i would never buy an appliance made by GE, given the current recent events with the company. i owned a GE fridge that had a lot of problems as well. (not cafe). there have also been quite a few problems with the cafe line reported in this forum. do a search for "ge cafe" and read for yourself. sorry to be the bearer of bad news...

Hi, everybody: It finally happened. The kitchen is done and I believe the colors and contrast match perfectly. Like most everyone else, we'll live with it for a while before deciding what do to with the backsplash. Again, thanks everyone for helping us deciding the contrast that was best for us. Joe Ps. Her's a link to the pictures and there is also a before and after set. http://www.flickr.com/photos/joe_p Here is a link that might be useful: Kitchen remodel

Azmom, you do not have your email enabled on your profile. Therefore, I am unable to respond directly to your request for assistance. I will respond here, so that others may have the benefit of the information as well. First of all, for your island, it will not be used at all unless you do have a water source on it. The primary prep zone in any kitchen is between water and fire and adjacent to the storage. That's the tiny corner between your sink and the range. UNLESS you put a prep sink on the island. When you do that, and it doesn't have to be anything larger than 14", that transforms the island into the primary prep space with you facing out towards those who are seated there rather than you standing with your face in the corner and your back to the guests. The square shape that Holly suggested could work and adds additional storage. I think the important takeaway from that is to have the "working " portion of the aisle facing the fridge and cooking surface. That minimizes your walking all over the kitchen to prepare a meal. A larger kitchen isn't a better kitchen, unless it's designed to be. Putting an island in the middle of a kitchen makes it less efficient, not more efficient---unless that island is in the right spot, with the right orientation, and has a water source on it. A large chunky island looks appropriate to the space,and I think the square works (especially with some nice chunky legs to make it more of a "table") but you could just make the island narrower and oriented left to right instead of top to bottom. Here is one tweak to Holly's plan that I might make if you are OK with walking further in your prep, but only if you are willing to use a counter depth refrigerator or a built in one. Refrigerators belong on the perimeter of the kitchen space so that they can be accessed by those coming into the space without crossing your prep space. It's the busiest spot in the kitchen, and you have to have enough room for everyone to have that access. Whether or not you want to swap the wall oven with the fridge will depend on how often you use the wall oven for cooking. If you frequently sear something and then put it in the oven to finish, the range suggestion would be a good one. Or have the range be on the same run as the cooktop with the fridge across the aisle. If you are more into getting out fresh veggies and preparing them for a meal, then leaving Holly's plan alone might be the best layot for you. Either depends on having the prep sink there so that you actually use the island. Without a prep sink on the island, you're creating more work, more steps, and you'll default to just prepping in the corner.

Do you like open shelving at all? If so, make the uppers on each side of the range as small as you want and then put some open shelving on each side. It *could* be a problem with grease collection depending on how you cook (& how good your ventahood works). I have not found it to be an issue over the years with staying on top of cleaning. And, I personally love open shelving but not everyone does.