Quick look (I have to finish DH's birthday dinner!)...

First, I love your fireplace!!! I think it's a wonderful addition to your kitchen and would probably be one of my favorite things about the kitchen if it were mine!

Now...

Do you have enough dish storage space?

If possible, I would make the wall cabinets 15" deep rather than 12". Two reasons...(1) it's surprising how much storage space those 3 extra inches add to a cabinet...I wish I had done my other two that deep ... and ... (2) on the refrigerator wall I think it will help with the look of the deeper refrigerator. OK, a third reason...if you're putting serving bowls & trays in the cabinets, I'd make them deeper to be sure they'll fit. Could those 12" deep base cabinets on the wall next to the deck door also be 15" deep?

What about the MW? (Did I miss it?) Or, is it one of the ovens in the oven stack?

More later!

Looks ideal to me. You have a wonderfully short work triangle and a separate clean-up area. There is ample counter space and there is room for everyone to move around. What are you worrying about ???? :)

I am so not an expert in this area & I'm sure you will be getting lots of good feedback from others on this forum, but the one area I would question is the placement of the kids dishes. I designed my kitchen so the area between the cooktop and the island, the trench, is off limits to the kids. So while I am preping or moving items between the prep sink & cooktop, no kids come in my work area. I put all my kids dishes, snacks, etc well out of the cooktop area on the other side of the kitchen. You may consider using the cabinets on the east wall for the kid area.

Other than that, I think it looks wonderful!

Thanks so much!
I am still stressing over whether or not the reverse osmosis system will fit under an 18" sink base. It might make sense to err on the side of "more rather than less" and order the 24" sink base to be safe...

buehl:
Happy Birthday to your husband! I think the fireplace will be our favorite as well. It is going to sit 42" from the floor so that it will be at eye-level when you are sitting in the living room. My DH is a bit skeptical of the height but I think once we have the wall built it will be easier for him to visualize.

I like the idea of 15" deep cabinets on the East wall. That would give me more space. Since I have a feeling the niche is going to be toned down I might as well just reallocate funds (sort of like the government...).

I'd asked the architect about putting 15" deep cabinets above the sink and next to the range hood and she suggested not doing it... Now if I could only remember her rationale. I hadn't thought about it, but it would help with the look of the deep fridge.

The MW will be in the pantry - we use a small one and I am trying to keep my counters clear (okay, in theory they are clear, we'll just have to see what happens in practice).

I remember seeing a photo of your message center and thought it worked well. What are the dimensions? Do you have a cabinet underneath?

sailormann:
But I'm SO good at worrying.....

annekendo:
Great idea about moving the kid's dishes to the east wall. I think that will keep them away from the stove area. I hadn't thought of that. Then I can truly designate that area off-limits to the kids.

Your layout looks terrific. I second Anne's idea to keep the kids stuff to one side of the island. We did that in our much smaller kitchen (everything for the kids was to one side of the peninsula) and it worked out great. They never had a reason to go near the range or prep space.

kitchenredo2 - I just thought of something else while I was in my kitchen. You may want work space on both sides of your prep sink. I have a teeny tiny island with the sink on the end, but it might be nice to have workspace on both sides. Especially when you are taking things out of the fridge, you can plop them down on the right side of the prep sink & have the left side for the actual prep.

Also, on that east wall you may want to think about doing hutch-style cabinets if you do not need the counter space over there. That way you could have deeper lower cabinets with a counter & the shallower uppers resting on them. I have seen so many gorgeous ones on this site that I covet & I just couldn't work it into my plan. Also, did you consider glass on any of the uppers? I think it may look nice to echo the glass of the patio door on your east wall...It's so easy to give random advice now that I am done stressing out over every decision & detail of my own kitchen!

I wouldn't fret over losing the message center niche. The fireplace is a focal point and a functional message center is likely to be a clutter magnet detracting from it. Let the fireplace be a fireplace and something to look at and enjoy. You've got 6 feet of cabinets on that east wall with plenty of space to accomplish your message center there. My napkins and placemats sure don't need a 36" base all to themselves.

