Yay, glad you're getting your Super White! I had an idea that might help you test out whether a small prep sink will work or not. Find a plastic bowl or tub in the approx size and shape of the sink you'll be able to fit into a 12" cab, drill an appropriately sized drain hole in the bottom (I think someone posted sinks this small would have something like a 1.5" drain hole,) and fit a piece of PVC pipe into it. You'll need to caulk it to seal it. Then put it in a sink or over a bucket, pour a pot of water into your mock-up sink as if you were draining pasta water or a pot of boiled potatoes and see how well it works. Or doesn't. It's not going to be fool proof dry run (er, uh, wet run, haha), obviously, but if the mock-up doesn't work well, it's likely a good bet the real thing won't either. btw, our pop-up tent camper has a small sink in the kitchen area, and after the first few mishaps, I learned to pour a pot of water very slowly to keep water from splashing all over the place. The sink is wider than a small prep sink, its depth is similar to the depth of old SS sinks. In other words, shallow. That's my experience with small sinks. YMMV.

My cabinets are custom from Crown Point. My old cabinets were in horrible shape so there was no chance of refinishing them, plus our entire layout changed and the kitchen doubled in size. The island is actually a dark brown stain called Russet. The perimeters are painted in a color called Paper White. I'm not sure which cabinet brands you're looking at. In the master bath I have Kraftmaid cabinets which are a non-custom line I ordered through Home Depot, and I like them very much. Many people here have used Ikea cabinets with beautiful results. Many others on the forum have created gorgeous kitchens by refinishing their cabinets themselves or having them refinished by someone. We decided since we were going with paint instead of stain for most of our cabinets we really wanted the factory finish so we wouldn't have to worry as much about cleaning them and chipping. As far as planning the kitchen, I was initially working with a local kitchen designer but we ended up parting ways because she seemed to be designing a kitchen for herself instead of for me. I posted my layout here on GW and ended up getting a tremendous amount of help from wonderful people here to design a layout that proved to be very functional as well as incorporating the aesthetic aspects that were very important to me. The Crown Point KD helped me tweak the layout further. As far as choosing the style, colors, textures, etc. what helped me tremendously was I collected a large portfolio of kitchens that I loved, some from magazines, most from online. All those photos greatly helped me to crystallize my vision for my kitchen space. I started noticing certain colors and styles in common in many of my inspiration kitchens. The result is that I now have my dream kitchen that is exactly customized to the way I cook and how my family lives. I get such a huge amount of enjoyment from working in a kitchen for which I so carefully planned every detail down to what would be stored in every single drawer. As far as the marble, yes, I'm the type that doesn't fear the patina. I chose marble because I wanted something different from shiny, new-looking granite (which I have in my guest bath and love) for my kitchen. I was looking for that vintage feel mixed with modern. The good news is that my honed marble is sealed well, doesn't stain and requires no greater maintenance than my granite. It does have etch marks but you have to try really hard to see them and in my opinion they don't at all detract from the beauty of my marble. Everyone who comes into my kitchen has the same reaction: they can't help but touch that marble and marvel at its beauty. I did keep the marble backsplash on my cooktop wall polished for a little extra drama. By the way, my stainless steel countertop has lots of scratches. It still looks great and eventually I'm sure they'll all just merge together. More patina! I hope that answered your questions. Let me know if you have more! =) Erika

It would be every countertop in the kitchen. Not just an island. The perimeters may change at some point in the future if I decide on something else, but nothing has really thrilled me for the kitchen as far as stone goes. The combination of brick, white, almost black, and walnut seems nearly impossible to match. Walnut was the easy way out, cheap, and we already had enough lumber for flooring, countertops, and shelves. I think having semi gloss on the floor and satin on the counters will help differentiate the two as well. I will get pictures this evening when I get my mess cleaned up. Mr. MM is currently packing up the truck to take the girls to the lake this weekend to camp with his family. I'm staying behind this time to work on the kitchen. Funny how roles have reversed. Nini- there is quite a bit of countertop, but mostly in the 7x3 island. The perimeters have almost none. Just 27" on each side of the sink and range. mythreesonsnc- Your kitchen floors and counter are very similar to what I think ours will look like. More variation on the floor and the least variation in the countertops. My island cabinets are almost black, my perimeter cabs are an off-white/creamy color.

Different people have different needs. As I outlined in my posts a 48" all gas w/ 4 burners and 24" griddle/flattop serves us well 98% of the time and then the countertop induction hobs add some additional versatility/capability. I talked w/ Scotsman and they said cutting the power is fine. It's not ideal but given Scotsman's lack of a timer it is what it is. Ideally every icemaker should have the ability to set a programmed on and off time along with an overide for entertaining. If a $20 coffee maker can do that an icemaker certainly can. An 8 hr pause is better than nothing but still very limiting - we do a 20 hr pause most days. I would NOT put any range in the island - unless you live on an island (and so have lots of windows open at all times) or are OK with a really big hood. https://bamasotan.us/range-exhaust-hood-faq/ If you want a griddle/flattop (and I do recommend them) then stick with gas. Consumer level induction and electric perform quite poorly. And if you like to cook or want to expand your abilities then you'll want gas burners. Induction works well for a lot of people and perhaps most people but there's a reason restaurants still use gas. Consider doing a pass-thru between your pantry/scullery/prep and kitchen (good idea on using that as back prep or scullery). Counter level so things can be slid thru. Pocket door (about 12x12 or 12x18). You could also include a fixed window or two between the two.