dreamywhite, There is not much feedback on this range hood, even though it seems that it has been sold for a few years! I was able to find one review at epinions which was not favorable and two positive reviews + a Consumer Reports recommendation. Hopefully someone here has this hood and can add to the discussion. :-) http://www.epinions.com/review/KitchenAid_KHTU705SSS_30_Under_Cabinet_Range_Hood_with_600_CFM_Exhaust_Rating_Optional_Interchang/content_456507297412 http://www.buzzillions.com/dz_315245_kitchenaid_architect_series_ii_30_under_reviews HTH

@mama goose, those links are fantastic! The Vent-a-Hood classic looks like a great option. I'm intrigued by the possibility of building my own box around the vent fan like circuspeanuts. In addition to the hood options, I also saw a corner cabinet solution in Deedle's kitchen that would work for me. Please keep stalking my kitchen renovation...you have excellent info to share :)

Question now tinker_2006 - if you were to do a decorative tile square area under the hood like lcskaisgir did, what size would you do? For us our cooktop is 36" but the hood is 54"... it's induction so it's not really seen from afar so I would think we could do bigger than cooktop but smaller than hood? Decisions decisions!

My immediate thoughts: Because the cooking zone is at the edge of the "apparent main drag," I think an otherwise obtrusive hood will look OK. It becomes part of the kitchen boundary. The kitchen forum mavens may have other opinions. Functionally, because your cooking zone can potentially cause cooking odor and grease to drift into the entire open space, a hood with good overlap and appropriate flow rate will be important. Downdrafts cannot capture and contain serious cooking plumes. Look at Wolf's design guide for examples of Pro Island Hoods of various sizes. Other manufacturers build or can build suitable hoods. When you specify the selected hood's characteristics, we can comment on flow rate requirements. You will need to start determining the architecture of your make-up air system, including where the air is taken from, where and how it is dumped into the house, and the interconnecting ducting, which may have to include heating, filtering, and a blower roughly similar to that supporting the hood. The first image is of Wolf's longest Pro Island Hood at the boundary of a messy kitchen and a somewhat overtaken living room. The bi-level peninsula includes a 36-inch induction cooktop and an induction wok hob (not visible from the camera's POV); hence the extra long hood. The second image is a view looking up into the hood. I don't think I've ever seen this view in Wolf's literature.