OK, here is a pic of the dishwasher with the new shim under it. Please excuse how grungy everything looks in its mid-construction state, gross! There is a similar block under the stove. One could also face these with the same materials the toe kicks are made out of. Hopefully this gives you get the idea of how we solved the problem of needing extra height. The new, raised countertop went in yesterday and the kitchen suddenly feels like it's built for grownups! Tonight will be our first night of cooking and chopping and we're looking forward to the test drive.

Sujafr - “We also discovered that you absolutely cannot go by the manufacturer's specs to know the height.” That is so terrible! What’s the point in giving specifications if they’re not accurate since that’s the whole point, you know? I think I remember seeing a small note on a set of specs saying they may not be accurate. *smacks head*. :) “That second pic looks like they pieced the panel between the upper and lower...not the best IMHO” I agree that looks a little strange. Our crown, I believe, is 2 3/8”. It’s ok, I was just thinking something a little larger, would look nicer. I don’t want to crowd the ceiling crown though. I suppose I could just buy small replacement piece if needed. I’m still concerned about the stain matching. I’ll have to do some test runs for sure. About your neighbor, I didn’t even realize they could do that with the hinges. Thanks for the link! Bee - DH did poo pooed that idea, but I think just because it sounds like a complicated pain. The laundry room is on the other side, and the wall behind the fridge is where the wall drying rack is. I could live with a bump out in there. With recessing it into the wall, I would need someone for cutting/new drywall as well as a plumber and electrician for the water line and electrical outlet, right? Unfortunately, I don’t thinking taking away the cabinet space would work well for us. Hmm… as for the cd, my current fridge is 21 something cu ft. and works great. However, if my kids end up with an appetite like DH during the teen years we’re going to need another whole fridge somewhere. :) The cd one I was looking at that fits is 20.7 or .9. Is the size really going to be that different? I know it’ll be wider vs. deeper. I’m hoping to get out this weekend to see it IRL. Suero - I agree with you. I think I’d rather see the side panels match the fridge even if it sticks out past the cabinets better than having it boxed and the fridge sticking out past the box. Since my fridge isn’t on the end I’m still trying to decide if I’m going to think it looks much better that what I have going on now (I’m referring to the cabinet set up - I know ss will look better). It’s the sticking out part that bothers me so that’s why I was thinking the counter depth fridge would take care of that. Hi Val! Thanks for the panel info. I really know nothing about kitchen stuff and what’s available and I’m finding this whole process somewhat frustrating. As for boxing the fridge, do you just go in as far as you needed to accommodate the fridge size or is there a standard depth for this? If we went this route, which I don’t really see me being able to convince DH at this time, I’d rather not have a bump out in the laundry room. “Put the refrigerator at the end of the cabinet run by swapping the refrigerator cabinet with the cabinet to the right.” At some point in life, this is going to happen but I was going to wait until we replaced the counters (& floors) or redo the kitchen. I’d like to have the fridge on the end with a wall beside it. “If you are not replacing counters, consider putting a butcher block counter top on just that section.” I don’t know if I’ve ever seen that done. I’m off to look for photos. We are keeping the counters at this point. I only got a few responses from the kitchen forum. I suppose I know what my options are at this point I just am having a hard time making a decision. We don’t have a large budget for this mini makeover and have decided to spend more on appliances than originally planned. I’m trying to sort my options out. I like details and I'd much rather have someone present me with a plan of options, lists, and prices and us pick one. ...And this is why people hire designers & GCs. And just because I feel like being chatty, my actual plans are to replace the appliances, stain the cabinets (GF Brown Mahogany), I like to replace the cabinet crown, add a 6" can above the sink and remove the wood valance, paint the walls BM Shaker Beige to coordinate much better with the counters and floor, paint the island a TBD color, change out valance fabric/considering making a cornice, replace fabric on chair cushions, and I’d like to replace the current art (main wall behind the table) with a set of botanical prints. I'm not sure what I'm doing with the backsplash area. I need to see some of these changes first. This post was edited by sheesharee on Tue, Mar 4, 14 at 23:03

Did you actually purchase the slab already? If not I would try to get a piece of it and bring it home and put all kinds of things on it (ketchup, mustard, and anything else that will make a mess) and see what happens to it. It is better to experiment on a little piece than find out the hard way on your countertop. I think that the edge that you like is the one called ogee that doesn't have the bull nose. I think edging is mainly decorative/ cost driven. But it would be worth it to research it a little bit on this site and see if other people think that way too or if there is something that you need to be thinking about that you haven't thought of yet.

"The rounded edge on the inside of my sink and the two outside side edges cost a total of $150 more." This is why I keep preaching that fabricators should sell this option instead of that gawdawful ugly cheap "pencil" edge at sinks. One chip, and that's "when", not "if", and you've paid me nearly $300.00 to fix it on site. Pulling the faucet and sink, profiling and polishing a proper round over, and reinstalling the sink and faucet to reduce the risk of future chips could be $500.00 or more.