I've heard the new turfallo (sp?) hybrid grass is supposed to be really good and stands up to traffic well. I don't have this type of grass (maybe I should), but have read about some others here on this forum that have it and really like it. As with most lawn grasses, it would do best in full sun, so as long as that cedar tree isn't shading it too much, you should be okay.

Hey, Fori, the repair guy called! At a reasonable time, and I was already gone to meet the cabinet maker and contractor. We had a very productive session. I'll call Mr. G. tomorrow. Meantime, I'm going to post about the cool factor in Appliances. I got 2" of countertop on both sides because the cabinet maker was making pretty frames around the ovens and Advantium. Instead there will be 1" nice frames. The ladder is too tall for the right of the ovens, and I wan't still more counter, so that's going to be a tall pullout like Gizmonike's, only with trays for spices, etc. The little cupboard over the ovens is only going to be about 8" tall anyway, so will have a flip up door rather than swing doors. Should be good for oven pieces. He can do rails and stiles with the bamboo, so the stemware cupboards in the butler's pantry will have inset glass (probably pebble) in the uppers and glass shelves. I think this will cure the bamboo forest problem, because it'll draw the eye away from the slabs. The only view I was ready to go all out Gumby for was standing in the prep area of the island. That, and my mother's jazzy hardware. :) No gumby ;( Glass would be too heavy and unsafe. There will be a message center with an 8" deep flip down writing surface in the center of the pegboard cabinet (on the right from the pantry. We also hashed out a lot of drawer depths, etc., and things look good. I came away feeling very good about the whole thing. I even might have found a top for the island. BTW, sorry for going off on the dye. I'm a fiber artist with respiratory issues so I took that literally. :D RIT's a different story. ;)

Couple of thoughts for you. Changing depths (in beagles photo, but its very discrete) and/or changing heights is a great way to differentiate and emphasize. Depending on what style you're going for, I linked to a sample pic of change of heights and "setting into" a wall. The exact opposite of what you're thinking can work well too! Narrower display cabinets on both ends of a fatter center pantry. Cautions: - Unless you have a lot of very deep display pieces, I'd be leery of using 20" deep display cabinets. I'd be thinking of more like 14"-16" and I'd run a plate groove in the back of each shelf to be able to stand up lovely plates behind something like a collections of service pieces. - Consider where you'll set items down (out of grocery bags or still in bags) while you transfer stuff to the pantry area(s). I'd put it close by as it can be annoying to be surrounded by doors with no place to use as a ledge for temporarily parking even one or two items while you open up the doors. - 20" is very deep for a storage pantry too. Think about whether you'd like shallow shelves on the doors (say 6-7" deep) and then have interior shelves that are 12-13" deep. At least on the "tops". They don't have to be full height - so consider a higher, deep shelf for paper products or other bulky items - like an infrequently used turkey roaster. Think about what you might have in drawers and what sizes would be helpful. If you have a sizable pet, consider where you'll put their food. Here is a link that might be useful:

I highly recommend the Lee Valley pullouts! Their customer service is second to none. When I ordered mine, one of the pullouts/slider bars stuck, and they sent two new ones immediately in the mail. They have various sizes. The medium one would work for your bottom cupboard. You could even fit the small into your top cupboard, and leave one or two shelves in there. (I just put light things like crackers, cereal in my upper pullouts in my pantry). Here is a link that might be useful: medium pullout