You could think about breaking that up into three cabinets -- something like 18" on the sides and a 36 in the center. You could give it more of a hutch or sideboard treatment. The 18" drawers would probably hold your napkins, placemats and a lot more on one side and your personal stuff on the other. Shallow drawers are great for table linens, phone chargers, pens and pencils -- all that stuff. Consider open shelves for cookbooks up above -- either on the sides or in the center.

I like Lascatx's idea...use the east wall cabinets for the Message Center...it's by the same doorway so it shouldn't be a problem.

But, as to my niche, nope...no cabinet underneath, just a niche in the wall that's 20" wide x 47" tall x 7" deep. I've gotten into a "niche frame of mind". Our MBR closet is rather small (10'x4') and I was just suggesting to my DH today that we ought to build little niches in the wall for our shoes...the wall is load-bearing, but I thought we could build between the studs...they're 16" apart so we could build 3.5" deep x 14" wide niches w/shelves and stack our shoes sideways! At first he was skeptical...but now he's willing to think about it. Before you know it, I'll have at least one niche in every room. (The PR may be getting a niche to hold the TP and maybe one for the towel...the PR is only 4.5'x4.5'.)

Agree with moving the prep sink over a bit.

I would not use that particular pantry design - it takes up a lot of space for the amount of storage and leaves you with fairly small bits of storage on the outside walls.

How do you envision using the trash when the dw is open? What do you do with veg and prep scraps? Will people be trying to walk by other seated people carrying dishes? What happens when the dishwasher is open?

About the raised bar... It reduces your functional counterspace in the island substantially. What if you got a 3-4" tall bblock for height variation? That way your spouse could work at the sides of the island instead of having to remove chairs and accumulated junk first to get a place to work.

I don't like sitting at raised bars and feeling like I'm clambering up into a stool. I have relatives with age and disabilities - they can't use the stools at all.

Such great ideas....

cheri127:
Thanks - I think keeping the kids to the east wall and not near the prep/cook area will keep me from tripping over them. The original kitchen (which is now a very messy construction zone and on its way to become part of the living room) was a galley kitchen in the middle of the house. The kids would always be running though to get to the TV room or their bedrooms and it made cooking a very dangerous endeavor.

annekendo:
I am going back and forth on whether to put the prep sink on the very end or to switch it with the cabinet next to it. At the very least, I will put it as far left as possible in the cabinet. My only concern was breaking-up that stretch of work space to the left of the prep sink where I will do prep and roll/knead dough.

I am thinking of changing the east wall to incorporate the message center.... I originally had glass in the uppers, but I am going to put cookbooks and such in those cabinets that I really don't want to show off and when I made cuts to the budget, the glass had to go.

lascatx:
I really like the idea of a 36 cabinet in the center with two 18" on the side. I am tempted to do some open shelving, but you will be able to see it from the living room and I thought having it enclosed would be a cleaner look.

buehl:
I am still thinking I could put a niche with just shelving and perhaps put some art in there.....

I hadn't thought of using the east wall cabinets for the Message Center...... It would give me a wider space for my calendar....

bmorepanic:
What would you do with the pantry?? Now I am beginning to worry. I was thinking of doing wider shelves on the bottom and going up to the ceiling....

I will be composting my veg/fruit scraps (I will put a compost pail under the prep sink). The DW and trash is a compromise. My problem is trying to center the sink on the window (it would drive me crazy not to have the sink centered on the window). I also wanted the dishwasher to the right of the sink to avoid the door being open and causing problems passing between the DW and the island. I could see if they make an 18" trash, but then I'd have a 15" drawer base and I wanted to try to keep my drawer bases larger than 15". What would you do?

I have to talk to my DH about the island. He really wanted it raised..... Since he will do prep work, I don't want to discourage any free labor.

Thanks again and keep the comments coming. I am going to have to beg my contractor for some more time!

Can I go off topic for one quick question:

What software did you use to create the above layout? Did your KD provide it or do it? I see your personal notes on it like you did it. I love that software! So handy and clear and concise with notes where everything will go.

To answer your questions, I am definately not a guru in these things, but it looks fabulous to me. It sounds like it's going to be an extraordinary kitchen when all done! It appears you have fully thought out the details in depth.

needsometips08:
Thanks - my DH thinks I've thought out a bit too much (he obviously isn't TKO).

My KD provided the drawings (she used 20/20) and sent them to me as jpegs. I then opened them in PhotoShop Elements and added the red text and saved them as jpegs.

