In other words, does each not occupy the same space when each is stuffed into a cubic foot container ? No. But your wording is a little tricky when you use the word "stuffed." If you poured it in and tamped lightly, still No. 1 cu ft = 7.48 gallons. 1 cu ft = 6.43 DRY gallons. For a simple experiment, take a 5 gallon bucket and a 1 gallon bucket. Use the 1 gallon bucket and fill up the 5 gallon bucket with peat moss, promix, whatever, until full. You should have used 5 gallons. Then wet it down every couple hours, just to make sure it's wet but not enough to "add" any height. If you do this enough, the air will escape and the peat moss will settle. You can even drill a tiny hole for the water to drain out if you'd like but no peat moss. Now, your 5 gallon bucket, settled about 2 inches from the top--does it have 5 gallons of peat moss in it? If you answer yes on a technicality that you did indeed put 5 gallons of peat moss in it, then the 5 gallon bucket...is it 5 gallons or more than 5 gallons if it's no longer full? You're the math wiz, not me, so how much more wet peat moss will the 5 gallon bucket hold? ;-) If we used a 6.43 gallon bucket, it should need 1.05 MORE gallons of peat to top it off! 7.48 - 6.43 = 1.05.

Hi there, I am so sorry that you've hit this dilemma at this stage in the process. I have the same u-shaped kitchen with almost the same configuration, except we have double ovens where your fridge is, and our fridge is on the opposite side, at the end of the counter left of the sink. I spent many, many hours designing our kitchen and thinking through the walkways with appliances, door swings, stools, etc. Our original blueprint called for our kitchen to be 12' deep, with a 24" island with no overhang for bar stools. In a prior kitchen that we remodeled, which was 12', we added an island with stools and had about 33" walkways, one of which had an over door opening. It was very tight, especially when we had guests around the island, which was basically whenever we had guests! So for our new build, I already knew 12' would never work, so one necessity was that we bumped our kitchen 3', making it 15' deep. Our current island is 24" with 10" overhang, making it 34". With 2' of counters/appliances on the sides of the "u." that leaves just over 3 1/2' (about 43") on either side of the island. Our walkways are "comfortable" but not spacious. If someone is sitting at the island on a stool and I need to open one of the ovens, I just tell them to hold still, and I can open the door and have about 6-8" between the door and the back of the stool, which is fine. Honestly, I think 15' is the minimum comfortable depth you can have in a u-shaped kitchen with bar stools. If I built this same design again, I would make it more like 17' deep. I am guessing yours is more like 12-13' deep? Imagine how much space you would have if you had an extra 3' feet of depth and you will see what I mean. If I were you, I would either: 1) go without bar-stools at the island and just have the regular 1 1/2" overhang all around; 2) if there is room, make the overhang on the end of the counter and maybe round the counter on the end so you could try to get 2 stools in; or 3) if you're really set on having the overhang where you have it, perhaps in addition to moving the island closer to the dishwasher side, you could get a new counter top with less overhang, such as 10" overhang instead of 12" if that is what you have. As I discovered in my last kitchen, when you're dealing with walkways, every inch counts! Good luck!

I still think 6 yds is too much....I realize the upholsterer won't 'wrap' the fabric, but by measuring that way you get a good idea of the MINIMUM amount of fabric you will need. At 54" width you could cut that in half (27") and have enough to do the top and bottom.....so for 60" (plus a bit for seam allowance so let's make it easy and say 72" or 2 yards), you would need not quite 2 yards......then to do all four of the 'edges', which are only 2" thick plus seam allowance, at the most you would need another 60" (plus seam allowance, which will bring you to about 4 yards at the most. Keep in mind that the 60" length is the one piece that you won't want to have a seam in.....I still think between 4 & 5 yards is plenty. Carolyn

Personally at 30", i don't think they are worth it. I'd get a higher end "normal" brand which has at least one High output (like 18k+) burner and a convection oven. You won't find this for $600 but low 1k range is probably doable. In addition to those musts, I liked having 2 ovens and would go for that again too. I had a fifth burner which was nice for a lodge grill/griddle at times, but don't kid yourself that all 5 burners could be used at once. I'd also consider whether the looks of a slide in style range without the back control panel are worth the extra cost to you. Typical Pro-style range benefits High and low output burners, often all the burners have a good range where as cheaper ones may have one (or no) high output burner and one (or no) burner suitable for simmer. The distribution of heat may be better with open, stacked, or star shaped burners which you generally won't find on cheap(er) models. Convection oven and one that holds a more consistent temperature. May have more modes. Broiler may be better. May have smooth glide racks. Looks, this can be somewhat duplicated with a slide in range. Continuous grates