Thanks for all your insight. Marcolo, you have a great deal of wisdom which is well conveyed. Yes, we have old age and Yale (perhaps Cornell, my DH's alma mater) tuition covered. We spend plenty on our experiential splurges. Affording something is quite relative. I don't believe in legacy for grandchildren for moral and ethical reasons. The money should be plowed back into the society rather than create a class of aritocracy, as does Warren Buffet's belief. (I am sure my yearly salary is not even his hourly earnings.) I have had too much dealings with America's aristocracy (the legacy class) to see that it is not doing our society any good. My political musings aside.... We have a rental house. That kitchen will probably get done when the current tenants move out. My guess is that for that kitchen, the budget will be about 15K-20K. I think I need to do a midlevel remodel since the house is smack in the median price point for the region. I feel like I can make decisions for my rental in a few days and have a great looking kitchen that increased the function and form by huge leaps and bounds. I may even be able to increase the rent substantially. I will do Ikea cabinets, midlevel appliances such as Kitchenaid and probably extend the hard wood to the kitchen. On the other hand, I would never comtemplate putting in an integrated frig, attic mounted vent fan, quartz countertop, $3000 speed oven.. Forget it! Even with the budget limitations, I know that the kitchen can and will look great and function beautifully. I am actually really looking forward to doing it when the time comes. However, my own kitchen remodel has been difficult in terms of expectations and decision making. So the struggle really is how to say enough is enough and stop.... I think I have made the last splurge on my speed oven. Off to look for a cost effective faucet with great design without spending $1000! Anyone know of great alternative to Dornbracht faucets?

The sink & range layout in your "Fri, May 29, 09 at 16:21" post is almost identical to our old kitchen as well...and it was one of the biggest factors driving the remodel. There was a constant conflict of workspace b/w the range & sink...the prime prep area/zone. It drove me crazy sometimes! It was also too tight for more than one cook even when someone used the table to prep (right side of pic) b/c there wasn't enough room for two or three people to be moving around in that area...and it was worse when we had cross traffic b/w the DR & FR/Foyer (although there wasn't much then as we didn't use the DR much...but it was a shortcut to the den/computer room & LR from the FR). Here's a pic of it... I actually had more room on the DW side b/c of the "L". However...note the 24" + range + 24" + sink + DW + lazy susan + short leg of "L". We even had the situation w/only 12" b/w the DW and short leg but it was never an issue for us...but that's us, not you. Based on my above comments, you probably know how I feel about the latest layout...I think you'll have the a lot of the same problems we did and end up not being very happy with all the $$$ you spent on it. Oh, and as to the range vs sink in an island or peninsula, I think we discussed this early on, but islands are not the ideal spots for either one. If you must have one in an island, the sink is better b/c of the safety factor as well as the amount of time you'll spend at the island (remember the 70% prep time, 20% cleanup time, 10% cooking time statistics). If I had to pick one to sit behind, I'd pick a sink w/dirty dishes over a range w/steam/grease/odors/etc. in my face any day! [Don't forget the aesthetics of a range hood hanging down in the middle of the kitchen...downdrafts don't work very well.]

Based on the responses, I've decided to forgo the expense of adding a storage loft in the garage. It sounds like it would not improve the resale value of my home. This means I cannot repurpose the storage room on the upper deck into a walk-in-closet. I sacrificed the walk-in-closet in the master bedroom to move the laundry room upstairs. I still have a closet in the bedroom, although the architect proposed that I take out the closet to create a sitting area with a TV. Instead, I will have some over-the-hood cabinets built in the garage. Not sure what I will put into the cabinets - most items won't fit, such as bicycles, hockey sticks, and ladders. It makes no sense to stack cabinets up to the 14'7" ceiling in the garage. At my age, I shouldn't be climbing up on a 10' ladder to take down a can of white paint or a box of tennis balls. Besides, this is "earthquake" country - where anything placed up high is at risk of falling down. Most of what is in the garage is either too useful to sell or not worth selling (Halloween decorations) or both (broom and dust pan). I will try to sell some of the leftover building materials that were stored into the garage this week, as the renovation is coming to a close. I have already donated to Habits for Humanity my 3-year old kitchen cabinets (remodeled kitchen 3 years ago, and remodeled it again this year).

I agree with everyone that you should remove the soffit. My last kitchen had a soffit which we removed, and we discovered a small plumbing pipe up by the ceiling in one section. We notched the back of two of the upper cabinets so that we didn't have to move the pipe. The cabinets went up to the ceiling. No one was the wiser about the notches and the pipe unless you opened that upper cabinet and saw it, but if anyone did, shrug. Idk if you can do that with a larger pipe in the way, but for that pipe it worked great. That small kitchen seemed to double in size once the soffits were removed, and also just looked more current. I think Buehl made a good point up above that crown molding can mask an uneven ceiling. As I understand it, pretty much everyone's kitchen ceiling is going to be uneven. I don't agree that it necessitates a thick crown molding to mask that. In that previous kitchen I had, which was so small, and had an uneven ceiling. We didn't have room, and also didn't like the look of, a thick crown molding. So it's all about a good contractor who has expertise. My contractor seemed to have no problem with the uneven ceiling and a 3" crown molding. If the OP prefers a thicker crown molding, then it will be that much easier for the installer. I just wanted to mention my experience.