I concurr with your cooking choices, I have the Elux Icon Oven and Elux Speed oven as well as their Induction cooktop, all trouble free, and the cooktop seems to be one of the quieter ones (compared to clicks, squeals,buzzes fans noices etc) that we have seen posted about some Induction cooktop/induction ranges. (I don't have any teens around but I suspect if it squealed anywhere near the human range of hearing , my cats would let me know). We see few post about Elux DW's and the few we have seen, have not been "all that positive" so you many want to do some more "Investigation" There. Most post "consistently" rate the Miele and KitcheAid Dishwasher most positively--yea you can always find a negative review about either DW, but positive reviews seem to be much more so then Asko or Bosch (Bosch see quite a few post where they state new ones aren't as good as old ones). Good luck with your new Kitchen!!! Gary

I could have written waterdamage's post. Add to the fact that DH has been white-kitchen-hesitant. So darker counters make more sense to me now. And now that I look through the kitchens that I feel the most warmth and comfort from. I knew I didn't want a country-vintage vibe. I want light yet comfortable. Yet I want something to be grounded in a way. As I went through the HUNDREDS of photos I'd saved...yes, hundreds, I also noticed that the ones I liked the most had either darker counters or dark perimeters and a light island top. So that's where I am. I'm heading to slab yards this weekend. If I see a light slab that knocks my socks off, then I'll go that route. If not, it's dark all around. I'm not stressing about it until I start looking in person. Like you, my inspiration comes from a combination of kitchens, not just one. Here are my most loved and why. This may help you... 1) Katieob's kitchen. I like the light island top and outer dark perimeter. And although she has an industrial hood (I'm doing a white arched hood), her white cabinets and polished nickel hardware and the overall feel are really nice: 2) The cabs don't go to the ceiling as mine will not. But I can picture how my hood will look extended to the ceiling even though this one isn't configured as mine is. I like the fel of this kitchenn as well. The window that comes low to the sink, the white hood, darker countertops... 3) Again, darker counters. This one made me realize I wanted polished nickel hardware as the dark wasn't my taste. I saved this one as our range is a little offset like that so we're doing a similar thing with our glass cabinetry and flanking the range with solid on each side to create symmetry by the range. Another low window by the sink. 4) This one has a nice feel to it because of the warmth brought by the dark top of the island. I could imagine the perimeter being dark also. The backsplash was nice. 5) There are elements I've always really liked about this kitchen though it's darker overall than I ultimately want to go with my own (the hood and the island, etc.) But it's stunning and I do refer to it. 6) More country/vintage than I prefer but I like the dark perimeter with the light island countertop as well as the polished nickel hardware on the perimeter. I like that she did ORB for the lighting accents. It seems to work here and I may or may not look at doing that. We're flanking our 6 foot window with glass cabinets. I love this window treatment (though the kitchen itself has a different feel than the above b/c of the different floor, etc): Misc (counters, lights): Anyway, my purpose wasn't to give you inspiration photos but to show you what you can take away from photos. Like I said, I started with tons. And one day, I sat down with them all (online, magazines, printouts, etc) and started eliminating based on initial reactions. I started realizing the super light, white ones were too stark for us. Once I got a feel down, I then could get nitpicky about other things...hardware (polished nickel and not ORB), etc. I have several photos which may be too many for some. For me it works because I've taken elements from them that I look to. But I'm very visual and like that reference. Others may get confused with a wide scope. If you have lots and need to narrow it down to three, then do so. But it doesn't have to be just one.

If you HAVE to cut out either the cans or the hardwired UC lighting, i would go with the cans for 4 reasons. They contribute more to the general lighting of the room than UC lights, they still provide task lighting, they can be put on a dimmer more inexpensively than dimmable UC lights, and you CAN still add DIY UC lights later. It would be much harder and more expensive to do the cans later. I would keep the ceiling fixture if you have one in the center of the room, though, and put off replacing it until later if needed. Make sure you still have a light over your sink, also. If you have a center and sink light already you can squeeze the budget by just adding the cans now and doing the rest later. Make sure the cans are installed within a few inches of your upper cabinets and they will provide task lighting on the counter for you as well with no shadowing. I can get a photo of how that looks and works tonight if you need it. I was worried it wouldn't look right with cans so close to the cabinets but I can see now I would not have liked it any other way, visually or functionally. Another option is to put in the wiring for UC lights but buy the lights later. Technically, you can probably still do hardwired UC lights later if you don't do a full backplash until after they are done, so that they can snake the wire through the wall along the cabinets. It is much easier for the electrician to have an open wall, but they work retrofitting this stuff into finished rooms all the time. You just pay the difference in the additional time and thus labor costs to do it later. But they would ruin a full backsplash if one were present when they were doing it. I went with very dark cabinets, but also didn't want it cave like and so I have dimmable cans, hardwired UC lights, a center light in the ceiling, a sink pendant and a lighted corner cabinet! The only thing I could have added were dimmable UC lights and top of the cabinet lights, and I can still do those later! I think I have it pretty well covered as it, though. :) Remember, options! Give yourself options! Anything you CAN'T do later or that would be prohibitively expensive to do later, do now and save anything that can reasonably be done later for later to keep your budget down. This remodel won't hurt so much in 6 months, or a year or two. Then you don't have say I made the wrong choice, or I only wish I had... or What was I thinking... or Why didn't I think of this... Sue

It sounds like the BS is the more popular choice here...I am having the exact same dilemma, BS or Bert. But I am also struggling with this: dual fuel or gas. The problem is, I can't afford a 36" dual fuel, but could afford the 36" gas in either brand. Do I instead sacrifice space and get a dual fuel 30"? We are remodelling the kitchen completely and have a 99" wall on which to put the range. I like to cook, but really it's baking that takes up most of my time. Think I can pull off my cookies and cakes in a gas oven??? Please help, thanks! Alli