So they finally refunded my money after seven weeks, three emails, and four phone calls. For those who want to defend Rogue Valley Roses - (1) The reason I describe RVR as "under new management" is, the not very polite man I spoke with told me, during the first of my four phone calls, that "the owner had fired everyone and put in new management" and, according to him, that was why they hadn't responded to any of the emails I had sent them. (2) If you are personally acquainted with the owner and have reason to sympathize with the owner's problems, that's fine. If you have had a recent good experience with RVR, that's fine. But, in the real world, those of us who deal with internet businesses need accurate information on whether they can expect a good experience and this means that individuals should post accurate accounts of their own experiences. My experience with RVR between February and May 2017 (typo corrected, this originally said 2015 causing confusion infra) has been absolutely horrible and I strongly recommend against dealing with them until they get their management issues straightened out.

Zeebee, having cleanup in the middle of food prep is my own horror, so I understand the problem. However, if you designated your cleanup essentially on the left wall/corner area, that would confine cleanup to the sink and area to its left. Prep would be from the sink on to its right. When I designed the kitchen in my new house, my two big priorities were plenty of work space and cleanup totally separated from it. Well, the kitchen isn't terribly large, but I have all that, prep on a spacious island and generous areas on both sides of the stove. It's great and I love it, but having had it I know I could be perfectly happy and do just as well with much less work space--just as long as it was well designed and I didn't have to push dirty dishes away to get at it. When I look at your current plan, I see an L counter that, properly set up, would work well for me. That 39" to the left of the stove is actually almost exactly the amount of space I work in daily here (the rest mostly just gets a drippy mixing bowl, busy spoon, or some such thing set on it so I have to wipe it down anyway). Regarding kitchen as hallway, I don't see it. What those doors do is create a view for the interior space, same as any large expanse of glass, plus provide the opportunity to open the house to the garden when you choose. I personally would want to be able to draw drapes or shutters, or whatever, when the weather's unappealing or you just want a cozily introverted space, and having learned from my mistakes would choose my window treatments as part of the design profess for my windows/doors. Your garden's going to be lovely. I'm a big gardener, but agree for sure, definitely no "cottage" garden for you. Been there, love it, but it is THE most challenging of all garden styles to keep really good looking all through the flowering season. I've spent years trying to get good enough to pull that trick off and had a lot of fun--but! At least I was in California. These days a temperate climate means 6 months of drear. Over the years, I've really come to love finely designed green gardens full of lovely foliage juxtaposed against handsome hardscape to provide structure and contrast. Occasional flowers throughout the seasons can provide variety but mainly just serve to set the main feature off. A garden like that can be gorgeous in all seasons, with and without floral accents, and when well designed also be the easiest to care for of all. The foliage also softens all the masonry and other construction around and adds privacy. It can also serve as a home for birds. We really enjoy watching the birds from our windows, and my gardens now will always be designed to attract them. In any case, beauty's a function of good design. It truly doesn't have to be heavy maintenance at all. In your case, I think you owe it to yourselves to create a beautiful view for your home so you can enjoy it both at the kitchen/dining level and from above. :)

Well, your architect "could" be right??? I definitely would get a couple different contractor's opinions before panicking on that quoted price. It is crazy high, but coming from your architect....hmmmm...idk. ;-/ Joseph is right, but the key word he used is "competent". $5,000 does sound pretty crazy! Ugh! Really?!?! Although, you did say you are in LA..... So, maybe? My dh, being a GC, has dealt with many architects over the years. Sadly, it seems from his experience (with a few exceptions of course) that many have no clue how to build. Please, I mean no offense on the good architects out there, but we have seen more then a few draw up plans that are just plain stupid. The architect we use now though is awesome. He has actually built homes himself before, so he gets it! The point I'm getting at is... I wonder if it could be your archy is a little bent out of shape over your going with your internet "GW" people's layout over the completely stupid, ridiculous kitchen layout he or she proposed??? I don't mean to imput bad motives as they may be one of the good ones who have your best interest at heart. I apologize if they are really nice, but I do wonder. I seriously couldn't help but laugh at that first kitchen they drew up. [Giggling] Either way, your house and kitchen will be AWESOME!!! Wicked awesome, I might add....

I realize this is an old post, but thought my recent experience relevant to those who might come across your question/discussion in the future. The following semi-custom wood exterior door is from Buffelen Door Co., installed in later 2014. It is professionally finished, and in a well protected situation. My customer notified me this summer (after less than 3 years) that the center panel had a crack clear through it, and running from top to bottom of the center panel. Though beyond warranty, it seemed clear that this is a manufacturer defect because the crack occurred at the seam of two boards glued together to make the wide panel. Upon notifying Buffelen of the said defect in craftsmanship, they declined to stand behind their product. Needless to say, we will NOT RECOMMEND Buffelen to our customers or Houzz members. My belief: The wood likely had too much moisture content; so was not kiln dried to a low enough moisture content before using for wood work.