Don't fret over the cleaning filters on a Bosch DW. I've only had to do that once for sure -- a small biot of somethign , and rinsed them out a couple of times when I was trying to find a smell that turned out to be something stuck in my disposal. It really is a non-issue, and the only odor issue has been that bit of guck in my disposal. Bosch is a good DW. I have 2 adn would buy 2 more if I neeeded them. I liked the KA fridge also and was planning on getting that one until we saw the Thermador Freedom (the Bosch wasn't out yet). I've always disliked the grills above the buil-ins, and I have always hated the drawers at the very bottom of the fridge. The Freedom takes care of both of thise with its lifted design. You can also pull the drawers out all the way without hyper-extending the door. The door open at 90 degrees is about all you will ever need. And I do love those full extension drawers, but others are picking up on those too. For me, the choice of the Thermador -- or Bosch in your case, was both form and function. I think function is most important, but you do have to weigh in the matters of form that either encroach on function or will really bug you. If you see them in everyone else's kitchen, even movies, TV and magazine ads and they catch you attention -- maybe that's something significant enough to you to matter. If you never thought about this stuff until you were standing in the appliance store or reading on this forum and heard the siren song begin -- well, it's probaly not something worth breaking the budget or having to leave something else out over.

Rosie- Your MIL's silver platter sounds wonderful! I love silver platters, and they can be very fuctional. Art is not clutter, it's art, so I agree, there's always room for a painting or photo that lights up your space :) Johnliu- I'm glad it sounds like your kind of kitchen, for the most part. No, we don't live in Yakima, but further north, about five miles from Idaho, zone 4 (on a good day) and we would definitely use the stove! We have the five month winters, over here. Right now, while most people on GW are talking about spring, I'm just happy that most of the snow has finally melted! LOL We might get some daffodils by early April, followed by hyacinths and tulips, then lilacs in May. It does get hot in July and August, but that's about it. They can grow wine grapes in Yakima...I'm still looking for a grape (Valiant?) I can grow here. Our frost free growing season is not quite three months :) You know, I think a lot of people worry about wood stove clearance, because they get big ones, to heat their whole house. We have a lovely fireplace in the living room (came with the farmhouse) so I just want a small wood stove, in the kitchen. Just big enough to hold a kettle of water, small pan or cast iron skillet. Usually, clearance between wood stove and combustible materials are 3' so I have more than that with the walk way and the stove is back in the corner...so I'm not too concerned. My husband would love to get a generator (and we probably will) but you still need gas to run them. If the power is out for a long time....our town has one gas station and when they're out, that's it. On our property, we have lots of wood available, so that's an easy, renewable resource.

OMGooness! These babies are adorable but my heart is breaking :( It's a good thing I don't know where Raffi lives or I might be tempted to ask her if she'd like to move to Texas! <g> We just lost our 11 year old choc. Lab a week ago Sunday from complications due to kidney failure :( She as diagnosed just over a month ago. She was on a prescription kidney disease dog food and appeared to be looking and feeling better. At 3:45am I woke up to her wheezing. She took her last couple of breaths in our arms but we don't know if she was aware of us or not. I'm choosing to beleive she was :( I miss her SO much! It's heart wrenching. I just want her back!

Thanks for your suggestions @rebunky! I will work on some rough overhead drawings of the first floor (actually, my husband will because he'll prob do a better job). Our contractor just told me that he'll provide to scale measurement overheads if we put a deposit down, so we'll likely do that and have those shortly. I would love to get the fridge on an end of the L perimeter somehow. I'm not sure if it's going to be possible but willing to ask my contractor to make a few more iterations of this to see! My husband seems to think that a fridge on that short wall is going to look imposing coming out of the dining room. But for what it's worth he's not super into design or thinking about it a ton :) The laundry room kind of needs to be in this area because otherwise we'd need to move it upstairs, which would be ideal but would require us to renovate our large primary bath and since we are also putting on a screened in porch off the kitchen we'll need a minute for our budget to recover before another reno. Re: moving the dining room entrance to the right -- that could possibly work but I'm afraid it'll close things off more. I'm not opposed to a stacking W/D if it helps the kitchen. The current laundry design is a side by side with a counter over it and upper cabinets with a sink on the other side. Attached a pic. of laundry room design as of now .