Dave, Our block is either a no name or forgotten one, nearly fifteen years old, which holds fewer knives, consigning some rarely used blades, such as the third chefs knife and the flexible boner for fish to a drawer. We have a 24X24 chop block, so I mounted the knife block via a wooden arm attached to the bottom of both blocks. We own a couple of slicers with longer blades raising my question on the length of the tilted blocks. We also got our steel from a restaurant supply shop since these tend to wear out. A big one runs about $15, but will not fit in most blocks. Ours only works because of the way our block sits suspended. Something you may consider if your Henkels have the rubbery handles like my 4****, the handles are a little bigger than the comparable Wusthoff. I'm sure any of the blocks you've cited will be fine, and become second nature in a matter of months if not weeks. I wouldn't worry too much if all of your blades don't fit, as long as the most frequently used do. As you can tell, I love talking about this stuff and good luck searching...Jackie

We had pocket doors for at least 2 bathrooms while I was growing up. I don't recall them being any less sound concealing than a standard door. They are harder to lock, if you have arthritis, though (my grandparents always had problems locking the door). To be clear, I wasn't suggesting a pocket door for the powder room, I was suggesting it for the little back hallway leading to the powder room. A barn door would work just as well and would require no structural work, which is a good thing. Wow, a sink only 10" deep! Do you mean the Whitehaus sink or one like it? I've never seen one of these in person. Are they large enough to wash up easily without splashing water on the floor? Pretty cool if that works for you. So I did a wee bit more playing with your kitchen and came up with an idea that puts a prep sink on the same run as the range, without sacrificing storage or counter space. It's a galley lay-out, which I know isn't your first choice but it has a lot of pluses going for it so perhaps you'll consider it anyway. The fridge stays where it is with a 30" cab between it and the sink, centered on the wall between the windows and the DW to its left. You could put open shelves on the wall above the sink. Ikea's EKBY MOSSBY SS shelves would fit between the windows (I'm guessing you're going for a contemporary/modern vibe since you talked about a waterfall edge for your island). Here are a few more ideas about how to handle a sink facing a wall: [[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/design-build-industrial-kitchen-dc-metro-phvw-vp~931636) [Industrial Kitchen[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/industrial-kitchen-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_709~s_2113) by Fairfax Station Design-Build Firms Kingston Design Remodeling [[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/haight-ashbury-contemporary-kitchen-san-francisco-phvw-vp~217146) [Contemporary Kitchen[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/contemporary-kitchen-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_709~s_2103) by San Francisco General Contractors Mascheroni Construction You could also install shelves that span the whole wall, including in front of the windows. [[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/main-cabin-traditional-kitchen-seattle-phvw-vp~25111) [Traditional Kitchen[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/traditional-kitchen-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_709~s_2107) by Seattle Architects & Building Designers Bosworth Hoedemaker [[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/modern-kitchen-modern-kitchen-new-york-phvw-vp~510658) [Modern Kitchen[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/modern-kitchen-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_709~s_2105) by New York Interior Designers & Decorators Amy Lau Design The range moves to the interior wall (not sure how that will affect venting) with a 15" cab between it and the wall. That should move the range out from the wall enough that you can open the range door without banging into the angled wall. I wasn't sure how wide the wall is here so you may need to widen it in order to get the range and hood against a wall. I put the trash pull-out at the end but you could also put it below the prep sink since I'm suggesting a 24" sink cab for this. A decent sized prep sink will be so much more useful than a smaller prep/bar sink. This prep sink could double as a bar sink, convenient to the peninsula seating. You could also fill it with ice and drinks, like an ice bucket, for parties, too. Lastly, if you can, widen the entry between kitchen and DR/LR area. 32" is doable for a doorway but wider is better, IMO. Oh, one more thing. I don't know if there's an IKEA hack for this but if you can manage it, adding toe kick cabs will increase your kitchen storage: [[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/an-elegantly-functional-kitchen-in-durham-transitional-kitchen-raleigh-phvw-vp~6682959) [Transitional Kitchen[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/transitional-kitchen-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_709~s_2112) by Durham Kitchen & Bath Designers emma delon (I didn't realize IKEA offered 36" wide cabs. I thought the widest they had were 30", other than corner cabs.) Here is a link that might be useful: Whitehaus Isabella sink

You are in a great location and won't waste time getting to the attractions on your list. The metro is very safe and easy to navigate. 3 days in Paris has some excellent suggestions. You will see a few highlights and can plan another trip to see more in the future. Here's what I would want to see with my children: Eiffel Tower-yes, climb to the top. The view is spectacular Museum D'Orsay (used to be a train station) Notre Dame (stand on the star, which is the city center) Louxembourg Gardens (spectacular place for a picnic lunch). We stayed in that district once (I think it's the 5th.) We enjoyed Sacre Coeur. Loved the Montmartre area. Full of street artists and lovely cafe's. Many people have written about how to hit the highlights of Paris. Do you watch the travel channel? Rick Steve's has an excellent show and also has books. On our first trip I took his Paris book out of the library to help plan our 5 days. https://www.ricksteves.com/watch-read-listen/read/articles/paris-itinerary One bit of advice: when entering a store or restaurant greet the staff with "Bon Jour" and smile. Almost everyone there speaks English, so if you struggle with your French they will most likely speak English. The French get a bad rap as being unfriendly. I did not find that to be true. As long as you show them respect, acknowledge them and ask for help, you will get along just fine. I love to plan vacations and then sit back and enjoy as it plays out. Plan on doing LOTS of walking and eating! Enjoy!

I wouldn't read too much into the cultural implications. This kind of festive continuous leisurely grazing happens everywhere, I think, whether in African mud huts, French farmhouses, Midwest ramblers, South American city flats, Near East townhouses, etc. I'm guessing East Asia too, though I haven't been specifically informed. I think it comes of having a lot of guests, staying, perhaps a small kitchen, no real clock driven activities, certainly a lot of good will, etc. The cooks make all their best dishes and whatever their ingredients inspire and don't let themselves get bogged down by the idea that everyone has to eat the same thing at the same time in the same quantity. They just keep cooking stuff, and the people keep eating stuff. It all sounds very fun, especially in such different surroundings!