Some sources offered to me the possibility that the Viking trim kit would fit the essentially identical Jenn Air units but I didn't pursue it nor can I confirm it. Electrolux Icon CD shows an optional collar and louver kit in their specs but I haven't seen it displayed. If your main goal is to minimize protrusion, then any refrigerator could be made to appear more flush with either a recessed space behind to allow it to push back further, and/or extended side panels to camoflauge the exposed sides.Trimming out the top gap to fit tighter helps but air flow clearance should still be maintained per spec. Gasket and door still need to be exposed for doorswing clearance. I preferred the look of the Viking so I went with it. I'm hopeful that since it is really the ubiquitous Amana/Whirlpool/Jenn Air CD with a different skin and handle that I had a good chance of reliability and its ratings are of course similar to it's sibling units. It has performed very well.

The built in's are mainly for looks. You're paying thru the nose for them. What was interesting to me a few years ago when I did my renovation was how much cheaper the KD, GE, and other mid level brand built in's were compare to the SZ. Then the look became popular, and literally the price on the mid level built in's increased overnight. We struggled with the issue of spending 6-8K for a SZ or equivalent...or spending the money elsewhere in the kitchen. For what? Something that will keep a head of lettuce fresh for 3 weeks and no crystals on the ice cream lid (which are the standard SZ sales lines)? We didn't need that, nor the double compressors, and everyone I knew who had one did have recurring repair problems. So we went the other way...spent the money on the rangetop and double ovens, then went with a cabinet depth freestanding LG which we then enclosed in a cherry cab matching the rest of the kitchen. Looks built in, doesn't stick out any more than the SZ, and we saved about 4K. One thing I thought was peculiar, and actually turned me off...I was at the regional SZ dealer, and she actually chewed me out for 30 minutes because I was buying the Wolf rangetop and the Asko dishwasher, but wasn't buying the SZ. She tried to guilt me into buying the SZ, and thought it was horrible that I wasn't going whole hog. What would my neighbors who had a SZ think? We live in a SZ neighborhood, and frankly, most of them complain about their SZ's. As with all status symbols, you have to think whether you can afford the luxury, or you need to be realistic about your budget.

Sophie, I'm not quite sure where the comment about filler next to a wall came from, but yes I am aware of that - 2" is minimum and I have more than that in all the right places! But your comment about the cover panels has me wondering - if I do the cover panels on the base cabinets to exactly correspond/align with the cover panels on the wall cabinets on either side of the range hood above - and the 30" range hood cabinet goes between them, then how can I have anything other than exactly 30" for the range opening? So it doesn't matter what the specs for my existing 10 YO range (or any other range I may ultimately replace it with) call for. That gives 1/8 inch to spare for a (somewhat standard) 29-7/8" range and any counter overhang is essentially impossible! Am I overthinking this????? There is a similar dilemma for the refrigerator opening. In my primary home kitchen - which was done about 5 years ago using a cabinet designer, the refrigerator opening is 36" exactly. Its so tight that we had a heck of a time getting the unit perfectly level so it would fit in the opening. It actually touches the wood side panel in one spot. On this remodel, I'm happy to have an alcove for the refrigerator so that I don't need to worry about that. I'm using a side panel/filler on the over refrigerator cabinet where it meets the alcove side wall - not going down to the floor. That will give me an extra 1/2" of space so we won't need a shoehorn to get the refrigerator in and out! Maybe it will look a bit unbalanced without the full height side panel on one side but not sure anyone will notice.... And yes, I know the refrigerator door and gasket will have to sick out beyond the alcove in order for us to be able to open the door.

I am not sure I agree with M (a first! I always agree with M). LOL. Thank you for the compliment ❤ Shannon, let me make an effort to put you at ease again. You said that you have gone years with having a tile backsplash behind a high-powered range, even though it came with island trim. I believe you. There is a difference between what you can probably get away with, and what building codes tell you to do. When I was younger, I for years lived in an apartment that pushed a gas stove directly against a wall. Since it was just a rental apartment, I couldn't make many changes. I simply decided to mount a glass cutting board to that wall. It helped quite a bit, as I left an air gap behind. And that's pretty critical. That's why the manufacturers backsplash works, too. Nonetheless, when I moved out, the paint behind the cutting board had bubbled up in places and gotten scorched. But it never caught fire. So, there's that. So, the same is true in your situation. You most likely will get away with tile on a combustible surface. There might be hidden damage to the wall. Or there might not be. Impossible to tell. And if you sparingly use both oven and rear burners, then there might never be an issue. But nobody can tell in advance. And building codes have to deal with people doing stupid things. Such as setting your oven on fire (which my dumb ass has managed to do twice in my life) You don't want your house to catch on fire, simply because you forgot what material the backsplash happened to be built from. And if the stove manufacturer explicitly tells you that operation without a backguard isn't safe, then they probably have a reason for that statement.