jon??? God's honest truth ... i dont have the patience to watch a video ... not to mention that you dont make it a live link in the box under where you type .... ken

Hello Ladies, I am new to the site, I am just starting my garden, but I would love to learn from experience..... I would love to offer my help in the setting for Dentons Plant Swap, I can help with the setting up, arrangements etc, my personal email is yvmena@yahoo.com, please let me know how I can help and if I am able to attend..... Warm Regards, Yasmin

Hi splais, We are at the tail end of a total gut kitchen remodel in our 1925 bungalow. I had a 30” freestanding 1980ish coil electric stove that came with the house. It ran on 220V and had a 3 prong plug. When we converted to gas heat in 2005 and removed our old 1940’s oil furnace, I had the furnace installers make a “T” with the gas line for a future gas range. They came up through the floor behind my existing electric range. (new furnace was pretty much right below the stove area in the basement) With the remodel, I bought a new 30” GE Profile Dual Fuel FS range and the plumber moved the existing gas line from the floor, to be coming out the wall. (new code where we live). The electrician changed the existing 220V wall plug to a 4 prong to accommodate the new range. Since we were converting to a gas range, we needed to vent it properly. We couldn’t go straight up from the position of the non-vented hood we had because there is a bedroom directly above. Our plumber ran a 8” duct up through the cabinet above the range into the ceiling joist, turned 90 degrees ran in the joist, turned again 90 degrees ran it a few feet into the attic space and went out through the roof. We have a max of 350CFM on our Broan range hood. Our GC said that it would be adequate for our new range and cooking needs. Our range is not a pro style range but for me it’s just fine. I find that I use the range vent hood on 1 or 2 power because I rarely have the gas burners on past a 3 or 4 and most of the time I only use 1 to 2 burners at a time. If I am boiling water for pasta then I have the range vent on the high position because of the steam. Gas definitely heats faster then electric coil! I like the immediate response it gives me and that I can "see" it right away. This is a learning curve for me, I’ve never had a gas range. It is a little more maintenance to keep the top clean, I tend to be a “wipe down when you’re done cooking” kinda gal so I remove the grates to wipe down, my coil stove was easier to do this, just wipe and go. So far I like cooking on gas very much. I wanted to have an electric oven because I like to bake cheesecakes, pies and cakes once in a while and prefer electric ovens, this range gave me both. I also love having a window in my oven, my old stove did not. I waited over 20+ years to get a window! I can finally see what I’m baking without opening the door! Yay! My Mother had her kitchen remodeled in 2012 and she had a 27inch slide in electric coil stove, but since she was gutting her kitchen she opted for the versatility of a 30” freestanding electric range instead. She loves her window in her stove too since old one didn’t have one either. I think you could easily have your microwave on the counter somewhere, looks like you have a few placement options and plenty of counter space. I don’t think it would interfere with resale. Most people seem to want counter space and you definitely have that. I’m enclosing a picture of the new range and the new vented range hood. NWRain-Gal :)

I really like chicgoans recommendation on make the base cabs extra deep, we will submit that change before tomorrows deadline. The other recommendation of losing the hood to counter cabs is also a good one. The width of the hood will stay the same, but we will eliminate the cabs from under the corbel. Then it should have a graceful arch towards the back wall. A piece of matching wood/moulding laying flush on the back splash should make it appear that extended cabinets are still present without sacrificing counter space. As far as rinsing the veggies, most are frozen veggies that go right into the mw or pot. The only thing we need to rinse daily is celery, but now I piece that cut and pre packaged at Whole Foods. If we need something, I can open the Refrig, turn 180 degrees around and find the sink, and then dice right there or go to the prep zone. Right now, our layout in our kitchen requires us to zig zag around tables, chairs, island, and this will be entirely eliminated with the new design. Now to get from the den to the kitchen, then to the living room to put more wood on the fire, and then back to get something out of the microwave is an obstacle path and a half. There will be unobstructed straight path in the floor plan from den, kitchen and living room and every cabinet in between. We started working on the kitchen renovation last September with a local kitchen designer who was very good and came up with a great looking design. What we did not like was the fact that we could not bring the plans home to review. Any changes meant he had to hand draw everything which made revisions more labor intensive. After the receipt of the initial bid which was very high, we were not furnished with a line item estimate to see where we could save money. At this point I talked my wife into driving several hours north to take a of the Crown Point factory after hearing so much on GW about them. We actually stayed over night and had a great weekend. We got a suite at the Common Man Inn (ask for the CP Discount) a got huge "40 foot ceilings"/fireplace/king bed/river view suite. My wife that she was Alice in Wonderland with the size of the room. My wife and I thought the experience of the tour, and be able to view different cabinets in various design stages and options made it in easy decision to get an estimate from Crown Point. I was impressed by their design approach and price that we cancelled the other designer and went with Crown Point. Since the first layout, I have been able to modify the design to suit our family, our habits, and at the same time keep the total cost within budget by learning what items actually will make the price jump and designing around them when possible. My wife just saw our final number from today that now includes a bathroom vanity and she was happily surprised. Now she wants to order a custom table for the banquette ! As I was typing this my contractor just called with his estimates and as of tomorrow after the last minute changes we are in production.