Before I had her drawings, I used SketchUp (free online) to make a 2-dimensional drawing where I placed cabinets and listed what would go where.

I am on a Mac and SketchUp worked fine for me.

I just met with my KD this morning and she's going out of town (and won't be able to make my latest changes before she leaves) so I am going to do a new SketchUp of the changes and will post it here. It's not as nice as her drawings, but it does help with thinking through where to put what.

Tell DH you are saving him a lot of money. Headaches will pass and a bottle of aspirin or whatever you prefer is a lot cheaper than changing things once the cabinets are ordered or they start going in. This is exactly when you want to rethink and question everything -- make your head spin and see if you come back to the same point. We did it. My DH complained about thinking too hard, his brain aching, etc. -- but now he talks about how nice it is to have everything we need and in a place where we need it 2 years after most of it was installed. Besides, there will be plenty of other headaches and you're going to need the rest of that bottle of aspirin anyway. ;-)

Island height -- we raised our countertops to 38" and left the island at 36". You could do something similar but reversed, just make sure that you won't be thrown off with the counter height or that mixer (which generally sits below the counter).

Prep Sink -- you don't have the island cabinets labeled, so I'm not sure what you have planned there. We put our prep sink in a 30" sink base. The sink was planned to go to one side, but it wound up in the center. The sink has a rear drain, so the disposal goes all the way to the back of the cabinet and I still have use of most of the cabinet. I use that cabinet for dog and cat food. We put a tilt-out tray for a sponge and brush, but I do keep a spray bottle of cleaner down below. You can plan a sink cabinet to have a lot of usable space. Also, that left us with a few inches to the side, and we put a slight arc in the granite on either end of the island. That gives me just a little more space on the side to set something down, but lots of room for working on the rest of the island, and we got full use of the space inside the larger cabinet too.

Trash issues -- We put a trash pullout next to our prep sink -- you may find that you need one there as much or more than you do at the main sink, especially if you are going to prep and bake there. My prep sink/trash plan had to go through the egg goo/doughy hands test.

At the main sink, we planned to the max inside that cabinet too. I had to forgo a trash pullout there when we decided to get a second DW. We were going to put a pullout inside one door, but we got a deeper sink and it worked, but no room for hands. Instead, we have a bin for trash on the right and recycling on the left -- turned across the front of the sink cabinet. Down the center is a basket for cleaning supplies and DW detergent. The roll of extra bags and other things we don't need often are behind the bins -- along with an instant hot tank, the disposal and a NeverMT connected to the largest soap bottle from Sam's (lasts over a year). You can get pullouts in 15", 18" and wider cabinets, but you can also work them or other solutions into your sink base. That might help with your DW situation. Whatever you do, that sink base is a significant piece of kitchen real estate. Make it work for you.

Pantry -- I had one similar to that and hated it, but others here love them and can't wait to build them into their new kitchen. When we took ours out, as well as the big light box over the island, our kitchen seemed 50% larger, so I was even happier to see it go. It all depends on how you work and what feels right for you.

Fireplace wall -- what's happening on the other side of the fireplace? Is that dead space? What about putting in shelves on the family room side and having that as wall space for hanging art on the kitchen side? I hate to see wasted space. ;-)

lascatx:
Thank you so much for your insight - I'm glad to hear that after 2 years you are still happy - it gives me hope!

Island Height -- I am the most vertically challenged adult in the house (and if the doctors are correct, my DS and DD will be taller than I am) and I do most of the cooking. So I think I will need the part of the island with the prep sink to be counter height (I don't want the mixer to be too high - having it sit below the counter will work well for me).

Prep Sink -- In the sink base I will be placing a reverse osmosis system so I can use it to wash fruits/vegs and for boiling. I am planning on a compost under the sink along with a trash bag that hangs on the door (Lee Valley - it opens when the cabinet door opens).

Trash Issues -- I am going to think this through again. When I scrape and rinse the dishes I want to do so near the DW. The challenge has been to center the sink in the window. This has led to the trash being on the other side of the DW. I could put a trash under the sink, but had the pull-out in a previous kitchen and liked the convenience of standing at the sink and scraping into the trash. Then again, in this kitchen I won't exactly have that..... If the sink not being centered on the window wouldn't bother me this would be easy ;).

