LOL, magnaverde! I hope this isn't too far OT, but I have another, more mundane, color/taste observation. Every year I make gallons of that middle-class holiday staple, cranberry Jello salad. My recipe, from a church cookbook, states "any flavor red gelatin." I prefer to use the red raspberry flavor, but I think almost all artificial 'fruity' flavors taste alike. Following are some ingredient lists for (basically) the same salad, found on the internet, on different sites: 1 (6 oz.) pkg. raspberry gelatin 1 c. boiling water 1 (20 oz.) can crushed pineapple, drained, save juice 1 1/2 tbsp. lemon juice 1 (14 oz.) jar cranberry-orange relish 1 c. diced apples 1/2 c. broken pecans 1/4 c. celery, chopped 1 lb fresh cranberries crushed or minced 2 packages black cherry Jello 1 medium orange peeled and seeded (all white must be removed) 1 cup pecans or walnuts crushed 1 cup sugar 2 sm. strawberry Jello 1 Ocean Spray cran fruit (12 oz.) 1/2 (20 oz.) can crushed pineapple 12-16 red grapes 1/4 c. chopped nuts 2 c. boiling water 1/2 c. cold water 1 lg. pkg. orange Jello 2 c. hot water 10 c. cold water 1 jar orange cranberry relish 1/2 c. chopped celery 1/2 c. chopped walnuts I was surprised to find this one, too: 1 (3 oz.) pkg. lemon Jello 1 2/3 c. water 1/2 c. celery, chopped or diced 1/2 c. nut meats 1 c. ground cranberries 1/2 c. ground orange 2/3 c. sugar Or 1 c. cranberry orange relish may be used I'd be willing to wager that very few people, least of all myself, could tell what 'flavor' of gelatin was used in the final product.

The reason I know what I know about this topic is that I had to do a giant "science project" learning exercise back in 2007 before I could order anything for my kitchen reno. You have an aperture that is not larger than 3 ft by 1.75 ft or about 5 square feet (roughly). In my view, the actual flow rate on maximum should be around 90 cfm per square foot, which gets us to around 450 cfm actual flow rate. A VaH (at best) meets its claimed flow rate when the hood is hanging in the air, and there is no other restriction (pressure loss). However, in real life, the hood has exit ducting, a roof cap, and the make-up air has some restriction. (Even an open window with a screen can have an effect.) For baffled hoods, I use a factor of 1.5 for zero static pressure loss flow rate to achieve the desired flow rate with restriction. (This assumes a reasonable hood cap or roof mounted blower housing.) While the VaH doesn't have baffles, the data that appeared here a few months ago indicated that their flow reduction with pressure loss was greater than typical Broan blowers that I have data for, so I think I'd stick with the 1.5 factor. The product of 1.5 and 450 is 675 cfm, so I think 600 is a reasonable design point for you. What you may find running only 300 cfm is that you can cook smelly things on simmer or reheat precooked sausages at a low power level and capture and contain adequately. Higher temperature cooking associated with griddle use, searing, or wokking will produce faster rising effluents that may not be well captured and contained. Note: I use 10-inch duct with a 1500 cfm roof blower probably pulling an actual 900 cfm. Your 7-inch duct has only half of the sectional area, but only needs to move about half the actual flow. There will be somewhat more duct friction per sectional area with the 7-inch duct, but I would agree with VaH that the roof cap needs to be suitable for the flow rate. 600 cfm hoods with a minimum of a 7-inch duct recommendation likely can do so by using a blower that has a more vertical fan curve between the zero static pressure (rated) flow rate and the flow rate they are expected to actually operate at. Custom kitchens seen in magazines often have no ventilation at all. After all, they only need to look nice. Food is catered, or else the staff cook in a more industrial kitchen off limits to guests. :) kas

Yes, as soon as I saw the word shaker I thought "oh oh". That may not give you the look that you want. However, slab doors on top would help and something I have wondered about is whether or not the width of the rails/stiles would define transitional vs contemporary look. You may not have a choice of course but I seem to remember reading that wider rail/stile is more contemporary. However, that may have just been someones opinion. Can you do a waterfall installation of the granite - that for me reads more modern/contemporary as well. : link showing examples And yes, hardware, lighting and barstools can really pull the look into contemporary.

The thing to be careful about with toilet tank devices is that they not block the movement of the float arm or the flapper valve at the bottom. Not infrequently the local regulatory bodies (California Public Utilities Commission in my area) require the companies they regulate to offer various kinds of rate programs, rebates and incentives to encourage energy conservation measures. Whether it's for purchase of Energy Star appliances, adding insulation or new windows, buying more efficient HVAC products, time of use rates, etc., etc., these are things they're told to do. The costs are including in the rate base, meaning, all customers pay for it. Watchme, if you're in PG+E territory, they have always had conservation rebate programs over the years, as well as distributing bulbs and other such things.