Yes, my plan is to use it as a cache pot. There is a metal bar running across the top section, where the chain hung, that is attached to the shade, so I could probably drill into a wooden post and fasten it, so it wouldn't fall over. Oh, I just realized!! I've got a standpipe near my rose garden that I had a cement seagull resting in. I could put this on that standpipe!! I will try it this weekend, if it's not raining. I'll have to wait till late spring for a plant, but I'm thinking maybe a fushia would be pretty in it.

Jo Ann, The big trick is not to trip off the box and break an ankle ;) A lot depends on how you like to work, and what else the island is for. I should have mentioned that my island is my higher work surface (38"), but it's also deeper than my 24" perimeter. The box for me is for if I want to roll on the island. I think my too tall clogs might actually be a better way to go for me. ;-) Is your island a big area? lots of cabinets? Prep sink? All that stuff? Or is it relatively small? Mine is only about 5'x3'. A great prep height for taller people like me (and I have an alternate prep area at normal height elsewhere). Similarly, a smaller island that's a good baking height for you might be useful, if there are other tasks you want to do at that height. A large island, that takes the place of a whole wall or similar, for architectural reasons, as well as the other people considerations Trailrunner mentioned, is probably better off at a standard height. Before I decided on the box/clogs thing, I came up with all kinds of convertible notions. For instance, a pullout rolling table with marble surface, complete with legs, with a cabinet underneath and a drawer above. No problem for the cabinetmaker, but I couldn't figure out how to keep the flour from getting into the cabinet. A baking/chopping center, with rolling height marble, and a fitted piece of butcher block that fits on top to counter height. Butcher block is heavy, though, so moving it might be too much of a pain if the rolling area is big enough for shortbread cookies or gingerbread, which don't like a lot of rerolling, and cut better with more rolled at once, than small batches. A baking cart that fits into a niche and pulls to center floor (for easy cleanup). There were more. Clogs, or a box, seem easier.

How about keeping the lowered counter and just adding a thick butcher block cutting board for chopping as needed. Or conversely, keeping the counter low and keep the cutting board out on the counter all the time except when you need the full larger space for baking prep. If you had a dedicated end-grain butcher block for chopping on you could actually use the wood surface for cutting without having to worry about babying it. If it got marred from too many knife cuts, you could just have it refinished, something you can't do to section of a permanently installed counter top. I am short and married to v. tall guy so the thick cutting board we use allows us both to use the same base height, just adding the thick board when my DH gets in a choppy mood. I am actually planning on lowering one of our counters even more (down to about 34" for the main run) and possibly as low as 31" for the bread-kneading area. Our sink run, on the other hand, will be 1 or 2" taller than normal to avoid bending down to the base of the sink. We don't use a DW so everything's handwashed. HTH L.

Wow, these are impressive baking centers! We are putting in a new kitchen where the old den was (now flowing into a new family room), and we were going to convert the old galley kitchen into a butler's pantry / laundry room. I have always wanted to leave the laundry in the basement, and seeing / reading these awesome baking center details really gives me a good argument to do so! We have an antique Chambers range, so we need an extra oven. The problem is that it must be an undercounter oven, and fitting it into the new kitchen loses a lot of storage space (an oven cabinet would mean no useable counter space except the island). This inspires me to convert the old kitchen into a pantry / baking center (the whole point of getting an extra oven is to bake). It is only 8 ft long on one side, 7 ft. on the other, but I think I can make it work if we get a smaller sink. The other thing is that a single wall oven costs almost as much as a double wall oven, so cost-wise it actually makes sense. Plus, the breakfast room is right next to the old kitchen, on the opposite side of the house from the new kitchen, and will not get as much use one the remodel is done, and even now the table there is where we do all of our rolling / cooling (but all the crap has to get moved out of the way first). I agree - the most important thing is organization - that is why I never bake or cook - my current kitchen is so disorganized (and the original layout is beyond fixing). Other than what I can cook in the cast iron frying pan that I keep in the oven and a small saucepan, I just don't even bother - everything else is so difficult to reach and topples out that I can't stand it. Never would I ever put base cabinets in a kitchen - EVER - DRAWERS ONLY! As for spices, definitely go for the rev-a-shelf pull-outs or if you have space on your counter or at eye-level on the wall. Ours are in the cabinet above the range hood and a real pain to access. I could easily re-use one of the original base cabinets that actually seems like it was originally a baking cabinet to begin with - it has a bread drawer, 2 utensil drawers, and annoyingly low cabinets with half-shelves at the back (this is currently where we keep our pots, pans and storage containers - a real disaster), and it even has a cutting board pull-out slot that someone had filled in with a piece of wood. The problem is that it is normal counter height and I really don't want to shorten it because it is solid wood (literally solid like a rock). I can actually use it in the new island as a recycling / compost center, so I'm not sure. We are tall though, so maybe it's not worth dropping to 30". But our breakfast room table is 30" high, and that is a comfortable height for rolling. Has anyone used a dresser as the 30" base? That's what I was thinking about using - lots of drawers, and if only storing pans and light stuff (not glass canisters of flour), it should work really well. Top it with a slab of marble and wha-la!