Be aware that the Bellwether has two types of tubs. At least last year they did. The original has a slanted front end as well as a back end. It looks great but reduces the bottom length of the tub. It also requires a longer spout to reach the drain hole. I imagine the plumbing would need reworked too to accommodate the atypical drain placement. Typical spout is something like 9" and the need for the original Bellwether is something like 11" to cl drain, if I remember correctly. The (new version) Bellwether is not a good height for soaking. Kohler considers the new Bellwether more of a builders model, as it can fit into a standard alcove setup, no special fixtures. I don't think it is as wide at the original version either. The 5' original Bellwether had one of the shortest lengths of any of ther 5' cast iron models. The new version, while shallow like the Villager, has one of the longest bottoms of the 5' lengths. I know you are looking at the 5.5' and so this may not matter to you. It would be best if you could sit in a tub or two to see how they fit. People regularly make a different decision once they sit in one and can get a feel for the dimensions. I have the (new version) Bellwether in the 5' length and love it, but it is not the primary bathroom. It is in a room that is more of a guest bathroom, and can be used for bathing small children and pets. It would also make a great tub for a tub/shower setup. I wanted a lower tub like the Villager. But I didn't like the looks of the Villager. I am very happy with my shallow Bellwether (new version)

For what you are planning, even $40 a foot is IMHO lower end pricing with most likely average results. Some shops might be desperate in the current economy, but even so, I doubt you would find an excellent one at those rates. You have a custom cut kitchen with laminated and profiled edges, an undermount sink and multiple seams (unless, of course, you have outsized materials, which I doubt. Indian slabs could be fairly big, but largest I have seen would be around 12 feet max) If you want a great looking job, be prepared to pay for it. Ask the stone guys for references and actually go and look at previous installs. Talk to the people (clients) and see how they feel about the performance of the stone company. It is very easy for a bad fabricator to screw up a perfect piece of stone. Speaking of which: Will your outdoor kitchen be subject to direct sunlight at all? Juperanas as a rule, come resined and the resin is not UV stable enough to fare good in a sunlit environment. Untreated Juperanas - if you could still find any - are extremely porous and would need either a very good sealer or repeated applications of sealer, because an outdoor environment is very harsh and would degrade sealers at a much faster rate than found in indoor applications.

The issues, I see, to having a butcher block insert into a surface are that (1) you are "stuck" with it always being there and (2) it cannot (usually) be moved if it's needed elsewhere. Granted, the second issue is easily taken care of by having multiple cutting boards, but the first is still an issue...at least it would be for me. I like the versatility of being able to do anything on any part of my counters w/o worrying about having to "treat" a portion of them differently or not being able to use a portion of them for some tasks. As to a 36" aisle - that can work if (1) there is no traffic in the aisle (through the kitchen from one room to the next OR passing through the aisle when moving b/w two work zones) and (2) only one person is working in the space (side-by-side at the same counter might be OK with a 36" aisle, but butt-to-butt/working across from each other would be an issue). Cotehele, I have a question about your stools & island height. Your island appears to be lowered, are you using stools for counter-height seating? If so, how are they working out? Is there an issue with room b/w the seat of the stool and the bottom of the island? Is there enough room to sit there w/o the top of a person's legs rubbing up against the bottom of the island frame? Your kitchen looks very nice, btw (I don't know if I've told you that before!)

selfridge74, I wish I could upload too as we are quite pleased with it all. But I pulled out my Bathroom file just now and it is actually called a 36 " not 32" shower. I guess the larger distance from corner to outer curve. It is MAAX Intuition Neo round 36" on this link. http://www.maax.com/en/products/shower-doors/corner/intuition-neoround The round ones are more fully rounded while these have a bit of a straight edge from each wall, then round out at the front only. It's a bit of a space saver. You can get plastic interior walls or just the floor and door and tile it, which we did. To the left of our shower we put our vanity with the back against same wall as shower and left side against the wall. There is a 6" gap between the right side of the vanity and the shower base, so its easy to clean in between them and doesn't look crowded. On the other side of the shower, (right angle, is our toilet on the short 5'5" wall. We got a Foremost Allery which had very good ratings, was one of the few round bowl designs so the bowl doesn't protrude quite as much, but elongated would still be OK. It is a skirted one piece that we quite like. Hard to explain it all but on the opposite wall of the vanity is the door. A regular 28" wide door and it swings into the bathroom. To the right of the door on the same wall that cut in 14" is a lovely little corner wall cabinet with rounded front. It fits in that little nook where the wall changes. It matches our vanity and gives us extra storage. They are made by a Canadian company in Quebec called Luxo Design. Our cabinet is still in their catalogue. It called Winter. The little corner unit that matched came from the Moonlight design, but was the same high gloss white and a perfect match. On the Winter cabinet we removed the sink that came with it as it didn't allow fitting against two walls. We put granite and a bowl sink on it. Here is a link to the company. http://www.luxodesign.ca/index.php?page=produits Sorry verbal description is very hard. It likely makes no sense! The end result was a pretty stylish small bathroom that is completely functional.