There is currently a deal on Amazon ...they are having a spend $20 on magazines, get $10 toward any future order special. A TWO year subscription to Urban Farm through Amazon is $21, less the $10 future credit =effective price $11 for two years! That's $5.50 per year and is a FANTASTIC deal. For anyone who wants both of these, Mother Earth news is $15 ($5 more than direct from the publisher), but you get a $10 credit for any future Amazon orders, so the effective price is 15+15-10= $20 for both magazines. (as oppossed to $25 total if you ordered both individually). I order from Amazon all the time so this is a great deal for me. Mother Earth News http://www.amazon.com/Mother-Earth-News-1-year-auto-renewal/dp/B002PXVYJQ/ref=sr_1_1?s=magazines&ie=UTF8&qid=1297435524&sr=1-1 Urban Farm one year http://www.amazon.com/Urban-Farm-1-year-auto-renewal/dp/B0047ERVH0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=us-magazines-tree&qid=1297435704&sr=1-1 Urban Farm 2 year http://www.amazon.com/Urban-Farm/dp/B0047ERVGQ/ref=sr_1_cc_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1297435704&sr=1-1-catcorr

Hello, Talking about hoods lately made me take another, closer look at my hood. Long story short, without any other options, my husband and Father in Law adjusted the upper/chimney section of our island hood to make it high enough to be comfortable in out 8' ceiling application. Anyway, I now would like to cover the imperfections in the stainless steel, I was thinking about having a fabricator basically "wrap" the existing problem area in stainless steel. I was also thinking about a quilted look SS or even wainscot...any ideas? I wonder if anyone has done this or anything like this. Thanks!

This thread goes hand in hand with the one about non functional kitchens. I stated in that one that the biggest issue with non functional kitchens is that they chose something pretty over something functional. Magazine kitchens are about nothing if not form. It's only incidental that they might also function well. If they are also functional, they are usually pretty large in size, not your average sized American kitchen. And many of the ideas don't translate well to anything but large spaces. And then you have people who use those magazine pictures for "inspiration". They don't realize how difficult/impossible it is to translate a 400 square foot kitchen design into a 100 square foot space. So they cherry pick the visual elements that strike their eye, not realizing that they are out of proportion or non functional for their layout, ceiling height, or square footage. That's where we get gigantic mantle hoods that swallow up useful space and overpower a 100 square foot kitchen with 8' ceilings. It's a non functional choice. But it is pretty! (If you can find a vantage point far enough away to actually see the mantle.) And that's where we get 36" cooktops on 48" x 24" islands and people who think it's just fine because they saw it in a magazine. And they conveniently forget that the island in the pic was 96" x 48" with an almost commercial quality hood over it to handle cooking effluents. It's cherry picking again. And that (and TV cooking shows) is why you see so many poorly thought out island cooktops. But, just because so many are done so badly, doesn't mean that they can't be done wonderfully, with aesthetics and safety both in mind. It's just a lot more difficult and expensive than most people think it is. And it doesn't look nearly as good in a 100 square foot kitchen as it does a 400 square foot one.

So I drew it up anyway, just for grins. ;-) I double-checked measurements so these should be fairly close to reality. I allocated 49-3/4" to the fridge and cabinet. Yes, right to the edge of the window. ;-) I also tweaked the look of the range wall so that it looks closer to how it will look IRL. That wall will look very nice with its large opening to the mudroom and windows on each side of the range, with roughly the same amount of counter on each side of the cook top: 24" to its left and 27.5" to its right. The only thing on that wall that will be above counter height will be the hood above the cook top. btw, putting the cook top on the perimeter will make venting it much easier and less expensive, which means you can free up money for more and/or larger windows and doorways. The wall ovens come out almost across from the upper edge of the island so it will be a convenient spot to plop down hot dishes. If you'd rather have counter top next to the ovens, you can split the cabinet in half - 20" for cabs and counter and 20" for pantry cab. From DR doorway, 20" pantry cab, oven cab, then cabs with counter. btw, you might end up with 2-3 more inches here - it all depends on the oven cab. I allocated 33" for it but you may only need a 30" cabinet. This alternative, btw, leaves a bit more buffer between open oven door and a kid barreling around the corner, headed for the fridge (as my hubby would say, they'd only do that once. Next time they are smarter. ;-) ). blfenton, I missed your earlier comments about the prep sink location. I'm not sure why you thought there were only 18" between cook top and corner. A Susan adds 12", plus the 20" cab (I hope I'm looking at the plan you were commenting on), that's 32", less 1.5" counter overhang, leaving 30.5" of counter to the right of the cook top. Yes, the prep sink was up against the Susan so there were only 12" or so to its left. I thought about scooting the prep sink farther down towards the fridge but then decided to leave it where it was so that it was a shorter distance to dump pots of boiling water. If the OP doesn't make a lot of pasta, this may not be a big deal. If it does move to the other end of the perimeter, I agree that putting an 18" trash pull-out between prep sink and fridge is a good idea. That way someone can be at the sink and not get smacked by an opening fridge door. Another alternative is to put an 18" trash pull-out next to the Susan, then prep sink. That would leave 28.5" to its left and 36" to its right. Tasks that need a large expanse of space can be done at the island. djMax, I can't remember if I wrote this already or not but I made the banquette bench 24" deep so that you have enough room to cushion its back as well as its seat. Oh, meant to add this suggestion sooner. If you want a wider opening to the mudroom but don't want to give up cab and counter space, you can do both. Have the cab to the left of the cook top extend into the opening like a peninsula. Just leave enough wall so that the hood doesn't look like it's teetering on the edge. (did someone already suggest that a good rule of thumb is to buy a hood 6" wider than your cook top or range?). This won't give you as balanced a look as the windows on each side of the range will. Not sure if that's a downside for you or not. One other tip: drawers. Much better for storage convenience than base cabinets, even with pull-outs. Costs more but I've never seen anyone post that they regret going for drawers over doors.