I have this 'fridge as well... here is the text from my review of it on epinions: When we went shopping for a refrigerator for our kitchen, we set out to get a Whirlpool - as they have a really good reputation these days. After researching a little, I found out that KitchenAid refrigerators are actually made by Whirlpool; which led us to this model. One of the things that drew us to the his model is that it was one of the biggest ones that was still counter depth. At 24.5 cubic feet, it is 10-20% bigger than some of the other counter depth models in this price range. There is 14.9 cubic feet in the fridge, and 9.6 in the freezer. As far as sound goes, it isn't silent - but it is pretty quiet - not noticeable. However the icemaker makes a pretty good racket when a load empties - especially if the bin is mostly empty. This unit maintains the temperatures very well - of course this is expected - I experimented moving the temps around and was able to get them to stay where I set them. I verified the temperature accuracy with a separate digital thermometer. We have noticed that produce stays fresher longer than our in our previous refrigerators (a 20 year old sub-zero, and a 5 year old Kenmore). Some features we like (and dislike): -- water and ice dispenser We don't really like the ice/water dispenser touch pads - if you press too high up, they don't engage and just buzz a little - if you go too low, the ice bounces off the rim of the glass and flies out all over the floor. We prefer the paddle types available on other models. Also, the water has an annoying delayed post dispense drip - ours gives 3 big drips about half a second apart - so, you have to remember to keep your cup there an extra moment, or else you end up with a mess in the drip tray. One gimmicky feature it has is when you are dispensing water, it displays a running meter of the ounces dispensed. We do like the ice maker location in the door. It is super easy to yank it out and fill the cooler, or whatnot. -- water filter - it has the typical cylinder filter located in the base of the fridge. It is different than the old ones in that it doesn't twist out, you just press a button and it pops out. The dispenser display has a button to press that shows the % of filter life remaining remaining. -- crushed ice - what can I say, we like crushed ice - I think I might try running some of the branches from my yard through this puppy, I think it might mulch them up pretty good :) -- two separate dispensers (one for ice, one for water) - we like this much better than the single dispenser models, we prefer to just hold the cup up,fill it with ice, move it over 2 inches and fill it with water - no button fiddling; much easier for the kids to use.... leading me the next feature... -- child lockout button - this is important if you have toddlers that like to play with the ice/water dispenser. -- LED night light - the light blue LED lighting has 5 or 6 different intensity levels. It has a light sensor above the dispenser (which for some odd reason they felt the need to label "light sensor" - do I really care that the little glass dot is a light sensor???? not me). There are three settings for the light, off all the time, on all the time, or "auto". In the auto mode, it keeps the light on really dim, and then goes on full when you dispense. I assumed that the light sensor would shut the lights off if the room was bright; however, that is not the case, it actually makes the light brighter when the room is well lit. I verified this with a flash light... (too much time on my hands). -- Digital temperature read out inside the refrigerator part - reads the actual temperatures of the fridge and freezer - if you press the /- buttons, it switches to the temperature setting (which hopefully is the same number). I verified this with another thermometer (mostly because I am a big nerd). -- "keep your milk extra cold" vent from the freezer section: there is a little vent that you can open that points right where you would put your milk jugs in the door. It supposedly blows air from the freezer on your milk. We tried it, but it didn't seem to have much effect. Neat idea though. -- Adjustable shelves, bins, and drawers The interior three shelves are glass, with metal braces, and plastic trim pieces and are advertised as "spill proof", meaning they have a little lip to stop liquids from waterfalling all the way down into your lettuce. The four door bins and 3 drawers are all plastic. Honestly, for a $2500 fridge, the drawers feel a little flimsy. They also include a wine bottle hangy thing, as well as a six pack door rack. The bottom drawer is called a "fresh chill locker", and it has its own temperature adjustment. The regular crisper drawer has a humidity adjustment and has a seal on it to keep it separated from the rest of the fridge. This may be the reason produce stays fresher. Note, you must open the doors farther than 90 degrees in order to open the drawers. The 4 freezer shelves and the 3 drawers are all coated wire. Pretty sturdy. There are three adjustable door bins in the freezer. -- The "maxcool" function is really a good feature. Basically, you use this when you fill it up with new groceries, or if you've had the door open too long (like when you are putting away new groceries - by the way, there is no "door open" alarm on this model). It puts the fridge into a super-duper cooling mode; bringing the temperature down much faster than usual. -- Although the front is stainless, be advised that the sides are black (which is often the case with SS appliances) -- The stainless finish sure looks nice when it is clean - but it is so easy to smudge. We found some spray on stainless cleaner that helps out with this a lot. Also, please note that magnets do not stick to the stainless front. -- lighting: there are two bulbs in the top of the fridge section, and two bulbs near the bottom third to light the drawers and bottom part. The freezer has one bulb on the top, and one bulb in the middle. Overall, the lighting is pretty good. -- warranty - 1 year, parts and labor, 10 years on the sealed refrigeration system (compressor, evaporator, condenser, dryer, connecting tubing)

