I have a question, which might also help richmondcat: How are cabinets with >36" drawers beefed up so that no center stile is necessary? I know most would have a face frame added, but if richmondcat's cabinets are partial overlay, which they appear to be, the face frame would already exist. I assume cross bars would need to be added between drawers. If the style would work with the rest of the kitchen, would legs under the corners of the toekicks provide enough extra support? richmondcat, I've re-worked several old cabinets, and added a trash pull-out to one. (No removing stiles for wide drawers, though.) It worked because I was doing the hacking myself, and had plenty of time to invest. Unless your current cabinets are extremely well made I'd tend to agree that the investment in time and money wouldn't be worth it.

I don't understand how a granite could be "horrible quality". Granite is granite geologically--it's a crystalline igneous rock. Price of various species has to do with commoness, how much is mined and how much there is to mine, it's not that a common speckled granite is "inferior in quality" compared to something rare...not if they are both granite, and not different stones. That's just a snobbish classist statement because it's been seen too much and it's "common". Like someone not buying Coach brand anymore because every secretary in the US has Coach and Coach is bougie now. That's fine if you don't like it because it's "builder common" or whatever, but "quality" has nothing to do with it. Quality is only going to be based upon the install, and I have seen very expensive (and coincidentally hideous) granites ruined by a terrible install, and an installation we haven't seen in this case. I can't say anything about the flooring, except that it's oak flooring and at least where I live that was the flooring installed for most of the post WWI 20th c. where I live in houses of all sizes and shapes--so it least it won't be "dated in ten years" because it's much too ordinary to be so. Narrow oak is my favorite flooring for the typical house. In terms of getting a COO, I know someone who didn't get one because a single light socket in their house was inoperable, in their locale, and yet in my location the house only seems to need working plumbing an operable stove and a furnace, and not much more. So who's to say? But what I can say is that most builders will credit you pennies on the dollar for leaving something out. I know someone who wanted to leave an entire bathroom out of the plan and leave the space a closet and the builder offered them a few thousand dollars. It's hardly ever worth it. I really don't get the badmouthing of the finish choices available for this house. It's a house at a particular price point and with a limited number of offerings. That's how this business model works. If you want more customization, you either go with a more expensive builder, or you go really expensive and do all custom all the way. I realize that custom is how many of the houses in this forum are built. But there's no reason to look down on the choices that some people are given to make. I get custom, I am doing complete and overboard custom on some aspects of my house. I had custom wastebaskets made for the two upstairs bathrooms. I had a custom door made for my cat's custom tunnel, for cripe's sake. I get it. But on the flip side, I am not walking into the builders's show area with a client building a builders house with a few choices for each finish telling them it's all horrible and they need to get something else. There is no something else. We work with what is offered. The time to make any wider choices is when the builder is chosen, not after.

