I just found this post, and hope it's not too late to leave a comment and get an answer to a question. First, I adore your wonderful kitchen...it's truly a "heart of the home" kind of room. The warm wood countertops are really beautiful, and something I will consider when we re-do ours. Right now, we are looking for a refrigerator that will blend with our Wedgewood 40" stove, and are considering the Fisher Paykel. Since you have one, can you tell me if you like it. We are looking at the model that has the pull out freezer, rather than the swing door, and I think its slightly larger, but basically the same in other respects. We have a four bedroom house, over 2300 square ft., but the kitchen is a galley, about 20 ft long, with 62" of floor space between each side. We have a 36" French door refrigerator right now, but I would like to replace it with one that is 33" so I can gain a couple of inches to the right, where we have only about 12 inches of counter between the fridge and the sink. The alternative to what we have would be either the Fisher Paykel, which is narrower and almost counter depth, or another brand, like Maytag, etc., that is 33" but also 33" in depth....the reason to go to that one is the added interior space. Is the 17.5 cu. ft. in the Fisher Paykel enough? There are only 3 of us at home, but some of my friends feel that it's too small for the size of house we have. Are you happy with the size...does it hold enough...or would you go larger if you were to do it again? Thanks for any opinion or advice...we need to buy something within the next two weeks!

I spent an enormous amount of time trying to sort this out. For what it is worth, I am getting Thermador freedom column. I had narrowed down to Miele and Thermador 36 inch bottom freezer. Miele cannot fit gallon milk jugs in the door. That is the only reason I am going with Thermador and not Miele. Subzero 700 in the size I needed had a terrible interior layout. I know someone that bought 2 of the same units that I was considering and they have to use plastic bins for their produce because the interior layout is inadequate. Essentially, not enough produce bins. (Go figure!) It's not just the depth of the frig. Integration has to do with the hinges as well. Many built in frigs require that the door be slightly (1/2 in) pulled forward of adjoing cabinets. Unfortunately, some of the KDs do not know how to do this right either. I was at a showroom and they had installed a Subzero 700 like a built in (ie pulled out 1/2 in or so, like Cali Wendy's) and not flush with the adjacent cabinets. I figured if they can't do it right (from my point of view, they NEEDED to feature what makes integrated frigs truly integrted) for their showroom, I could not hire that company. There are not many companies that offer truly integrated frigs. As I said above, it has to do with the hinges. Some models of Liebherr uses sliding type of mounting system on their panels. Subzero 700 series will be flush but not there Built In series. (The BIs kind of cheat but you need to pull the adjacent cabinets out 1/2 in or so, I think....) Miele, Thermador (and its cousins) and Subzero 700 are the only ones that I know that do "integrated" frigs. Liebherr is mostly there with their semi open grill at the bottom. JenAir needs Integrated models need grill at the top. Hope this helps.

