I suggested on another thread of yours that you hire a kitchen designer and the comment by your architect on stovetop size seems to reinforce that maybe he's not the best for this task. When you increase the stovetop size, you increase the stove's BTUs. This increases the size and power of the ventilation hood, which in turn increases the possibility that you will need MUA (make up air.) This is one example on why it's not a good idea to over-appliance yourself. Because you are a baker, I suggest you take your favorite baking sheets and pans and whatnot to an appliance store and try them on for size, so to speak. You wouldn't BELIEVE how many people find that even though their new oven is the same size as their old, their sheet pans etc. no longer fit. Lastly, most people have the dilemma of size and combos of stovetops and ovens. The thing is, everyone's cooking habits are different, so everyone's choices are different. By the way, a microwave/vent option is useless. You will need a real ventilation hood. A good ventilation hood to cover a 36" stovetop can easily be a fourth of your budget ($1000) alone.

Just looking at the specs on GE monograms' website, it looks like the wall ovens are between 4.3 and 4.4 cubic feet and the Range ovens are 4 cubic feet. I don't think a generalization can be made. You should compare the two models that you are interested in. Also, go to a store and try your largest roasting pan or cooking sheet in the oven. Good luck!

Lol. Imagine a box, 3 1/2 inches on each side. Put it in the oven. that is the about the amount of space you are losing. But it isn't even that bad because it is spread out over the entirety of the top, bottom and sides. Is that worth $1500 dollars to you? to me it is almost an insignificant difference. Cubic feet is a measurment of the total inside space. Other factors come into play, such as where do the racks sit, where is the convection fan, etc. The only way to really tell which one would cook a larger turkey would be to stick that sucker in them both, in the pan you are going to use. The one that you can't close the door on is the loser, not the one rated .3 cubic feet bigger. Further, NEITHER of these ovens will cook your entire thanksgiving dinner without resorting to some extreme time management and/or cooking things in sequence, then reheating at the end. You need more oven than either one of these will give you by themselves. That is unless of course you are on the adkin's diet.

I wouldn't do it. My boyfriend had a 30 inch cooktop right next to his wall oven. I hate it. There is no down space except to one side of the cooktop. The closest downspace for the oven is the cooktop. He has wood cabinets and the former owner tiled all over the side of the cabinets in order to have it be easier to clean and I assume to protect from flare-ups on the stove. As I said before, I really hate it. Not a fun place to cook at all. Go with a nice 30 inch range. There are lots out there. Perhaps you can fit a 36 in range into the same space? Even better!