Erikanh's SS sink is fully integrated into her SS counter so even though the cab for the sink could be around 12", the sink's interior width is more than that of an under-mount sink in a 12" cab. If you top-mount the sink, you might get a slightly larger sink to work (under-mounting a sink requires a few inches of space that a top-mount installation does not). I understand your goal but I hope you listen to the KD experts here. They know what they are talking about and their advice will help you avoid a costly or dangerous headache. Can you shift the cook top towards the top wall (away from the ovens)? That would put it closer to the main sink, possibly eliminating the need for the prep sink. It would also gain you a bit more working room between ovens and cook top. Instead of having counter and an upper cabinet in that corner by the ovens, have you considered bringing the cabinet all the way to the counter and using it as an appliance garage? That counter won't really be that usable so why not give it to storage? Put the mixer in there and your baking pans, etc and you've got a baking center, right next to the ovens.

Thanks, debrak, I did take the picture from a slight angle, but the left side of the island extends about 1-2 inches wider than the stove, and the right side is 5-6 inches farther out. It was originally like that as we refinished the existing cabinets. DH is an engineer also (nickname: Mr. Perfecto). I don't think you would find more perfect grout lines in a backsplash. Notice the outlets are turned horizontal and line up with a row of tile. He also installed all the new doors and drawer fronts and hardware, hood, moldings, etc. It took forever, but it's precision work. Of course, if he did this for a living, we'd starve..... : ) The backsplash is crema marfil marble subway tile. I bought plenty extra, but some came damaged, and there's always variation in natural stone. We hand-sorted these tiles several times to weed out the ones with color that was too light, too dark, too blotchy, had weird markings, etc. There was a little variation in the thickness also, which caused some issues with installation. I'm happy with it, but you should be aware that natural stone is a little trickier than manmade tile. Hang in there and keep working on your layout till you really like it. It' will be beautiful when you get it done I'm sure. Closer view of the tile:

Ahh, socalthreems, that would be FANTASTIC if you could post pictures or a link. If you don't want to publicize them here I can always send you a personal email address. We are still at least several months from ordering, so there is plenty of time. Our design doesn't have a ton of uppers, but we really liked the beadboard uppers in our last kitchen. Glass won't work for us - we're really bad about keeping our cabinets neat (DW wants everything hidden). I definitely hear the preferences for the flat drawers, but given the number of drawers we have (and the various sizes (we have one 2 drawer stack (so large frontal area), several 3 drawer stacks and at least one four drawer stack) I think the kitchen would look to plain without the beadboard drawer front. Thanks for the cabinet info, buehl. Our KD uses Ultracraft and Bertch custom (which is way beyond our price range). While we have a Dynasty dealer here (one of the local lumber yards) we really want to stay with the KD. He's done a fantastic job and he's a family friend not to mention one of the top KDs in the area. I spent some time looking at the other Ultracraft styles, and none of them "call" to me the way beadboard does. I just wish I could find more pics of beadboard kitchens. It doesn't seem to be that popular a stlye (which appeals to me from a "uniqueness" perspective).