Okay, this is where I'm at right now. Let me know if you think I'm on target now. The only thing I'm unsure about it where to go refrigeration wise if I can't make the Thermador Freedom columns work in my kitchen. What's the best fridge quality wise if going with a side-by-side while not having the stomach to pay Sub Zero money. Kitchen Aid or Jenn Air pro? I have a two year old Jenn Air in my current kitchen (Amana with the fancy handles). Also, is it a no-no to do a built in look and have the water and ice in the door? I know it looks better without but man I'm going to hate to have to open a door to get ice and water. Appliance worksheet Option 1 1. Wolf Range top RT366 2. Wolf single or double wall oven SO30F/S - Classic Stainless Framed or DO30F/S - Classic Stainless Framed 3. Sharp microwave in kitchen island 4. Thermador dishwasher (Bosch) DWHD64EP 5. Thermador freedom collection fresh food and freezer columns Option 2 Wolf Range DF366 - 6 burners Sharp microwave in kitchen island Thermador dishwasher (Bosch) DWHD64EP Thermador freedom collection fresh food and freezer columns

If you want a range, bet the range. Your ovens are old, anyway (not that new ovens are necessarily as good). It shouldn't be too hard to make a temporary cabinet for your drop in that could be switched out for a freestanding range if you leave a little margin, but the measurements of the specific appliance are necessary for a slide-in, and the counter top has to be fitted around it and all. You can transition from white to stainless a bit at a time. The two look okay together, so long as they both look okay in your kitchen. If you don't like the white, however, don't bother with the white warming drawer. It might be worth checking to see if the white Dacor can convert to panel. My "panel ready" Monogram warming drawer is just the stainless one which you can take the front off of, that comes with a red plastic disk to put over the light if you want to drill out the custom panel. Re fridge drawers, it depends on your usage. I have them for my prep area, for produce for cooking, milk and butter for cooking, and sometimes for large pots of things that have been cooked. I have a 30" Miele fridge (tall, integrated) as well. Other people use drawers in a snack area for the kids to get their own drinks and snacks without opening the main fridge, or a bar/coffee area for beverages. Another few put them in the breakfast room for things that are used at the table, like milk, butter, juice, condiments, etc. Perlick makes great big horizontal refrigerators that have quite a few drawers. Same capacity as a standard fridge, including some freezer drawers. Some people just put in a series of drawer units. This is done when they don't want uppers to block views, for wheelchair bound folks, etc. If you truly have a limited budget, however, I'd put the money toward the range you really want. You can probably get a good price for the nearly new drop in, if you sell it. Refrigerator drawers are expensive! They're a great convenience, but not necessary, especially if you have another refrigerator as well.

Thanks all for your very helpful input - I too am very interested in the responses. We're doing a complete rebuild of our kitchen. The contractor is now able to start 2 months early so we're ramping up rapidly! We were just in the appliance store and looking at the following: - AEG induction cooktop - Fisher & Paykel counter-depth french door fridge - Fisher & Paykel wall oven - Bosch dishwasher - model with the top cutlery rack - Panasonic microwave - pull-out vent hood I didn't write down all the model numbers, too confused after a while, so just waiting for the estimate to come in. We have a $10K CAD budget and I know we're getting a good discount as the Bosch was listed at around $1500 and she said we'd be getting it for around $1000. We picked the FP fridge mostly because we loved the handle profile and stainless look and colour. We're waffling on the FP wall oven as it's very black (cabinets will be white slab, perimeter and island counters likely Vicostone sparkling grey) plus getting conflicting reports on if FP wall ovens are good or not - plus review of FP fridge not being cold enough. However some of the other wall ovens were quite a bit more expensive so not sure we can afford them. The store (Midland Appliances in Vancouver) is getting an AEG wall oven in a week so we're going back to see it when it's in. We want the Bosch dishwasher as it's very, very quiet. We've had 2 Bosch DW in the past. Unfortunately the first died after 3 years - apparently we used too much liquid soap, our water is very soft and it corroded? through the plastic line out, we burnt out the motor running it full of water?? But we liked the quietness and operation so much we still bought another Bosch last year. The new one with the top cutlery rack doesn't actually wash as well as our 2010 model but we're still getting it again because of the quietness. Loved the Miele speed oven with convention and microwave but way too expensive. We thought we could combine the microwave and toaster oven in one appliance but for the price, we could buy 10 of each so that was a non-starter. Just going with a big Panasonic MW that we will put under the island counter hopefully. If anyone has experience with any of our current choices, especially with FP, would very much appreciate it.

Couple comments (without knowing your room dimensions). I am assuming that since you are replacing a set of doors, you are planning on moving plumbing. If I had this room, I would be tempted to put the trash, dw and sink in the island facing the FR and make the area under the window a drawer bank and MW area instead. Might give you room for large pot drawers instead of the small cab you have planned. Also, any chance you can make that island a wee bit deeper or longer? Seating looks kind of tight. Do you have a separate pantry area? Where is your food/bulk storage? Some things to think about. It would be much easier to help if you showed the room dimensions.