Flyleft--Years ago I had a wonderful brownstone which we rehabbed. My first experience. We had a good architect who planned the whole thing and I didn't ask too many questions. I basically picked the bathtub I wanted, with a skylight over it hehehe, and focused on the kitchen. When the bathroom vanity went in the sinks were so small I spent the next 8 years hating those sinks. Also, they were low and undermounted. Since then I have a special bug about bathroom sinks -- they need to be big enough and high enough to be comfortable. I was very careful when we did our reno this last time. For me, the important part is the bowl size, followed by the deck. You'll laugh but when I googled your sink I went right to the dimensions. They are generous, the bowl is deep enough. I really do like vessel sinks. They are beautiful if they are large enough and work with the faucet well. Even the slab one could be a good idea for a his and her in a very modern bath. But whoever is designing this stuff needs to know what they are doing, which isn't always the case. And sometimes things are styled for magazines and not really functional -- then people fall in love with the look and actually install it. Oy.

Bud - what an INGENIOUS idea you have there! I just got a French-door, freezer on bottom, ice/water dispenser on the fridge door refrigerator. Every time I open it, I feel like I'm in a Fairy Land! :) My last fridge killed my back from bending all the time. I use the bottom freezer for large items & my very extensive Penzey's spice/herb big bags. I keep the most-oft used spices/herbs in the fridge door...I use the bags to replenish my smaller jars. I may just have to try that idea of yours...you've had some time to use your new method - do you still like it? Steve O is right, bud... Just one thought -- the best way to store fresh tomatoes is outside the refrigerator (refrigeration can give them a mealy texture), so that can solve one space/access problem. :-) Storing tomatoes below about 55 degrees Fahrenheit results in measurably lower "aroma volatiles" (i.e., the things responsible for scents), says Elizabeth Baldwin, the research leader of the USDAÂs Agricultural Research ServiceÂs Citrus and Subtropical Products Research Laboratory. A large part of our sense of taste comes from these aroma volatiles traveling up the back of our throat to our olfactory receptors; we perceive less flavor in foods with fewer of them. Scientists have worked out that enzymes cause the reaction that forms aroma volatiles; which enzymes and exactly how theyÂre affected when tomatoes get colder is still being researched. This is from Chowhound: For the best flavor, store tomatoes on the counter. Baldwin says that a refrigerated tomato is unlikely to recover even if itÂs returned to warmer storage. But cut tomatoes will spoil quickly if they are left out, so itÂs best to eat the entire thing instead of having to stick some of it in the fridge for later. If you need ideas for how to use up your tomatoes. Here's a site that talks about storing onions: Here is a link that might be useful: How to Store Onions

I am going to try to address the last few comments and questions comprehensively. Prep sink: I have thought about swapping the sink and trash like a few people have recommended, but feel the corner is probably the best placement for me, with the faucet in the back corner. Having it in the corner allows for 30" of work surface to the left of the sink on the short end of the island and 36" between the sink and setting area on the long side of the island. If I switch the sink and trash, then I just have 18" on each side. Trash: I think it makes sense to keep the trash and recycling on the north side of the island, near the prep sink, since a lot of recyclable packaging will be coming from the pantry, fridge and freezer. I picture rinsing veggies at the sink and then moving them onto a cutting board just to the right of the sink to chop. I am trying to decide if the trash would be more convenient right next to the sink (where I am likely to stand) or if it should move down to the right a little more. So, should it be sink, trash, storage, seating or sink, storage trash, seating? I will need a second small trash can near the clean up sink and DW to scrape plates off. I am still trying to figure out how to line up the lowers on that wall. Pantry: Our last house had a 17" wide pantry cabinet with ROTS in the kitchen, then a nearby laundry room with 8' long of 18" deep shelving, 5 shelves high with the highest at about 6'. I used maybe 4' of the 18" deep shelves for cans and bags and boxes of food. The rest of the shelving held overflow pots and pans, picnic basket, Costco paper towel and TP purchases and random house hold items. I guess that is why I figured that having a 4' wide pantry with 18" deep shelves (plus extra storage behind the doors) plus the 24" pantry with ROTS would suit our needs well. I must admit the primary reason for replacing the 24" wine tower with a 24" tall pantry cabinet was to maintain symmetry with the 24" oven cabinet at the other end of the wall. 30" on each side of the range was what we had at the last house and it worked well. 24" was too small, but I think 30" will be plenty. I bought a steam oven on clearance, so I will have two 24" ovens to place. I am debating between stacking them together in one cabinet and having the other deep cabinet be pure pantry, or putting one oven at about counter height in each tower, with storage above and below. We have lots of wall cabinets in our garage where we store the huge packages of paper towels, TP, diapers, wipes, etc from Costco, with just small amounts going into the house. We considered a walk-in pantry like the architect drew, but you lose a lot of storage space in the middle of the walk-in. We plan to do the reach-in pantry from the kitchen side, with an 18-20" deep hall closet immediately behind (pretty easily accessible from kitchen). The 9'8" hall closet will have a few feet of shelves for linens, shelves for cleaning products and paper products, shelves for games, and standing room for the vacuum, steam mop, ironing board, etc. There will be a 26" deep x 8' wide coat closet further down the hall. Hopefully this will give us enough storage space in the house. Maybe I can design the kitchen reach-in pantry more like a double door closet (with the doors going down to the floor), rather than like a cabinet. Thank you all for your help in working through these decisions.

Envy When I was a kid, my father, mother and my older brother used to read novels in the living room on Saturday , and I used to read cartoons. I was envious of them because it seemed to me only adults were able to read books. So from time to time I tried reading a book, there was one in particular whose cover attracted me, there were a boy and a girl and in the background a lighthouse , but every time I started reading it I got bored after a few pages. But one Christmas I was ten or eleven, an aunt of ours gave my brother quite a good present. It was a little bookcase where forty book were stored. There were all the classic ones. Little Man and…. Little Woman and… Tom Sawer , Mompracem Tigers (Sandokan) Uncle Tom’s cabin , White Fang , The Call of the Wilde, Ivanhoe, Ben Hur, Quo Vadis, Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court and so on Among them there was a title that enticed me “The Paul Street Boys”. I started it and I got hooked. The story is about two young bands who are fighting for a place to play, which is owned by the Paul Street Boys, it is an old timber yard, so the other band the Red Shirts wage war on the Street Boys. First they make an agreement about the rules to follow, about who must be considered dead or caught and other ones, because there is not any meanness between them, the Red Shirts wage war because their hangout is in a botanical garden and they need a place in order to play football. The story is set in Hungary and the author is Ferenc Molnar. Of course there are other plots , but the main thread is the war. I liked it so much that once I finished I reread it eight times on a row, except the last chapter because one of main character dies of pneumonia and this made me cry a lot. Afterward I read all the other ones. This is how I started reading novels.