The Miele speed ovens will serve quite well as a microwave so long as you can live without the popcorn/defrost/dedicated functions available with one button push. The unit does have a minute plus button that will, with one push, start the microwave, so you can do a coffee reheat, melt butter, etc. But for more complex microwaving, you need to go into the menu structure to select power, duration, etc. But it is an excellent microwave. Instead of turning the food on a turntable, it turns the antenna! The big charm of the things is that they can convection bake, broil, or microwave, or all of the above, concurrently. There are modes you can dial up that will heat up the oven cavity using the heating elements and then inject some microwaves periodically, greatly speeding up the baking, but with results like the dish was baked in a standard oven. Our speed oven has taken over as the go-to oven in our house for most stuff. It won't do pizza very well (you need bottom heat for that) but for most dinners where you are serving one baked dish with sides, it rocks. Here's the deal, though. If you decide on a speed oven you will have to plan for a 220-240V circuit to power it.

If you have a family of 4 and cook enough to warrant a 48" range I would strongly suggest 24" dishwasher. 18" dishwashers are for San Francisco/Manhattan singles. If DW noise is your primary concern there is the panel ready Bosch SHV7ER53UC for about $1200 that is just 1DB louder than the TOL Miele. Miele is a better bet for long term durability,cleaning with hard water,and superior service.There is the TOL panel ready Bosch SHV9ER53UC that is about 2 db quieter than the TOL Miele but you are looking at $1800. At this point I would spend $1749 for the Miele Futura Dimension Series G5570SCVi even though it is a little louder. I would have a salesman show how to clean a VAH. It has to be done more often than a baffled hood and is a PITA IMO.If you are looking at one of the nicer VAH I would look at Independent,Modern Air,and Prestige.If looking at lower end VAH Kobe or Zephyr are good alternatives. This "our Magic CFMs are more powerfull than their CFMs" is BS IMO. If you get one get one where the nominal power matches your needs. Most poeple don't turn on their hood when their gas oven is on. They do turn on to remove heat and maybe effluent when baking something smelly like fish. I don't recall anyone having a problem with gas toxic byproduct sufficient enough to require venting. Therefore making an electric oven/dual fuel a superior choice for this reason. I suppose if you have one of new uber-Green and uber-airtight LEED homes gas oven byproduct may be a concern. Ranges. I would look at all the Capital Culinarian and Bluestar threads in the Appliance forum.

Have you checked with manufacturers of RV's or mobile homes? They use small appliances and have many hints for using small spaces. Do you have space for a roll up dishwasher? Hooks up to the sink when in use and rolls over to the wall when not in use. Mother had a roll up/mobile dishwasher AND a roll up/mobil clothes washer in her kitchen....she couldn't add plumbing and this was the best way for her.

It's been several days since I have posted, but that is because I have been giving these ideas much thought and have been talking to many professionals. What is your style? Do you have pics saved in an idea book of the look you are going for? This is an excellent question. I have looked at thousands of pictures of kitchens, and I haven't seen one that I can say, "That's exactly what I'm going for." So, to best answer your question, I'll show you the materials I'd like to use: ginger maple shaker fronts, white solid surface counter, "oak" LVP flooring, "painted" backsplash tile, and, if I keep some wall on both sides dividing the kitchen and dining room, I'd put the blue paint in the kitchen, yellow above the chair rail and the blue below in the dining room, and yellow on the walls of the rest of the main floor. So I'm not sure what you'd call it - transitional? Although I am very excited about being able to see and chat with people at the dining table while I am cleaning up in the kitchen, I think I do prefer having the more traditional mental division between kitchen and dining room with even just stub walls, and I do like the chair rail, if I am able to keep a bit of wall on the sides. Maybe that is the very definition of transitional? But practical matters of the small house and large family and a limited budget must be considered above my personal preferences. Although the contractor said "it doesn't cost that much to reduce the bulkhead," "it doesn't cost that much to move the sliding glass door," and "it doesn't cost that much to move pipes for the clean-up sink," all of it together - with the cabinet vendor that he uses - did cost much. He just came out this afternoon to do some measurements and discuss ways to reduce cost. This plan below is what I discussed with him: (1) Instead of messing with the bulkhead at all, keeping the wall only as far as the depth of the bulkhead (about 23"), but then have little to no wall on the other side. I can't have 23" on the other side for symmetry, because that wouldn't leave enough room to walk around people seated at the table, but I'm hoping that would look fine if we put cabinets up to the ceiling in the corner where the bulkhead is. He liked this idea a lot, because you just don't know what's in there. (BTW, I offered to pay him to open it up and see, but he won't open it up to have a look, or do any work at all, until a full contract is signed, first payment given, and cabinets ordered.) He did warn, however, that the cost of the cabinets and counter there will probably cost about the same as what he was including for reducing the bulkhead - so this solution does give more storage, it doesn't actually save any money. (2) Instead of a sliding glass door, put in a 30" standard door using the opening for the existing window in the dining room. A sliding door would be much better than a swinging door that hits those seated at the table, but it will be rare that we have people seated while others are going in and out, so I'll do it if it saves a lot of $$. He loved this idea, and said it would save me about $1000, but when I asked about what he'd recommend about the HVAC register that is currently on he floor in front of the window, he said it would be too costly to move it, and I should just leave it. It seems the register plate would get kicked up and rusted with traffic in and out, so I am not sure how good of a solution this is, after all. (3) I thought having a pantry closet with shelves and doors would save money over the cost of cabinets and countertop in that alcove, but he said the labor to put the shelves, doors and drywall would be more, so I'll go back to the cabinets. (4) Lose the second dishwasher. If I have a prep sink, it won't be so bad having one dishwasher with dishes piling up in the clean-up sink. As you can see below, I'm concerned about clearances and flow; losing the dishwasher will cut the cost some but also will give better clearances if I have to keep the 23" of wall below the bulkhead. I played with a few designs with two dishwashers and only one sink, but none of them seemed to work nearly as well as this one. Bbtrix - the range is centered in this design :-) and I'd love to know if you think if the stub wall that would stick out about 6" would still create a strange divide between the dishwasher and door, now that the dishwasher and door are much further away from each other. He liked this idea, but it still requires moving pipes, so let's hope that "doesn't cost that much." (5) I've fallen in love with the white solid surface countertops and the painted backsplash I pictured above, but I may just have to go to laminate countertops with the 4" backsplash if that saves thousands of dollars. He recommended granite over laminate or solid surface. Many granites are beautiful, but my countertops are primarily a work surface that functions better if it is light-colored and simple, and I find granite dark and very busy, and the few granites that are lighter in color seem to stain easily. I've heard laminates have come a long way, I just liked solid surface more because it's more reparable, doesn't have seams, the integrated sink, and I like the soft feel of it - maybe that's not worth the extra $$. Thanks to everyone who has stuck with me and has been liking my comments - I warned in my subject line that this would be a challenge, but I had no idea what I was getting myself into!