Main Sink -- Do you have a photo of underneath your main sink? It sounds like a great use of space.

Panty -- I grew up with a pantry (it was just a small closet and it worked great). I am hoping that this configuration will work for me.....

Fireplace wall -- The fireplace will be 42" off the floor and is see-thru. I am thinking about putting artwork above it in both the kitchen and the living room.

Speaking as someone else also commitment-phobic, and on constant tenderhooks as my kitchen gets finalized and every day there's something else to look at and say "oogh, did I say I wanted that there? rats...." ...

There must be support groups for "getting over" everything that went wrong. Things you thought for sure you wanted and now you don't. Things you knew for sure you didn't want and ended up in there anyway. Irreversible mistakes made by a miscommunication bewteen you->GC->sub->guy-who- actually-does-the-work. Things you weren't sure about at all, had to decide on, and now you wish you'd done another way. At this point, I'm now second-guessing even the most fundamental aspects of my kitchen that originally drove the entire design. "Did I really need two ovens?" "Am I going to like my farmhouse sink?" "Should we have moved the kitchen somewhere else altogether?" Really, for the compulsive and indecisive -- a volatile combination already -- the opportunities to be driven crazy are endless.

Deep breath!

All that said: islands. I too am vertically challenged, 5'1", and while at the moment I'm taller than 3 members of the family, I expect my reign will end in a few years. Yet I deliberately asked for my island to be lower, so that cutting and prepping on it is more comfortable for me. My mom's island is even lower than mine (33" finished) and no tall person, including her SO, has ever noticed or complained. But for someone in my height range, even an inch or two lower than "standard" 36" makes a huge difference. Mine will be 34.5". My kids won't care, my husband has the rest of the kitchen. The island is MINE. I say go for lower island.

So far the few people I know with multi-level islands mostly regret them, saying it cuts back on usable space. Nice idea in theory, looks great, but the bar-height stools are harder hop on and off of, and sides of the island can't be used as a general repository space.

(Personally I have no use for prep sinks without all the other supporting items: garbage, towels, knives, cutting boards, bowls, gadgets, strainers, space to set stuff. I see it as a prep *area*, and for me a sink is a minor, not a central, part of that, used mostly at the beginning or end of a prep project. But I'm in the minority here, I know :) ).

I sure wish there were a way to test-drive your new kitchen before committing so much time and money.

richpoor -- Test driving would be nice..... I am going to revisit the island issue with my DH tomorrow (he can't take too much kitchen design issues in one day) and see how much he really wants the island with the raised section.

How were you able to get your island lower - how tall are your base cabinets?

It's funny, at the beginning of my kitchen design decisions I swore I would never get a refrigerator with the water/ice in the door (well....ummm... I bought one) and that I had to have a pro-style range top with the knobs on the front (I'm getting the Bertazzoni drop-in gas range with the knobs on top). Now if I could only get this island decision made so I can obsess about another aspect of my kitchen...

I took pictures for someone a long time ago, but I don't think I ever got them posted. We've been through several computer issues and one dead camera since we began the remodel. I'll see if I can get a few to show you the "layers."

Am I the only one who had visions of Shrek and Donkey just then? LOL

LOL! So I guess kitchens, like onions, also have layers!

I'd like to see your sink cabinet as well Lascatx as I'm trying to figure out what to do in ours.

I met with my contractor today and let him know that I was still having some cabinet issues (he took the news rather well).

He also suggested putting the RO system in the basement and then this would eliminate the issue of which size sink base I would need and could go with the 18" base and not have to change to a 24" and lose cabinet space (he is going to verify this with the plumber tomorrow). And he also suggested hooking it up to the refrigerator (the fridge will have a filter, but doing this will extend the life of the filter in the fridge).

I too am looking forward to Lascatx's sink cabinet!

OK, OK. I will get to work. My son's camera is around here somewhere. LOL It has been a crazy day. I've been ready for a nap all day and feel like I still have a couple of day's worth of work to go. Back in a bit....

OK. The link below shows the cabinet open as you would normally see it. This is a 36" cabinet with a 10" deep sink undermounted. The two bins are large Rubbermaid trash containers -- one for trash and one for recycling. The basket in the middle holds the DW detergent and some other cleaning supplies -- those most often used.

