Thanks for sharing... Regarding the Bosch Axxis washer & dryer there just are not many choices in a cabinet depth washer dryer that can offer 3.4 cu. ft. capacity. The Asko, Blomberg, GE, Maytag, Miele and Whirlpool are all between 2.0-2.6 cu.ft. The Miele and Asko units are more towards +$2k and above. I have some space constraints and need a stackable cabinet depth unit into a 30" cabinet (room for vent). A full sized unit would stick out. Any other suggestions that have good performance, compact size, stackable with reasonable capacity? And yes, I meant a pneumatic switch and not an air gap for the Miele. Thanks

My lessons learned... aren't great, but maybe they can help. Probably silly, but I learned a lesson there somewhere. :) I have to second, third, fourth, and fifth the previous comment re: fridge. We didn't think of this in our last house and bought a big side-by-side fridge. Guess what. It went along the wall, so we never could open the freezer door any further than 90 degrees. NEVER even dawned on us before it was too late. If you will have built-in appliances, do your cabinetry choices allow for small adjustments? E.g. what if that great micro drawer breaks, and the newer model is 1/4" too wide? Have you specifiedvertical/horizontal installation of handles/pulls? This may sound really silly, but our first cabinet shop installed the cup pulls SIDEWAYS, so they opened to the long edge of the cabinet. What?! They claimed they were sure we had discussed that... and no where on my order had we specified. In addition to opening fridge doors, make sure you can access more than one appliance at a time (if needed, depending on number in family, etc.) Also make sure your walkways are ample enough that you can comfortably access your appliances without having to do the hokey-pokey around your island, etc. I've recently discovered the importance of cabinetry placement relative to dishwasher exhaust, or vice-versa, as my parents recently discovered their birch cabinets have bowed due to a side exhaust dishwasher. Ok, this one is more on the appliance side, but still something I just never would have thought about. Make sure you know the exact formulation of the stain that will be used, or if it is "proprietary", buy some to have on hand. Touch ups, future additions, etc. will be very hard to match unless you know exactly what you're dealing with. Sorry this isn't much help, and kind of all over the place, but hard lessons to learn! :)

Some notes on the install I used M. Texeira in Hackensack, NJ .. they gave me a good price, a small sale discount (10% vs. the 15% I would have liked) and covered some additional sqft that appeared after templating at no charge ... all in all - very nice and professional on the sale side Templating was done in Hackensak at the fab workshop (vs. the main office) ... we went and choose what sections to use for which pieces based on how the clear template revealaed the features in the stone we liked ... our primary focus was the slab used in the peninsula and we tried to get the highest concentration of green "sworls" that we could in that piece after fabrication, an unfortunate installer accident resulted in the large slab used for the peninsula cracking along the two of the veins ... rather than being one piece - it actually is three ... it remains to be seen whether the patch job that they used will be acceptable, but it is not easily apparent to the uninformed eye or finger ... the installer ("Jose") from M. Texeira owned up to it right away and offered to replace the slab at no charge but the replacement would take a week to fabricate ... Tex sent Leo up from the fab shop and he assessed the damage and monitored the repair and install all afternoon ... we left it at "I'll see if this patch/glue job works and reserve the right to have you come back and replace the one you broke at a future date" ... after the accident, I feel that M Tex did a good job of owning and fixing the problem ... Hopefully I made the right choice Some small issues - the undermount sink is slightly offcenter and not siliconed in ... the small slab to the left of the range is light enough to move easily and not affixed to the counter ... there is a gash in the new paint to the side of the sink corner that needs repair All in all, the broken peninsula slab has me concerned but the repair may be an acceptable fix ... a reduction in the invoice would be a welcome accomodation to address the defect

Sadie, It must feel good! My HB kitchen/LR/powder room remodel is about 90% done. When finished, I will post pictures. The fireplace surround still needs concrete and steel pieces to complete it. The powder room still needs the faucet/lights/toilet etc. I have a very customized desk area. My husband is a guy who does not really have a lot of design sense. Even he is over the top with the result. I think that is saying alot. Over the years, I have converted him to a lover of minimalistic design. We worked without an architect and my husband is the GC on this project. I thought that the designer was going to have a heart attack at first. But when she realized that we knew what we were doing (learning by trial and error from previous expensive remodels WITH GCs that were useless....), things moved along. Because of the customization and our peculiar shape of the room, the measurements were very detailed and exact, as you mentioned.... I strongly suggest that you go with the installer that they recommend. They vet/train the installers so it's done right. If the reveals are messed up, then the look is completely ruined. For example, my countertop guy wanted to overhang it by 1 inch, ie standard overhang for a traditional looking kitchen. I say absolutely NO. (that was our job since we did not have a GC or architect!) You must follow the detailed "spec"... If you get an installer that does what he/she wants to do and not follow the spec, then the look will be ruined! If the installer is not sure how it should be done, then he/she has to spend the time to check with the designer for every little detail which are quite different from more traditional looking cabinets. I worked with the head designer in Seattle, who really designed HB product line and the Viola Park line. She is amazingly good! The build quality is amazing. Every trade person that has come in has remarked on the buld quality of these cabinets. I wish you the best with your construction. Mold remediation.. Yikes!