I used Camelot kitchens in Pennington NJ. I shopped around and got a few designs and different prices. They were most willing to work with my budget-original quote was 30K but I went with only 10K in cabinets-very flexible. They can do it all-demo/drywall/cabinet installation to countertops. They sell brookhaven & woodmode and we are very satisfied. We worked with Tracy.

I don't have a KD recommendation, but I was very pleased with my contractor, David Dunshee of Double D Construction, 443-324-4486. He lives in Frederick, which is just up 270 from Potomac/Rockville. He's reasonable, flexible, communication is excellent, and the carpentry and attention to detail is first class. He pays attention to the schedule and gets in his subs like clockwork; stuff happened every day and I was done (except for a couple of minor items) in 7 weeks, including time to get the floors refinished on the entire ground floor. I would not hesitate to use his firm again.

What you need is an actual independent kitchen designer who works with a contractor . You might get lucky and find an interior designer that does kitchen design. Stay away from cabinet sales people who are very limited in what they can design.

@Patricia Colwell Consulting Thank you very much for weighing in on our design. We are planning to use white Axstad doors, all one color throughout (that's just a shadow your seeing as a color change on the island rendering). Yes there will be seating at the island. We've considered the 40" uppers however I know I would really miss the more detailed crown molding. I'm struggling because I defintely prefer a more traditional look but we have a huge space to fill so we have to keep the cabinets costs down. I was hoping that 30" uppers could have trim and crown built up to meet the ceiling. If it helps, we actually prefer at least 20" from counter to bottom of uppers, and are considering a larger light rail. We've also thought about using Ikea lowers and customs uppers/pantry and doors to solve this problem if it's afforable, but I don't know who to work with on that. Semihandmade is too expensive. Your thoughts on the sink are interesting, we originally had it under the second window because that is already a wet wall (it backs to the laundry drain and water supply), but another Houzz member convinced us to switch it to the island. LOL. I could be easily convinced to move it back, I'm sure it would be easier since we are on a concrete slab. To answer your question about scale and relationship to the DR/other rooms in the house - we are combining our current 10x11 DR and 15x11 kitchen to create a larger kitchen open to the great room area. New kitchen is 22'x15' and the adjacent great room is almost 33'x16' (see attached). Also attaching top down view of one of the layouts we're considering. Thanks again for your input, it's nice to talk this out with someone who has used Ikea before.