I like the busier one, but these are SUCH small samples. If there is one lesson I have learned, and cannot emphasize enough, is that you MUST GO SEE THE SLABS. Really. I know you have seen one of them, although even that marble may be entirely different if you go back to the granite yard and look at another slab of that same marble. You may find a slab of the busier one which isn't so busy over the entire slab, or a slab of the quieter one that may have large veins in it that aren't in the sample. So don't make a choice until you see several slabs of these marbles, and then just choose by which slab you like. BTW, don't forget to bring your cabinet samples and soapstone samples to the granite yard with you.

We will have the 27" subzeros (all fridge and all freezers). I think the benefit to counterdepth is that stuff doesn't get lost in the back of the fridge! Most of the space in my current regular fridge is used up by stuff that probably shouldn't even be there anymore. The shorter depth may impact your ability to store larger platters during entertaining, which is my biggest worry. I'm likely going to get a fridge for the basement to store the big stuff for parties.

I suggest doing your research on fantasy brown if you are considering it. It sounds to me like a marble. (Super white is another that is often billed as quartzite but is is actually usually marble.). Not that there is anything wrong with marble--I chose it for the ktichen in our last house, but I did so knowing what I was getting. Those countertop geology threads are really informative.

Correct. The gas and water lines are stuck on that wall and crossing them over each other would be expensive and I'm not sure it would buy me too much. I considered moving either the sink or the range to the other wall, but since I couldn't do anything with the space above it due to the breaker box and front door buzzer (building doesn't allow moving it) I felt kind of stuck. Also, it's not the best thing to walk right into when first entering the apartment. Range is gas. There is a hood vented to an air duct that runs the whole building - here's another view: As far as the fridge is concerned - it's not counter depth. It has a pantry to the side followed by a small base cabinet, and a small cabinet above it (you can barely see it in the picture. The issue with a 24" sink cabinet is that it doesn't fit with the wall cabinet above it, which is 30" (smallest IKEA has with double doors - again I can't win).