I think it's a great idea when you have the space. Especially since it seems to be a regular kitchen activity for you. I have an upright freezer in my laundry room, steps away from my all-fridge in my kitchen. We, also, eat a lot of fresh produce and the average fridge couldn't accommodate it all well and we had the freezing problem, too. So glad that doesn't happen anymore! I want to put drawers or small fridge in an area that we'd use as our beverage center to keep the rest of the family out of my work area, so I think your plan is stellar!

I don't like that bit of granite there at all. On our wall similar to that, we used a piece of wood veneer stained and finished to match out cabinets. The other end wall on that run was a tall, to the ceiling bank of cabinets with a wall oven that had wood on the side as well, so they matched. But it could just be painted. Or at the back corner start full height with the tile and stagger it down to one row as you get to the front edge of the wall. You could do that if using smaller squares or subway I think.

I did a bounce house birthday party once, and it was the first time I could relax enough to enjoy my kids' birthday party, too. The staff serve the pizzas, birthday cake, etc. The one I did even had staff write down who gave which gifts, to aid in writing thank you notes. The kids burn off their energy, the party is a manageable 1 1/2 hours, and you don't have to clean up afterwards. What's not to like? ETA: I think it was for a 7th birthday.

I will have been living in a rental for 2 years on June 12th. My fire was 3 years ago last march 2nd. Pandemic lockdown started about 2 weeks later. Supply chain issues have plagued me. The biggest stumbling block has been was that Siemens multifamily (this is a triplex building) electrical panels were out of stock for about 18 months and might still be. I had internet alerts everywhere looking for one I could use. Amazingly ONE popped up on amazon that the city allowed even though I only need 400 amp... and there was NO price gouging. I could have sold that thing for 7k easily. I'll have a blank socket in this panel and its is massive but if I ever do an ADU I can add a seperate meter, so that's good. With that breakthrough in the project since the 1st of the year I've been able to move forward. My last insurance summary of loss said $2.5 mil... my current landlord will have made about $365,000 in rent in this 2 years. He only paid $320,000 for the house! You'd think that would have made someone less miserable and somewhat grateful but NO. Worst landlord ever.