Hey, Fori, the repair guy called! At a reasonable time, and I was already gone to meet the cabinet maker and contractor. We had a very productive session. I'll call Mr. G. tomorrow. Meantime, I'm going to post about the cool factor in Appliances. I got 2" of countertop on both sides because the cabinet maker was making pretty frames around the ovens and Advantium. Instead there will be 1" nice frames. The ladder is too tall for the right of the ovens, and I wan't still more counter, so that's going to be a tall pullout like Gizmonike's, only with trays for spices, etc. The little cupboard over the ovens is only going to be about 8" tall anyway, so will have a flip up door rather than swing doors. Should be good for oven pieces. He can do rails and stiles with the bamboo, so the stemware cupboards in the butler's pantry will have inset glass (probably pebble) in the uppers and glass shelves. I think this will cure the bamboo forest problem, because it'll draw the eye away from the slabs. The only view I was ready to go all out Gumby for was standing in the prep area of the island. That, and my mother's jazzy hardware. :) No gumby ;( Glass would be too heavy and unsafe. There will be a message center with an 8" deep flip down writing surface in the center of the pegboard cabinet (on the right from the pantry. We also hashed out a lot of drawer depths, etc., and things look good. I came away feeling very good about the whole thing. I even might have found a top for the island. BTW, sorry for going off on the dye. I'm a fiber artist with respiratory issues so I took that literally. :D RIT's a different story. ;)

Willis13 - it looks like the pantry needs something longer than for the drawers. Our kitchen is small, so we have one set of drawers that is 32" wide, but the other drawers and cabinets are 25" wide or so. The tall pull-out seems like it needs something longer, but I can't figure out how long.

I had a similar issue but resolved it by putting a standard size micro in a very small pantry that is located in the hallway outside my kitchen. (The pantry is actually a converted hall closet, the size of which is only 32" (w) x 24" (d) 108" (h).) Although I haven't yet finished configuring and building this pantry, I've got a temporary shelf system in there for the time being and the MW is already set-up and installed. There's no question that there are times I regret not having access to more of the shelf space in that pantry that the MW is now hogging. OTOH, I am so absolutely thrilled that it's out of sight and out of the way of my kitchen "essentials" that I have learned to live with this arrangement rather happily. It probably makes a difference that I don't use my MW every day -- although I use do use it fairly frequently. But, again, given that my kitchen space isn't all that big in the first place, I really don't find it to be a terrible inconvenience to walk 8 steps from the stove or sink area or 5 steps from the fridge to get to the MW in the pantry.

Oh, no, really? I have no experience of zoning in high-density zones. What's the rationale? ACTC, I take you at your word that you really want a peninsula for 2. So, my fancies for you: 1. Keep the back window for SURE. Your home would truly feel half the size, and have half the natural light, without it. Plan on developing what you see out there as part of your remodeling, staged if necessary. Creation of a charming and pleasurable view is almost always possible. As said, the side window and door could have frosted or some other form of decorative glass if desired. Put the peninsula opposite the first window, connected on the left wall. A small cabinet could take advantage of the little wall space created between the peninsula and the divider wall, and the stools would fit neatly into a separate space that's been created apart from the dining area right next to them. With this setup, traffic will flow along the staircase, with furniture arrangement to the right, then swing right at the dining area, allowing furniture placement to the left. The view from the bottom of the staircase and front door will be semidiagonal right on back to the window and on out. Assuming it's legal, put the door outside at the second window where there'll be no congestion caused by door swings and comings and goings, also less of a walk to the back. Build the rest of your kitchen in as an L on the left and across the back, with a 30"-deep counter on the long arm, and the back if you wish. If a island cart that pulled out from under the counter could be integrated, that would be very useful. Just don't put it on the right wall where it'll clutter up foot and visual traffic. Open traffic ways are especially valuable in making a small home feel more spacious and allow you to get away with more clutter elsewhere. I like it. I'd be ready to start thinking of finishes if I weren't wondering where the refrigerator should go... :)