I'd think it's because they are new, people want them and they know they can get the higher price. and they had to reconfigure things to make them. I lose things in the back also. I've decided that when I move (and it's emptied out and cleaned etc) I'm going to put some 'things' in it that i can put stuff in and slide in and out. like i have a plastic egg holder that came with mine. in 11 yrs I've never put my eggs in it - but I could put my water bottles in it (or salad dressing, ketchup etc) and it'll slide in and out. and I saw (at W) the white plastic ice bins - and I can get a few of those to put things in which will again allow me to slide it out, put stuff in, slide it back in...and back out. I've also been thinking that just the bottom of some rectangular plastic containers could be used. having a CD fridge isn't something i'm interested in, nor would I pay extra to get it. losing stuff in the back - I care about - lol!

Thanks for the responses. Look like I can't use the Geberit as my wall is 2 x 4 build, and there is no room to use 2 x 6. I'm not sure if having the tank inside the wall will be a maintenance issue. Probably a really dumb question... but I assume you would have to tear the wall apart if you ever needed to repair/replace the tank and associated parts? I'm somewhat hooked on a cabinet vanity. To me, pedestal sinks are not very useful... small bathrooms need all the storage space they need and pedestals don't offer any. But thanks for the links. I do like the design... I do have a primitive drawing but don't know how to upload to this forum. I have a CAD drawing but I've made so many changes to the original (which was approved by the city for permitting) that it would be misleading. The reason why I think a shallow 48" would be nice is that I can run it the entire length of the bathroom up to the shower partition... which I would like to tile up to about 40" or a few inches above where the vanity would end, and then glass up to 8" shy of the ceiling. From the shower partition, the shower is about 32" x 66". So it works well in the 7' x 5' 6" square box. Also, going with a long 48" vanity allows me to go really shallow. A very shallow sink/countertop is not as bad if it can be stretched out across a wider area. Total countertop/sink space is what I think people are most concerned with. I might try to find a really shallow sink/vanity... around 14" perhaps. Do you guys think 14" is too shallow for a sink vanity? This would allow me to go with a more standard toilet (round bowl) that hopefully offers dual/flush options. This is an urban zero-energy/smart home with water catchment so I need to go with the most water-sensitive models. I'm hoping to find a model that has a tall tank that will be a little tighter to the wall, now that I know an in-wall tank (e.g. Geberit) won't work. If I can find a nice 26" toilet and a 15" vanity, that will leave 25" of clearance between the vanity and the toilet... and I think this is reasonable. Oh, and the Neorest is very nice... but I'd like to keep my toilet expenditure in the $500-$1,000/each range. I actually need 4 shallow toilets for the project so I have to be a bit more sensitive to the price.

I bought this lightweight 2-step stepstool for my mom. She just took it to humor me, mot thinking she'd ever use it, but now she says she uses it all the time and it is really much safer than the things she was standing on before (chairs etc.). It is very stable, lightweight enough for a mature woman to carry around, a large, stable platform to stand on, and, like the one catmom showed, has a long handle to hold onto. It might not fit under the sink, but its light weight and extra safety might make it worth a few extra steps to keep in a nearby closet. Cosco (not CosTco) products are available at a lot of stores, not just the one I linked to here. http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=10051&productId=202020748&langId=-1&catalogId=10053&ci_src=14110944&ci_sku=202020748&cm_mmc=shopping-_-googlebase-_-D22X-_-202020748 Here is a link that might be useful: Cosco lightweight 2-step stool

Hooray for empty cabinets! I've got some empty space now as well. So strange and wonderful. Ended up with commercially made metal wall shelves in the garage and the spacing didn't work out for a rack over the freezer but at least there are a couple of bins on top rather than things that could fall behind. If something can fall behind it will and if you make a stack it will fall over so I avoid them at all cost. I am not happy that the space between dryer and freezer is unassigned, someday inspiration will strike. My garage is done. Had a great time making hangers from scrap wood for that big stuff that won't fit on shelving. Best was solving 2 issues at once. Needed a way to store garden tools and had a wood box without a job. It was originally for computer boards, about 8" square in cross section and about 30" long. I turned it on its side and cut slots through what used to be the sides to hang long handled tools. A slot cut through one side now top holds the loppers upside down and I used scrap hardboard to make dividers that conveniently slid into the board slots. That helps support the tools and made some little spaces for my gardening shoes, pruners and gloves. Used a couple of shelf supports without a job to hang it on the wall.