I agree completely with Patsyann, but if you really want to remove part of the deck, you're right that landscaping is going to be key to balance out the height of the windows. What zone are you in and what is the exposure on that side of the house? Our new deck will be about 5 feet off the ground and we're doing lattice (square not diagonal, even though for some reason square is much more expensive) skirting. My plan is to fill in with a lot of shrubs (in my case Limelight Hydrangeas) and a few small trees so that most of the skirting is hidden.

Darn! I was afraid of the pool being an issue after the deck is built. So, how do you suggest I best tackle the project? My father-in-law has been commissioned to build the deck. He's terific, although not creative. It would be a basic rectangle that is functional. I'm not ready for a pool yet but cannot use the backyard easily because of the honking big steps off the French doors (of which, there are steps for only two sets, not the additional third we added). Thank you for any input.

Chacha's solution is very good. Alternatively, you could have two little 3" long stainless steel pieces made the same height as the front panel of the hood (2"?) and use the to fill the gap between the hood and the cabinets. Then tile below that. You could even have a sort little rail attached to them to hang a spoon from... Or run a kitchen tool rail between the cabinets just below the hood and tile up to the bottom of that. I've linked to the expensive but cool Rosle system below. Ikea no doubt has something similar at a fraction of the cost. Here is a link that might be useful: Rosle Kitchen Rail System

Thanks everyone for all the great ideas. My granite guy and general contractor were great today!!! Both of them are so nice and worked together very well. The granite guy is the owner of the granite store and he comes out to do all the measurements. I am very lucky because I have heard horror stories about contractors being difficult! We decided to take the whole window frame off so that we can have a 4 inch backsplash. The fabricator is going to also create a granite sill so there will be a little shelf just below the window. I think he said the sill will round out about 1 1/4 inch on each side to give it a nice finished look. He really seems like he knew what he was talking about. At first my contractor said he would just cut off the bottom section of the window frame, but the granite guy said that he would prefer to have it all off to avoid any space issues when installing. My contractor said, no problem. He took the side pieces and bottom pieces off and will retrim it after the granite is installed! Granite will be installed Thursday morning at 8:00 am-- so excited tosee how it looks!!! :) Now I'm thinking of painting the trim to match the color of the new cabinets. The trim is really a stock builders white color. Looks OK next to the Coconut color cabinets (which are an off white). I went to the paint store today and they matched up the cabinet color almost exactly- Benjamin Moore Cream Cloak. There is the window trim and then door trim that leads from kitchen, near refrigerator wall. The door trim is between cabinets near stove and pantry cabinet. What do people think. Leave the stock white paint as contrast or paint trim to match the cabinets??? The kitchen got a first coat of BM Capilano Bridge today- 2nd coat will be tomorrow. I think it is going to look good once the granite is laid- should pull out the caramel coloring within the granite.