I don't understand why they're putting so much wasted space in the design. Our cabs are frameless and custom like yours and they don't have all those fillers. Our island has 9' 9" of cabinetry in a little over 9' 10" of space, which include the end panel beside the DW at the edge. Our island cabs are 24" DW, 36" sink base, 24" DW, 15" trash compactor, 18" recycle pullout and it all fits under a 10' island which was the largest slab of caesarstone we could get. So not sure what your designer is doing? Seems to be just adding inches reflexively without bothering to be precise -- adding 2" to a recycle pullout is just odd ... and adding 4" to a fridge opening odder still. Maybe the fridge you chose needs some clearance on each side, but 4" is nuts. What do the fridge specs say? The appliance you select will have detailed specs that dictate the minimum cab cutout size. Our MW drawer is 24", fridge drawer also fits in 24", etc... you get the idea. So you should look up the specs of your appliances and check them yourself and if they don't mesh up with what she's doing then I'd be questioning her hard. The whole point of going with a custom shop is to make maximum use of your space and to get custom sizes wherever you want them. Something is very wrong here.

I think you have hit a point in this discussion where it would make sense to start a new thread. The current title is misleading now for the direction the thread has gone (layout advice) and won't attract as much of the help you now seem to need (from the layout enthusiasts). Plus even if the layout people found their way here, the information they need to make suggestions is now scattered across many comments. I suggest you do this: 1) Start a new thread. Ask specifically for layout suggestions/help in the title of this new one. You don't need to be discussing the nitty gritty of lighting/finishes till after you have decided on the layout that will work for you. Asking for layout help will attract the layout gurus. Asking for lighting or finishes help later in a different thread will get the lighting or decor gurus. (Involve a KD later when you have exhausted the free help here.) 2) In your new layout help thread, post a floor plan of the entire floor the kitchen is on (not just the living and kitchen, but also every room on this whole floor and the garage/laundry too). It helps us more than you can imagine to see the kitchen fully in the context of the rest of the house. It is fine to hand draw it, same as the other plans you already posted. There is no such thing as too much information or detail when it comes to this floor plan. Indicate on the plan where the best views are. Mark where the windows are, how wide, and how far off the ground. Indicate doorways. All of it. Whatever is written on this plan will be absorbed and understood FAR more than anything you type in your comments. This floor plan should be on graph paper and to scale where one square = 1 square foot. 3) Post pictures of the interior of your kitchen/living area, particularly of things that are difficult to see on the plan -- the shape of the fireplace, the view you want to make the most of. There is no such thing as too many pictures. The better we understand your space, the better and more relevant (and more fervent) the help you will receive. And visuals are a million times more helpful to our understanding than anything else. 4) Write these things (more or less) in the new thread: __________________________________ Title: Please help - kitchen layout! Post: The situation: we are remodeling our soon-to-be-open-plan kitchen/dining/living room (we're taking down the wall between the kitchen and living room) we are couple with one dog (no kids and no plans for them) husband is a contractor and will be doing the majority of the work budget is $40,000-$60,000, plus contingency fund we like to cook/make snacks together and to entertain small groups (4-6 people) -- both inside and out on the deck I also bake often and want to start canning we will live here for ten more years and then buy another house and rent out this house Primary goals for the remodel: ability to have two cooks/snackers in the kitchen at once maximize view/windows towards the deck -- we have wild bird feeders out there and enjoy watching the birds from our current slider make the kitchen very open to the living room (we've had that open layout before and loved the easy chatting between those rooms) we do not use the dining table unless entertaining (on normal days, we eat in front of the TV), so we would prefer a plan where the dining table can be put away or repurposed in between parties and the space used for something else day-to-day desired big appliances: dishwasher, range, and fridge (already bought the fridge -- it is a 36" counter depth French door) --> I made these numbers/details up. Please provide the real ones. places for these frequently-used small appliances: coffee maker, toaster, Kitchen Aid mixer area for pet food/bowls pantry storage Like-to-haves: baking center with spot for KitchenAid mixer to live on the counter not moving the slider -- it works well with the deck now and would be a pain to change cookbook storage (does this have to be in the kitchen, or could it be in the living room?) small appliance storage sink and range on the same run of counter (not across the aisle from each other) microwave drawer seating facing the view towards the deck Here is an awesome and thorough to-scale floor plan on graph paper of the entire floor with everything and its grandmother indicated and labeled: [Image] Here are 12,000 pictures of the inside of my home from every angle: [Images] Here is a picture of my dog: [Image] For more information here is a link to my previous thread: [link] _____________________ That's all the information we need to start making good suggestions, and providing more info. than that just makes it harder for people to remember the important stuff and also can sometimes constrict creativity. Talking more broadly about your goals rather than your conclusions allows people to surprise you with solutions you may never have considered. Also, part of good kitchen layout design is routing non-kitchen traffic away from the kitchen work zones, providing logical locations for trash/compost/recycling, maximizing continuous lengths of counter space where they are most useful, maximizing storage (especially point-of-use storage), making the aisle width appropriate for the kitchen as designed, making things more functional, etc. So you don't have to ask for any of those things specifically. We will make sure our designs have those features to the best of our ability from the get-go. (Any good KD would as well.) What I have posted in bullets above are the parts of your kitchen design that are not automatic for us. The condensed, pertinent information to a layout designer. You'll notice none of the lighting or finishes info. is included because those considerations mostly come later after your floor plan is set.

