Herbflavor- I will try the 3 sketches. I've heard of the Liebherr, might be a bit out of range, $3000 for a freestanding 24", also sounds like service maybe expensive too. I do like the counter depth and compactness it would provide though. Katsmah- great idea, although the fridge door swinging how it does makes easy access to beer when I'm in the next room over (living/dining room). Moving the fridge towards the right may address this though. roarah- Another great idea! Except my sink/cooktop wall is an exterior wall, I may not be able to do this depending on what's behind there, but I can do it on the opposite wall. Also- a standard studded wall is 3.5" deep, how did you fit a toaster here? fori- Aisle is 49" wide from edge of existing countertop to countertop. I may be able to get a few (3) more inches by taking out studs on the fridge wall. It's a non-bearing wall, I planned to do this with the 'fridge anyhow so it doesn't stick out as far as it does now. I'll see if I can fit 30" depth cabinets but I dont think there's going to be enough space, not to mention the added expense. Yes, cabinets all the way up to the ceiling is in the plans, and yes I can, there's nothing behind there but air. On the existing fridge wall, the soffit stops at the pantry. I made a graph paper sketch, I'll have to find it and scan it.

Alexx - I really love your kitchen! It came out beautifully!! I have a question about your counters. I am doing a similar look with the white shaker cabs (framed w/full overlay) and quartz (Caesarstone Raven) countertops. I will also be doing a mitered edge with a 1.5" overhang. My question is ... how far do your counters project past your cabinet boxes, as well as past the doors/drawer fronts. There is some dispute between my cabinet maker and the countertop folks. Cabinet maker says I should have a 1" projection past the doors/drawer fronts, while the countertop folks are suggesting a "flush" appearance (not truly flush, but more like a 1/4" projection). Can you tell me what yours are? And if anyone reading this has suggestions or advice, I would appreciate it! Thank you!

Ok I did a little more searching and came across this fixture linked below. It's very low profile, wondering anyones thoughts comparing this to the Tech Lighting? I would get the 22" and the light output looks to be the same as the Tech Lighting I do still lean to the Tech Lighting Vance thinking it may look a little better but just wanted a little more feedback before ordering https://www.lumens.com/geos-flushmount-wall-sconce-by-dweled-dwl693437.html?utm_medium=SocialShopping&sc_intid=dwl693437&utm_source=pinterest

Will the contractor be removing them all and painting off site and leaving them somewhere to cure or doing paiting them in place in your kitchen? What kind of FB paint will be used? (Modern or estate eggshell?) We just had new cabinets painted with FB estate eggshell. They sat to cure for 6 weeks and still the paint was soft enough that lines were made in the cabinet from moving. I've used FB throughout my home on the walls and love it. I've had painted cabinets with Benjamin Moore and loved them. I do not at all like the FB product on my kitchen cabinets. My incredibly experienced cabinet maker said it is the hardest paint to use on cabinets. (The process of painting cabinets is very different than painting walls. It needs to ideally be sprayed in a booth and cured.) If you feel comfortable, how much did they quote on painting the cabinets? Your $10k budget seems very small for getting cabinets and walls painted, new marble counters, electric work done for lighting, and potentially new flooring. Do you live in a small town? Myabe prices are better where you live. When we lived in our rowhouse, I hated the cabinets we had. (They were very much like yours but cherry colored.) I longed for a Plain English look. We couldn't make it happen all at once. Instead I did the kitchen in two phases: Removed base cabinets, removed terra cotta flooring and replaced with wood, reinstalled base cabinets that I so disliked. Got new inexpensive but nice hardware for the cabinets, painted the walls, put up some artwork that I loved, and put a new countertop on the old cabinets. Then three years later, we got new very high quality cabinets made. They were painted, look like Plain English, great hardware. Because we lived in a rowhouse, I knew that I could not change the cabinet layout that drastically and felt comfortable getting a new countertop and then new cabinets a few years later that would be the same layout as the older ones. Lastly, if you are painting your kitchen a dark color, I would invest in some very bright lighting. I would not do recessed lighting but a row of fixtures instead, and use very bright LED lights. Also add undercabinet lighting too. For paint colors, you need to think about how the paint will look next to bancha and your dining room paint because you can see all three rooms from within the space. I think painting the kitchen and dining room the same color would be a good idea. Beautiful dog!