Have you thought about how you would change light bulbs? I am asking because I have a similar situation. My family room is also 20 x 20 and 24 ft high ceiling and there is a fan. I've always wanted a black iron chandelier. We recently had the room painted, so I thought it would be a good time to replace fan with chandelier, but then started to wonder how I would change a light bulb. The only solution I came up with was an automatic lift that allows you to lower the chandelier, but that was way expensive. So, I dropped the idea. Wondering if you've thought about this and came up with something I didn't think of?

If the microwave is vented up through the cabinet, you could probably bump out the cabinet. Some of them have vents on the top (but toward the front) and so if its vented out into the room you cannot cover up those vents. As far as the height of the microwave, I've seen them even with the cabinets, and sometimes a few inches higher than the bottom of the surrounding cabinets. Since the vent isn't that effective, you wouldn't want it too high, plus that would make it even more difficult to use (if you're short) and you're absolutely correct to think it won't last very long. My first 2 lasted 4 years each, and the one I have now is going on 5 years so I expect (and I'm hoping :)) that it will die soon.

I am assuming you are meaning something like a framed box set in the field tile, in which case I don't think there is a "normal" size. It all depends on the size of the tile, borders and size of the grout lines. My tile guy really helped plan the layout to minimize the number of little slivers of tile. He also juggled the way the border was incorporated to make it most appealing. But it all depends on the materials you are working with.

Okay, so if I figure on losing 3 1/2" of width to the mechanics of the drawer, I'm safe. What I'm thinking about right now is how much storage I have and whether I need to add 2' to the width of the kitchen or not, so that's "close enough" to let me figure out how much storage I'll get from each drawer. I measured my own drawers, but my cabinets -- though custom made and clearly good quality -- were made when dinosaurs roamed the earth, and I wasn't sure whether drawer hardware had changed in size. Thanks for that link, Wendy. I knew I'd seen it before, but I couldn't locate it! Thanks, all!