my genious idea was to gather a thread that will contain only information no chat about subject. this you can't find in here. I had to try to realize that it's not possible to be done since there will always be person to chat in thread. thats ok it's not possible and I learned from it and move on. see when I came here the first time I got a lot of information and still today but after a while I realized that I spend a lot of time to search for answers. That's normal but being a techky worker I learn from thick dense information manual and figured that newbie could have a good benefits from one subject thread(no chat). This would help reduce the duplication of questions. it's not everybody that know how to search it's a learning curve even or me. thats all right... I pretend that life is a question of degrees 360 degres of perspectives for one situation while we can handle only few of them ;o) that's why now i build my own bible on the subject from thousands of users ;o) later will build my web site to share with people the document.

Marcolo and Blfenton, the box thing in the southeast corner is just that, a box constructed out of drywall to take up the corner. I hate blind corner cabinets, so I would rather "waste" the corner entirely rather than spending money on corner cabinetry I hate, especially since it lets me put more efficient drawer storage on each side of the corner. It also allows me to have tall cabinetry on the east wall and uppers and lowers on the south wall, without having an issue where they meet in the corner. I might put a door in the guest room wall to utilize the 27" x 27" space from the other side to store items we do not need to get to often, like luggage. I agree that having the wall ovens 4' away from the nearest landing spot on the island is not ideal, but it is a big improvement over the 7' walk between wall ovens and counters in our current kitchen. If we move the wall ovens to the east wall, there is still at least a 4' walk to the island. Amanda, the trash pullout and dishwasher are on opposite sides of the sink cabinet. I will also have storage for dishes, Rubbermaid containers, plastic wrap, etc. on the south wall. That way, after meals, the plates and pots all go to the counter next to the sink, leftovers can be packaged, dishes can be scraped into the trash and then go into the dishwasher. When I empty the dishwasher, the dish storage is on uppers on that wall. It sounds like cooktops on islands are not popular. I agree it is not ideal, but it was the only way to get the entire wall of tall cabinets on the east side. My DH loves the look of that wall, and that wall will be highly visible from our kitchen and dining room. I would prefer a real hood to a downdraft vent, but, then again, I have lived without a proper hood for 10 years. Mahlgold, I am having trouble balancing the look we want with function. We plan to do prep on the island and the counter to the left of the sink. Those 2 areas give us more counter space than we have had in any prior kitchen. We do not own a coffee maker or toaster oven. Our only countertop appliances are a KA mixer, small toaster and blender. The mixer and blender will go under the uppers to the left of the sink (mixer in far left corner on an angle). The toaster could also go on that counter, or maybe behind the lift door on the left side of the east wall along with bread storage. We only do breakfast and lunch at home 1 or 2 days per week. I am not sure how many or how deep of drawers to put in the tall cabinets. I drew each side with 5, but it could be 3 or 4. This kitchen has so many more lower cabinets than we have ever had before, that I am not sure what to put in all of them. On the right side tall cabinet, I thought I would want a couple of shallow drawers at the top to store extra trays for the Advantium, pot holders (those will be kept in 3 different locations near all the hot appliances) and wine tools like the opener, Vacu-vin, etc. Maybe a drawer for DH's vast tea bag and leaf collection and related tools. We could put all the empty baby bottles and plastic plates for the kids in a drawer in that tower or on the south wall. On the left side tall cabinet, I could use the drawers to store pyrex, roasting pans, pie tins and other baking dishes that might not fit in the drawers below the wall oven. My stove top pots and pans and utensils will go in drawers below or next to the cooktop on the island, as I have several feet of drawers on the south side of the island. The wall ovens were put on the north wall (where they are in the current kitchen) because they are less attractive to look at. Also, if we get the side opening Gagg ovens, they would be difficult to place in the east wall because they need at least 8" between the hinge side of the oven and an adjacent wall, so we could not put them at the very end of a cabinet run. It is also tricky because we are trying to find space for 3 wall ovens: standard 30" convection oven, speedoven/microwave, and steam oven. They are too tall to stack all together in one column and still have at useful heights. I will use the speedoven/microwave more than once a day, so I would be miserable having that oven below countertop height. I also hope to use the combi-steam oven regularly. I feel like we should have 1 full size oven, but that one will get the least use (I very rarely bake or cook large meals), so I could buy the Thermador wall oven with the standard door and put it under the counter somewhere and stack the other 2 together on a wall. The problem with swapping all the cooling appliances to the north wall and the pantry to the east wall as was suggested is that the pantry is only 16-18" deep and the appliances are 24" deep, which would prevent us from having a 24" deep coat closet on the hall side of that space. (We really need a coat closet because the house does not have one now.) I will think about whether we can steal coat space from another room, like the guest room. I am debating the idea of a prep sink on the island. DH looked at me like I was crazy when I suggested a second sink 5' away from the main sink. We do not use the sink a lot for prep. We rinse the veggies, but then put them on a cutting board and move it to where we want to work. We use a large bowl to collect veggie or meat waste when we peel, chop and trim. Sadly, we do not have any family in this state, so no one brings us food to prepare. It is just DH and I in the kitchen now, although we hope our two daughters will like to cook as they get older.

