The first thing is to take the Sweeby test to figure out what type of look appeals to you. Do you want modern or traditional, contrast or monotone? Are you shooting for vibrant or mellow?

As for granite, do you like a lot of movement or fairly simple? Is the backsplash something with a pattern/feature or will the granite be the star?

If you have been living without double ovens, how often do you wish you had another one or is it just at Xmas cookie time? Can you make do with a large toaster oven as your backup or maybe even a counter top convection oven for just when you need more, like preparing for Thanksgiving or a party? I would not go through the hassle to get the second oven unless it is on your own wishlist and not just to copy the model houses. There are a million things one could get for the kitchen, but size and budget constrictions mean you have to pick your priorities.
I'd try to keep it simple. You have a busy enough life (3 kids) without complicating it more by trying to make this kitchen into something it is not. You are going through a move and renovation and will have your hands full. If you can work with what it has while making sure you get what you need, you can skip the extras that will cost more and make the process drag on. You would need to give up some storage to fit it into your existing layout. You would also probably lose counter space. It would cost more to buy and to have installed. I also am leery of connected double ovens because if one goes, you are stuck with the dead weight. If both go, you are screwed.....

I also wanted a double oven. I could not see giving up that much space for it. Our idea was to get a microwave convection oven that we put in the wall. And I kept a regular gas range.

You could also have a shelf built for the convection oven; it does not have to be built-in with a trim kit. The oven we picked needed a 23" deep shelf/enclosure, so you will have to look for a good space. Could you post pictures of your kitchen as it is now?

If you take the doors off one of your cabinets, you will need smaller ones made for the space remaining above your microwave. If the carpenter can't match the door style closely enough to your taste, consider putting clear or seeded glass panels in the door panels, with as similar of a frame width to your old ones as they can.

As to brand, we went with the Kenmore Elite at Sears but there are many choices.

Dianalo thank you so much for your response! I just looked at the Sweeby test and I have some planning to do.
I can answer a few of these points you made. First, with the stove the past two houses I have lived in came with a cooktop range and a single wall oven. Both of these wall ovens have been small and couldn't fit a large size cookie sheet. It has driven me crazy for 6 years. I have dreamed of having a nice spacious oven that cooks my food in more then one batch. The cooktop we currently have is small too, I can't cook more then a large and small pot at a time. I am dreaming of a nice 5 burner cooktop where when I needed I could cook more then two things at a time. That being said, I do think I like the idea of a double oven but not sure how often I would use it. Maybe a top quality range would suffice.
When I think of what the highlight of the kithen will be, it is not the countertops, but more the kitchen as a whole. I do like the movement granite provides over the samples I have seen in quartz. I like the more subdued slabs that I have seen, but with more movement then absolute black. I think that is why I am gravitating towards Maroon Cohiba or black pearl they are dark but have more going on.
I had been considering a subway tile backsplash but one of my saved pictures is of a kitchen that is using the large white Arabesque tiles, I swoon everytime I look at it. In fact it is the kitchen in the Finished Kitchen header.
I don't like the idea of losing counter space at all! Which I know would be the case.

I just studied my saved kitchen pictures and I noticed something, not very many had a double ovens they actually had beautiful professional looking ranges ie:wolf, viking, and the like, apron front sinks, dark counters or combo of dark and light, white cabinets, and gorgeous backsplashes.
Makes me think I probably could get a really rockin range for the price/or less of having to buy a cooktop, buy a double oven, change cabinets etc..
Okay, I am off to take that test...

Here is a link that might be useful: Dream Kitchen

Colorfast, we must have been posting at the same time! I am now leaning towards a free standing range. Just thinking about what will have to go into adding a double oven just doesn't seem practical. Here is a picture of the kitchen..
I will take a look at the Kenmore. I went over to the appliance forum and am amazed at what goes into selecting appliances.. We have a Whirlpool God doube fridge (not pictured) that is less then two years old. There is so much I want to do to this space..

You are planning on putting a lot of expensive lipstick on suspiciously piggy builder's grade cabinets. It's not a good mix. If you're going to be going for the pro range and the granite and all the other bling, the cabinetry may not be able to hold up to that structurally first of all. And since you are trying to plan so many expensive alterations to it, you'd be better served by planning all new cabinetry and donating your existing to Habitat for Humanity or sell it on Craigslist.

I think you should do a plain paint job and live with what's there until you can tackle something that more addresses the major issues. You may find out after spending that 15K to spruce up those builders grade cabinets that the layout is really horrible and you wish you'd changed it for the better when you had the chance. Don't get in a hurry to spend money on something so permanent and important to your home. That's how bad decisions get made.

You raise a very good point and I certainly do not want to make a bad decision. I really am uneducated with regards to builder grade cabinets. I know when I go and look at cabinets at the big stores they are beautiful but I have seen so many people take exsisting cabinets and transform there kitchens. Maybe they were not originally builder grade? I can't imagine who the layout could change much other then cabinets but that also shows my ignorance in the whole process.
I wondering if you feel the same way regarding the flooring, it is planned for the entryway, dining room, kitchen/family room. I know I don't like the tile and that this is the flooring I want. Could that pose a problem in the long run? Thank you again for your input on this..

