Thanks to everyone on this thread for making me do more due diligence than I thought I had to. I have learned a lot about the Barker process and options and I hope it will be helpful for those of you agonizing over a purchase decision. I also want to offer the highest possible praise to Chad Barker for his patience, diligence, and helpfulness. Finally got our order placed after extensive emails back and forth with Chad. We are getting the upgrade to hard white maple with the pure white (SW 7005) finish on the Westminster door style, and the following comments are only applicable to doors that DON'T have raised panel inserts. Painted, solid wood raised panel inserts or bead board are too prone to seasonal expansion and contraction and should be mdf. Paint grade maple is only marginally harder than alder(see my previous post on the janka ratings) . Alder machines better for door fabrication and is less prone to warping. The hard white maple is quite dense and doesn't make a good substrate for DIY paint application. You are likely to encounter chipping problems because of poor adhesion. However, with the factory applied paint, the commercial priming and CV finish are just as problem free as the painted alder. The wood panel inserts for shaker style doors like the Westminster that don't have raised panels are fine for painted applications and don't have the expansion issue that leads to raw wood showing up around the edges. With respect to stains and "cleanability" - the factory finish on the painted cabinets is conversion varnish, not just paint. As a result you have the most moisture and stain resistant finish you can get on a painted finish. Because the factory finish is CV, the SW 7005 paint you buy at the store is very close, but not an exact match. Something to think about when considering crown moldings and light rails. You can always bring a door into the store and have the computer try to color match it, but I've found those results to be iffy when the new paint is adjacent to the original. Regarding costs. We wanted frameless cabinets. Not a value judgement just a personal preference. The pre-built options for frameless are pretty limited until you get up into the true semi and full custom lines. Home Depot does offer Innermost - but their style/color/size choices are limited and for what we have ordered, the price was over 30% higher than our hard maple Barker order. In summary - if the painted Barker line give you all of the flexibility, quality, and style you want and your doors are the shaker style without raised panels, and you're concerned about dings to the doors and drawers - if there's some room in the budget upgrade to the hard maple. Just bear in mind that no wood is damage proof. It's just that the denser/harder the wood the more damage resistant it is. I hope this is helpful - and good luck with your projects.

Are you installing in a wall cab or a base cabinet? Interior cabinet space requirements likely differ. I actually got the little Smeg speed oven. I looked at the Miele dimensions as well, just in case I got lucky w a deal on that one. But, Smeg was the find. We are happy with it, fwiw. It is installed in a base cabinet. I can walk you through my process: I studied the installation diagram and product dimensions. I came up with the design that I thought we needed, for the appliance cab and the lower base drawer it sits on. Then I emailed Chad at Barker with the exact model number and installation instructions. I asked for help. And I contacted the US distributor for Smeg. I asked for help. Finally, I analyzed and reconciled the feedback and came up with the cabinet design. What I ordered, and it fits exactly, was a bit different than what Chad recommended, simply because I got more exact feedback from Smeg. I had a guy at Smeg walk around measuring the appliance cabs the speed oven was installed in at the distributor showroom in NYC. And he took photos for me. You can post a request for Miele speed oven owners to post cabinet dimensions/info and photos. That might help. Of course you know that cabinet construction dimensions vary. I am happy to help in any way. Let me know.

Get thee to the Kitchens Forum. You'll get lots of help with this there.

Thank you for taking a look. I have included my entire plan. To answer your questions: First, do you have a fully measured layout of the Kitchen and Dining space for us to see? One that has each door/doorway/window/wall measured and labeled as well as the distances b/w each door/doorway/window/wall? From what I think I see, your architect may be right - and not just the issue with blocking the doorway, I don't know if you have room b/w the island and table. (It would be helpful if you had the same for the Living Room area as well.) **I don't have complete information. I need to measure. Ceiling to Floor height is 12'. ** What can/cannot be changed? Can rooms be switched? Can doors be moved? Walls? You appear to have a very large Living Room... **Rooms can switch. The idea was an open living/dining/kitchen area. We live in the city, so the space is not large. The space where the bedrooms start can not be changed** How high off the floor are the windows in the Dining Room? ** 3 feet, i believe** Is that a banquette in your Dining Room area? **built-in cabinetry, but we decided to do a kitchen table instead** Where does the doorway to the left lead to? Bedrooms only? **bedrooms and bathrooms** Where is the main entry - on the bottom? **see plan? What's on the far right in what appears to be an alcove of some sort? (to the right of the Living Room) What is your family composition (general - e.g., kids' age range, # of adults, etc.) ** I have one toddler, who is screaming my name right now! 21 months. I'm hoping to have a second. What are your plans for the space? Do you entertain a lot? Large groups? Small groups? **we do not entertain a lot. it will mostly be a family area.