Very glad I saw this site. I am designing a kitchen in a 7' x 4'-6" space in a Brooklyn apartment. I'm considering the Fisher Paykel single drawer DW installed installed beneath a standard, undermounted 24" wide SS sink in a 36" wide base cabinet with a stack of 8" wide (Inside) drawers to one side. I see no difference here (ergonomically) from bending to fill/empty an regular front loading DW. I could do without a DW but resale is a concern at some point. Since we're all going full electric in the near future. I'm thinking of getting a 24" induction stove/cook top. The cook top would provide additional space to do food prep, etc. Anyone have experience with induction cook tops? Thanks.

With all due respect, Breeze: no to the soap dispensers. I mean, it's =0.02 of course. But that's a definite no from where I sit. I realize I'm in the minority, or at least those of us not annealed to our soap dispensers are quiet about it, usually. I don't get it though. Why pass up the opportunity for a pretty version of such an every-day work item? I have this soap dispenser I got from Cost Plus for about .25 because it had a chip in it. It's made of marble with flowers chipped (deliberately) out of it so the chips are a grey color and the outside is shiny-black. I absolutely love this thing. It makes me so happy to see and use it! I actually bought it for my mom to use on the occasional week here or there once per year that she might visit. And then I thought how silly it was for this lovely item to sit fallow the rest of the year, so now I have it next to my prep sink. It's heavy so it doesn't move around and I can adjust where it does go to make room for a compost bucket up top if needed or extra dishes drying as needed. It's pretty, it's flexible, it's changeable, not that I can envision wanting to... At my other sink I have a beautiful hand-painted glass soap dispenser of Maine lupines, which lets me dream and wish wish wish they held the view out my window. sigh. You don't want to know what's really out my window.... If I'd bought an ugly matchy soap dispenser, it (a) would be on the fritz, probably and (b) would deprive me of the opportunity to enjoy this functional art. So I'm just putting in a word for the minority: no GD, don't miss it; no soap dispenser, wouldn't want it. :) Isn't it fun to disagree about such utterly subjective things? WWBITOTK? (What Would Belong In The One True Kitchen?)

The compost drawer is just a drawer that I put a stainless lidded bin into. Called a "hotel tray" or "steam table tray", you know, like you see in a buffet. The 1/4 table size fit nicely. I will look up the vender, some commercial kitchen supply place, if anyone is interested. I empty the bin every few days or if I smell it. If I'm busy and it needs to go, I just put it outside on the step toward the compost until I have a minute to empty and rinse it. I have a second tray and can rotate them, but mostly I use just the one, wash it and put it back. We go through a lot of vegetables... no fruit flies. The drawer stays closed unless I am peeling or sweeping scraps into it. It is shorter lengthwise than than the drawer (a salad dressing bottle makes a good wedge at the back) and the rim sits higher then the drawer sides, so it is easy to lift out. A black and tan is Guinness floated over a lighter lager. You need a bent backwards spoon to get the pour right. This thread got me thinking I'll need to dig out that spoon again for St. Patricks Day in a couple weeks.

@C. First of all, if you are 5'10" and have really bad back pain, then a 38" countertop height might still be too low for you. I'm barely 5'7" when when standing up as straight as I can, and a 38 3/4" countertop height is very comfortable for me. At 5'10", you could easily go up to a 40" countertop height. It is uncommon for kitchen designers to specify countertops much higher than 40" for anyone except a frequent kitchen user who is taller than 6 feet in order to retain the general usability for varying heights of potential users, but you may always do what you find best for yourself. I would encourage you to do a mockup of a 40" countertop height and try different tasks like chopping on a cutting board and stirring in mixing bowls to see how you like it. Remember that you should allow 1/2" for cabinetry leveling, so find your perfect height, and then subtract 1/2" (from the total of cabinetry plus countertop) when placing your order. The minimum possible front countertop ledge width is determined by factors which contribute to the risk of a break. I will guarantee you that ledge width in your picture is probably wider in person than it may appear here. Few fabricators will cut a continuous ledge (meaning without seams) less than 2 1/2" to 3" wide, and some fabricators will even burden you with a 4" or greater ledge, though that is excessive. The Galley issues guidelines for cutting the sink hole with no seams around the hole, but this technique complicates the handling and transport of the piece because that area is so delicate once it is cut. If I understand, correctly your countertop will only be 1/2" thick which may mean that you are using porcelain or something of that nature, and in that case, the substrate will dictate that you will need a seam for a narrow front ledge rather than having the sink cut from the middle. Porcelain is already fragile, and it won't survive the handling, transport, and installation with a pre-cut, narrow, continuous sink ledge. Be cautious of any fabricator who wants to install steel rods to help stabilize a front sink ledge. Those rods can get wet and swell and cause future breakage. The best policy is to avoid rod reinforcement. In terms of ergonomics, the height of your countertop and the height of your sink is relatively more important than how far forward you stand to the sink, but if you have really bad back pain and want to give your best effort to eliminating that in your kitchen, then an apron-front sink still needs to be on your list for consideration. I regularly operate within the full confines of the apron front which brings dishes and other tasks such as cleaning the sink very close to my body and allows me to stand mostly upright. It is the leaning forward at a sink that strains your back, and you will lose at least a hand width's advantage with a non-apron-front sink of your ability to work closer to your body to minimize leaning. For many people this is not an issue, and due to the fact that non-apron-front sinks are usually less expensive and more plentiful in terms of brands and styles, plus more aesthetically pleasing in many instances, the majority of kitchen remodelers are not using apron-fronts. Both Rachiele and Havens offer texturing for their stainless steel sinks, and if you look at their portfolios, you'll see that a hammered or otherwise textured finish is actually very pretty for an apron front sink. I have a textured finish, and it hides water spots and scratches and it looks as new today as it did several years ago when I had it installed. My only caution is that the interior of the sink should preferably be smooth to aid with cleaning. I believe that texturing can be applied only to the forward-facing and top ledge part of the apron front if you like that look. Spillage over the apron front is not a problem for me. Every now and then, I might get a small drip down the apron front, maybe after loading the dishwasher with something wet, but nothing more than you would sometimes get from a sink with a ledge that gets water on the front ledge and drips down occasionally. I would be hard pressed to say if I even have to wipe drips of water off the apron front even once per week. It just really is not a problem for me. It sounds like you are on the right track to helping with your ergonomics. As I mentioned earlier, your first step is to see if you can raise those countertops up to 40". If you do a lot of bread kneading or something where you need your arms straight down, you might consider doing dual levels somewhere in the kitchen. Generally, 41" to 42" is the upper stretch of a modified countertop height, and that would be for someone taller than 6 feet. The reason that we don't like to raise the countertop much more than that is because then they become unusable for people who are shorter. However, at a height of 5'10" with back problems, 40" is not at all out of reason. Be aware that if you wear shoes with thick soles when you are working in the kitchen or if you intend to put down a comfort mat on the floor that has substantial thickness, those factors could alter how you feel about your cabinetry height. Mocking up a height and doing various tasks is the most reliable way to determine what is best for you.