Love the mockup! I like the single bar look. You are in good company.. Our kitchen remodel was part of our whole house rebuild and I spent way more time for the kitchen than the rest of the house. I mocked up each of the layout iterations with empty packing cartons and had a written script of use cases (morning breakfast rush, evening dinner with family, party with friends who like to help, family get togethers with family who does not help but likes to hover closeby, jam making session, summer outdoor party to test traffic from kitchen to courtyard, etc.) to test the layout. My DD loved it! DH was in awe at this side of me (he has never seen me in professional capacity) and occasionally thought I was nuts like when I measured 45deg angles to figure out if the ergonomic countertop height was 33 or 34 in. And when I did arm measurements for the main users of the kitchen to figure out the "mise en place". There was minor rebellion when I sought to measure the inverted V for ventilation(Kaseki is to blame)... from all 5 burners. We had props that we "borrowed" from real kitchen (cereal boxes, old knifes, dishes, furniture, printed labels). It came home to me when I was grocery shopping with a friend and the guy in the produce come over very excited and spoke to me in rapid Spanish and was pointing to the back. The assistant manager walked over and explained that he had saved empty cartons for me in the back alley :) oh and when the cabinets arrived, DD ran over excitedly announcing that the men are bringing the "real kitchen" :) If we are TKO in a public forum, then at home, you can only imagine..phew.. It was good to get this off the chest:)

I would worry about what the heat lamps were doing to the cabinets above...unless there were a few inches of air space b/w the lights & cabinets. Heat would still rise to them, but maybe with that air clearance it wouldn't be too much???? Instead of just putting items to be warmed on the counter, what about a shelf like the ones that come w/the hoods (like Vent-A-Hood)? Maybe you could install one of those rails on your backsplash that you could hang a shelf from...maybe only an inch or two above the counter.... Another couple of options... How about a warming "cabinet"? (It could be put away when not needed.) For example, Photo from Target.com BroilKing Warming Cabinet with Family-Size Warming Tray Or a warming lamp set? I handle the Snack Bar at my DS's high school and we have a setup for keeping the hot dogs & BBQ sandwiches warm...it's a stand w/two heat lamps + a commercial serving dish (in SS) that sits on the rack. It keeps the hot dogs & BBQ warm. (We also put the cinnamon buns there sometimes to warm them up...the kids like them warm!) It looks something like this: Photo from HeatLampWorld.Com Here is a link that might be useful: Display Warmers at Heat Lamp World

I made my own bar-style rack from copper barstock -- I had some left over from making my copper countertops, but you can find it relatively cheap online or at local metalworking shops, eBay, etc. I just lopped off a few feet of the bar, drilled holes in each end, sanded it smooth and used high-strength stainless-steel eye hooks to hold it up. You could use chain or just more hooks to hold the bar, depending on how high or low you'd like it to hang. The whole schmear costs something like $40 including copper bar. This works great with my shaker cabinets, and there are lots of places to buy the hooks online -- I warmly recommend getting the kind of hooks that are enclosed at one end, so they can't slide off the bar no matter what. Here is a link that might be useful: one good Copper Bar source

1) Regarding the screws.... For the drawer faces: Pocket holes should be drilled into the face frames if they must be attached permanently vs using the hardware to keep them on. The pocket holes should have covers attached (either the plastic or wood options). I personally prefer if they are removable via removal of the hardware so they can be changed out or refaced in the future & since you're going the custom route I'd defiantly want it! Inside the cabinets: A pilot hole should be drilled prior to screw if the wood hardness requires it & the screw counter sunk (slightly below the side walls) with or without plastic caps (depending on the company). Cabinet/Wall Brace:Are all the cabinets secured to the wall with simple screws?? I was really surprised to see this! How are they making sure the bases are secured to studs & not just drilled through into the gypsum board? In the past I've seen cabinet makers use a base board across the run anchored into wall studs and the bases are then secured to the board. Holes: The hole that will be exposed once the dishwasher is installed needs to be fixed. The fridge cabinet with the double screws and the blank hole is ridiculous...whomever was doing the install rushed and didn't care about screw placement or taking the time to properly aline things before drilling. Again= Custom built should = quality control and care! Yes there are MUCH better ways of finding the studs...even just using your knuckles to knock on the wall can get you close enough that a max of 2 holes might need drilled if you miss it the first time....again, sloppy work installing. The range microwave: Did they know that cabinet was going to support a microwave/hood? I'd ask about the install and max weight support. I don't believe 2 screws is enough to hold it (especially if they only screwed it into the wall & not a support board!) but don't know...I'd just hate to have it come crashing down a year from now! *You need to make sure the cabinet makers know that screw placement & finish result is important to you and you expect no screws will be felt or seen once the install is complete. 2) Shims: Yes, it's totally normal for wood shims to be left under the cabinets. Floors aren't completely level and in a new build the house will settle over time and the floor will change so it's important that the cabinets can be leveled. This is why RTA cabinets like IKEA have adjustable feet on the base that's hidden with a toe kick. Custom cabinet makers use wood shims to level on site during install and those can then be removed or added to as time goes on and any changes are required to keep the cabinets level. 3) Fixture & Outlet Holes: Yes, it's common to have large square pre-cut from the backs before install as plumbing is different for every job & since fixtures change depending on the choices made in faucet, garbage disposal, dishwasher lines, etc they can't make exact cuts. Again, this is why a lot of RTA cabinets are backless and if the backing is ordered it must be cut by the installer to fit the existing fixture spaces. HOWEVER- I totally agree with your being upset about the range plug placement and their solution to cut another hole into the side of the custom cabinet boxes. Although- I'm not entirely sure I understand correctly if it had to go through another base to reach the outlet or just the base of that unit vs the back side where a hole was already cut? I don't know what another solution would have been.... 4) Cabinet Face Gaps: Are you doing a full overlay with the new build as well? I completely agree that the gap's should be consistent and you definitely shouldn't be able to see the contents of the drawers! If the cabinets are full overlay why is the frame not hiding the contents? If they are custom inset then I'd be very picky about how it all lines up since this is a fine craft that requires skill & time to get right (hence the excessive cost)...plus wood swells & contracts so they need to fit properly with a slight consistent gap after install.