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Fridge/Wine Bar

View from Dining Room Looking Into Kitchen

Another view

Final View

A little off topic but I would kill the wine area and go for 36" or 30" GE mono all fridge and 30" GE all freezer. I use all of my Viking 36" all fridge 30" all freezer for a family of four. It is a great size when you entertain for party's/holidays.

It looks like you are going with a custom cabinet for your hood. I have a Best hood liner in my custom hood, they have LED lights and 2 depth choices.

I have the Capitol 60" range top with 24" griddle so can't speak to your Bluestar ? I did look at Bluestar but was lead to believe they didn't make a 60" range top (as of 2012) it was a toss up until that point.

Here are a few comments regarding your plans.

First, post these over in the kitchens thread. You will get lots of feedback on the design.

Second, when you post, be sure to indicate the adjacent rooms. This will allow people to think about traffic flow and work flow.

Third, let me save you a little money and improve the functionality. One of the biggest costs in cabinetry is the drawer/door face. Change all of the 4-drawer stacks to 3-drawer stacks. The 4-drawer units will prove to be unusable. You have a number of drawer stacks with tiny little double drawers. Make those a single larger drawer. Tiny drawers aren't useful and are expensive.

Fourth, the triangular cabinet at the end of the view from dining room looking into kitchen looks great, but serves no function. I have five of those in my kitchen. (Designer sold previous homeowner a bill of goods.) These are the first thing I'm ripping out. Get a regular cabinet. Why pay for something that won't work?

Last, the threads at GW indicate that the issues with the BS Platinum oven have been addressed by the company and are now implemented in the factory. Buy the BS Platinum if that is what you want and don't worry about it. Still, the RNB is plenty powerful and is reasonable substitute.

Front Elevation

Finally - Front Elevation Selections (Very similar to this picture for finishes)

Andrew, responding to your first question, I would be stunned if you bought the RNB and thought that the burners were too weak. I have the RNB, and very rarely need to leave the burners at max for long. Not all that long ago, 15,000 BTU was a high powered burner, so the RNB should be plenty.

You really need to duplicate this thread over in the kitchens section. There are some really good planners that hang out at that thread.

They will tell you to think about traffic flow. They will also tell you to think about the steps to produce a meal and follow the steps. At this point, you will begin to understand the flow.

I see that most of the time you will be entering the kitchen from the mudroom. The first thing that will greet you is the refrigerator. You will also run over people sitting at the island. Most of your cooking is out of this pathway. That's good. But, I would consider putting a prep sink in the island as pictured on the original plan, or move it to the space next to the refrigerator. This way, clean up is in one part and prep is in another.

I like the microwave on the island, but I would redesign the island and move it to the side nearest the refrigerator. This makes snacks and reheating easier. You don't get in the way of the cleanup squad. Alternatively, you could move the microwave to the area next to the refrigerator. There are lots of options.

Please post next door, you will get a lot more eyes on the project.

You can probably have the best of both worlds. Ask your salesman if you can upgrade to 25k burners on the RNB. I thought I recalled seeing that bluestar was going to make that option available to RNB owners, as well as the interchangeable grill/griddle. It's def worth asking about. If you do get an answer, either way, please post the response on here as I'm sure im not the only one who'd be interested in knowing. Thanks.

Thanks again everyone for the suggestions. Unfortunately I can't change kitchen layout at this point as cabinets have already been ordered and paid for BUT I am still curious if anyone has advice on what 3rd Oven/Cooking Appliance you would fit in the island?

-Standard Microwave?
-Convection Microwave?
-Steam Oven?
-Speed Oven?

Thanks and Gtadross - I'll let you know if you're allowed to upgrade burners on the RNB once I check with the store.

Thanks!

I don't think you're crazy at all for something tried and tested instead of something new and unproven, that had issues that *might* be fixed.

People are satisfied with all 4 of the extra cooking appliances that you listed, and most of your responses will probably be people speaking in favor of their own choice. But, the best choice for them might not be the best choice for you! Different people use their kitchens in very different ways. Do you just want something simple that you'll already know how to use? Would you like the ability to use it an extra, smaller oven or do you not care about that? Do you often find yourself short on time for cooking, or is that not an issue? Would you be willing to learn how to use a new tool that helped you achieve higher quality results, but took a lot of time and effort to get familiar with?

It has almost been a full year... what did you decide?

Ktlri,

Thanks for the follow-up as although the build is done, I haven't fully furnished the residence yet and had my professional shots done for our records and the community here. I'll admit - I had to go back over the thread and re-read to give the proper feedback but for the main range I ended up with a Zephyr 48" Monsoon II and a curvaball that I didn't even find out about until after this thread had already run it's course...I went with the Capital Connoisseurian 48" Dual-Fuel w/ 8 (Open) Burner configuration and I must say I absolutely LOVE IT.

The fit and finish is as good as if not better than all of the BlueStars I saw in person (I visited about 6 different ones in 3 different stores during the process) and I've been estatic about the oven capacity and having an electric oven instead of gas for our baking purposes, etc.

The electric rotisserie, electronic food probe and the kicker was the Wok insert (all of which I've used and very happy with the performance).

It does take a while to get used to having this many powerful burners (all 25K minus the simmer burner) but it is a huge time saver for me as my wife and I both "prep" our food for the week on Sunday nights and with 2 cooks in the kitchen we can do multiple large quantities of food at once.

Here's a couple cell phone pics and thanks for asking. One of these days once we finish with the interior designers and the furniture finally arrives (We're talking 12-16 week delivery times for most pieces - what the heck?!?) we'll get some legit shots done for everyone. Thanks!