That island already has very tight clearances, and if you try to cram seats in the space, you're going to end up with a traffic jam and some accidents. It already needs to be narrower, and then you want seating for 5? Gonna be tough to accomplish safely.

There's only the single drawer stack to the right of the sink. That's not great for your storage needs. Drawers hold a lot more than do doors with shelves.

To be able to put in a large pro style range, you will need to rework the entire stove run, base and uppers. The easiest thing would be to take the cabinets down entirely, as you'll need a larger vent that won't work with that size uppers. That vent will need to vent to the exterior. Which means going up through the roof or horizontally through a wall to the exterior. If you also want to add a wall oven, probably beside the fridge or at the end of the run on the fridge wall, then that entire run will need to be redone as well. There are several other issues that need remedy such as the shallow above the fridge cabinet. Potentially the soffit itself. You've already spent more in labor than the cabinets cost the builder. 2-3K in labor. The cabinets do not look to be worth paying labor to paint. It's certainly not a granite kitchen without new cabinets. Professionally painting would be around 3-4K for your layout and you're still left with builder's grade cabs with paint with all of their current storage issues and lack of quality. If you can DIY paint them as an interim solution for a couple of years until you do a full scale remodel that would be a different story. DIY labor is always worth doing if you don't kill yourself doing it. But the moment you start having to pay labor, that becomes the point that this kitchen isn't worth reworking cosmetically. It's time to address the bones.

Take the 7K that it would cost you to do the cabinet alterations and paint and buy new cabinets after posting your layout here for suggestions for optimum efficiency. That means that your project won't be done before you move in, but it's better that it's delayed and done right than done in a rush with not so great results.

Also, be very sure that you want to live with a dark floor if it's as dark as it sounds. Dark floors show every bit of dust and dirt and aren't the easiest thing to live with even if you don't have kids. Medium toned floors are more forgiving. But, if you LOVE that floor, and you're fully informed and willing to take on it's upkeep, then by all means go for it! Buy plenty of extra so that when you redo your kitchen, you have enough to work with an altered layout.

Hollysprings,

I was thinking about this all night and I know it will be better to and get this right. There is so much more to this then I realized and now I am a little worried.
I understand about the changes need for a Pro range which I am leaning toward vs. a wall oven. I am confused about what you mean about the shallow above the fridge and a soffit, what are those? We were planning to remove this island and have a new one built that is narrower but longer in length.
Okay so bviously the bones are not great so where do I begin to make this a better functioning and efficent kitchen. When you say posting my layout, what does that mean. Is this something where walls would need to be moved, or just a cabinet layout? I do have a nice sized pantry to the left of the fridge, which I am happy about. I never thought about the drawer space issue. How can I achieve efficent with the way the space is now, is it possible? My budget I am working with right now is $15,000. What can I realistically achieve with that?

Hey, stop being worried. Relax and have fun. As initially said, your first step is to educate yourself about your own preferences. I'd bet good money you'll be surprised as some of the things you discover.

Take the Sweeby test to start. As she points out, you're creating a whole picture here, so you need to know what that whole picture should be. Then many of the beautiful things you're seeing will be ruled out, leaving a smaller range of beautiful finishes to create your picture from.

I always recommend (because it was tremendously, tremendously helpful to me) collecting pictures of rooms you really like. Print off the web, tear out of magazines, etc. Don't confine yourself to kitchens--just to what you really like. Get a LOT of them together, not just a few, because discovery will come through seeing patterns of the same stuff showing up again and again among them. Then start going through these to figure out what they offer that pings so well with you. You will discover and confirm preferences, but also discover such things as a real love for (surprise) _________ but only when it's combined with ____________. And so on. When you find stuff you DON'T like that's applicable in some way to your project, tear those out too--as reminders that you won't be happy with ____________ no matter how much money you save or who you please by going that way.

By the time you finish the Sweeby test you'll feel a lot more organized in your thoughts and confident. By the time you finish exploring your likes in greater depth (as in I like "country" but what does that actually mean to me?), you'll be ready to design your kitchen and go shopping. Enjoy.

We spent years planning and our kitchen changed shape and look in many ways. The more thought and time you have to be educated, the more it will change.

We went with Ikea cabs and could not be happier. They cost a fraction of what similar cabs would have cost anywhere else. I was initially resistant to them, but after Consumer Reports named them their "best buy" and after reading all the raves here and in the ikeafan's website, we gave them consideration and are so glad we did.
It sounds like you want a nice stove which should be less expensive then getting a double oven and cooktop. Installation is cheaper too.

The first thing I would do is start using the Ikea kitchen planner. It is a free 3D program that lets you design your layout. You don't have to go with their cabs but it is a good way to play with the dimensions you have and how you would set things up. Moving plumbing and venting can cost big, so try to use the current locations at first.

I tried doing our layout on graph paper and when I saw it in the 3D version and virtually walked around in it, some changes and tweaks became evident.

You can find appliances in scratch and dent stores and on craigslist. Try the local Habitat for Humanity Restores for many materials. They have exceptionally good tile selections in the one near us. You can try greendemolitions.com if you are on the east coast and I bet there are other ways to buy whole kitchens on the west coats or down south. CL has full kitchens around here as we are in NY and our site is active.

The longer your timeline, the more time you have to plan and find bargains.