We have them. They were just installed. We are still under construction on our new home so all I can say is that they look great. We got 3 48inch cherry vanities, our whole cherry kitchen and a 48inch maple base cab for the laundry for about $8500. All the cherry is in the Obsidian color and the maple is some blonde color. Our supplier threw in full extention draws, the soft-close feature, and sink tilt-outs for free.

We have their upper priced cabinetry in the laundry room and bathrooms at our home. Have had no issues with the painted/glazed cabinets, but the stain/glazed in the MBath has a few places worn due to opening drawers with wet hands (DH!) for the past almost 7 years. It's not really noticeable though. We bought just before they added the Blum as part of the Ultimate series... so when we bought the Deluxe was different than now. Ours have the nicer interiors. It was also just before they came out with inset cabinets, so I did not use them in our kitchen. I had our installer cut off the bases and order/stain/paint/glaze furniture style feet in the bathrooms. Master Bath: Laundry: I can't find the other 3 bathrooms in Photobucket, but one is similar to MBath and 2 are similar to Laundry room. One reason Jim Bishop costs less is they do not advertise much - like Kraftmaid, etc. DH and I each have one of the center MBath 3 drawers on our side of closet with a bookcase sitting on top. We also have their bookcases in our lower L shaped hallways. 5 in each hallway. Those are black painted. We had our guy order a few sample doors so I could see in person before ordering. Here is a link that might be useful: House Tour This post was edited by allison0704 on Thu, Apr 4, 13 at 14:36

The fridge and freezer are Electrolux Icon...The snobbier version of the Frigidaire. ;-) For me the Frigidaires were too plasticky looking inside, like they might not be durable enough. I had a fridge that had pieces that broke inside all the time and wasn't interested in doing that again! I have 3 different counter surfaces... Flanking the rangetop: We wanted something heat resistant, and couldn't afford stone, so ended up with stainless. This thrilled my dh anyway, as his dad and brothers have worked decades on tug boats (as did dh in younger years), in which the galley counters are all stainless, so it seemed to fit the family legacy. It was a big plus that our local sheet metal fabricator did them for us at $17/sq ft! Also considered stone for the island perimeters, but again, couldn't justify that expense when I'd been happy all my life with laminate. We also considered doing our own concrete countertops, but since we were DIYing our whole house, we just couldn't fit that into the building schedule, which was already running months behind. But that's what led us to make the perimeter counters extra thick (2 1/4" instead of the standard 1 1/2")...To get the hefty look, and 'just in case' we ever decide to switch them out for concrete. (ha) Most of the inspiration kitchens I loved had butcherblock countertop in them somewhere, and I liked the warmth and hominess it seemed to add...so on the island seemed a good place after the stone I'd wanted for doing baking projects was ruled out. Throughout our house (door casings, baseboard, window trim, etc.) we used Douglas fir that had been milled from trees we cut in our yard before building...so we decided to use that on the island, too. It was essentially free at that point, and even though really inappropriate for a work surface because of being soft, we knew it would match and would be easy and fairly painless to change later if we needed to. Long story...But I think that explains the counter choices?

You have not offended me at all. Feedback rarely feels like criticism. This is the plan after 2 kitchen designers loved the basics and made some changes. But that does not mean its a perfect plan, just that it works for this house in this space with this family as far as we could tell...which still doesn't mean it can't get better, plans can always get better. I am looking forward to playing with all your suggestions :) About the restaurant part: I was on prep most of the time lol! I am used to doing all my prep work first all at once and marinating, cutting and readying meat and other things and never beginning to cook until I am pretty much all set because of lack of space in the present area and because its so much easier for me. Which is good because induction cooking kind of requires all prep work be done in advance, which is what I do! The french doors could become a hall to the backyard, but its unlikely --- the french doors open onto a small balcony / deck that overlook the garden part of the back yard (27" elevation), the steps lead down into the garden. On the other side of the peninsula in about 5 feet are 14" glass sliding doors that lead out onto a patio that surrounds the pool, its more likely that all traffic headed for fun and sun in summer will head that way since all the bed rooms, the tv and the front door are on that side of the house. The laundry room had a wall between it and the kitchen but I removed it because the laundry machines are front loading and the same depth and height as every other machine in the kitchen wall, so I covered them over with one long granite counter for prep space, baking and clean-up - this is where dishes will wait if they have to. This area is not visible from the main part of the room, its blocked by the half-bath and the pantry. I really wanted the huge counter space for prep work and clean up after meals. We did think about the sink on the peninsula but could not go with the dirty dishes in public, plus I would lose the storage space required by the dishwasher...hmmm. I like moving the fridge. It would mean not recessing it to counter length which stopped us from making that change before but it might be worth it. But if I remove and refit the header above, there may be a way I can recess it more to fit the depth of the bar and pantry, but that would mean only dry wall between the toilet and the ridge which may not be okay...not sure but its a good question. I will play with the layout some more and use these suggestions. Thanks all!