Our house is in progress. We're doing JUST that...a contoured wood hood to the ceiling and 10 foot cabinets with molding above (the molding and the hood are not on yet) Here's some pics of the VERY rough kitchen without anything other than cabinets with unadjusted doors: Here's the hood. Well, not THE hood. The paint wasn't right so it has to be fixed. But that's the shape minus the molding at the top: Sink side of kitchen. I wish I'd have gotten a better shot since you can't see the glass cab on the right of the window. But you can see that in the range wall pic above I guess. There will be a window seat to the area to the left of the kitchen (that's the dining table area) with solid-door hutches on each side of those wing walls that face inwards. We are doing those to the ceiling to break up the line of cabinetry around the room and add height along with the hood. The built-ins on either side of the fireplace (that's covered up with that big board over on the left side) will go to 8 feet. Those will be cabinets on bottom and open shelves on the top with the backs painted out a gray shade: I looked to nini's kitchen for inspiration too. It's so pretty! Here's some kitchens with hoods to the ceiling and cabinets down a foot or two:

My U-shaped kitchen isn't that big, so I wanted to make efficient use of all my storage space. I replaced two angled uppers with Easy-reach, and I am a believer! I can actually see and get to the things I put in them! And the piano hinges do not show when the doors are closed (to address Johnsoro25's comment). Mawizz, there is a difference between "enough storage" and "most functional storage". Since you will have a corner in your primary prep space (between your sink and range), you may find that you store things there that you use during food prep. Just because you have a big pantry doesn't mean that you want to truck back and forth to it while preparing a meal. Much of my kitchen design was centered around putting things where they made the most sense. I started with things that needed to go near their point of use: cooking utensils, spices, potholders near the stove; knives and cutting boards in the prep zone; dishes near the cleanup zone. Then I moved on to bulky items: cake pans, cookie sheets, pots and pans, small appliances. Meanwhile, I addressed things that bugged me about our old kitchen (that we'd used for 20 years). For example, we don't have a pantry, so we always had boxes of beer and pop stacked next to the fridge. Now I have a cabinet dedicated to beverages - and the shelf was placed so pop cans fit on the top, and beer bottles underneath (a shelf in the middle of the cabinet would not have worked). We also use a lot of large water bottles (we do a lot of hiking). I dreamed of a shelf dedicated to just those. I also planned for a cabinet for my purse and small briefcase, which used to end up on a kitchen chair, for lack of a place to put them. I put outlets inside a cabinet that I use as my "command center", so we can charge devices out of sight - instead of on the kitchen counter. I bucked the trend and went with an angled base cabinet in one of my corners. My cabinets were custom built, so I could get whatever I wanted - and I had them build a super susan in an angled cabinet, with a drawer above. One of the goals of my remodel was to get stuff off the counters, and to get as many drawers as possible, so the angle allowed me to put a knife drawer above the SS. But there is an easy-reach above it.

That was a little rough but, I do appreciate everyone's feedback! Two changes in particular I'm taking to heart: 1) 42" vent instead of the planned 36": While some say matching the vent to the stove width is adequate, many more say to go +3" on each side. 2) Not enough wall space for 22" window framing with 24" cabinets and 42" vent (thanks GD): I can address this by both reducing the cabinets to 21" AND mounting them on the side wall instead of the back wall (yes, the upper back shelf will be hard to reach, we'll also need door restrictors to avoid hitting the wall). While #2 above gives me ~24" more back wall space, I lose ~6" to the wider vent so, I end up with 18" more back wall space. I spoke the the window supplier and he said there's a 4 1/4" (!!!) overall space from window edge to actual glass for a vinyl casement windows. I may consider an aluminum frame as the frame is much smaller (but, it only has a 10YR warranty). The window guy mentioned the GC can bury much of the new construction vinyl frame in the drywall so I could get more glass (and the frame won't look as big). Has anyone ever heard of that before? Here's the new elevation:

pre-fab granite countertops like that usually come from china. I'm in Calif so they're a dime a dozen out here. Almost all of the stone/granite stone yards have them. Im not familiar w/how canada handles it's stone yards, granite sales. And you can hire a fabricator to come and cut it for you. maybe look into remnants? you may be able to go to a fabricators warehouse (where they cut these slabs of granite) and ask if they have a left overprice that would fit what you need. Doesn't look like you need that big of a piece. do some good measurements of the countertop and take it with you. Doesn't hurt to ask him. offer to pay in cash if he can get a remnant for you. the other option is a stone yard. ask if the have 1/2 slabs. (if you don't need any more than that) see what they say. again, cash usually gets you a better price. don't be afraid to negotiate !