Kudos to you for having a budget and a sense of your needs/priorities. My guess is that Sub Zero and Wolf are not going to be in the running for you. That's OK. You'll still end up with a great kitchen. You can get a perfectly fine ~25 c.f. french door fridge for about $1200 (with no in-door water/ice) - $2000 (with in-door water/ice). Possibly even cheaper on sale. A 5-burner 36" cooktop will be significantly roomier than a 4-burner 30" range - as you point out, it's not so much the number of burners going at once that's key, it's the ability to have larger pans not touching. Upgrading to a rangetop would add at least $1000 to the tab, so.... Also, you might consider getting a portable induction burner (under $100 works fine) as a backup/extra cooking spot. Don't forget to budget (maybe $1000) for a range hood. You might have to compromise quality of steel (20 guage vs 18) and decibels to get to that price. Cannot tell you what Make Up Air will cost - depends on contractor/ducting cost. You could have a double oven setup with micro/convec on top, convec on the bottom. KA, Bosch offer these, maybe others as well. Check Kenmore? Otherwise, look at a KA or Whirlpool double oven, and a countertop microwave. A drawer micro is $1000 and up - seems like a splurge to me, but you might decide it's what you want. You can get a perfectly fine DW for $600. Look at Bosch, KA (helps to find them on sale). Finally, once you get a sense of which models you like, you can look around for some good deals on clearance/floor models/dents/open box. I was able to put together this package for about $8000 Whirlpool 25 c.f. French Door frig Bluestar 36" cooktop Kobe 750 c.f.m. range hood Bosch 800 speed/convec double oven 2 x KitchenAid KDFE 204 Dishwashers

To what homechef said, I would add four points. One is to check the already available Black Friday deals. For example, Lowe's (I think) is advertising some very substantial discounts if you purchase two large appliances together. Second, the dimensions for your microwave sound like you have an over-the range (OTR) unit. For further research, use "OTR" in your search strings. If the present OTR vents to the outside (as opposed to being set for recirculating), then you might consider replacing it with with a canopy style range hood and a separate countertop microwave (assuming your kitchen space is not so small as to make that infeasible.) Even an inexpensive externally venting canopy range hood can do a noticeably better venting job than an OTR. (The canopy makes the difference in collecting vapors and etc.) The combined price for an inexpensive hood and a countertop MW will likely be less than a replacement OTR. Third, a counterdepth (CD) fridge going to be far and away the most expensive replacement especially because you apparently want external ice and water dispensers. Frankly, it is likely to be the budget buster for you. Even with Black Friday deals, the least expensive CD models with external ice and water are likely to be more than $2k, which is more than 2/3 of your budget. I say this from my helping a friend shop for a fridge several months ago. That said, I kind of recall that there might possibly be a sale priced Frigidaire Gallery or Samsung CD/Dispenser model in the $1700 to $1800 price range. I'd search sites such as AJMadison.com, sears.com and Lowes.com for those models. Before buying one, I also would research user reviews for any recurring problems/complaints and longevity issues. Fourth, have you considered outlet/clearance (aka "ding-n-bing") departments such as Searsoutlet.com? That might help with the stove and a CD-fridge, the two most expensive items on your list.

Can someone speak to the griddles on their range/rangetop? I have been considering appliances not based on the number of burners, but the inclusion of a griddle. How are these cleaned? I am anticipating more than pancakes and tortillas. Animal proteins make quite a different greasy mess, and I want to be able to thoroughly and easily clean a griddle. I took a brief look in a modest price range and saw one that had a non-stick surface. That would never hold up in the long term with my cooking. I want a scrape-able heavy duty surface with a receptacle to collect the debris. Any thoughts?

Congrats on building your new home! Do you live a long way from a grocery store? If not, I don't know why you would need so much fridge/freezer space for at most 4 people on a regular basis, as you don't have to buy huge supplies of fresh and frozen items on every trip. Even when hosting gatherings, you may find space tight but there should be plenty with a 36" fridge/freezer. And I personally prefer single door fridge over bottom freezer instead of a french door fridge. As for a water dispenser, unless your tap water is lousy, I wouldn't bother. They take up valuable space otherwise. I'm partial to a 36" rangetop. I think that's the sweet spot wrt size. As for a griddle, that's personal preference. If you'd use it, then it's worth it. A 30" wall oven with a speed oven above it should satisfy your oven needs. But that depends on how much you bake. If you imagine gatherings where you're struggling to find oven space then perhaps two 30" wall ovens. Bosch makes great dishwashers. I don't know the difference btwn the two models you're considering, but I'm sure both will work well. However, do you really need two for a family of 4? Maybe you do, but it's worth really thinking through how often you'll use the specific appliances and sizes of appliances on a day to day basis.