FHB-- I've told you before but I have to say it again because each time I see it, it's looking better and better! : That range and hood combo is simply fabulous! I can't wait to see your entire kitchen! Cleanclassic: Thanks so much for your nice words about my hood. It's one of the best decisions I made about in the whole reno. By all means, do follow up with Sayde for photos of other MA styles, or contact the company directly. They will be happy to send you plenty of photos. Good luck! Boxerpups, follow your dream. You won't regret it!

We've got one hanging just to the right of our stove, and it's handy, so far as having the pots and pans right there, but it's also kind of a pain because it gets in the way when you try and lean over the counter when preparing food for meals. Additionally, the one we have is about 2'x3' powder coated wrought iron. and has a shelf on the top of it for storage, where we initially kept all the pan lids. It only took one time for one of those lids to slip between the strips of wrought iron and "el kabong" my wife in the forehead, and now nothing gets stored up there. When we finally DO get around to remodeling, I have a feeling that thing's going to end up as part of a "yahd sale". :-)

I don’t like the typical crowded, “ inspo” type pot rack photos- both from clutter and practical, as for me there would be lots “ out” that I’m not using every couple of days, and I thing would get dust/ grease. I could easily see hanging 1 or 2 that I use nearly every day or at least twice a week. But I prefer using my range warming drawer for 2-3 skillets, and a drawer form 4 most used smallish pots. The thing I think is important is to MEASURE your cookware and think how best to use different storage options. Skillet with handle may be near 20”. If on a wall above counter, will it hang low and impede counter use of cleaning? And how much linear wall space, which maybe cone used otherwise? If keeping wall above counter free of cabinets, do pots confound the look? I could see that being ok because pots & pans are shallower depth. Or maybe you have a strip of open full height wall that is a good target , again because generally floor space is still open and cookware may be pretty shallow so doesn’t crowd a walking zone. Or is there an ok cabinet storage place for large skillets, but you’d like a few small pots handy? Do you plan to keep utensils out on the counter? So, just be noodling on your options for open vs closed storage, priority of use, or balancing ease of access with enough “ pretty” and openness . Not for a “ show kitchen”, but for what makes you feel inspired and happy to be working in your kitchen.

Yes. The route may or may not add extra pressure loss, or at least the pressure loss can be compensated by a larger duct. In my view, for such a route an external (outside wall) blower might be better than one mounted in the hood for two reasons: First, it may have to be more "powerful" and hence more noisy and/or larger. (You will have at least two 90-degre bends of rectangular duct plus the 90-degree flow rotation inside the hood. There could of necessity be additional bends in the basement.) Second, the offset of the blower by the duct length will attenuate some of the blower noise -- a lot of the noise if you put a Fantech* silencer (muffler) in the duct path in the basement (if there is room -- diameter for an eight-inch unit is 12.5 inches -- see link). Ideally for this configuration you would use a hood with a rear exit adapted to an inter-wall cavity rectangular duct. (MA could probably cut this to fit your wall stud layout relative to the hood alignment.) This rectangular duct would transition to circular in the basement. For the hood aperture in play and duct losses, I'd strive to fit an 8-inch duct in the basement, with whatever rectangular duct will fit in the wall cavity and provide the most sectional area. 14 inches x 3.5 inches would be a close area match to the 8-inch round. There are also benefits to hood design that result from not having to fit a blower into it. To avoid surprises in joist revision, you will want to determine whether the subfloor under the selected wall cavity is free to cut into without having to modify the floor joist layout. kas *http://www.fantech.net/LD10Silencer10Dia-Duct_enus-411286.aspx