Did you look at the Miele products? They seem fantastic, and have received good reviews on GW last I checked (although it's been awhile). I really liked what I saw in the showroom, I thought they were more functional in certain ways than the Subzeros. Also, a nice, bright interior.

The refrigerators come in a 36" and a 30". The freezers come in 36", 30" and 18".

I went with the integrated Subzero columns (36" and 27") because I also was getting a Wolf range, so the pricing discounts added up. And I wanted my kids to be able to access items in the drawers as they got older. But if I were doing it over again and was willing to spend even more money, I would probably have gone with the Miele fridge and freezer and a Bluestar. The functionality of the Miele looks good when I looked at them in a showroom.

Also, the Miele will give you a beautiful, integrated look.

Good luck with your decision.

With respect to your layout --> Mine is somewhat similar. I'm happy to share it if you're interested, but you can google it to read the critiques.

1) Consider one single, large sink in your cleanup area vs. a double bowl. (There are tons of threads on this.)
2) Consider a prep sink in your island near your range.
3) Are you sure you're OK going to the server to get items out of the freezer? It looks like you have the room to put both fridge and freezer columns side-by-side.

You likely will get some other good comments on the Kitchens forum.

Thx for the reply j. Found your plans, going to have a better look in the morning, thx. Might ping you with a question or two if that's ok.

I looked at the Miele, I have to admit the price gives me a little sticker shock. Around 9k for the 36 fridge (I'm in Canada) and the freezers start at 7k. The fridge is palatable, but the freezer is up there. For 9-10k i could get the 48 SZ. The integrated freezer is overkill for the pantry, for my needs.

Re: your last suggestions, I agree with 1 and 2, the sketch was done by the architect and I've refined my thinking since he and I started. No updated kitchen sketch yet, the KD/cabinet makers are working on it. Re 3, I think I'm ok with the freezer in the pantry, although having the ice maker in there gives me a little pause. I don't have a ton of cabinet room, so I'm hesitant to get a separate ice maker. On that note, I'm looking at splitting the fridge and freezer up to have more room on the fridge wall. I'll trim the size of that desk down, but I can't get the wife to eliminate it.

I'll post the sketches from the KD/CM guys when I get them in the kitchen forum for some feedback.

3waller, yes, those Mieles are expensive! But not too much more than the Subzeros. I think the usable space is better, too. It's worth you seeing them in a showroom. And maybe the 36" Miele with bottom freezer will work for you if you put in a beverage fridge in the servery? BTW, I am not in any way associated with Miele :-) -- just think their products are great, and now am wishing I had considered them more instead of my Subzero (which I still like).

You are good to listen to your wife, the desk area is obviously important to her!

Feel free to ping me. If I'm slow in responding, just give me some time, I have three kids under 4 and also am doing a whole-house reno...I am crazy for doing this!

hey 3waller, i was having a tough time deciding on refrigeration myself and recently made a decision which I think will work for me. Originally I was considering the 27" all fridge and 27" all freezer by subzero. These two units would have the cabinet panels on them and be divided in the center by a 27" pantry. I was concerned that the 27" fridge was too small for my family of 5 so I began searching other options. My wife and I came across the Miele 30" all refrigerator in a showroom and fell in love with it. It is a stunning piece inside and out. I have had Sub zero in the past and the miele just seems better built, better to look at a better usable space inside, of course all my opinion. However, after looking further into it, the Miele only offers a 18" freezer (too small), and the next size is a 30" freezer (too large for us) So I was disappointed. After researching a bit more I decide to get the 30" fridge by Miele and a 24" freezer by Thermadore. These units will both be covered on front so you would not be able to see a difference and because of my layout with the pantry in the center this option is possible. After calling the salesman he informed me that people do this combination quite often because Miele lacks the 24" all freezer. So in the end I wind up with the sizes I want and actually save a decent amount of money on the freezer end. From what I understand Thermadore is a solid product but may have lacked in the past with their service, I was informed that they have been correcting this issue and it is something I was willing to risk by purchasing their product. Hope this gives you a potential option. Good luck.

Thanks NY, I will look into the termador, and still vetting the Miele with the wife. I think the 30 fridge would be big enough, especially if I put a bev fridge in the (small) servery. However, the wife makes a good point that not having at least a 36" space for the fridge could hurt us on resale. If we put the 36 in there they could put in a fridge/freezer if they didn't like our setup. Can't disagree with her on this one, so leaning towards the 36 and skipping the bev fridge. Wine cellar and fridge in bar in the basement should give us enough overflow/beer room. Still welcoming more input on this, it drives a lot of other decisions with the cabinets.

Does anyone have the cubic feet for the miele all fridges and freezers? I'm trying to figure out a good layout, and am currently looking at sub zero, northland ,and frigidare. The frigidaires are really quite inexpensive (2.5K for a 32 inch freezer and 32 inch fridge). The northlands, sub zeros, and mieles look REALLY good, but I want to get a feel for how much space the have in each. I think the frigidaires contain about 19 cu ft (at least in the refrig).