Some of these comments make me laugh, mostly bc we have lived in homes with a lot of these issues, and you just scratch your head wondering what genius designed the house like that? mtc1, the frustration with the nonsensical lights cracked me up! You know what's crazy is that we had some friends who were designing their 1st home and they incorporated a lot of the nonsensical frustrations into their custom home bc they became so accustomed to dealing with them, that it didn't occur to them that in a custom home they could actually solve those frustrations with good design. For example, they didn't have a mudroom or anywhere to put their things when they came in the house and got into the habit of piling everything on their dining room table and hanging things on the backs of the chairs. So, in the custom home they were designing, they didn't bother putting in any kind of mudroom or landing area. It just goes to show that not everybody (most people who aren't on this forum) just don't care or think about stuff like that. Anyway, I agree with the idea of making sure that your garage is extra roomy, that electrical/cable outlets and switches make sense, that you should think about the exact size and placement of the furniture you want in a room and make sure that it will fit and that you can walk around it, that you make sure you have enough storage for all of your seasonal belongings

amberley - sorry I didn't check in sooner. I love your layout - what a great 1st try! I spent an hour writing a post two nights ago an then managed to delete it just before I submitted it. I don't know if you've moved on from the drawing you posted, but I'm going to put in a couple of thoughts and hope at least one or two are helpful. Please bear in mind I'm not a "layout guru", but since this is a Chef's table I'm jumping in. 1. Would you consider switching the dishwasher and the trash pullout so the dishwasher is on the left? That would give much better clearance for walking behind the person unloading dishes. You could simply move the sink to the right 6" (the sink would be a little more behind the island, but 42" clearance should be enough for passing anyone washing dishes). Or you could also steal a few inches from the pantry to the left. This might make the hall/LR entryway a little tight. I don't know how much traffic this entryway gets, but there is another entry way just on the other side of the fridge. Stealing a little from the pantry could move your range a little to the left and give you a little more counter space on the right (it looks like you have only 15-17") for ingredients/utensils/mise en place and "on deck" pots/pans" 2. Also for better dishwasher clearance, would you consider shortening the marble area 6", getting rid of the mixer cab, putting your mixer underneath the butcher block and expanding your baking drawers from 30" to 36"? (don't know if this would cramp your "rolling" style) I'm biased against the mixer cabinets which have a shelf that positions up to the counter, because the ones I've seen tend to shake a lot once the mixer really gets going. 3. If you're doing volume baking, would you consider leaving space for a 18"x18" rolling cart w/5-6 shelves underneath the area labeled "bookcase or open for stools"? I made a 6 shelf one for myself out of Metro shelving. It has a cutting board insert top. It acts both as a cooling and loading rack for baked items (when kids are little allow pans to cool on counter for 15 min before putting on cart). It can store all sorts of baking and cookie pans & parchment paper/silpats. And it can be rolled to wherever it is needed in the kitchen. Just an idea! 4. Also for sheet & baking pan storage, have you considered using the cabinet above your fridge. I went with a 24"d x 36"w cab and put vertical inserts in it to keep the pans sorted and standing up. That way you only have to be able to reach the bottom corner to pull them out. It's a great use of an area that's normally "hard to reach" storage (unless of course you're really tall which I'm not). 5. I like having the microwave by the fridge as a lot of what I use it for is heating up leftovers. Would it be possible to add a shelf above the "Micro T.O. Stack" and put the microwave on it? (I know for some the unenclosed microwave is an "aesthetics violation"). If you can go with a smaller microwave that's only 18" wide, you get a little counter right by the fridge. This also keeps the microwave out of reach from little ones (Although now that DD just turned 11 and is allowed to use microwave, she's complaining it's hard to reach). You could also put plastic wraps and bags in the top drawer stack and use this station for wrapping/putting away food that goes into the fridge. I like having the plastic wrap by the microwave because I'm always using it to cover containers and bowls I'm putting into it. Again, I hope at least one of these is helpful. Congratulations on your fine start.

Thanks so much, everyone! Rookie - you have great taste as well ;) !! I have posted on your pics before and LOVE your space!! I can be flexible on the window location and size around the range and thus the range hood size itself so I will see if I can add more landing space. I am sure that this hood will be very expensive so I'll have to see how that plays... I have been thinking about the landing/enclosure issue for a while and don't want the look to outweigh the function so that has been a big concern. I do love the look of those hoods though and how it would "make" that wall... sigh. Skyedog - thanks for the info on the combustible material (I will look into that!) and the upper cabinets. I'm wondering if I can rework the configuration on the side walls so that there is a single cabinet in the corner and then a double next to it, to avoid the door issue opening towards you... thanks for bringing that up!

Glad you have enjoyed them - I had a good time rediscovering them all over again as I flipped through so quickly. I'm going to see if DH or my MIL can take the kids away for a few hrs. so that I can enjoy them over a cup of tea in peace & quiet & plan some more. I think that I really noticed some recurring theme's in what I like - especially color wise w/ all of the green, purple, pink combo's. In fact the page that says Floral Essences w/ a pic of the lady in the green dress is about to help me round out my color palette for downstairs! Her green dress is similar to my LR wall color. Her basket: close to the shade of brown that I've chosen for the top 1/3 of my kitchen walls. The brick wall: My house is brick I was trying to pick a red for my DR but the consensus on the forum is that the deep reds I liked were too dark for my dark trim BUT when I saw that pic I thought "Why not a color similar to the flowers in her basket?"! The whole pic flows so I know it would look good in my house as I already have so many colors in the layout. Color inspiration can be found where you least expect it! And it looks romantic but still earthy. As for my organization: That's a long way coming but thanks! I just used a 3 hole punch one weekend & just shoved my tear outs into 2 binders that I found laying around. I slipped a piece of blank white paper between each article to separate them. I still have tons to add. Soon I will begin looking for some decadent binders to organize them in. A few for decorating, gardening & entertaining. Right now they're all mixed together w/ no rhyme or reason. I need to add the little white thingies to the holes to reinforce them & I've learned that if I break the binding of the magazine I can easily pull out an entire article out w/o having to use scissors to score the pages & risk an uneven tear.