You may get better responses by breaking this down into separate questions, one per appliance category. Searching these forums more might help too -- lots there on DW drawers, on Miele vs. Bosch vs. Kitchenaid etc., and epic threads on fridges. People have *lots* to say about their fridges. I agree about separating the oven and cooktop purchases if you bake seriously. My general advice would be to inventory everything you want to do in your kitchen -- which you've started doing -- and prioritize: are the extra features of a Gaggenau oven interesting to you, or will a standard GE do fine? Do you want a big gas cooktop? What does the fridge need to hold? You're looking at four purchases that are each, potentially, as complicated as choosing a car. Take your time. Three tools: The AJ Madison website has a pretty comprehensive selection and lets you choose by features. I used it to start generating sets of appliances to check out further via reviews or in showrooms. Consumer Reports, though much and sometimes justly maligned, is helpful and worth an e-sub. J.D. Power http://www.jdpower.com/consumer-ratings/ratings.htm has some interesting ratings.

What a great home you have to start with!! I love the look of modern furnishings in traditional homes, below are some houzz photos that came up with that search. IMO it adds instant warmth and uniqueness. I think sofa and accent chairs will give you more flexability and a more open sight line will be achieved with a low back sofa. I think the art and decor you should take your time with and let it speak to you and your families interests and tastes...is the art modern and artsy, or classic with a love of nature, is it fun and colorful with a nod to the bold. The backs of the built in bookcases could be wallpapered to reflect this too, and lighting will add a huge statement about you and how you want others to feel in your home.

Helen "As for dripping on toes, again I guess that's a personal thing, but I don't know what would be dripping especially since I would be able to better ensure that all items were level " It's a safety thing. I am not talking about a little drip but an accidental sloshing of a water bath, roasting pan with fat or unexpected bubbling of sphagetti sauce out of a pan onto your foot, ankle or leg. It can run in your shoe. This is also why I mentioned about the rolling racks here. They are a relatively new thing and some come out much more quickly and you can slosh liquids right out of the pan and burn yourself. I know people who have had bakeware shatter when taking it out of the oven because you exceed the thermal tolerances of the dish taking it out of the oven. You might have an unexpected child or animal come out of nowhere. You can teach and warn them to stay away from the stove and no matter how carefully you watch them, accidents happen. In my line of work I have seen people wind up with skin grafts with kitchen spills and resulting burns so I am more aware of these things than most people. No one intends for these things to happen and being a kitchen, you can't eliminate all risks but it is a good thing to be aware of them. I know you said you can only access all the wall ovens from the side so while a consideration for you, I have no trouble at 5'3", standing in front, as my oven door (Electrolux) is only about 20" tall (Bosch is 22 3/8) and I can reach the racks with my back straight and my arms bent, so not everyone loses "all ergonomic advantage" by choosing a pull down door and the protection of the door providing a barrier may be important. The great thing about this forum is that there are often many sides to a coin. You consider pull down oven door a hinderance while I consider it a benefit. Some people are strictly concerned with the design for its aesthetic value so make their choice based on that. Each person has to balance the benefits and risks of each configuration for themselves and their situation and the more information you can gather, the better the decision.

Rita, I had a Gaggenau side opening door, blue interior as well. It came with a rotisserie which I used frequently to roast chicken leg of lamb etc; made a horrific mess but very tasty chicken. I used the self clean function when it needed it. Personally I don't care all that much for the blue interior everyone seems to rave about. I like my oven interior to sort of fade into the background of my kitchen not be the focal point. I've read so many of the sad stories of people on this forum who spent a lot of $$ for their ovens then had major grief to get them replaced only for the chipping, spalling to happen again. The other thing is it wasn't just one disgruntled owner. I would NEVER buy a Wolf oven and quite frankly it turns me off all of their other products; however fine they may be. It sends the message they don't stand behind their product and continue to knowingly manufacture deficient products. I am, however, curious why a company like Sub Zero who makes a top notch product and stands behind their products would buy Wolf and inherit the oven grief. (Wanting to get into the cooking end of kitchens?) Someone on the board who made this decision must be delusional. The lawsuits will continue for years. My Florida house has a "Russel Range" They were a fine company making cooktops, hoods and range tops. Someone in their company decided they needed to get into the oven business and farmed it out have someone make it and put their brand on the oven. I don't remember but think it was an australian company. They wanted to have moist heat for proofing and some other things. It gets very complicated to get an oven UL approved. Unfortunately they went belly up. I was ready to order my range top, they were not answering their phone. I finally ended up searching everywhere trying to locate one and bought a used one from a local distributor who wanted it out of his "live" showroom. I hope that doesn't happen to SubZero. I also frequently read on this forum "don't buy Viking we don't know yet if things have turned around. Don't buy GE because the Chinese own it." Yet a lot of people continue to buy Wolf ovens; because of their blue interior? I don't hear a lot of "Don't buy a Wolf Oven" Now I'm getting off my soapbox. Inga