I had a pleasantly surprising unintended consequence to my posting early in the week. Chris from Henrybuilt contacted me after reading my posting on the forum to let me know that because of the problems I had experienced during the installation of my kitchen they had made some significant changes in staffing and in the way they do things on the east coast. Apparently they have tripled their field operations team here and have begun to keep stock here too so that some pieces can be fabricated locally and more quickly replaced if necessary. They have also changed the way they receive and delivery inventory which will hopefully prevent the damage to pieces I experienced during the delivery process. On wednesday he stopped by with one of his field operations people to swap out some hinges for me (my contractor had installed the wrong type) and they will also be providing me with "Danish Oil" which I will use on the panels closest to the sink to prevent water damage to the walnut. Anyway - kudos to Henrybuilt's customer service!

Afineman--we got a Modernaire PS 11 (42 x 24). We were able to vent it outside. The hood is beautiful and effective. It is a bit noisy which I suspect is because we had to use an 8" air duct rather than the recommended 10" duct. We had a column in the way so be had no choice. Hydragea--we find that we have plenty of light. We did two pendants down the middle with undercabinet LED lights. The room is also open to the dining room so that probably helps too. I love my walnut cabinets more than I can express. I could stare at them for hours. They are so warm and homey. Even if the kitchen could be brighter if i had done white cabinets, I would never trade the walnut for white. A2--nice to hear from you. I was in Ann Arbor the weekend before last for my 30 year law school reunion. Thank goodness it wasn't this past weekend!!!!! I've been riding a lot too. We did a bike trip to Provence in July. Got a new bike too which I am really loving. How is your bathroom coming?

I love my Home Depot version Cree LED recessed lights. I think they are now down to $25 each (I paid $40 in August). You use them in regular ED cans, like Halos. They are dimmable, cool, efficient, and have a very pleasing color. I found out about them on the Lighting Forum. The Lighting Forum is wonderful. If you love River white, you should have it. One of the very true things I learned on this forum is that you should choose a granite that "makes your heart sing." Something like Colonial Cream, however, has some more golden tones in it that might go well with the color of the cabs. How about Yellow River? Can you bring samples in and live with them with the cabs? My ideas changed when I did that. Be careful that you don't get competing undertones in your neutrals. The cabs look like yellow undertones. Try to avoid anything that reads with a pink undertone. I do like the cab style for a small space. If it were me, I'd choose the counter first, then a BS, then a floor. In my small galley, I took the granite up the full backsplash, but you may not want to invest that if you aren't staying long.

The 30" Ikea cabinet is shown in displays and on the ikea site as if it all came as a kit, with two wide deep drawers, and two shallow narrow drawers on top. Everything you get from Ikea is a separate piece. Good to know: you can get a single shallow drawer, full width. This replaces the two narrow drawers that require two front panels and a Filler piece. This is less time to install and less cost to buy. You simply deselect the small drawers, small front panels, and filler piece. Since it's not a kit, you don't have to buy the ensemble and or ask for exceptions to get parts replaced. Here is the shallow drawer: http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/10107072 $30 . It's been documented on ikeafans extensively, as the "oven drawer" in the base cabinet. If you have the urge to say you prefer having two small drawers, think again. -- When I went to a Viking showroom and looked at a 24" wide range, I was told it was discontinued. I didn't ask if they meant the one model I was looking at or all the 24" models. If the latter, I think there will still be many available at a discount price. A smaller oven takes less time to warm up. We have a 24"wide wall oven. We are very happy with it. In it we can fit a huge roaster: it's an oval shape, 13"w by 17.75" long with handles in "corners" not at the ends, about 7.5" high. I could fit fair size animals in it but I don't know what size that would be in turkey pound speak, specifically. We have a 24" induction cooktop. We never use four burners. In fact, we could make do with one burner almost all the time, by using pots with strainers, bain-marie tops, double boilers, etc. So now we understand why a three-burner cooktop can be sold without generating any complaints. -- Having one fridge will do the job. A fridge/freezer, all by itself. Having two appliances will change your life. The small LG is high quality at a good price. hth