Thanks Joann23456, I did see those on ikeafans. I'm not sure if it was that person or another one though who mentioned that if they had it all to do over again, they'd have gone with Scherrs because painting the already finished Tidaholm (or maybe it was somebody with Adel birch) turned out to be pretty tricky. She had to have the doors and drawer fronts delivered to her painter, he had to sand them (to remove the finish) then prime and paint (sprayed them). They did turn out nicely, but seems like a lot of hassle and potential for screw-ups. The thing that does appeal though is that I want to have a wood hood screen, crown moulding and some other finishing touches. If we had the doors painted, then we'd have an easier time of matching these other elements, and touching up the doors if they get scratched. Anyway, for some reason Scherrs website isn't working for me tonight, so I can't even check out their doorstyles again. Maybe tomorrow. I think I'll call or email them too and see about the painted shaker style door concept. They must have done them, they're so popular.

I can't tell from your photo exactly what you have, but it appears to be some version of the classic Jenn-Air cooktop (some of which were rebranded as Maytag, Whirlpool, or GE). Your specific model may no longer be manufactured, but they've made the same basic design since the 1960s and the cartridges/modules are interchangable between nearly all of them and remain readily available, so the new burner cartridges fit into most of the old cooktops and vice versa. All of them allow you to remove the grill and replace it with a two-burner module. Some also allow the burners on the right side to be upgraded to a smoothtop radiant module; but on others the burners on the right can't be removed. If you see a rectangular frame around them that's roughtly the size of the grill on the other side, your burners are in a removable cartridge. Lift the front or back of the cartridge and it will lift out. The currently available coil cartridge (JEA700ADB) looks like this: That is what your right side should look like if it's removable; if not, you can still remove the grill on the left side and replace it with one of these, which will match the general appearance of the existing coil burners on the right side. (the grill pops out and will have similar electric pins on the opposide side from the one you pull upward). Or you can upgrade one or maybe both sides to these A122B radiant burners, one 6" and one 8", which look like this: The only cartridges that won't fit are the wider "Expressions" ones with the electric pins on the left or right side of the cartridge rather than the front or back which they now call the "Designer Line" series. Also, if your cooktop is made by Amana it uses a different shape altogether. But most of these cooktops can accept both older and newer replacement cartridges. Used ones (and some new ones) are all over eBay and Craiglist as well. They used to make some styles they no longer sell, including halogen burners (A126 or A126B, my favorites) that turn on and off instantly, soild disk burners, and even induction burners which are hard to find and expensive if you do. Grills and griddles are also available. You just need to verify that the grill cartridge in your cooktop has the four electrical pins at the end (with a fifth unused hole) and that the dimensions are roughly the same. Another issue if you replace the entire cooktop with the Ikea one you linked to is that your existing cooktop has downdraft venting, so unless you also have an exhaust hood over the cooktop, you'll need to add a separate vent hood or a raisable downdraft exhaust behind the cooktop, as the Ikea cooktop doesn't have built-in downdraft venting. Anyway, find the model number (often under the grill cartrdige on a placard, or underneath the entire unit) and then you can be certain which new (or used) cartridges will work with your cooktop. Here is a link that might be useful: Jenn-Air cooktop parts & accessories (click 'View All')

Get yourself a $99.00 laminate trimmer with a $20.00 flush cutting bit and trim those cabinet sides freehand. Not a big deal. Don't forget safety glasses and earplugs.

I am using an existing range for now, to be replaced later. But these things "should" be replaceable without tearing out the cabinets and counter! I see bbtrix has a slide in, which IMO is not designed to be easily replaceable and specs should be carefully reviewed. I did check specs on a few brands of freestanding ranges, and most are just a tad under 30" wide. GE says theirs are exactly 30" but the install diagrams say the opening should be a MINIMUM of 30". So I guess they expect a 30" range to fit in a 30" opening. Tight fit for sure! I allowed room to add the side panels in my design. But if I don't I will just center the range opening under the center of the cabinet over the range. The fact that the wall cabinet sides won't line up exactly with the base cabinet sides is never going to be noticeable. On the end of the run, the side overhang of the countertop typically extends out past the base cabinet anyway. That might even make the backsplash line up on the at end, right? To be safe, I may allow 1/8" extra space but think a wider opening would collect gunk, and make it more likely that the sides would be visible (and should therefore be covered with a panel).