thanks everyone for the suggestions! We have lived here since May, and have been pondering the kitchen ever since we had our offer accepted on the house. I think that I essentially like the room's layout to answer fori's question. The thing I'd like is a bit more counter space. I have considered getting rid of the island and putting in a peninsula, but I have a couple concerns at doing this, first and foremost, not totally sure whether the flooring runs under the island. I'm not at all interested in redoing the floors just to move an island. Second, and most importantly, but the cabinets, drawers and counter space on the end of the island closest to the stove & MW get used a TON because the counters, drawers and base cabinet storage is very limited directly to the right and left of the stove. Some folks asked about the room beyond the stove, through the door...it's our laundry/mud room + 4th bedroom and a bathroom and connects the house to the garage. Only place in which to access these rooms is through that door. So unfortunately it can't be blocked off. All the other doors are necessities too. One is to the DR, other to our front living room, the other to the basement. Im definitely toying with the idea of removing those goofy banisters between the kitchen and family room. I need to wait until I'm ready to extend the flooring into the family room though because of the piece that the spindles attach to on the floor. Regarding removing the soffits, I don't believe there's anything in the soffits above the refrigerator area, however I do believe that there's plumbing in the soffits above the main run of cabinets...our bathroom is directly above there and have heard water sounds running through the pipes (which I believe hide in the soffit). So, I'm thinking if I paint, the soffits will get crown molding... Thanks again for all the suggestions!!

I am glad you like the recommendation HR. Below are my answers to the questions you asked: Most microwaves are made by two companies, Sharp and Panasonic. I think LG may make their own but everyone else buys from Sharp and Panasonic to rebadge them. I would not worry to much about the steel matching from a manufacturer unit. I have a miele speed cook and a miele oven and the grain is slightly different and the color is a little off between the units. You have to look super hard to notice this. I would not worry about this at all. I have owned Miele dishwashers for over 18years. They are great to own and have been problem free. I upgraded to the Knock20 about 6months ago and it is slightly better than the 15yr unit it replaced. Many on the Forum have Bosch and love them too. I have no personal experience with Bosch and based on feedback, if Miele was not available, I would buy a Bosch too. For the F&P fridge, many of them are almost counter depth without an additional upcharge. There have been good reviews of the product on the forum going back years. I think they are a solid choice. I tend to like uncluttered interiors. They recently came out with a French door built it at the great price point that you may also want to review. I think it is about $1000 more than the model I posted. Apart from the Miele, an appliance store may be able to negotiate better pricing that is available for the package too. My recommendation above came to $9900 without tax and shipping. Adding the $1150 for the Bluestar Rangetop would put you at $11,200. Do you have young kids, if yes and you do a Rangetop consider a guard for the knobs to keep them away from small hands. Perfect idea to look at the different items in person. For the dishwasher, take your dishes and see which models works for you. For the cooktop, take pots that you use frequently together to see how much space they take up on the unit. In your initial post, you were leaning heavily to the gas cooktop, have you considered Induction? While you are at the showroom, take a look at the induction cooktops. Again, by taking you pots and getting an idea of how they feel on the cooktop you can understand how they may function in your space. Take a cooler of groceries to the appliance store that contains the stuff that you normally store in your fridge to get an idea of how they would fit into the space. Good luck!

I would agree with the above posters on a 36” cooktop (gas or induction - love my induction BTW) and a 30” wall oven. If you have back issues bending down to get items in and out of a range oven sounds painful. WIth a wall oven you can have it placed at whatever height works best for you. You can get a very nice Bosch DW stainless for less than a $1K. Miele is great but pricey particularly with the tariffs. Bosch usually has a rebate in place depending on which appliances you purchase. As far as a fridge - seems to be difficult to recommend a stand alone fridge that has consistent good reviews. I would suggest buying whatever model works best for you organization wise and buy the longest warranty you can. I had a KA side by side counter depth with ice/water in the door, and for the 13 years we owned that house - never had a service call nor an issue. Seems to be hit or miss on fridges. If you are not a big MW person then put a cheap $100 model in a cabinet or pantry area if that works. Easy to replace - save some $$. What are you doing about ventilation? Did not see that listed. I hope you getting some kind of allowance credit back from your builder on not using their appliances if they were part of your original contract.

I also love your table... such a meaningful piece. here are a couple more ideas for chairs in a couple different styles... https://www.ballarddesigns.com/ada-dining-chair---set-of-2/furniture/dining-kitchen/dining-chairs/537025?uniqueId=537025 https://www.ballarddesigns.com/elda-dining-chair/furniture/dining-kitchen/dining-chairs/544233?uniqueId=544233?&defattrib=Finish&defattribvalue=NOK I think the table deserves a crystal chandelier of some sort. I would consider going to an antique store and seeing if you can find a vintage crystal chandelier... here are a few more, but non vintage https://www.ballarddesigns.com/lucille-faceted-crystal-chandelier/lighting/indoor-lighting/chandeliers/555170?uniqueId=555170 https://www.lampsplus.com/products/emelia-19-and-three-quarter-inch-wide-antique-brass-and-crystal-pendant-light__58n45.html https://www.lampsplus.com/products/magrite-26-and-one-half-inch-wide-gold-6-light-chandelier__64v77.html https://www.lampsplus.com/products/calylah-21-and-one-half-inch-wide-chrome-and-crystal-chandelier__56n57.html I think the dining area rug should be colorful and also like the idea of a persian style. agree it needs to be bigger and should fit the table and chairs on it when chairs are pulled out. https://www.rugsusa.com/rugsusa/rugs/rugs-usa-tribal-embrace/Red/200MJSH04A-P.html https://www.rugsusa.com/rugsusa/rugs/rugs-usa-printed-tribal-medallion-flatweave/Orange/200MKCL09A-P.html https://www.rugsusa.com/rugsusa/rugs/rugs-usa-printed-floral-flatweave/Rust/200MKCL11A-P.html