One of the appliance folk can probably say with more certainty than I could but the model you chose looks like the Optima I had in my apartment, which was a great, great dw. I have a 10 y.o. Incognito though it dries very well. I've never opened the door. Here's what Miele says about how the drying system works -- it is not heated drying and requires no energy usage. "Most Miele dishwashers employ an advanced drying system that draws room temperature air through a port at the bottom of the appliance. This air is disbursed through special channels around the exterior dishwasher cavity and allows the interior water particles to condense against the walls of the dishwasher. During this process no external air is ever introduced inside of the dishwasher. This provides the most effective and hygienic drying possible." The reason the dishes get dryer on Saniwash is because that water is very hot and, provided the dw is fairly full, the condensation is quite complete. I have Ikea cabinets in the laundry room so I'm aware of precautions with those. Their plinth board in there is starting to peel though the cabinets are doing fine. I would just be aware and make adjustments needed. The DW does come with a front piece that is contiguous with the toe kick in my kitchen but that would depend on which Ikea cabinets are being used and how they are being installed. Crystal looks like a good choice to me.

hmm...good point about the lighting. Well, the kitchen window above the sink is only 3x3. But the kitchen opens to our breakfast nook which is a nook full of huge windows and our family room which has big sliding doors. So, not a huge amount of DIRECT natural light, but a bright space in general which gets the morning light. I don't want the deer brown to be too cool looking. But I like the contrast with the white cabinets.

ChloeSmom, WHAT I have to choose and edge now? :) my DH loves the half bullnose. What do you think? What do you recommend? Oh dear, I am going to loose sleep over this one now. You always have good ideas. I need something simple for my cottage kitchen. The 1/2 bullnose seems simple and strong. Remodelfla, Yes it is a Bosch. I have all new Bosch appliances. Electrolux seems really nice too. My DH loves German engineering from cars to toys. I did a lot of research. on Epinions. Great deal at Lowes. The Frige is the Integra 800. Super wonderful. Quiet and far larger than I ever expected. I used to have a JennAir Superba and that was a monster but held everything. This Bosch is much nicer. I am truly impressed by it. The Bosch range.. Well it is a little louder than I planned. I thought it would be as quiet as the dw. The cooktop area is quiet but the oven has a convection fan that tends to make it a little louder. Not terrible but silent. Although the warming drawer is awesome. I used to have a horrible GE cooktop and two super double ovens that took too much space. This range replaced all three. I like the space I have now. Or I will like it when I am done. Jan_jan, My LeadAD??? I wish I were a leader. I am a follower. If it were not for all the super ideas on this GW I would be lost. Truly thanks for all your ideas. Thanks all, ~Boxerpups

LOL we should definitely start a granite support group :) I also really wish there was a National Granite Database. In my perfect fantasy world, this database would have pictures of all the slabs of granite currently in the US, their locations and dimensions. You would be able to do a search for slabs by color or by name (oh and by the way it would automatically include all the slabs that go by different names) and put in your zip code to find slabs within a radius. I know you really have to see them in person, but it would sure be a start to help figure out what there is out there and where it is, without having to drive around for hours. Anyway, back to the real world ... THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH for your opinions and advice!! I really appreciate it! As of today I will say that I am leaning towards the Colonial Dream ... but I reserve the right to change my mind again tomorrow :p The main reason is that I think saskatchewan_girl was right about that it would leave more options open for the backsplash (we are planning to do some kind of tile) and also for the floor. We really want wood floors and are having a hard enough time picking a floor that will go nicely with our cabinets. I'm a little worried that with the Yellow River our floor options will be more limited and even more difficult. I know that the Colonial Dream is not really WOW and might even be boring. But I'm hopeful that maybe it will look quietly sophisticated??? (or am I stretching? :o) ...) I think that the reason I'm struggling here is that as a slab I think the Yellow River is definitely more beautiful and interesting than the Colonial Dream. I'm just not sure that it will translate to a more beautiful counter in my little island-less kitchen with its tiny runs, and so just like sheilaaus122, I'm not sure if it should "live in my house". mustbenuts, I looked at your slab of Yellow River (which is absolutely stunning by the way and actually much nicer than any I have seen around here) and also at glad's kitchen. I think it looks beautiful in glad's kitchen and also with mustbenuts' door, but then you both have white cabinets, so I wonder if YR would look as good with my dark cabs? I'm worried it would perhaps look a little muddy and maybe the overall effect would be too dark. It's hard to tell how much light there will be in my new kitchen as the current kitchen has such poor lighting. We have a fairly big north-facing window, and will be increasing the size of the pass-through in the south side and adding much more lighting - recessed, undercabinet and pendant. Still, our current kitchen is all creamish so I know the dark cabinets and wood floors will make it feel a lot darker. I was hoping to find a granite with a streak of chocolate brown the same color as the cabinets, but we haven't been able to find any like that. Maybe we should keep looking, but then I'm also nervous that if we let the CD go, then don't find anything better and return to find the CD sold out. (A couple of weeks ago there were 8 slabs, now there are only 3 left, one of which is not as nice. Haven't seen it anywhere else.) I'm not as worried about missing out the YR, as there seems to be more of it available. mlraff53, thanks for putting the cherry on my vanilla sundae :) - potentially being able to fit it all on one slab definitely is a big upside to the CD. Thanks again for all your comments! Any other comments are still very welcome as I am not yet committed ...