@Shelley Graham Hi Shelley, it's been a long time since the original thread. On the off chance you see this, have you had any issues with the 4" in front of your sink? We also put in the larger Devonshire in our newly remodeled master bathroom. The stone fabricator left 4" in front of the sink. It feels like a bit of a reach to get to the faucet (we are using Devonshire single faucet.) I guess it also depends on your height? I'd love to hear your insights since you've lived with it for a while. Thanks much!

This discrepancy should have been caught when the countertop guys templated the countertop. Are your walls that messed up, or is it because of a flawed cabinet installation? Regardless, a 1/2" gap is ridiculous. You can have a new top properly fitted. Bingo, problem solved. Is there a backsplash to be installed? That can hide a gap, with the exception of the gap at the end of the countertop. Depends on if that edge will be visible or not. Everything else is a compromise of sorts in that you can reduce the gap in the back but you overhang in front. You can slide it back but then your cabinet overhang at the front of the cabinets will be skewed. You can scribe the countertop as is, slide the entire thing back 1/2" to close the gap on the right. That'll give you even reveal on the front overhang, but it'll be 1/2" less front cabinet overhang than you have now. Or you can do a fraction of that 1/2". Slide it back 1/4" for a 1/4" gap on the back left, and lose 1/4" of overhang at the front of the cabinets. You can notch the drywall on the back right wall and slide the top back. Same effect as the previous recommendation, but you're notching the drywall instead of scribing the countertop. Another alternative is to use mud to float out the back wall. Essentially you're making the back wall "thicker" to bring the wall forward to meet the countertop. It'd have to be done in several steps, and you'd have to feather the half-inch thickness down over the run of the wall. But that also depends on windows on the wall and how the existing window trim will be affected. There are fixes and there are band-aid repairs. Mongo

i've often wondered why there is no discussion of the cabinet sides' flammability. Hoods are the same width as the cooktop. Flammable material touching the hood is essentially right above the cooktop. This doesn't make sense to me. For 20 years I used to see my oak veneer on the wall cabinets right above the cooking surface, right next to the hood. Steam from cooking caused the veneer to go ugly on me. Yuk. But, if there had ever been a stovetop fire, this veneer would have either been damaged or worse yet, fed the fire and helped it spread. (!) Anyone? Bueller? Anyone? i've often wondered why there is no discussion of the fact that hoods are usually not container-shaped. They LOOK very very container-shaped when seen from a distance, but the filter (baffles) are not recessed into an upside down cup that would contain a few gallons of fast-rising smoke. This is not helpful in a real fire, but it IS helpful in everyday operation = and that IS the main goal, to keep greasy smoke inside the canopy and the exhaust system (not allow it to spread throughout the house). Wok and grill cooking produces bursts of smoke. One can always overcompensate by having the blower suck more CFM's but then this forces the house to provide a lot more make-up air, which forces the AC or heating system to work harder... and then this forces people to spend a few thousand more for make-up air compensating systems.... (!) Anyone? Bueller? Anyone? Hth.

Hi Erika, First, I love your design ideas and layout. The mix of surfaces is great (definitely not too many) and very similar to what I'd like to do. I do think your sink should be centered under the window, especially if you are concerned about it now you will not be happy when it is installed. We obsessed about this in the design phase of our new kitchen so much that we added a third window to that wall to be able to center our clean-up sink under it. My layout is similar to your's with the long island, although my sink (centered under my 3 windows) would swap places with your range. I have a lowered baking center in the same place as your butcher block area. So instead of moving the placement of your large sink - For your prep sink, have you considered putting it at the other end of your island? It might be nice to have a sink down at that end of your kitchen, for entertaining, serving drinks. I think it would look great down near your hutch as kind of a "bar" sink. I don't see where your fridge is but it's always nice to have a sink close by. And a sink at that end would be great for use as a "prep" sink for washing veggies etc for that extra person (guest or not). That extra person would then not be bumping into anyone near the clean-up or cooking center. Your larger sink (I call mine the clean-up sink) seems close enough to your baking center (which I also have in the exact location) and easy enough to turn around to get that measuring cup of water you need for your recipe or to pop a batter bowl into the sink for washing. At least that is my thinking for what would work for me. And did you also say you have a chef's sink close to the range. Sounds like a lot of sinks in that end of the kitchen, it would be nice to put one at the other end. Just my thought anyway, you need to do what works for you and the way you cook, prep, and entertain. On the mix of surfaces - I loooove it. So many KD and "cabinet people" I talked to told me similar things like "it looks like you couldn't afford it all at once" etc. I told them the point is to make it look like I did not get this brand spanking new kitchen all at once. I want it to look like it has evolved over time. I know that doesn't work for everyone but you need to do what you want, not someone else. I am mixing cabinet colors (painted periphery cabinets, stained cherry island) and also mixing door styles as well. My take is if the island is different (i.e. stained cherry) it might have been from a different time period than my wall and base cabinets around the kitchen periphery. I have seen kitchens like these and they are truly beautiful and very period looking. Hope this is helpful to you. Everyone needs to do what works for them. I can't wait to see your finished photos.