Here is a link that might be useful:

The photo linked here shows the stuff behind those bins. On the left is the instant hot tank. The water connections are behind the disposal (a 1 HP biggie) and you may or may not see 2 DW hoses. On the right, the middle has a basket with trash liners, extra sponges and brushes, rinse aid, block oil, stainless polish, gloves and other supplies. Behind that is the beloved NeverMT connected to the warehouse size bottle of soap. The bottle next to it is an extra I bought to fill the sponge brush when I already had one (in that middle basket).

Trash pullouts are great and I love the one in my island, but they do take up room that you don't always have to spare. I don't regret doing without one and getting a second DW.

Here is a link that might be useful:

Your layout looks pretty good so far. I personally don't like the pantry layout. I have a few questions, is that nook next to the fire place in the corner useable space? If so, I think you can put a smaller pantry there. I would use the current pantry space to enlarge the wall cabinets to store more plates and glasses. I would then so some really cool pullouts on the bottom that will also store more pantry staples.

I agree that raised bars are not as functional as they look and limit your space. Since you are not doing you main clean up at that sink, I would put in the one level island instead.

Regardin RO systems, they really do waste quite a bit of water. Consider getting just a regular filtration system for drinking water. This can still be installed in the basement and piped to all the faucets in the kitchen that may need them. I currently have an Everpure system and have used it for years. I really like it. Now that I am considering having filtered water at four places in the kitchen, main sink, second sink, Espresso machine and ice maker for the fridge, it is probably cheaper and necessary to go to with a larger scale filter than the single Everpure that I have now. I am considering a commercial Everpure that appears to run $700 and can be installed in the mechanical room for me. Everpure does have a commercial RO system but I don't know anything about it.

Good luck!

Here is a link that might be useful: The system I was considering

lascatx -- You have the most organized under-the-sink cabinet I have ever seen. I will have a 33" sink base with a garbage disposal, but I think I would still be able to fit the trash and recycling under the sink. The more I think about it, I could always pull the trash can out while cleaning and put it back after I am done. This would be easier than walking around the dishwasher to scrape dishes etc... And with the garbage disposal, my plan to compost, and recycling, the amount of trash will be less....

Where is the drain on youor sink - is it ceentered in the back or centered in the middle of the sink?

I had a NeverMT from the kitchen I redid when we were living in another home and I took it with me when we sold the townhouse - there are some things that are just not meant to convey with the house (it wasn't like I was taking the door knobs - I still left the soap dispenser and the bottle that came with it). I can't wait to put it in the new kitchen!

homepro01 -- The area to the right of the fireplace can't be used for the pantry I had the architect try variations (I thought it would be a better use of the space as well), but the shape was really strange and that area can't be changed b/c it would impact other rooms and sizes of doorways.

I am still mulling the pantry layout.

I am going to look at regular filtration systems. I want to remove the chlorine and fluoride from the water (in addition to any other nasty things).

Thanks -- I have never thought out or planned what went under a sink so much as in this remodel. Never had any choice other than making the best of what came with the house. It's easy to use and to keep when you plan a spot for what you need and have an extra couple of spots for overflow (that extra bottle of Dawn that seems will be there forever and some extra sponges under the disposal as well as some on the right). Having everything that needs to go into the cabinet and telling the plumber where he can put the pipes rather than letting them run all over the place makes a big difference. They'll eat up the whole thing if no one tells them otherwise because it's easier to work out front -- even with that rear drain.

My sink drain is center rear. We found that nearly everything that large other than the Shaw's Original fireclay farmhouse sink had center or center rear drains. The side drains was one vote for the Shaw's, but we weren't convinced we wanted a farmhouse for the long haul. As it turned out, it works well, both in the sink and below. In the sink, I can put a half sheet pan laying flat front to back on either side and still have the center open for the drain. Having it to the rear does give me more height for cleaning supplies toward the front.