Thank you so much for all the kind words, your interest and your support! I have been on this board for 3 years...just not recently. I took a break from these boards a little while ago, just because I was kind of getting depressed at all the gorgeous kitchens! I admit, I even felt a little jealousy! Then just recently I stopped coming because we had already made our decisions and I did not want to get confused or torture my DH with some possible tweaks and changes. I am so happy to see some familiar names here on this thread. I know this sounds cheesy, but all the kind comments almost made me get teary eyed. Like I said before, this really is the only material thing I have wanted for a long time. But I know that Gardenwebbers on the kitchen forum know that a kitchen is not a material thing ONLY...for folks like us it is (cliche time, sorry) "the heart of the home." I have been cooking incredible meals and/or entertaining non stop. It is such a joy and pleasure to me. outsideplaying-thanks for your comments and for your excitement for me! Maine_Mare-That is good to hear! He actually did not even do these as well as he could have, because he truly thought they would be in for a few months. Where he adhered the counters to the undermount sink, you can see some clear caulking. Also, the end of the peninsula has a gap where he came up a little short! But next time, he will do an even better job and if we can keep them for 7 years like you...then we will be doing great! But I am fine the way they are, truly. Very minor flaws. frmrsdghtr-I really really do not have an estimate. I think my husband said awhile ago that the cabs were about 5k? I could be wrong, and he just said that figure off the top of his head. Thanks for the compliment! Hi colorfast! Your kitchen is lovely, too! Originally we wanted wood stained cabinets, but the darkness of the kitchen (no natural light) plus wood floors and a desire to have butcher block counters (eventually) made us rethink that! I never dreamed I would have white cabinets, because I lived in a townhouse for 14 years with white formica cabs and I wanted a big change from that. I am happy with our white now, tho! I have considered SS for the hood and I have seen your style before, but for some reason I am stuck on white. I attached a link below of an idea, although I have heard mixed reviews of that futuro futuro company. I *really* liked some of their other styles. They look more like light fixtures than hoods. onedogedie-thank you for being so kind about my long post! It's true, it was such a crazy and long journey, it seemed it warranted a little more than "here is my kitchen!" I have read so many "finished kitchen" posts here, and whether long or short, I like the ones where I can *feel* the pride in the post! I wonder why plywood is not mentioned more often as an alternative, whether temporary or more long term? I just never hear it mentioned and thought my hubby was crazy when he told me that was what he was going to do. I had no idea it would look so nice. As a matter of fact, even he gets a little frustrated when the first thing people notice when they walk into the kitchen is the countertop! LOL. Good idea about the kick plate, I will mention it to my hubby. Thank you CEFreeman! :) Lake_Girl-Ohhh, you should see what he is doing with the chicago brick pavers that are the walkway in front of the barn! They were put in half assed by previous owners, so he has his paving equipment here at the house and is using fill and making it look PRETTY. A total do-over. My friends ask me if he can do stuff at their house (they are willing to pay, of course) but I say NO WAY...he still has too much to do here! I think we compliment each other well because I NEVER nag him. To be honest, there are some other things I think he should be doing rather than the brick pavers...but I also know that feeling when I feel "inspired" to do a project and I wouldn't want someone nagging me to do something else instead. mmhmgood-lol, inside the cabs we left it the natural wood color! So that is what you are seeing, it isn't orange, LOL. I can see how it looks that way, but heck, even *I* am not that daring or funky! lol rhome-I had posted to you awhile ago about the oven. Your comments made me VERY excited. So far I love it. Do you think if I do not use the self clean mode, I will be ok with the blue porcelain? Or do you think I will have issues either way? I will try to find out about the door, but I have a sneaky suspicion that it will be pricey. It doesn't bother me *that* much. Thank you for your comments and help! marti8-he had ear plugs in. He had already purchased that tile chipper years ago. he said it does chip up thinset, but you have to use a different blade. Thanks for the comments! Thank you soooo much, gscience, catlover, About togetdusty and KrisMA! Here is a link that might be useful:

It's funny, but I don't remember being so nervous on my wedding day, lol. True, I was more excited but I am not the Nervous Nellie sort and this threw me a little. I didn't think it is possible to rethink the design or tweak another thing, yet I still can't get over how I changed 2 cabs at the finish line. I can't believe I was so spontaneous after overthinking/analyzing every other decision to death. There is nothing I think I could have done different or better, yet I am still nervous as we get closer to demo day. The scale of this project is so big for me and I have waited for it for so long. I think it had so much build up because of too much time planning. I cleaned out another cab today and found 2 more items for the reno that I had not paid attention to in 3 years. It is a like a treasure hunt as I un-bury all the materials that we have been storing for so long. It is a good thing we did not go with anything trendy because any trend at the start would be over with by now, lol. I am glad to be able to share my IKEA experiences because I am a recent convert. I started this reno with no plan or inclination to even check out IKEA but some fans were so "rah rah" here that I was convinced to at least take a look and eat some meatballs. Once I saw and tested the cabs out and read reviews from other IKEA consumers, I started to wonder how it would compare. The look is the same one I was doing and so that was no difference. The quality was just as good when I looked at how they were constructed. I know some people worry about anything that is not plywood construction, but I am convinced that any issue that comes up will have to be from a disaster or similar in which case any cab would be damaged. Replacement costs wouldn't be bad and the money saved on the initial purchase would go towards that (but am not planning on a disaster, lol). I was stunned at how much I was saving and at seeing other people's finished kitchens. You would have no idea they were IKEA kitchens if you were not told. I hope my kitchen looks nice and don't think anyone will be wondering what brand we used. I'll probably brag about them being from IKEA and how much we saved, lol....