Liz K & bunti: I am in 7b and planted a Brown Turkey fig two years ago. It died to the ground but returned and even produced a few figs. Last year, I covered the base with pine straw and wrapped the branches in bubble wrap and cardboard. Semi fell apart but mostly still covered thru winter. All branches (~4' tall) seem to be alive and sap is rising slowly so only the lower portions have budded out but all buds appear healthy.

I tried blowing up that picture to look at the detail on the lighter cabinets. Are they the same door style? If so, I'd strip them and then work to match the stain. You can take them down and test on the backs and sides that won't be seen. Nop new cabinets -- just refinishing a few of them. Then do what you like on the island -- a cream or white would be good. If you do it later, get butcherblock, marble, or a different granite (the hardest one -- trying to find two complimentary granites). Make the island cabinet and the countertop completely different, treating them like a furniture piece or in fact buying a furniture piece island. If they aren't the same door style, I think the separate thread dedicated to matching the door is a good idea. That doesn't look like it should be too hard to match. You might find them ready made or have a cabinet maker custom make them for you. You might find the doors are a style you can order and have stained to match. it may take some legwork, but it would be worth it. Keep in mind that the new cabinets would be in a separate section, not butting up to the old oness. Seeing the photo, I take back much of what I said. I stared at the photos and tried to come up with some idea for salvaging or rebirthing those cabinets -- even in a different color and with crown added, I couldn't some up with an image I was happy with. If you need to try to work with them, I would start by removing the cabinet to the right of the stove and the corner to have the cream cabinets on the window wall only. Add a crown or other trim to make them look more different -- like it was intentional, not a mistake. Use some open shelving to the right of the stove if you need it. Another option -- see if any of your neighbors want to swap cabinets so you can both get matching uppers. LOL Good luck.

This is a story of what you should NOT do with your house. Bought a tiny 2 bedroom 1950s ranch in 1989. Added a floor and put the living, dining and kitchen on the top floor. It gave us a view of the mountains and the lake. Garage in the basement was incorporated into the basement floor space. Built a detached garage in 1997 to augment the garage that was lacking. Tried to see if we can move up in the neighborhood. Could not afford the comparable view and did not want to give it up. So we brought the middle floor to the stud and reconfigured it for 3 bedroom and 2 bath in 2002. (previously only 1 bath and very knarly floor plan which was inherited from the original house.) Finished the basement with a media room, infloor heating, trim to match the rest of the house etc. Fast forward another few years... We still cannot afford the view in the slightly better neighborhood any other way. (The upcharge is about 1/2 to 1 mil.) We looked at many houses recently! I recently saw a beautiful house that was done very well. But there was no view from the kitchen or the dining room. Saw another house that had a view from the living room only. We are not in the living room until it is dark outside! We would lose our breakfast with sunrise over the mountains. This was the usual story of all the houses that we looked at. At the comparable price point, the houses have the view from the bedroom, not from the kitchen or the living space. Because we have the ususual space arrangement of living/kitchen/dining floor at the top, we have the view from the rooms we use everyday as a family. This is unusual but gives us a very open space with 180 degree view. We are now embarking on a kitchen remodel of the kitchen that was put in 1989/1990. The kitchen was done on a budget and is not at the level of the quality that we have updated the rest of the house. So we are actually the other way around. Whole house remodel first and back to the kitchen which is 20 years old. In the end, we have the house that we want to live in. Had we not done this and lived with what is there or moved to another house and given up a few things, ie view, open living configuration, natural light etc, we would be way ahead in the money! Oh well, you can't take it with you...

I decided to revisit placing a 30" range in a 10' island and came up with this: This eliminates the concern I had with your range in island plan. The fridge is no longer deep in the kitchen at the end of the aisle between sink and range. It's now at the right end of the kitchen so family won't need to cross through the cooking zone to grab drinks, or items for the nook or DR table. This plan gives you a dedicated cook zone with fridge, range and prep sink with oodles of storage and counter. The pantry is also near at hand. I placed the trash pull-out at the far left end so that it's also (somewhat) close to the clean-up sink. I eyeballed placement so I don't know if the hood is centered on window or nook but since I eliminated uppers on the window wall, if it's not quite centered, I don't think it will be obvious. Keep in mind, unless you stand or sit in the sweet spot, you won't notice if it's not centered. Here are images of ranges in large islands. [[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/wainscott-residence-beach-style-kitchen-new-york-phvw-vp~985996) [Beach Style Kitchen[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/beach-style-kitchen-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_709~s_2110) by Philadelphia Architects & Building Designers Sandvold Blanda Architecture + Interiors LLC [[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/landon-contemporary-kitchen-austin-phvw-vp~3656675) [Contemporary Kitchen[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/contemporary-kitchen-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_709~s_2103) by Austin General Contractors Davenport Building Solutions This one has a copper hood - yummy! [[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/elegant-traditional-kitchen-beaded-inset-traditional-kitchen-charleston-phvw-vp~819500) [Traditional Kitchen[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/traditional-kitchen-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_709~s_2107) by Charleston Cabinets & Cabinetry Carolina Kitchens of Charleston, Inc. I purposely placed seating at the far right end of the island, out of the splatter zone. You will see images in mags and on houzz with seating directly behind a range or cook top; I wouldn't do that. Given your very large island, you really don't need to either. I added shallow storage behind the range. You could keep this stretch of counter at the same level as the rest of the island or you could raise it 6", something like this: [[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/crisp-architects-traditional-kitchen-new-york-phvw-vp~193135) [Traditional Kitchen[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/traditional-kitchen-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_709~s_2107) by Millbrook Architects & Building Designers Crisp Architects [[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/crisp-architects-traditional-kitchen-new-york-phvw-vp~193137) [Traditional Kitchen[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/traditional-kitchen-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_709~s_2107) by Millbrook Architects & Building Designers Crisp Architects [[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/green-lake-classic-craftsman-craftsman-kitchen-seattle-phvw-vp~334221) [Craftsman Kitchen[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/craftsman-kitchen-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_709~s_2116) by Seattle Design-Build Firms RW Anderson Homes This plan gives you a dedicated clean-up zone on the west wall. I centered the sink on the island but the other choice is to center it between pantry cab and garage entry. Here are images of sinks against walls, not under windows. [[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/kitchens-by-julie-williams-design-traditional-kitchen-san-francisco-phvw-vp~114198) [Traditional Kitchen[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/traditional-kitchen-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_709~s_2107) by Novato Kitchen & Bath Designers Julie Williams Design [[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/kitchens-traditional-kitchen-san-francisco-phvw-vp~1994291) [Traditional Kitchen[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/traditional-kitchen-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_709~s_2107) by Los Gatos Kitchen & Bath Designers Kitchens of Los Gatos [[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/kitchen-traditional-kitchen-new-york-phvw-vp~1865013) [Traditional Kitchen[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/traditional-kitchen-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_709~s_2107) by Woodbridge Architects & Building Designers Huestis Tucker Architects, LLC There are GWers who are dead-set against ranges or cook top in islands. I don't share that viewpoint provided you are ready for the added cost of island venting and provided the island is wide enough and deep enough to provide ample space around a cook top or range. I have a 30" cook top in a 5' island; 16" on either side to work. HATE it and can't wait to remodel and move my cook top to the perimeter. If I had an island as large as yours and upgraded from a pop-up downdraft to an island hood, I would happily keep my cook top in the island. But my kitchen isn't nearly as large as yours is. In your OP, you asked about where to put a MW. I would do a MW drawer either next to the fridge or in the island across from the fridge.