I haven't slept much in two days, not wanting to make costly mistakes, trying to think of every detail. Then I conclude that compared to what I have lived with for ten years, and considering a change in priorities, I will be happy no matter what we do. The anxiety will come again, but for now, enough philosophizing. On the bottom of the layout, and also on the left, are windows. Top and right are doors. The swinging door on the right goes to the DINING room and can not be closed off. What wonderful space you gave me bmorepanic, but it just won't work. I hear what you are saying about the kegerator, is everyone thinking "you might be a redneck"??? ha! Seriously, this is DH only hobby, brewing that is, not drinking! Until now he has bottled, but the kegs make the process so much simpler, he's really excited. I'd give up my dishwasher before I got rid of that fridge. I see where you moved it to the basement, we had considered that, and then running hoses that can be cooled with a fan, but we only have a crawlspace, it just isn't pleasant going under the house. My plan for the weekend is to take some pictures of the kitchen as it is now. We have some torn out cabinets in the peninsula position, but they are longer than our plan calls for. The visual is helpful, the traffic flow works for all of us except Jared, and it's hard to realistically evaluate a shorter span as far as the wheelchair goes. We thought we would wait until the very end to purchase the refridgerator; we have one that works, it fits in the space, but it's a side by side, son can't really get into it, and this is a priority in the finished kitchen. I think we would be better off to get the french door installed, move or shorten the mock up, and see how that goes. We have an opportunity to take a test drive, we should take advantage of that. There is a bit of dirty work to be done, I'd want things to be clean before we brought in new appliances, but that's workable. Buehl, I hadn't noticed the shallow pantry on the lower wall; we had also considered this. We can build this to look like it was original to the house and think it could be very useful. We thought it could be divided, with a section tall enough for the mop, broom, and stepstool. Also, you had mentioned the narrow pantry next to the fridge, and concern about the door. We had been considering this placement when we found a 23.5", solid, 5 panel door that matches the others in our house. $25 at the architectural salvage place, decision made. DH built around it, I think it looks great. We also put in storage above the fridge with pull outs. I have small appliances there, waffle iron, pasta machine, whipped cream maker... things that are easy enough to manage while on a ladder/ stool. Then part is open with shelves for cookbooks and stuff. So what do you all think about the practicallity of a wall mounted pot rack? We have a friend that does blacksmithing, I want to talk to him about something like an Enclume' wall rack, ~13" deep, 30" long. I could mount to left of range, hang fry pans, small sauce pans, and then on shelf above have larger stock pans. I don't use a lot of specialty pans, but what an excuse to ask Mom for one of those magnificent Ruffoni stock pots! I am worried about losing the drawers in the peninsula. We do have storage for paper towels, rarely used Christmas cookie cutters, etc. in the garage. It isn't heated and is seperate from the house, but it alleviates my storage anxiety. There was a great NY city galley kitchen posted recently, we have twice the space, and it was fabulous. As the sun comes up and I see the mountains out of my giant windows, I love my old house. Thanks so much to everyone, and have a great weekend.

So true, Chinchette. It's on point that our cabinets are white, flowing into a creamy white ceiling and cream walls. Heaviness just wasn't an issue. I might well have stopped the cabinets short of the ceiling if I had dark ones, especially if there was a definite contrast with adjacent surfaces. Even something this minor leaves SO much to personal preference and realities. I'm short and use a stepstool just to reach standard shelves. Okay that far, even if getting it out is a drag. I only wish...Marcolo, I think, had suggested climbable cabinets a couple of years ago. I might really have done something with that. I've spent my life climbing store shelves when the staff is hiding and really appreciate ones with good handholds. :) I might have stepped back the middle unit, with a short 15" base flush with the rest, another 15"er on that set back 4", which would give me a step to my very sturdy niche counter (that extra plywood raising the uppers). All that'd be needed would be some "decorative" details to hold onto. Sigh for what might have been... But, back to it--I do also have a basement with a room for my freezer, pantry, etc., and I already knew I'd always prefer strolling downstairs to grab something from a shelf there to climbing a tall stool in the kitchen. Lack of real need = lack of desire and empty shelves for me. Anne, seeing that a nice shadow feature is your own first choice, I say go for it. It adds depth and architectural interest, and just happens to be less popular than to the ceiling at this particular point in time. So what? I considered doing that for some time before choosing against it because I'm a bad housekeeper. By the time I get up there, it's always an unpleasant experience. BTW, if I went that way, I had decided I would box in most of the empty area with a vertical board set back several inches from the front of the cabinets, whatever depth needed so it wouldn't be noticeable, hopefully only 6" or so, so only a strip that deep would need wiping off. I also intended to top the cabinets with plywood to the height of the top of the crown molding so that, even if the molding looked as if it extended a bit above the top of the cabinets it was really a flush surface for easy cleaning. Regarding your question about the plywood between our base and upper-to-ceiling pantry cabinets, it's there to raise the uppers closer to the ceiling, but also to create a shadow line down there to break up the vertical surface. I had to keep it shallow for aisle-width reasons, so the top molding was also kept shallow to be in conformity. What is up is stock molding and a bit deeper, but you can't tell.

@jellytoast and others who point out that basically I’m not qualified to act as my own GC and am not saving money by trying to do so: There’s truth to that. Ultimately I’m responsible for not verifying the install was plumb and square, and you have a valid point. I knew the installation itself was critical, and I knew the cabinets need to be square. I totally dropped the ball on verifying that they were. On the other hand, as Sammy pointed out, some GC’s are no better than what I wound up with. This could have ended up a non-issue, or the same way – or even worse. In any event we’re dependent on (1) our own knowledge + information from the GC or (2) our own knowledge + information from the installers/tradesmen. When we bought the house 2 years ago we hired a GC to install hardwood floors (in ½ the house) and to handle what was going to be a much larger kitchen remodel (bump into the garage and tear down another wall instead of keeping the same footprint). It was a really bad experience. First, we paid a premium for sub-par hardwood floor install/finish. Had I learned more on my own about HW floor install and finishes rather than relying on information from the GC and his sub we would have done the floors differently. It was a disappointing and costly mistake. I learned there are risks with a GC as well as without a GC, and that hiring a GC doesn’t guarantee desired results. We did get a bid from another GC to handle the scaled-down kitchen redo this year. Ultimately we weighed the risks vs costs in either scenario (GC vs no GC) and decided to GC ourselves. This isn’t the right decision for everyone, but I still believe it was the right decision for us despite the situation we’re dealing with. The KD came out yesterday along with one of the original installers and an install project manager. The project manager recommended tearing out the counter that has ½” shim, and install the cabinets correctly. Also tear out the crown moulding where it’s bad/ugly and re-do. All doors that have cosmetic imperfections will be replaced. At this point we are satisfied with the proposed solution, although it’s certainly not over. I can’t say how much I appreciate all your comments and help! Thank you!!

Hi SuzyQ, Thanks for weighing in! The range and range hood are being replaced with stainless, so the only white appliance will be the fridge, which is slightly obscured by the wall at left. It will eventually be replaced to match the DW and range. I also realized that the existing cabinets look darker in the photo than IRL. We are replacing the cabinets to improve usability overall, and to add counter space to right of stove. The way you frame the question as "blend in" or "define a separate space" is helpful -- we do want the kitchen to feel cohesive with the rest of the living area. I agree that white shaker would define a separate space, so I guess that narrows the options to white slab, wood slab (probably natural cherry), or wood shaker. Do you think white slab cabinetry could "flow" with the rest of the space? Thanks again for taking the time to share your thoughts!