Both...functional and aesthetic...but mostly functional.

Yes, a 30" would work OK as long as you don't do any high-heat/high-odor/frying/stir-frying/smokey/fumes cooking. If you don't cook much or do "light weight" cooking (i.e., no frying, etc.), then 30" is fine functionally.

Aesthetically, a range has a more "massive" presence than a cooktop, so a wider range hood can help balance it.

You're not really short on cabinet space, so if it were me, I would go with the 36"... Ummm...it was me and I did go with the wider! (I have a 42" hood over a 36" cooktop.)

Non-hood comment...

Your refrigerator is pretty much flush against a wall deeper than it... Unless it's a single door that has hinges on the right, you're going to have a difficult time opening it all the way. You need 6" to 12" of filler or cabinet b/w the wall and the refrigerator. So, I suggest one of two things....

(1) shorten the wall so it's only about 24" and stops where the refrigerator carcass (box) stops (that's what I did). Still put 3/4" end panel b/w the wall and the refrigerator so the "framing" of it is consistent on both sides.

(2) move the refrigerator north another 5" to 11" (depending on what is needed for your particular model) and put in a pullout pantry or utility cabinet in that space...but, you don't really have room for this b/w the refrigerator and sink. So I think option 1 is your best solution.

Note that a single door refrigerator with the hinges on the right will not work well for your layout b/c it opens the refrigerator away from it's landing space as well as the kitchen itself. You need landing space either on the handle side or across the aisle w/in 48" on the handle side of your refrigerator.

Your layout shows 1.5" end panels...is there a reason for them instead of 3/4"?

Here's a pic of how we did option 1:

Here is a link that might be useful: How to Build-In a Refrigerator Slideshow (more pics)

buehl: Thanks for your feedback. We are planning to have a counter depth french door/freezer on the bottom frige (the new Electrolux)

Darn it... we really wanted that wall on teh left of the frige to be 30" to hide the frige from the dining room. But I see what you mean about the door not opening all the way.

I am not sure why the KD budgeted for 1.5" end panels instead of 3/4"...

No, you don't. And I have spent the past 6 months on this and other ventilation questions, getting a different answer from each 'expert' I asked. Finally, I had the opportunity to go to KBIS (the Kitchen and Bath Show) in Chicago last week. I went into the DCS and GE booths- both had a 30" hood over a professional gas range, and both companies said a 30" was fine. Case closed for me. I am installing the new GE Monogram over-the-range Advantium oven in July.

Particularly if you have cabinets flanking the hood, you can get by with a 30" hood. If my experience with a wall hood, depth is more important than width so get a 24" ro 27" deep hood. With an island hood it really is a good idea to oversize it.

I've never had a hood larger than my range. Right now I have a 48" hood over a 48" Wolf gas rangetop (8 burners with 16K BTUS each). We do all sorts of cooking, including searing meat and lots of stir fry. I don't have any problems or complaints. I couldn't afford the jump to get one wider than 48". Because we use the panini grill, waffle irons, etc. next to the rangetop, I might have liked one that covers more area, but I wouldn't have gotten one larger just for the stove...And as a matter of fact, the hood we have does a decent job for that cooking we do off to the side. Like I do, you'll have upper cabinets that help funnel fumes, etc into the hood...It might be different if there was nothing around the hood to help with the capture.

I also received a lot of advice that I should only consider a wider hood for my BlueStar 36" RNB, especially because 2 of the front burners (on the outside corners) are 22k BTU. But I couldn't bear to lose the cabinet space, and although we do a fair amount of high heat stir-fry (why else would we get the BlueStar?), I knew it wouldn't be often that I had all 6 burners going at the same time. Just make sure it's a powerful hood (we've got 1200CFM) with enough capture area (you can go deeper instead of wider).

If I had the space (and budget), I may have gone larger, but I'm totally happy with how it turned out.

I have a 36" GE Monogram cook top and a 36" broan hood and it's perfect. I never have to run it on high. I stir fry, deep fry, cook bacon and fish, etc and never have escaping smoke, steam or smells. My hood is 900 cfms.

I have a 30" DCS range and a Kobe 30" hood. No problems at all.

We got a 36" hood for our 36" range (at the time a Jade, but did a buy-back, and use the hood with our Wolf AG range). We were told the size would be fine.

Our hood's more a form than function hood though, and we might swap it out for a better-functioning one down the road.

I'm more concerned about having the cabinet corner so close to the corner burner, if not for risk of (light) damage from years of even distant heat hitting it, than for the extra clean up from having stir-fry and splattering hit it...

Thus I not only went with a 42" hood over my 36" BS, but I put 3" of space between the hood and the upper cabinet on each side.

Tough trade-off, the cabinet space or some separation for cleaning and keeping cabinets from the heat.

I have a 30" chimney style hood between two cabinets over a 30" gas range and it works fine for me. I left one inch of space between the cabinets and hood on either side.

Positano, which Kobe hood do you have? Are you happy with it? We are in search of a 36" hood for 30" Kenmore induction range. Our range controls have a curved front, so I though I would pick up that same shape in the hood; the only Kobe with curved front is rather shallow. I've never had a decent hood, but I've also had greasy cabinets! We exposed brick as a backsplash and are looking for a chimney or stove pipe look. We also LOVE Modernaire,the barrel shape, but even dealing direct, they were too pricey for us. I don't want to sacrifice function for aesthetics, or do I??? I like the look of several Syrius, oh, and I love the Cheng (cha ching$$$) hood. Ugh...