Some of this seems to be dependent upon age/stage of life. As empty nesters/business owners who travel a bit, love new/great restaurants, wonderful live music/entertainment/awesome movie houses that serve dinner/drinks as we watch- this was it for our latest: 1. Location. We are 1.5 miles away from downtown Austin TX straight in front, a few blocks from the SoCo enterntaiment area (to the right) and the SoLa restaurant area, Zilker Park (music festivals) four blocks to the left. We also live on a street that is nearly completely isolated. Almost NO traffic, save for us on the short street, Very, very quiet. And? We wanted a custom, ground-up build. A neighborhood where this is happening, that we just did. 2. Low crime- Eh? We have a bit of crime of opportunity, in this City neighborhood, but are also very protected by 1) being very aware 2) having a security system wired into local law enforcement/fire/EMT that is nearly impenetrable. 3. Great neighbors, mis of people. Our neighborhood has "OGs" who have been here for 50+ years (mostly Mexican, in ethnicity) others who have been steadily moving in within 30, 20, 10 and 5 years. LOVE this place- enough children around so as not to be weird, but mostly just grown ups who want to live quietly. 4. Proximity to airport, for business travel, Quite literally, 10-12 minutes away, door to door. FANTASTIC for the days of "day trips". 5. A view Both my architect and contractor were a bit skeptical of this, but I KNEW it was there. Today, we can see- end to end- Austin Texas downtown skyline from inside second story. Schools? Eh? Our very expensive property taxes are spread locally AS WELL AS through out other areas of TX. For the first time in my adult life, I ignored schools in favor of all else I wanted. And in case you think this is a"bad resale" idea? You're nuts. 1-5 in our city center are at-home professionals who travel, want close proximity to city (but still quiet) want all the easy access to restaurants/live entertainment, in quiet and Google Fiber etc? If I were smart, I'd run to the Google campus today, sell tomorrow :)

This kid (well, adult, as he had just turned 18) made a stupid, stupid, stupid mistake in a fit of anger and is now on the sex offender registry. Sexting Lands Teen on Sex Offender Registry I don't know if this is the same teen as in the article, but many years ago, I was watching a story on GMA where they had a panel of high schoolers talking about social media, sexting, etc. One of the kids in the group explained what happened to him when he sent a nude photo of his girlfriend out to a bunch of people. He talked about how this was going to follow him for the rest of his life as he was required to be on the sex offender registry as a result because it was considered distribution of child pornography (incidentally, the girlfriend had taken the photo herself and sent it to him, but she was not charged with anything). However, not knowing the backstory on this particular case, one might see the boy in this story, who is now in his late 20s, on the sex offender registry for child pornography and make assumptions that he is some sick individual. This thread remained me that I have not looked at the sex offender registry recently to see who is living or working around me. I was absolutely HORRIFIED to see that there is a woman living in my area who was convicted of raping an 11 y/o blind boy while she was a teacher's aide on Long Island. She was 42 at the time, married with two kids. On the registry, it just says 2nd Degree Rape - Person 18 y/o or older has intercourse with Under 15. She has an uncommon name so when I googled her, I quickly found the story. Amazingly b/c she plead guilty she only served 6 months in jail and 10 years on probation. She is no longer on probation (happened more than 10 yrs ago) but she is on the registry. What a sick, sick woman.