ELSduece, I love the plan and wouldn't change anything, except maybe the fridge placement. I think overall it is a very efficient design. Unlike the other comments, I think the design de-emphasizes the garage because it integrates it into the envelope of the house. You will hardly notice it from the outside, and from the inside all it does is take up space. I would heat the garage to at least 50 degrees to avoid problems in your bedroom. It shouldn't be too expensive for infloor heat designed to only get the garage to 40's or 50's. Your Jack and Jill toilet plumbing will drain into the floor. Your water line can go down the exterior wall, even with it's current arrangement. Almost all of our plumbing (sinks, water from well) come up through our floor, so even the water can come up from the floor. I love how you arranged the powder room and closet downstairs. You won't be able to see into it. It will not be wheelchair friendly, so keep that in mind. It's a great size. We love small bathrooms. Laundry room next the kitchen is a great idea. My wife insisted on it despite all of our bedrooms being upstairs. The practical reality is that she goes from the kitchen to the laundry room alot (I was banned from laundry years ago, but I am allowed to fold... my own cloths... not hers or the kids). Bringing down and up the laundry is less of a problem then constantly going upstairs to check the laundy, especially for someone like my wife who is constantly checking to dry cycle to take out certain clothes at just the right time. I'm sure your designer wanted the dryer on the exterior wall to make venting easier. You don't have space to fold or iron in the laundry room. We don't do any of that in the laundry room anyway. Plumbing may cause noise downstairs, but you won't likely have frequent noise from those bathrooms when you have guests. In my experience this is more of a problem when you have an upstair's laundry room. I like the openness of the kitchen, but the fridge placement does make for an odd work triangle. I don't know what to tell you there. My parent's kitchen is the same way and it is tolerable for them. There are some great comments here about space, but in my review of the critiques on plans from this site it seems like most people act as though you have unlimited sq.ft. to work with. I think you've done a great job creating an efficient plan; I wouldn't advice messing it up to incorporate many of the ideas here. Love it!

Plume I just got finished reading this thread - my mouth hanging open, - Difficult to even know where to begin. First - God Bless you for your fortitude and relative good humor in this whole debacle - It causes my blood to boil and the severest nausea to say the least. For those of us homeowners that have made it through a large renovation, we are thicker skinned in general and have learned much along the way. That said, our hard earned money goes to products carefully, even lovingly selected, and to the skilled hands (we believe) of those whom we offer a leap of faith and trust them to do diligence in having a dream come to fruition. Unfortunately for you, your dream has turned into a nightmare - sucking time and money as well as causing emotional and psychological distress. Time you will never get back, and the time spent is on something you are outside the realm of your expertise, trying to find solutions to ever mounting problems created by those of whom you entrusted. While this has taken far too many twists and turns along the way I believe all the above posters are well intended and feel your utter frustration with the lack of skill and lack of responsibility from anyone you have entrusted. The difficulty is standing back & seeing the "forest for the trees" - You want your home and life back, you want a quality finished kitchen that you paid hard earned money for - each day presents yet another challenge in which you spin without getting a result. My business experience coupled with a novice interest in building leads me to believe your best interests may be served by cutting out ALL middle men and going to the top. It seems your Wood Mode rep & distributor have no interest in ponying up - the response of holding you hostage at this point is black mail - totally illegal. Wood Mode has built a sizeable company in the past several years, I think Robert Gronlund Chairman & CEO needs to lend an ear to see in real life how is company is being represented in the field. Let's see if Mr. Gronlund is "hands on management" as he purports. You have done a great job at documenting the issues now is the time to carefully craft letters to the powers that be. My rec is to craft letters to: Mr. Gronlund Chairman CEO President: Fred Richetia CFO: John K. Fairis Nat'l Sales Mgr - Frederick Donohue I would send same to all the above - certified mail return receipt as well as faxing to all - Keep the company's feet to the fire - I would rec being as succinct as possible - including $ spent, time-line, issues met - "fixes", permit etc. Let them know you have photos and would forward upon their request. I would follow up w/a phone call campaign to all the letters were addressed to - keeping logs of dates/times/rep you spoke to of all communication. Additionally in the letters I would state that you are bringing this to their attention in hopes for a remedy to your dire situation. The dealer/builder (be certain to name) was trained by Wood mode and if he has done this on your job, you can only imagine what he has done on other Wood Mode jobs as well. You are hopeful for a quick response and remedy as you are no longer willing to be dealing with the dealer/builder who is literally black mailing you at this point. I would ask specifically if they have any other complaints about this builder/dealer. I would also add: While I prefer finding a solution directly with Wood Mode, you have considered seeking other authorities that may be of help. "other venues" - may be: Dept of Consumer affairs-http://www.consumeraffairs.com/, NKBA-http://www.nkba.org/, congress reps, 7 on your side-http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/channel?section=news/7_on_your_side&id=7109212, BBB -http://www.bbb.org/ http://www.pueblo.gsa.gov/cfocus/cfcomplaint05/focus.htm quote from Wood & Wood Products March 2002 " To often these days, the terms "loyalty" and 'business strategy" are at opposite ends of the spectrum. Another quote: 2005 "recently earned its 12th consecutive 'Masters Award' for outstanding sales in 2004 from Wood-Mode. The firm ranked number one nationally in Wood-Mode sales among more than 1,000 dealers," But not at Wood-Mode Inc. Nestled in the little town of Kreamer, PA, this custom cabinet giant has built a 60-year legacy based upon loyalty - to its dealers, its workers and to its customers. And it's paid off. In the last decade alone, Wood-Mode increased its sales by 200 percent to approximately $180 million, while simultaneously doubling its employee size to 1,700 persons, 1,475 of whom work in the factory. Currently, Wood-Mode produces an estimated 1,600 units per day of kitchen and bath cabinets, as well as cabinetry for other rooms." Link to upset consumers re: Wood mode, Brookhaven http://wood-mode.pissedconsumer.com/wood-mode-brookhaven-corporation-smells-20100116167998.html Wood Mode was founded in the 1942 by 4 guys who were selling white metal cabinets in the 30's when the production of steel would be shifted to the war effort, leaving them with nothing to sell. The four founded Wood-Metal Industries, Inc. in 1942 in a small lumber-planing mill in Kreamer, Pennsylvania Officers: Chairman: Robert L. Gronlund President: Fred Richetia CFO: John K. Fairis http://www.answers.com/topic/wood-mode-inc Reporting a $258M in sales 2008 over 2,000 employees I searched on EDGAR US GOV SEC site for public company's and did not find Wood Mode - http://www.sec.gov/edgar.shtml So they are a private company and can conduct business the way they choose, which it appears the Execs are not reachable - HAVE FAITH & PERSEVERANCE! Wood-Mode Incorporated 1 Second St. Kreamer, PA 17833 PA Tel. 570-374-2711 Toll Free 877-635-7500 Fax 570-374-2700 It seems in my brief study here, the private company grew rather large, very quickly - perhaps the foundation began to give way with the tremendous growth it experienced. My very best to you!

