Thank you all for continuing to help me. I totally understand the clearances for 90 degree corners. But for 45 degree corners ... when I look at my peninsula angles I don't see how the doors could bump into each other any more than a straight run. Door hardware is knobs for the doors and typical cup pulls for drawers. However, those parts of the doors/drawers would never be near each other when opened at a 45 degree angle, unlike actual 90 degree corners. The KD does not seem to be very knowledgeable. When I questioned her during the design phase because it didn't make sense to me then either, she just said fillers are required on all corners on two sides and they can't be cut down because cabs come in 3" sizes. There was no distinction made between a 90 or 45 corner. At the very most it seems one 3" on one side would have been the most needed, such as gr8day (thx for the pic) and Shannonz's. Here is an example of one of the pics I found online w/no fillers it appears on 45 corners. It seems like this would work fine, unless I'm missing something here. Again, we paid a lot of money to these people and I feel like it lowers the aesthetic look of the cabinets, not to mention if I could have had 3" larger cabinets on one or both sides of the two 45 degree angles.

Earlier I showed my wife this thread and she like to thank everyone for the help. She couldn't believe you folks actually spent the time perusing the floorplan and provided us with valuable feedback. Ok back to business.. So she ruled out moving the fridge beside the DW. In fact, she was very much against it. I do have to admit it will solve all our concerns. Also she wasn't keen on moving the pantry/laundry room wall, she like to keep her walk in pantry and not stack the washer/dryer. Thinking about it some more, we are leaning towards the idea idea of shrinking the patio door from 6' to 4' double French door(not sure if builder offers it). This will allow us to add an additional 24" cabinet and counter space beside the DW. Based on all your feedbacks, it appear fridge and island are the bigger concerns. FRIDGE: For easier fridge access, we are thinking of shrinking the space between stove and fridge. Currently that space is roughly 24". If we do decide to shorten it, what will be a small enough counter width to still be useful? I like to create enough space between fridge and wall to install a pull out pantry as some of you suggested. If it gets too tight, another option we considered is move the stove "up" by 12" towards the sink. However I am not sure whether it will be too close to the sink or not, thoughts? ISLAND: Wife wants an island, so it's here to stay. The good thing is it's floating and not fixed. I still don't have a good idea of what to do with it, might just push it further out for now so it won't impede traffic. At the same time I don't want to push it so far out that we can't fit a table in the breakfast area. Also I don't want to pay builder more to make it bigger. *sigh* so much options, so limited $.

I'm a Custom Cabinet maker, I'm not sure what all upgrades you are including but the cheapest way to go is by using 1/4 inch flat recessed panels for your doors. At my shop we charge more for painting and more for inset doors and drawers, it's comes down to the extra time it takes to install the insets. It's the current style now, and I know you said you are set on them being inset but perhaps you should consider doing a full overlay which still gives you clean looking lines but should reduce the cost. Also, the worst thing you can do is add drawers, the cost of drawer slides and the extra cost of the drawer box will shoot your quote through the roof! We charge around $45 more for a drawer, this is because the box and the slides are so much more expensive then just making a door and using hinges. If you are asking for "soft close" technology as well, don't. These slides are very expensive and wear out quickly. The soft close door hinges have came down significantly but most cabinet makers will still charge at least $10 per door.

I would agree with I think everyone so far, that a darker same-color on the ceiling will not support the illusion of expanding the space, and because of shading on different planes, may even appear darker than the walls. As an example, on many commercial projects with open-to-roof ceilings, a suspended ceiling "cloud" is hung over a seating area, retail section, or something like that. Still being maybe 10'-14' high, painting it dark brings it down further and makes it feel "cozier" to those under it, as you do not have the reflection and bounce of light and other colors off of it. When looking across a space at eye level, a neutral (family of) white color on the ceiling will disappear in your peripheral vision. To combat lighting glare, using a recessed fixture where there is a deeper inset baffle will reduce the potential because you cannot see the light from the side. As well BR, PAR, & R 'bulb' shapes diffuse the light on the side of the curved shape. Most of the Edison-socket housings will have deep baffle choices, for LED fixtures you'd have to search a liitle more as most are closer to flush. Also, you can paint the trim and baffle any color. With Edison-socket it's easy, with intergral LED, you'd have to tape the lens before painting.