Ann, We just had Kraftmaid cabinets installed in December through a local KD. I'm sure we didn't get the best price, but her help was invaluable. She designed the book case at the end of the island, the crown molding, and figured out how to build in the Advantium and refrigerator. I'm sure HD guys could've done it too.. As for the cabinets- they seem to be good quality and slide very easily. The drawers are full extention- cool! never had that before! Doors and drawers are soft close- I think it is Blum motion. We got all wood boxes. The full overlay looks like inset, I think and am very happy with our choice. I just posted pictures yesterday, you can see them on this forum "Pictures of my new kitchen. Have fun designing! Joan Here is a link that might be useful: Pictures of my new kitchen!

I'm not really understanding when you say "stepping out by 3". We just bought a Kraft Maid kitchen. Several KDs told us we had to have at least a 33" wide cabinet to accommodate the cook top. 36" cooktop cabinets are much preferred but our island was just too long. We tweaked it where we could. It is difficult to install our Jenn-Aire downdraft cooktop in 33". The 33" cabinet has a short (back to front) drawer in the top but no shelves or drawers underneath. The width of the front part of our 2 teir island is 24" and the back is 12". We will hang the counter top over the front part of the island by a couple inches, I think, to give more plate room at the seating part in the back. If the cooktop downdraft works correctly, the steam, heat, etc. will get sucked down before harming the back tier's counter top. The downdraft is aligned perpendicular to the length of the island so I don't really understand how yours would "hit" the 2nd teir. I don't think the cooktop is anywhere near the 24" back to front that it needs to set into so there will be adequate space all around it.

Not sure if you read this past post on Wolf quality but the opinions mostly say the quality is not that great. I have had my oak KM cabinets for 20+ years and actually just completed a redo and kept them and they still look great. Haven't had one problem with drawer glides etc. and do remember they were about $3600 back then. :) My advise would be to go with KM and get the best level you can stretch to and you will have them for many years. Here is a link that might be useful: Wolf cabinet experiences

The quality increases as you move up the food chain too. If it’s within your budget, buy the best that you can afford. No brainer.