the hinge issue has been solved but all others remain. there are people out there that have no trouble at all with their units as well as some that never can get em fixed and just junk them. It boils down to this: are you a gambler? your odds are pretty good that you'll have more problems with a viking built in than with other brands. If you value looks and the features they have over the possibility you might go nuts over spending $$6-7k on a fridge that needs constant repair attention after being told it could very well be a problem - then roll the dice. If you want a better chance of trouble free service then look at Thermador/Gaggenau/Miele "freedom" platform or Sub Zero for a built in over under. Their newer models have a lot of creature comforts too. The Viking design in addition to having questionable reliability is also a design from last century. The other brands I recd. all have new designs and technology from just a few years ago when they came off the drawing board.

This looks much better! The continuous row of drawers in the middle defines the space. I like the wine fridge at the side. Just make sure you have enough room for the door to swing. If you follow Celticmoon's advice about leaving a space by the walls that would give you the same kind of breathing room for it that filler would, and add to your furniture look. If you want the wine rack, it should go at the top, because of the visual weight compared with the open shelves, but it wouldn't be so great for the wine, since heat rises and up near the ceiling is the warmest part of the room. If you want to store some wine on the open shelves, you can get cradles or a small, wine rack on the counter or shelf--long term, it's better to store wine low and cool. Again, because of the visual weight, I'd suggest you do the middle cabinets with the glass, and have your solid cabinets on the outside pillars. That would give you a frame. Or do glass all across the top cupboards. Another thing you could do for the furniture look is do shorter upper cabinets all across the top, between the pillars, and an open shelf or two underneath all across. You could do all or part of the lower, shelf area with the built in wine rack, with weight of the cabinets above. If you did this current design as is, however, it would look fine. Better without the wine rack, but fine.

You can't realistically put the TV on the wall on the right. You'd have to move your furniture too far forward and back some of it up to the fireplace. Your only practical choices are over the TV (which I normally hate but might be OK here) or in the nook). How wide is that room along the fireplace wall, not counting any part of the bench nook? I doubt you have room for a full sofa facing the FP with end tables and all. You need a lot of room to enter or the space will feel extremely closed off. Maybe 2 parallel chairs, a chair and a half, or a loveseat. How tall is that bench? Is it even the right height for a seat? Also, do you have a pic showing the front windows? Those will be covered by a couch.

"I need an appliance cabinet to hold the toaster, blenders, mixer etc but not sure where to put it" I'd put them in the pantry cabinets. 15" deep shelves are plenty deep enough - mine all fit on 12" deep shelves. Pantry shelves 12" to 15" deep are practical - anything deeper is not practical. . "...Bosch speed oven currently placed in the island (facing the sink) - since this will also be our only microwave DH is concerned it will be too low & we have to bend/ squat every time to use it." Unless you're a very short family, your DH is right - it will be too low to use easily. A better alternative would be a MW drawer for your MW if you don't have room for a tall oven cabinet. . "Should the upper cabinet on the left end of the stove wall turn the corner and extend above the DW? This will only extend along 5' of this wall, for the next 7' there is a lower slanted ceiling" No, I would keep it the way it is at this point - unless you really need the extra upper cabinet space. I think the slope will be crowding the sink wall. (See the end of this post for key information needed about the slope.) . "Would it be better to have a square island (4' x 4') with 2 + 2 seating rather than the longer island with 3 + 1 seating" Yes, but a 4'x4' island will not allow 2x2 seating if they're on adjacent sides. Only one seat can occupy a corner - not two. In addition, did you plan to eliminate the pantry cabinets to accommodate a wider island? . . So, there are other issues as well. Refrigerator...Unless it's a true built-in, it cannot be against the wall like that. You need to either put the doorway right next to it (and make the doorway wide enough to accommodate an open refrigerator door + traffic) -or- put a 12" wide cabinet b/w the wall and the refrigerator. Dishwasher...The DW should be on the other side of the sink. You don't want it in the Prep Zone. Range & Island...The way your island is arranged right now, the prep sink is wasted. It's too far from the range and the refrigerator. In fact, the island is a barrier b/w the prep sink in the island and the refrigerator. In addition, it's on an aisle with the DW and Cleanup Zone, so it really won't be useful. A better arrangement would be to have the island deep enough to have the prep sink on the side of the island facing the range - as long as you have enough room for 36" to 42" of workspace (36" is the bare minimum, 42" is much better). Prep Zone...Based on the arrangement of your layout, your primary Prep Zone will be b/w the cleanup sink and range. You definitely do not want the DW on the right side of the sink. Island seating...Your island is not deep enough for seating. For counter-height seating, the island needs to be a minimum of 41.5" deep (40.5" if you don't put a decorative door or finished panel on the back of the island cabinets...but, in this case, you will need to b/c the backs of Ikea cabinets are not finished.) The minimum seating overhang is 15" of clear knee/leg space. If the overhang is too shallow b/c of your aisle widths, then either you should not have seating b/c your kitchen cannot fit it or you need to eliminate those cabinets behind the seats. People take up the same amount of space in the aisle even when you skimp on the overhang - they're just a lot more uncomfortable sitting there. (I would question your KD about this, s/he should know this...) 41.5" = 1.5" counter overhang + 24" deep cabinets + 1" decorative door/end panel + 15" seating overhang . KEY INFORMATION NEEDED Regarding the sloped ceiling...how low is the lowest point and how high is the highest? Does it slope from the DR toward the range wall? -or- Does it slope from the left wall to the right wall? Would the refrigerator fit under it? Most refrigerators are around 6' tall. Or, could a shortened tall oven cabinet fit under it? If not, then I'm doubting you can even have workspace there b/c it will be too low for someone to stand there. Do you have a picture of the actual room so we can see the slope?