My corner pantry didn't work in large part because of the shelving -- it wasn't right for the space or our needs. It wasted anything above 5 or 6 feet and we had 10 feet ceilings. The shelves were also on 2 sides only They were deep on one side, and that meant you had deep, dark corners that were near impossible to use, even with turntables, for half the space. The third wall was wasted (could have had shallow shelving -- great for cans -- if it had been better planned)and the fourth was the door and the depth of the narrower shelves. The only good thing was the spice rack DH built and installed on the back of that door, but I like my spice drawer better.

I think that we could have possibly redone all the shelving and made the pantry work much better. We started toying with the notion of taking the pantry out altogether when I was questioning whether the ovens I wanted would fit in the cabinet we had right next to the pantry. Sliding the ovens over gave me a more workable space for baking, and creating a wall of tall storage evolved from that -- fridge is flanked by pantry rollouts and pantry tower as well as as 12" utility and 24" cabinets above all of that.

My small appliances go in 13" deep cabinets on the back of the island and are very handy -- but I don't have any island seating.

Either system can work, but you need to be able to make it work for all your needs. You should have some flexibility in your system too (I'd want adjustable shelving rather than fixed). I'd be careful about having deep shelves.

What you have planned isn't wrong and many people would love to have something just like it. Mine didn't work -- in large part because the fixed shelves were thrown in (on 2 sides only) by the builder who didn't care how it functioned and so much was lost to deep corners. It was a big space so it should be good, right? Wrong. Plan it an make sure you get what you want and that anything you are uncertain about has flexibility so you have options.

I do like having my corner more open and the space feeling larger. I also paid more for my cabinets to get it. Lots of things to think about.

lascatx -- I've spent part of the day looking for pantry shelving I can adjust. I think having options is the key. I want to put my MW in the pantry along with some small appliances (crock pot, blender, food processor, toaster), with the rest for food storage. I'm thinking of just making the lowest shelf wider to fit the small appliances. Our MW is pretty small (I have to measure it) to see what size shelf it will need.

Thanks so much for your input!

If you need to remove nitrates and nitrites from water, a "regular" filtration system will not work. From the research I've done, removing nitrates & nitrites at home means using an RO system.

Buehl is correct. Did you get your water tested? I would suggest that first. I have city water but the quality of it has gone down in recent years due to some large community expansions in the county. I am having my water tested again in other to pick out an appropriate filtration system.

What is the size of the space next to the fireplace? Can you just do shelves on the wall and not put any kind of structure there? You can use it as display shelving or a place to store brooms and mops for instance. The dimensions would be helpful. I would not eliminate it as a place to do some useful storage in your kitchen.
Good luck!

Here is a link that might be useful: One article about Nitrates

Definitely check the MW and be sure you account for the MW door. As someone noted elsewhere, MW doors are always hinged on the left side.

Regarding a corner pantry...ours works really great for us, much better than our old "straight" pantry did. But, I carefully planned where everything would go and installed shelves accordingly. Our shelves are not adjustable partly b/c we wanted them braced all along the back walls as well as the sides and partly b/c of the look I wanted. So I worked a long time on the shelf spacing.

One note about shelves being wider on the bottom than the top, remember that you will have to reach over those shelves to get to the shallower shelves above.

As to depth...all my small appliances except the Toaster Oven fit on my 12" deep shelves. Yes, the bread maker had to go in sideways, but everything else fits...toaster, blender, coffee maker, waffle maker, food processor, slow cooker, etc. I've linked my pantry thread for more info. (The toaster and waffle iron, btw, now share the same space on the right end of that shelf. I got a wire pantry shelf from Walmart that the waffle iron fits underneath and the 4-slice toaster sits on top of the shelf.)

I have 15" deep shelves on the short wall (my corner pantry has a long & short wall...long story) and 12" deep shelves on my long wall. I use the corners for seldom used items but they're still pretty accessible & easy to use. My broom & dust pan hang from the wall to the right of the door.

Overall interior dimensions:
...Long wall: 51"
...Short wall: 41"

Here is a link that might be useful: Thread: Sharb-inspired Pantry Done!

Thanks for the water info - it would make sense to have it tested now, wouldn't it? I could check with the county (actually w/ Baltimore, from what I remember my county gets the water from Charm City).

buehl & homepro01 -- Who did you use to test your water?

buehl -- Thanks for the pantry info. I think I am going to go with adjustable shelving in the pantry (perhaps at a later time I will go with fixed, but now with the kids young and growing I think more flexibility is better).