Expanding on what emho23 and jhmarie said, it is helpful to bear in mind that there's a difference between "the best possible," "optimum" and just "okay" (a/k/a what emho called "fine" or what I have called "acceptable compromises for the budget, design and circumstances.") Emho mentions wrestling with the issues. Many of us have wrestled with the resolving of choices of appliance compromises. At some point, we all wind up spinning and thinking "why is this so hard?" And if you think choosing a hood is hard, wait til you get to choosing a washing machine! LOL. So, let's try sorting through your preferences to see if we can make this a little easier for you to figure out. First, let's clarify what you meant when you said you "didn't realize all the $300-1000 ones in the big box stores were all recirculating or weren't a complete package." Are you thinking most are recirculating because the product tagline descriptions on the big box store websites rarely say a hood is "ducted?" The key here may be in knowing that almost all hoods at the big box stores will vent to the exterior by default but can be switched over to ductless. IME, the tagline descriptions in the product listings that say "ducted" or "ductless" are used only for the models that can't be switched from one mode to the other. If the tagline doesn't say one of the other, the hood is one you can vent to the exterior. Does this clarification maybe open up a wider range of choices for you? Second, you say you want a focal point hood on a wall between two windows. So, I'm thinking, maybe what you have in mind is a wall space without cabinets where you are looking for a pyramidal-shaped, wall mounted, canopy style of hood with a kind of chimney rising from the top of the hood. A hood with a canopy is a good thing because the canopy (as opposed to a flat base) is big assist in capturing the rising plumes of steam, heat and vaporized cooking effluents. A flat base can be acceptable if you have to do that route (as I did) but a canopy is better. With a good canopy, there is less concern with large numbers in the fan CFM ratings. As Kaseki has often explained here before (in excellent technical detail for those who want it), capture area is as important to hood efficiency as the fan power, and often more so. That likely gives you a much wider array of choices of hoods. Third, emho mentioned getting a 36" wide hood for the Jenn Air version of your Kitchenaid range. That reflects a standard recommendation here. The extra width enhances the hood's ability to capture cooking effluents (steam, aerosolized grease, etc.) which rise in an expanding cone. That brings us to the compromise in most less expensive hoods. Many are only 19" or 20" deep, front to back. Put a big pot of pasta water to boil on a big front burner on your stove and maybe some steam gets by the front of the hood. Neither the best nor the optimum design, but maybe okay for everyday living and cooking? Fourth, your builder's reluctance to install a vented hood in your kitchen might be understandable if the new house will be very tight, as many newly built homes may be. In that case, adding an unplanned-for hood may pose regulatory and practical problems. If your jurisdiction has adopted International Residential Code Section M1503.4 and/or International Mechanical Code Section 505.2, you might be able to avoid regulatory issues by simply choosing a hood with fans rated at 400 CFM or less But, there is still basic physics to deal with when the new house will be very tight. While you might avoid those kind of regulatory issues by choosing a hood rated at 400 CFM or less, and/or putting it in yourselves as DIY project, you've still got to look at the practical concerns. The biggest practical concern is one of safety. This concern arises when there are fireplaces or gas appliances from which CO can be backdrafted regardless of whether your range hood is rated below 400 CFM. You might avoid the CO backdrafting concerns if there are no fireplaces or wood-burning stoves and if the heating appliances have their own powered air intakes and exhausts sealed off from the rest of the house. However, a tight house still poses a practical physics problem akin to sucking air out of a closed box. (For that matter, I've seen a house so tight that the even bathroom fans didn't work well.) Where things can get really complicated (and therefore) expensive is when you have sought something like a LEED certification, or your builder is trying to meet the performance-based standards of the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (e.g., ASHRAE ¶ 62.2), or the house is built in a state with it's own performance-based interior air quality standards such as those that Minnesota, Wisconsin and California have adopted. That means expenses for measurements and testing and maybe MUA expenses before adding an unplanned range hood to the design. OTOH, the builder may just be looking for a way to avoid dealing with the problem so as to move on to the next project. Or, maybe, all of the above.

I see you already used black and white (with your shelves over the toilet, shower curtain..) ; I'd continue with the mix of both, will lend this more sharp graphic feel, without needing major changes, maybe not even paint that currently seems to work well with the flooring. The flooring is the most bossy element of the room, so if you still decide to repaint-you can do that, but the shade of the color will still lean "warm" rather than cool, imo. look into Urban Outfitters for rugs/bath mats (sorry the website doesn't let me save pics in jpeg format) https://www.urbanoutfitters.com/shop/semicircle-vista-bath-mat?category=bath-mats&color=004&type=REGULAR&size=ONE%20SIZE&quantity=1 or https://www.urbanoutfitters.com/shop/southwest-runner-bath-mat?category=bath-mats&color=018&type=REGULAR&size=ONE%20SIZE&quantity=1 They have quite a few nice ones, linking to these particular ones as an exampe-also they happen to have good reviews. Examples of shower curtains(also lots of black and white, but bigger, bolder design): (from https://www.jungalow.com/products/soleil-shower-curtain) not exactly black and white but like simplicity of the stripes: https://www.urbanoutfitters.com/shop/tufted-stripe-shower-curtain?category=shower-curtains&color=065&type=REGULAR&size=72X72&quantity=1 I'd check Marimekko shower curtains-love them..can't find the exact one I wanted to show as seems to be out of stock, but they have great designs, bold florals, graphics... Here's an example, from here https://www.finnstyle.com/hetkia-shower-curtain.html  I really love this one that incorporates the existing colors and black/warm white, with its bold abstract feel https://www.redbubble.com/i/shower-curtain/Abstract-pink-and-black-pattern-by-PompBlossom/57817457.YH6LW Can't save picture, but probably my favorite. This one is from CB2: A bit too bold and big a repeat, that one might be, but I like the colors.. Here they show it against dark wall color-I personally can see your bathroom being dark, I think thoigh you'll have to increase the existing lighting. Maybe in any case. I have two pendants and three cans (cans are over tub and shower)-and if I want to get a good light pendants are often not enough even though I went for strong wattage there. Obviously you can go for simple white shower curtain as well, like this one: they have several options there: https://www.crateandbarrel.com/bed-and-bath/shower-curtains-rings/1 There are many cool towels, this one is also on Finnstylem I love them for service and high quality of products: https://www.finnstyle.com/finlayson-loisto-white-hand-towel.html I wanted to look for mirrors etc, but have to wrap up now, sas omething came up. Well it's a long post already, so..Thank you if you got till here)) Tell me also if that's the direction, you might prefer totally different style..wil be helpful to me and to other posters I believe, to make suggestions. Nice bathroom, it just needs styling as they say, so you'll feel it's more "you"