Well, I'm glad to see some posts directed to the original poster's issues. Well, since he's been taken care of, Antss, last night I had drafted a rather long rebuttal to your post which basically kindly suggested you go boil your head. ;-) However, in between writing it, I realized that I needed your help on a question (separate subject) so I abstained from posting it. *grin* Anyhow, the gist of my response basically was a self-example showing why I don't like the "A is the best/most technical. Only buy the best/most technical." Case in point: I work at a research lab. Aside from our research, one of the things we do is build some particular extremely precise sensors for certain aerospace vehicles (no need to get into which ones). These are The Very Best such instruments you could get anywhere (or not get. More on that later). Super-precise, radiation hard, fast initialization, everything. This is not parroting a company line. This is fact. Our only customer is a certain body in the US government. Now, these devices are extremely expensive. They are very expensive and the only reason we (a lab) still fabricate them is that, aside from the complexity to provide the necessary sensor sensitivity & precision & robustness, the demand for such inordinately high precision instruments is extremely low (single digit orders of such devices every few years) making it not very compelling for the major aero-astro companies to produce. So, for these one-off sorts of builds, we continue to fabricate these when the need arises. Now, we are a lab, and while we have fabrication facilities for prototyping high-precision devices, we don't have manufacturing facilities. So, these systems are VERY expensive and will continue to remain so. Both because of the precision called for as well as the fact that no manufacturing principles can be applied to improve the efficiencies of production. OK. So we make the absolute best of such systems. And we're known for it. Still, that doesnt make what Honeywell and NG produce as the industry leaders in that market at some fraction of the performance and a fraction of the cost, junk or crap because it is "mass produced". In fact, when we get an inquiry from any other division of the govt. about these sensors, we scratch our heads and ask why they think they need such uber-precision. For more than 90% of the projects that we work on at my lab *we* have no use for our super-precise devices and we rely on the "lesser" products. And it is true that, by performance, compared to ours, they are a "lesser" animal. But by no means are those "lesser" items, "cheapened by production", a dismissible item. In fact, as I mentioned, >99% of the time for the world at large and >90% of our own activities, they are net superior because the performance is more than good (enough for the task required) and the savings in cost on the sensor unit means that we can afford more on other without in any way compromising on the required performance. This has gone on long enough and I realize that a Miele DW is no lab-grade unit, but the point was to say that I have daily proof that paying blind obeisance to "The Best" product and dismissing everything else as "cheapened", "advertised", and "mass-produced" is actually being penny-wise pound foolish. IMO, the only "The Best" is associated with an associated cost function/performance index. Seldom has a performance index been cited when a "Miele / Wolf/ Subzero/ whatever is the best" defense is provided. This is why I get & got irritated up there. There's actually loads more to say re: comparos made up above, but I'm just going to sign off now. Also you'll forgive me if I take your assessments about aircraft and Crays with a pinch of salt as I rather doubt you have some of the more interesting insights into these 2 worlds.

Thanks Pal - I got the ottoman but the chair wouldn't fit (for some reason forgot to cancel it when I canceled the chair after doing layout on graph paper - prob. b/c I had seen it later and ordered it separately from the other pieces). I did see a Mission style recliner (don't know manufacturer) in local furniture while out table-hunting last week, didn't see to work and it was $1010. I mentioned it to salesperson, she said they'd just gotten it in (though it had a Sold ticket on it that had been scribbled over so maybe someone else thought it wouldn't recline either?), often mechanisms are strapped down for shipping. Maybe I'll take DH to see it this w/e, but I need to get rid of a wing chair and ottoman in our BR, move my Goodwill silk moire chair out of the LR, and the coffee table I'm not going to use out too so we can *fit* a recliner. DH refuses to sit in the GW chair, and I will only let him sit on the sofa if he takes his Blackberry off (already scratched the wall with it moving coffee table in) so he just lies on the floor! Do you think dark brown (almost black) leather on the Morris chair would look OK with the existing furniture? It had dark "oak" (ash?) stained frame that looked to be fairly close to the "chocolate cherry" (half Spanish Oak, half Red Mahogany Old Masters stain) on the rest of the furniture.

I am also short and love my apron front sink. Just like cpartist, I can lean right up and everything seems close. Mine is the Whitehaven and it sticks out a little more than some. I like the way it protects my lower cabinets - usually the first cabinets to get worn from water and getting dripped on. My present kitchen is L shaped like cpartist best - a little bit bigger as I've got room for a small island, but no table. I was making pot roast and apple pie today and glad that everything was handy. Just enough room to work, but everything within a reasonable distance. (It is a modest kitchen and is in my "my pics" idea book.) No matter how quiet appliances get, I still don't want to hear Barney:) My kids are older now and well past the Barney days, but I was glad that Barney and Mario were not in the same room I was cooking in:) I agree that these kitchens are beyond the means of most. However, someone with a good eye can grab an idea. I have always liked the primarily wood rustic kitchen shown - minus the overblown faucet. I have a skirted sink in my basement kitchenette and I've considered the tea towels instead. I do have a plate rail - but much smaller in scale. There are some examples of mixing different colors of cabinetry, and different colors of hardware, so some ideas can be taken from the examples. I go to Parade Homes to get ideas, but never to try for the whole concept. Houzz should divide up "best of" into different groups - perhaps a "best of the midsize" and a "best of the humble" kitchen would be more relatable to more people.

Go on down to Home Depot with your kitchen measurements in hand and get them to draw up a design in a middling cabinet line. Ask them for a middling suggestion. Home Depot doesn't pay their people on commission so you aren't costing the employee money by taking up his/her time when you probably aren't actually going to commission that particular kitchen. If there are things you know for sure you want like all lower drawers, a super susan, space for wall ovens or MW, etc., be sure to specify those. This will get you in the approximate ball park. Once you have a number, say $25,000, you can make a decision about whether or not this ballpark will work for you. If the answer is "ain't no way that's happening," then you can go ahead with future planning while you wait to save up some money. If the answer is "that's possible," then you can get more serious about what you actually want and where you want to get it. For instance, if the number you get is within reach, but you'd like to see what local kitchen/bath places or local custom shops have to offer, you can go see them and not be afraid of massive sticker shock. If you liked the person/cabinets at HD, you can look more seriously at their options. Depending on where you are on the available cash scale, you could also price out Ikea, Barker, and those other guys - Sch-something (?). Or, if $25,000 is a drop in the bucket, you could go have a look at Poggenpohl and get an entirely different number (!). Having a tentative baseline will make you feel a little more secure. FWIW, we did an InnerMost kitchen approx. 13x13 with a 4x5 island for approx. $14.5K, cabinets only. We did our own install. Granite counters were around $4K.