Do you keep all your non-perishable foods in the pantry?

I will check about the MW and the door and the placement in the pantry. I will keep in mind that I will have to reach over the 15" shelves to get to the 12" (unless I do 12" on one wall and 15" on another......).

Kitchenredo,
I had mine tested by a local lab. If you call your regional department of health or EPA office, they have a list of testing labs. Another option is to ask anyone who has a well, they usually have to have the well water tested and certified before they can use the water.

Best of luck!

No, we also have a pantry in the basement that pretty much just has food...the upstairs pantry has food + cookbooks + small appliances + broom closet so there's a limit to how much will fit. If it was just food and nothing else (the original plan back when I was going to have a Super Susan for the small appliances & a utility cabinet), it would probably hold most of what we use in 3 or 4 weeks...but it's limited now. Plus, of course, it's smaller than it was supposed to be b/c of the measuring issues on that wall.

I should note that I buy in bulk either when things go on sale (good sales, not those 10-cent off sales!) or from Costco...meaning I have something like 5 packages of 8 rolls of paper towels, ditto for the 24 rolls of TP, 20 boxes of granola bars, ditto for chicken noodle soup, 3 or 4 bags of sugar, flour etc. [A relic of growing up in a big family...] I also have to store my gluten-free foods (which take up a bit of space) that I buy in bulk from Wegmans when I visit my parents in western NY.

So, all-in-all, I need that overflow pantry in the basement! (I've had the pantry for several years now, long before we even started discussing remodeling the kitchen!)

Another thing is that I don't like having a "stuffed to the gills" upstairs pantry. I prefer to see everything w/a little bit of "breathing space" on the shelves. The basement pantry, OTOH, is pretty full and I'm OK with that.

Water testing...like HomePro01 said, check with your county health department. They should have a list of certified water testers. You might also check with the Maryland Cooperative Extension.

HTH!

Here is a link that might be useful: Maryland Cooperative Extension

Kitchen
Congrats on your remodel -

One thing that really stuck out for me was the dbl sided FP in the kitchen

When we remodled I looked at opening our existing FP into the opposing room - Unfortunately I found LOTS of reasons not too - many of which were smoke creators/venting problems/provide no heat - so nixed the idea -

In a kitchen where you are dealing w/lots of combustibles,heat, as well as varying draws I would make sure the FP is not is not creating a safety hazard - Picture the fire roaring & the hood on high speed - It seems like not a good mix

There are building codes that specify FP construction (i.e how close any combustibles are to firebox,chimney height)I would ck into that additionally that you would consult with a FP "expert" or engineer regarding your application to see that it is safe & will offer what you are hoping to obtain

Quote fr. FP site "When fireplaces have a large roaring fire, a tremendous amount of air is pulled up the chimney. This air must be replaced inside the building with outside air. The term "make-up" air is normally used since it describes the volume of air that must be made up inside the building to replace the air passing up the chimney. If this "make-up" air is not available in adequate quantities, a smoking problem can result. If the building has internal fans that exhaust air from the house, the problem is made worse."

Is there an existing FP? Who has designed the "new" FP, have they done this before? have they done proper calculations for firebox, flu, chimney, air flow, backdrafting etc..is it gas or wood? will 2 flus be installed? any inserts

Sorry I feel like a real rain cloud on your sunny day - but I know from personal experience this is more complicated than just opening up the other side of the existing firebox

Good luck

homepro01 and buehl -- I will call tomorrow to get the water tested. I will also call the water authority and get their yearly sheet listing what's in the water.

buehl -- Thanks for the pantry. I am also a fan of Costco. I am planning on putting overflow in a basement closet where I currently have items that didn't fit in the old kitchen. I really don't need 15 rolls of paper towels in my pantry....

jejvtr -- Thanks for the information.

I probably should have noted that it is a gas fireplace and it will be enclosed by glass on both sides. I am hoping that will not be a problem. The FP was suggested by the architect (she also suggested the make and model) so I am hoping (I don't want to use "assume") that it will not be a problem.

Just to be sure I will put it on my list of questions for her.

It is one of the things in the remodel my DH really wants so I hope it won't be an issue. Though if we couldn't do it, I would end up with more cabinet space (just kidding!?).