10MeillandPink Traviata™8.40KordesPlanten un Blomen8.40KordesPomponella™8.00LensPorcelaine de Chine8.00PembertonProsperity7.50KordesPurple Rain8.65BuckQuietness8.55RadlerRainbow Knock Out®8.00ShoupRepublic of Texas8.00KordesRosanna®7.85KordesRosarium Uetersen®8.05UnknownRose de Rescht7.25KordesRoxy™8.50HolmesSally Holmes®8.45BarniSans Souci7.85AustinScepter'd Isle7.80KordesSolero™7.80AustinSophy's Rose8.75AustinSpirit of Freedom8.75LeeStanwell Perpetual7.85BarniStile '800®8.20KordesSummer Memories™8.00KordesSummerSun8.00RadlerSunny Knock Out®8.50MeillandSweet Drift®8.00MeillandTequila™7.90DemitsThe Gift7.95BugnetThérèse Bugnet8.15MeillandTraviata™8.65RadlerWhite Out®8.65RadlerWinner's Circle™7.90KordesZadie8.10 Below is my Kordes FlowerCarpet, pic. taken late August. I didn't fertilizer nor water it for over a decade .. actually did better that way:

It sounds like obstruction in toilet trap as mentioned, or in the small run from toilet to waste stack. If not in toilet, pull toilet and scope the small run. If nothing helps, then the bowl isnt getting water fast enough to flush. The little holes in the bowl may be scaled up and need scraping off, large hole near bottom may also need descaling.