Hi Anna. They won't start work till next month, but here is my current layout, followed by the layout for the new kitchen with the 2nd oven on the angle - counter height, at the right end of the run. The Advantium will have drawers below it and a cabinet above it, half for trays and the other half, one shelf. It was the only way we could have 2 ovens and an island. The corner oven is a 27" Advantium 120 (all i had room for - and the only way I could have two ovens and and island, too. The wall next to the advantium has the washer and dryer on the other side and can't be removed. We will have a round kitchen table in the lower left of the dining area, away from where the sliding glass door opens. But there will be room for a couple of stools for perching at the circular end of the 25" wide, 81" long island. In the future kitchen, at the bottom of the schematic is a 12" deep by 87" long pantry with a bookcase in the center for my cookbooks. Gleydin is the only designer who walked into this kitchen and said I could have an island. I've cleaned up the schematic for simplification. Now, if my contractor would only finish his current job and get started...

One reason, I think, is that painted cabinets (at least white) are so "classic" for kitchens that they are hard to date as they have been used (sometimes more, sometimes less) ever since kitchens have had cabinets. (My grandmother had them in her 1950's built kitchen.) Also--the lighter colors keeps things light and bright. I think right now it is partly a reaction to the darker, and heavier look of the dark cherry or espresso cabinets with dark granite kitchens that were so popular in the early 2000's. Also, with today's more open floor plans, you can end up with too much of the stained wood look everywhere if you have stained wood cabinets AND the usual hardwood flooring AND the wood furniture typically found in the adjacent dining and family rooms. White or cream is especially easy to coordinate with whatever is going on in the adjacent rooms. I also think that many of us have experienced the finish on wood cabinets starting to wear and look unappealing! It seems that when a style is first popular with designers, we see beautiful examples done well and it looks so "fresh". Then the style eventually catches on with the general public, and we start to see it done everywhere, and often done "badly" by basic builders and diy'ers, i.e. cheaper materials and used inappropriately without understanding basic design concepts, etc. (Cheap oak cabinets and mosaic tile backsplashes are a great example of this. You've probably seen examples of contemporary style, busy mosaic backsplashes used to try and "update" an older traditional style 1980's kitchen with horrid results!) But--as someone who works in the flooring and décor section of a big box store, lots of people are still coming in looking for tile to go with their new wood-stained cabinets. They are either blissfully unaware, or don't care, that painted cabinets are supposed to be the most popular choice for kitchen cabinets these days! Just my 2 cents.

in ground freeze areas .. and CHI is as far as i know ... part of the problem is the pot freezing solid .. and water accumulating in the pots and freezing it into an ice cube.. roots need air as much as water .. and ice is not air ... there is also the excess water in spring thaw times.. when the pot can freeze and thaw repeatedly in march and april with rain and snow in between ... dormant trees just dont need all that much water .. and standing in a sodden pot is not good ... then there is the issue of the freeze drying winter winds from the NW ... which can lead to tissue damage ... even on dormant deciduous trees .. a lot of problematic winter variables to address ... beyond simple zone ... a dormant leafless tree does not need sunlight.. so a garage would work ... but there it can get too dry .. so once a month put a couple snowballs or ice cubes on the pot.. to give it just a LITTLE bit of water.. so the media doesnt go bone dry in winter .. do not use a watering can ... and keep in mind .. the most important thing in the pot is the media.. not the plant ... trees do not like the usual high water holding peat mediums that are commonly sold ... you start with that.. and add other things... to increase drainage.. aka.. air int he pot .... the last issue with a garage.. is that it can be 1 to 3 zones warmer than outside.. and your plant make leaf out months before normal ... and then you will have a light issue as leaves need sun.. but you cant leave it outside until all chance of frost or freeze is gone.. which is probably around mid may for you .. btw.. i am basically due est of you just below ann arbor ... so very similar clime ... both are rather aggressive growers. once they get going.. if you want them long term in a pots.. you will basically have to learn how to bonsai the roots systems ... to keep them in check ... nbd ... but these wouldnt be plant and forget potted TREES ... which makes me wonder what the application is.. and what if you explained WHY .. so we might offer other suggestions ... ken ps: at first i thought this was a balcony/roof top thing.... but then wondered why you have a garage on the roof .. so i presume this is not an up in the air project ... a little clarification on such might help ..

Having been licensed in real estate since 2007 during the 2008 real estate bubble & this hot market which is coming to an end, I can tell you from an experience, a darker, smaller kitchen could be an issue when selling a home. It wasn't much of an issue during the recent hot market because of quantative easing & low interest rates, everything was selling then. But with interest rates rising & there's more homes on market for longer, the pendulum will swing back to the buyers market. Buyers will be bringing up more requests during negotations then. Been in that scenario enough in the past to know. I'm not saying all dark stain cabinets. There's lots of beautiful stain cabinet kitchens with lots of room & sunlight that will sell fine. I'm talking about dark stain cabinets in a smaller room, lower ceilings with not enough sunlight for the stains to be appreciated. It depends on the several surrounding factors, like the,spacing,sunlight, ect. Here's a good article, to help decide which is best for them. WHAT TO CHOOSE BETWEEN LIGHT VS. DARK KITCHEN CABINETS? https://blackwalnutkitchenandbath.com/what-to-choose-between-light-vs-dark-kitchen-cabinets/#:~:text=If%20you%20want%20to%20resell,on%20natural%20light%20as%20much.