What is the budget for appliances? Our builder didn't put a line item in the basement budget for wet bar appliances and we will be purchasing on our own. We don't have a set budget but want to do this right as we only plan to do it once (our basement previously held two small apartments, we gutted the space during phase I of our reno, and now in phase II we're finishing the space for our family's use -- mudroom, laundry room, bathroom, guest bedroom, family room with wet bar, and screened porch). Are you planning on a lot of wine? Red and white? I don't think we need a dedicated wine fridge. My husband wants to eventually enclose some of the crawl space under the basement into a wine cellar. We have a new U-line beverage fridge in our kitchen and it holds plenty of white wine for our purposes and the red wine we store in a wine rack in our laundry room. Or just beer,soda,juice and water in the beverage center? Mainly just beer, mixers, and some juice pouches or milk boxes for the kids. We try not to drink sodas. We'll have a filtered water dispenser at the wet bar sink so that should serve our water purposes for the most part. Is really cold beer important? Or beverages at 40 degrees plus ok? Doesn't need to be really cold. Our U-line beverage fridge in the kitchen is set at 38 degrees and that seems just fine. Do you have a strong preferance for clear ice? Do you have a preferance for soft chewable ice or hard ice that does not dilute your single malt ? You know what? I really don't ever use ice. We put a Liebherr fridge in our new kitchen and I don't think we've used one bin of ice in 6 months (need to dump it out and make fresh ice). My husband is the one who is adamant that we need an ice maker so I will ask him about the type of ice, but my guess is that he doesn't have a strong opinion (though he does enjoy a single malt on occasion). Do you have hard water or soft water? Hard. We have two microwaves leftover from the old basement apartments so now I'm thinking that we should just have a space in upper cabinet to place one of them vs. splurging on built-in microwave just to pop popcorn occasionally. (And for that matter I am not so lazy that I couldn't just walk upstairs and pop in the kitchen). This is more for hubby who envisions entertaining in this space.... Thank so much for your help and thoughtful questions!

Mine is plastic, only about 7" in diameter, crank style, Triumph brand made in France, and has seen service a few times a week for about 40 years. Because of its smaller size, I need to do multiple loads for a big salad but to me, it's worth the tradeoff for taking up less storage space. Years ago, I coated the bottom and crank handle with that non-slip rubberized paint used on tool handles so it stays put on the counter during spinning. When cooking frozen chopped spinach, after microwaving I give it a spin to remove the excess moisture. Jenny, there's no evidence in this thread to justify the additional cost of a stainless salad spinner but if you've already made up your mind that you want one, just go ahead and buy it.

You could also look at fleurco. Great company! I had a chip in a shower base on the back ledge that wasn't ever going to be seen and yet they replaced the whole base

Hi, I was surprised too! Thermador came out with a new line of appliances in May and we found one of their “old” 36” range still in box, never opened on a blowout sale... $6,200 range we picked up for $1,700! So we have a piecemeal kitchen—Thermador fridge/freezer (also on blowout sale), Bosch dw, Sharp microwave. We bought from Best Buy and they offered many incentives. Good luck to your son!