Hello Jam5 I am probably the person Jeri referred to regarding the warranty being approved by GE for placing the Advantium under counter. I had already purchased the oven and had ordered my cabs when I found out this could be an issue. I immediately called GE and the rep said "no problem" for undercounter installation. It will not void your warranty. I have, in fact, used the warranty to have the interior light replaced. The fact that the oven has to be removed from the cabinet to replace the light is an engineering defect, I think, but after seeing it done, I could do it myself if I had to and I am old! I continue to like this appliance very much and, as I am sure I have said many times, for the two of us, it is all we use for convection cooking, microwave and warming. It is the perfect "second oven" in my opinion.

"Now I'm obsessing over the minutaie." Now?! :-D I guess I never asked, and can't tell from the drawing, if the pantry is white or the old plan of stainless around glass. I guess from what's said (and you may have told me before) that it's white. I think the inset is a good choice, so that it goes with the other white cabs. I was teasing, too, Lascatx, although glass shelves, unless they can be different than I'm thinking (1/4" thick and rattly), don't feel right to me and I like stainless to tie with the freezer or white wood shelves. Like I said, though, you may have a whole different image in mind concerning the glass.

I'm curious to know how your oven installation has worked. I'm finalizing my cabinet layout this week and would like to install the Monogram French door oven above the Advantium if possible. Thanks for your help!

Also, cpartist, dining room only used on major holidays 3-4 x's at most a year so no worry. So if you only use it 3-4x a year, why are you building one in? Wouldn't it make more sense to combine the kitchen/dining into one space with room to expand at holiday times? I'm in the same boat as you. Mostly I do buffet style parties and with the exception of holidays, we don't sit down to dinner so I have one dining area that is part of my kitchen and can extend into the living area if needed. Why build something that will cost major bucks and only be used 3-4x a year? Guests will access front door and not garage door so no powder room there to see. On the small area you showed, it looked like the front entry since it says entry. As far as pathways,good input. I think I will have to really think my new furniture as to make sure the new stuff isn't overly large and overstuffed to maintain those thoroughfares. It will be mostly just us two at most times but I will really have to plan for furniture so thanks. Make sure your house has an organizing "spine" to it because when you have an organizing "spine" it helps make it much easier to move about and have good flow throughout. I've been in builder open houses where my friend and I were constantly guessing where to go next and what would be behind door #1. When a house is laid out well, with rooms only 1-2 rooms deep, one doesn't need to try and figure that out. It seems to lay itself out in an orderly flow. I'm excited to have kitchen so close to master. Dogs get up early and nice to be so close. I don't have an issue with it being close to the kitchen. That's personal choice. I have an issue with you having to walk through your work zone to get to the kitchen. That is not so good. The best homes I've seen with the kitchen near the master either have a path between dining area and kitchen to master or the master is off a separate hallway. In either case one doesn't have to walk through the kitchen to get to the master. Again this speaks of good flow and natural flow. The pantry will have a hidden entry (will look like wall cabinetry but will have a concealed door.(look like uppers and lowers but the "cabinet" pulls will open the one large door on either side) I like a hidden entry but I absolutely would not do a double door entry. And in this case I'm not sure it's the best use of space. Also, what do think about swapping the fridge and wall oven placement? Since cpartist said its roller skate distance, maybe I should. Yes that will help but your kitchen will not work for aging in place and that should be a consideration. I realize you're healthy now, but stuff happens. The best is to have an L shaped perimeter so you can slide your food stuff from sink to cooktop. That's what I did with my perimeter. In fact, I bucked what is commonly done by putting my cleanup sink on the island and my prep sink on the perimeter for just that reason. My Mom had Parkinsons and used a walker. She could easily wash and prep her food stuff and then slide it over to the cooktop because the sink was on the same counter run. However she needed help for carrying stuff. Roller skate distance can also indicate a barrier island and/or a kitchen that's overly large. You can have a smaller, efficient kitchen, esp with a large pantry, and you can have a large, inefficient kitchen. My parents had the latter at their retirement home, which influenced us greatly for our new house. So very true. Do yourself a favor and in your mind try making a meal in that kitchen. You'll quickly see it's very inefficient. And the other comment about where we would eat, BeckySharp, we sit at the bar mainly all the time. If you had the dining table as part of the kitchen and not so far away, you'd use it more often. Especially as you age in place you may or may not find the counter height stools harder to maneuver onto. Hence my suggestion that you build the dining room as part of the kitchen. We've had a formal dining room and basically hardly used it but when we do have the larger gatherings it's nice to have. So you're willing to spend what is possibly $20k-$30k for a space you'll use 4x a year when as mentioned you can combine the two spaces to make it much more functional for now and the future? How many can I seat comfortably on that size bar? Is the rule 24" or 36"? 24"