Cherylmass, Welcome to GW. You have a wonderful space to work with. Very exciting!!! YES, rethink your ideas on countertops. You are in New England and can easily find soapstone. On top of that you love the look. Soapstone is a chef's friend, that is why Queen Paula Deen uses it in her place. Chipping??? It will be worse with a quartz, laminate or even granite. The repair will be harder to do. But soapstone can often be sanded down by you. Far easier to repair if on ocassion you violently bump it with a giant pan. And Soapstone is sturdy stuff. It is not as fragile as some may believe. The right soapstone can work for you if this is what you love. I too agree with Skyelily24 that you should get what you love. This is YOUR kitchen to enjoy and create. Don't be rushed. I have honed granite called Virginia Jet Mist. I wanted soapstone but feel in love with Jet Mist. SS can be pricey. Jet mist looks similar to soapstone but works like granite. I have no issues with finger prints or oil marks... Here are some links about Soapstone. ~boxerpups Soapstone wear and tear questions GW http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/kitchbath/msg0616035313041.html Life with Soapstone GW http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/kitchbath/msg0815275631359.html Soapstone questions GW http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/kitchbath/msg072015087866.html Here is a link that might be useful: Virginia Jet Mist pictures

Added previewing photos / info for MLS Agent Questions Name - ____________________________________________________________________________________ Office Name ________________________________________________________________________________ Office Phone ________________________________________________________________________________ 1) How many homes have you sold in my area? ___________________________________________________ Do you cover other towns / zip codes? YES NO Explain: ___________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________ 2) How much is your commission? _____________________________________________________________ 3) What percentage do you give a buyers agent if you do not bring a buyer in? __________________________________________________________________________________________ 4) Is it negotiable if you bring a buyer? ___________________________________________________________________________________________ 5) What if I bring in a buyer with advertising I do? __________________________________________________ 6) How long is the contract going to be? 3 months ____________ 6 months__________ 7) If I am not happy for any reason will I be able to break the contract? YES_____ NO_____ 8) How long will it take for the contract to be voided? _______________________________________________ 9) What is the proceedure that needs to be followed if I am not happy? ________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________ 10) Where do you rank on the MLS? ___________________________________________________________ 11) Where do you rank on the office team? ______________________________________________________ 12) Do you work with the military?______ Yes _______ No ___________ 13) Are you or your office listed at base housing? ________Yes _______No__________ 14) How long have you been in the business? ____________________________________________________ *Note - if the agent is new, ask about their background.... Do they have marketing knowledge / training? ___________________________________________________ Do they have web site training? _______________________________________________________________ 15) Are you full time, part time, do you work another job? ___________________________________________ 16) How many houses a year do you sell__________how many do you list______________________________ 17) Do you do OPEN HOUSEs or AGENTs OPEN HOUSES / LUNCHEONs? YES / NO ___________________________________________________________________________________________ 18) If we have an open house, when should I expect feedback? ________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ 19) Will the feedback be a phone call or email? ____________________________________________________ 20) How often will you touch base with me to give me information about our listing? ___________________________________________________________________________________________ 21) Do you have your own web site, in addition to the agent link on the office web site? YES / NO Web site URL _______________________________________________________________________________ 22) How much of your business comes from the web site? ________________________% 23) Do you use email? YES ______ NO ________ 24) Do you pay for enhanced listings with multiple pictures on Realtor.com? ____YES____ NO _______________ 25) Do you do featured listings on realtor.com? YES / NO _____________________________________________ 26) What kind of advertising do you do and where? __________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ 27) Do you advertise in the newspaper? If so which ones? ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ 28) Do you advertise price drops in the paper (Sunday only)? YES / NO 29) Do you advertise open houses in the paper (Friday Sunday)? YES / NO 30) Do you use an info box? YES / NO 31) Do you have an assistant? YES / NO 32) If an assistant: who is the one I would be dealing with for questions, feedback and such? Explain assistants role ___________________________________________________________________________________________ 33) If I need to speak with the listing agent for something, how is that handled? ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ 34) When an offer comes in, who does the negotiating, the agent or the assistant? 35) How much would you list our house for? _______________________________________________________ 36) Who takes your photos? ____________________________________________________________________ May I preview the photo / info before it goes on the MLS to check for accuracy and to make sure the photos show my house at it's best? ____________________________________________ How long will it take to fix things like removal of bad photos and/or spelling errors? ___________________________________________________________ 37) Would you consider using a profession photographer for photos? YES / NO 38) Do you use virtual Tours? YES / NO 39) Do you use a stager? YES / NO 40) Do you feel there is something we can do to make the house more desirable to sell? ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ 41) Anything else you would like me to know? ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________