We live in a downtown condo highrise. We have a galley style kitchen and this configuration is recognized as efficient but it has very little countertop space compared to other types of kitchens. When you remove the counter space needed for a sink and a cooking surface, you are left with a few linear feet of counter here and there. -- We threw away our microwave ten years ago, and we after months of wavering we are_not_getting a new one now that we are planning a complete overhaul of our kitchen. There are now many wall ovens that include microwave as as assist; they can be used in only-microwave function. We might not even buy that. We are getting a (Liebherr) Bio-Fresh fridge so we can concentrate on eating fresh not frozen, and an induction cooktop, and a convection oven. So this answers the question where we intend to put our microwave. We know our microwave oven placement decision is not in the norm, not with the norm, thus not "normal" when compared to the norm. David

Oh, this! ^^^^^^ That looks lovely. I don't think it needs to be centered. That looks great. As an alternative, you could build a hood that covers that entire short wall and then just place the working parts (fan, ducts) over the range. That may look better or worse but something you might play with. A lot of the kitchens revealed here have lack of symmetry because they achieve better function without it. Or they find a creative way to balance the lack of symmetry as you have with your utensil crock. A tall, narrow painting would look good there as well if you decide to go with a simpler backsplash although that might be too-too much on the wall if you go with a decorative tile-insert. I'm a window person. Even if the view is questionable, I'd go for bigger windows. The more natural light, the better, imho. Maybe install some kind of trellis to hide the hot-tubbers? For the first time in my life, I have no uppers and my seasonings/oils/sauces are in drawers next to my range. I just bought a couple of cheap spice inserts at the hardware store and a few cheap drawer organizers (plastic boxes) at The Dollar Store. Oh, I love it so much. I can open the drawers and find everything I need at a glance rather than digging through the upper cabinet. As I said, my fridge placement doesn't bother me either due to the pit-stop at the prep area. I hope you find the same with your mock cooking sessions. I like this plan so much better than how it originally started. I hope you feel good about what you've achieved.