I'm also wondering if the 15" deep wall cabinets won't be problematic with many over-the-cooktop microwave ovens, most of which specify maximum cabinet depth to be 13" or 14", even Whirlpool's (who makes Ikea's appliances). A deeper cabinet may interfere with the door swing at the far left that expects to extend beyond the adjacent cabinet door when opened and may infringe on the space slightly. With regular exhaust hoods that won't be a problem, but I wonder if some will look a bit ingrown surrounded by cabinets that extend 3" deeper from the wall than the hood was designed for. Many I've seen have surfaces around the sides and/or top that are designed to be flush with the surrounding cabinet fronts, which are normally 12" from the wall not 15". It appears the base cabinets will be offered with several top drawer depths. Is one of these going to be 6" tall to match many dishwasher panels on those that take cabinet panels but have exposed controls? (as well as many 30" undercounter oven control panels). Or are they trying to match an increasing number of dishwashers that have 4" tall panels rather than 6" with those shallow drawers? With either the Euro or US systems, I don't get what's so great about shallow drawers nestled within deeper drawers. Just seems you'll need to open two drawers to get at the lower section instead of one if you used separate drawers.

Gene: While the picture of me is amusing, I use it to myth-bust. I can't stand "facts" that have no basis: 1. "Granite is heat proof." I've been called to repair heat damaged granite. There is a pizza place several miles from me that's had their granite destroyed by the heat lamps above. The MIA requires trivet use, but the myth continues. 2. "IKEA cabinets are cheap junk." The hacked IKEA cabinets pictured above have no backs, feet, or toe kicks, yet easily support 180 pounds. 3. "All Chinese quartz is junk." If the Chinese are going to rip off your Breton process, they'll do a damn fine job. I'm sure there are more. Maybe we should start a whole 'nother myth-busting thread, but you've got to have documentation to substantiate what you say.

I am not any further on the counter :) But I am still planning on using the ply as an underlay. Unless I don't, lol. The soapstone that I have on hold has a small ding in the surface. I can repair it by using epoxy and ground soapstone "crumbs". Then when dry it sands nicely and you really don't see it. I haven't actually bought the stone I have on hold, but its not going anywhere. They might have other remnants soon. I think I will drive there tomorrow and reassess the "ding" and maybe just go with it instead of waiting for something else to turn up. Just got the under cabinet LED lights installed today. I am still working on the crown at the top. I have one length in and have to cut a piece to finish it up. The space is to tight for me to fasten the crown as instructed. I am using extra strong velcro, that will hold 1lb/sqin. It has been working well for the top crown. I used velcro to attach the filler strips to the 2x4 backing at the ends of the cabinets too. It was great. The instructions for my style of crown have you attach the crown at the bottom of the uppers in a way that is not a good method. They have you directly screw through the bottom of the crown and up into the cabinet box. There is a narrow foam strip that gets applied between the crown and box which looks like it is used to block the gap between, so under cabinet lights don't show through. The foam works, but the screws don't finish flush. The screw heads are so obvious. I am going to back each screw out, one at a time, and counter sink the hole so the screw head will be recessed. Then I can cover the holes with a plug or wood filler. I would post a picture of my under cabinet lights but I haven't been able to post pictures for several days now. I don't know what gives.

That's good to know about maybe needing to shim the rail. I know our floor isn't 100% level, so I was expecting some adjustments there, but I haven't really checked the wall very closely. I hadn't played around much with the Ikea planner software, but now that I have, I think those 1/4" tolerance issues will be irrelevant. I believe the cabinet runs will be a bit shorter than the wall lengths, so I'll be adding some small filler pieces here and there. Since you asked, here's the general layout, though it's very light on details at the moment... http://kitchenplanner.ikea.com/US/UI/Pages/VPUI.htm?Entry=Kitchen&LoadDesign=d93f8fff01ec405ab5e68a7731f4db2b&UIContext=SE_Menu&IsSharedDesign=1 This is mostly just a cabinet project for now; the doors, windows, walls, etc are all in place, and the appliances will stay where they currently are. (There's a lot of history here that I'm glossing over... Suffice it to say, we've already put in a lot of work! Tearing out carpet and wallpaper, fixing up all the flooring, moving the range, having a gas line installed, putting in a hood, etc. This is a slow project, drawn out over several years, and we won't be finished anytime soon! When we bought the house a couple of years ago, nothing had been updated since the late 60's, as far as I can tell. Keeping the 1968 dishwasher that still works like a charm!) Not yet sure what's happening with the short peninsula area; still need to iron that out. (Will include a couple of stools tucked underneath, for occasional seating.) The wall on that side of the room may eventually get knocked out, or become a pass-through, or something like that, so no wall cabinets planned along that wall for the time being. Haven't thought about lighting at all, or colors, or cabinet fronts, countertops, etc. Not sure what we'll end up doing above the fridge. The countertop will of course be continuous, so ignore the gaps that are currently there. Molding is 1" all around, in terms of allowing for drawers to open fully. The entryway by the fridge goes to a hallway (bedrooms), the entryway by the peninsula goes to the dining room, and the entryway by the dishwasher goes to stairs leading to an outside entrance and the basement. I wish the windows provided more light, but all that you can see out of them is the maroon paint job on the neighbors' house...