I don't think of it as quite complete yet I have not addressed the bugs we encounter. So anyone else that wants to see something not present in it please let me know. The final version I will post as FAQ in the sugject heading.

It is really interesting to read all the tips and methods that people follow. I did try the Bionature pasta and I really loved the texture of the whole wheat. We tried both the spagetti and the fusili and it was really good. A couple of kids who were visiting seemed to prefer that to the barilla version (I made both). I am very intrigued by the hydrated cold water pasta method. I am going to give that a try as DH is the dishwasher in chief and he is not happy when I pul out my 8qt pasta pot with the colander insert. Sauce coating the pasta - I feel that this is kind of important as I like to make pasta with just enough sauce - not too much. Have blobs of sauce on the plate that you can spoon up would be not nice in my books. I saw that with the bronze die pasta (Bionature), the pest kind of coated it better. I did not see the much uncoated surface of the pasta. The Barilla was not coated as much. It would be nicer to taste the sauce first and not the blandness of pasta.Whether the extra cost of the bronze die pasta is worth it or not is a personal call. Mileage may vary there and as someone suggested, it may be more important for some recipes but not others. Carrying the argument to the other extreme, a super slick pasta version might be rice noodles or one of those zero cal tofu noodles. Nothing sticks to that :)

Congrats on getting your city approvals!! One giant hurdle out of the way!! I was thinking the same thing about deleting the corner pantry and doing tall cabinetry pantry space along the range wall, then move the range to the bottom wall. Then maybe put a counter with base cabinets below and wall cabs above in between the pantry & refrigerator and place the microwave there. In your current layout, I think the prep sink needs to be larger (unless you have a potfiller over the range) to accomodate filling pots and draining pots. It's a Loooooong way from the range to the main sink. I personally wouldn't do a prep sink smaller than 21" interior space (23" including lip for mounting). I also think the island should be centered so that it is equidistant from the sink wall and from the refrigerator wall. 36" is not enough and 39" is pushing it IMO. Consider too that the countertop will extend into that space as well by at least another inch on each side. So your 36-39" aisle just became 34-37". Will your range have double ovens or a single oven. If it will have double, can you just use the second oven for the warming drawer? Set the thermostat to 200 degrees and you're good to go. The money you save on the warming drawer can be a considerable amount that you may find you could use elsewhere. Plus, it frees up the island space for more storage. Hope this helps!

Wow, so excited to see such good and varied inputs on my request! Thanks @Flo Mangan - I am now certainly going for a ladder shelf for the corner. I am not sure of moving the desk away from its existing place for precisely the reasons @functionthenlook mentioned - my desk job can sometimes result in 8-9 hours, and I do plenty of video calls throughout the day. So not only is it nice for me to have a view (which BTW Flo is right, it is limited since the windows are a bit above my eye level (photo of the view below)) but it is also pleasant to have light on my face. Further, the remaining space in the room comes in handy when the occasional extra guests stay over and the sofa beds need to be pulled out. Thanks everyone for all the rug options - this weekend is going to be (window) shopping weekend :)