Hello everyone. Thanks for the responses. Live Wire Oak-- I think the Frigidaire is made by Electrolux. It says Electrolux inside it. Also, its the largest all refrigerator/all freezer units that don't cost upwards of $3K each. I love the look of the units side by side when they are built into a cabinet and the trim kit is used. I hope they operate as well as they look. Thanks :) AKChicago- I thought long and hard about the built in microwave, but thought it the lesser of the two evils of either the built in MW or the combo with the wall oven (built together). Those are really the only two options I considered for my kitchen (mostly for the look). I actually picked out all these appliances myself. My builder wasn't involved. Weissman- My thought exactly. The dishwasher performing very well is very important to me, so it was imperative that I find a great one. I think I have in the Asko. It has great reviews. The fridge and freezer just need to cool, freeze, and have spill proof shelves, and hold a lot. I think I have accomplished all I need in the Frigidaire, with a great built in look (built into my cabinetry and with the trim kit). Footballmom- I didn't know about the lowered BTU's. I'll have to ask some questions about that. Thanks :) And also the fan. Its actually a 36" cabinet above but the cabinetmaker says the bigger vent hood will not fit. I would like to double check. hilferty77- I also wonder about the Electrolux/Frigidaire vs the Electrolux Icon.

Hey Pluckymama, Did you ever get any pictures of the WZ? I would love to see it. Still deciding between that and the sonoma. Dh thought the sample of the WZ was so shiny, but he is leaving the decision up to me. I'm not doing the mosaic and was wondering if I should even do something behind the range. It's only a 30 inch and the range isn't even centered in the kitchen. It's not a huge space and I'm wondering if I should just keep it simple with the subways in a running bond pattern. I use so many accessories, colors and flowers thru the seasons. It's nice to have a neutral backdrop for that. The sonoma tile does come in 1" by 2" herringbone sheets, so I could do that behind the range. Thoughts? One salesperson thought I wouldn't really have enoough space with a 30 inch range to do mamadadapaige's herringbone with the 2x6. Here is the picture of the 1x2 sonoma, although it's not in the right color.

I love black appliances and I did have a mix of SS and black for about 3 weeks and did not mind it at all. In fact, I kind of liked it. My stainless steel solid surface electric cooktop is, of course, black and the sides of stainless fridge are black, my built-in microwave was black. The dishwasher was black. Dishwasher went out during our upgrade of countertop and backsplash, so that was easy to move to stainless and as fate would have it, three weeks after the upgrade was complete, the microwave went out and we replaced it with stainless and I had no aversion to going to a mix for the long haul, but as it worked out it was a short haul. Personally, I prefer black over stainless just as I like other surfaces better than granite, but sometimes the man writing the check gets to pick some of the stuff. I also did not like the black sink when I had it in another house in another life, and in this house even with the black appliances, we immediately changed to a stainless sink (which we had done in the former house) as well. I think black and stainless are a good mix and match whereas some colors just do not do that well. Red, I love that Halcyon color and it will give your beautiful red kitchen a new look. (You have such great taste and that tile is to die for). I loved my red kitchen too but now I am loving my dry sage kitchen just as well. I am sure one day I will tire of that and perhaps, if and when that happens, I can find a pretty wheat color that I will fall in love with.

Yes, our water is really hard and seems to eat the insides out of appliances. We're on our 3rd water heater, 3rd dishwasher, and 2nd washer in the 15 years we've been here. We've come home to water spewing out of various appliances a couple of times. That door on the back wall is the water heater closet. Our current water heater has lasted longer than any of the others, and I told dh the other day we should probably replace it now just because we're probably living on borrowed time with it. The washer and dishwasher are fairly new. And I really hope to be out of here before they go. Maybe after speaking ill of the water heater, I should stay up all night too. I'm almost there now anyway.