thanks all for the responses. i thought it would be ok but wanted some assurance. i don't buy a ton of groceries at once. i buy for a few days at a time. it's just that we are going from an LG SxS non counter depth and the door shelves are huge! we store so much there including loads of vitamin bottles, condiments, cooking wine, those big bottles of fish sauce, a huge bottle of margarita mix on the bottom shelf, etc. and it's a very "out of sight" kind of set up so they're not in the way when you don't need them. i know this won't be possible with the SZ but it will be nice to have the room for platters etc. and not have things disappear to the back depths. plllog, i meant the single door fridge w/bottom freezer. nycbluedevil, no idea why i felt the french door was so heavy. we were pretty much set on an FD due to clearance but i felt opening both doors (which i know we will do everytime we go to the fridge) was very cumbersome. maybe because i was comparing it to the electrolux icon counter depth model we were looking at? not sure, but we both agreed that the single door was easier to handle.

I researched this to the nth degree and ultimately decided I had to have an ice dispenser and went with a Gaggenau freezer tower with custom panel and ice/water in-door. These are also sold under the Miele and Thermador brand names too. They don't make internal ice dispensers just ice buckets/storage bins. From everything I read the SZ dispenser is very finicky about the water quality/water hardness and water pressure fed to it. Unlike competitors the ice dispenser goes from the freezer to the refrigerator side causing increased failures that can cost several hundred dollars to fix each time. Obviously if you use a lot of ice opening the freezer constantly will increase temperature variability, freezer burn/frost, and energy cost. Opening the refrigerator constantly for cold water will do the same minus freezer burn/frost. BTW The ladies in the Kitchen Forum will tell you that putting an ice dispenser on a wood paneled freezer is like a pimple on the tip of your nose. :) BTW II Sub Zero is made in Wisconsin while Gaggenau/Thermador/Miele is made by Bosch in a Bosch owned factory in Turkey.

Good to know centered is an option. I wish I had taken a picture of the old cup pulls before I removed the panels for sanding and painting. I think they looked okay, but I wasn't evaluating them for positioning at the time! WindyCityLindy, I'm with you on the "why'd they do that?" aspect. I can probably rule out the top of the recessed panel position. Does anyone with freezer drawers have an opinion based on the height of the pulls? Putting them on the top rail would maybe be a tad high for the top drawer, but a good location for the bottom drawer. I'm a little concerned that centering them would put the pulls rather low ergonomically. I'm only 5'2", but my DH is 6' and that's a bit of the bend.

V Barr Is that the 36" French Door or 42"? Did you have the cabinets built out to be flush? Looking at the 42" SS but it sticks out so far I really don't like it. If I get the panel ready I can get the cabinet built out so it looks flush I think. I really like the integrated look but I don't have space for 2 columns.