I've had an upright freezer for about 15 years, and only used the freezer in my old refrigerator for ice cube trays and stale bread for croutons, crumbs or pudding. In my previous house the freezer was in the laundry, which was a similar configuration to a mudroom, without the mud. It was great. In my current house, it was in the kitchen proper, but on the outside of the G shaped cook area. It was great. In my new kitchen, I have the Miele 30" all fridge and all freezer next to each other. I'm not in yet, but it seems great. The old freezer is going in the garage downstairs, for holding stock, spaghetti sauce, and other high volume, low turnover stuff. That doesn't seem great, but I don't have anywhere better to put it. It's a marvelous freezer. Re integrated: You don't want a bit of stainless poking out of it. If it's purposeful stainless, like a frame, or handle, that's fine. You do not want to be seeing the unit itself, however. There will be a little sight of the gaskets through the cracks, and the color you see on opening, but that's another story. With the Miele coolers there's white plastic trim. My Marvel fridge drawers came with an option of white or black for the unit. The toekick vent on that is white on the white one. The Viking panel ready DW is black and came with a black toekick panel with the light on it. My GC and tile setter discussed redoing it in tile but decided instead to paint it. The Monogram warming drawer is stainless. I don't get excited over what shows in the cracks. There's a certain point where you have to just accept things as they are. But when you have your units installed, your integrated fronts should be flush with the rest of your cabinetry. Make sure your cabinet people understand the specs of your appliances going in, and account for them. They may want you to have the appliances on site so they can be sure of the In Real Life measurements. Mine wanted the DW, cooktop and fridge drawers while they were installing the cabinets, but not the fridge/freezer or ovens. So then they had to delay oven installation while the cabinet maker came back and fixed the opening which was a teeny tad small on the front frame. The specs are very available online. Miele tells you very clearly that the integrated depth is 25", for instance.

Why I will not buy Marvin Window Products and neither should you. In 2004 we renovated our kitchen, replacing three windows and one door with Marvin Windows. At the time we purchased Marvin because I felt they were high quality. Marvin’s website says, “We are committed to design that is as functional and intuitive as it is beautiful. Crafted with exceptional skill, our products deliver quality you can see, touch, and feel, the beauty that brings joy, and performance that stands the test of time.“ My view of the ‘test of time’ for windows that I put in my home is a long time, decades. Apparently, Marvin’s test is dramatically shorter. Less than 20 years after installation I noticed that the window had rotted all the way through the frame. I am not sure how many years it took to decay, but clearly it did not happen overnight. Their test of time failed quickly. I called Marvin and was told that the warranty is only 10 years. I understand how warranties work and asked for Marvin’s help repairing the window. They said they would not offer any help since they no longer make the model. I called dozens of companies and was told these Marvin windows were not repairable. I am left with one window out of six that failed out of warranty but clearly started failing years ago before the warranty had expired. I now need to replace all of my kitchen windows in order to have a consistent look. I thought that maybe this is a one-time issue and not very widespread. It turns out Marvin lost a class action lawsuit on this very issue. https://www.yourlawyer.com/construction-defects/marvin-windows-lawsuit/. Apparently, their product team feels they can continue to turn out products that do not stand the test of time. Marvin’s marketing department may tell you they are committed to a lot of things but it is clearly a lot of marketing and they do not stand behind the actual quality of their windows. So when you look to purchase windows for your home my strong recommendation is to look at anyone other than Mavin.

Cpartist, yes, the fridge landing would have to be the island, maybe not ideal, but I think I prefer that over doing a counter on the fridge wall. I'm going to do 54" between the island and cooktop, we have this same spacing on our current island and it's comfortable. But, I LOVE the idea of the pocket door in the pantry. Didn't think of that, and it's a great idea. Thanks! Caligirl, my asthetic objection is that the fridge wall is maybe a little over 11'. By the time I put 6' of refrigeration and freezer, and the oven cabinet and spacers, there will only be 2' or so left and to put a countertop in there with those masses surrounding it makes it seem like a cave to me, even with good lighting. I think I'd rather just use the island across, but I do appreciate your advice and will keep it in mind. Palimpsest, Where would you put the glasses? LOL on the matched bottles in the fridge. We do have a glass door fridge now, and it actually looks good even when the stuff inside is disorganized (as it always is, I'm not that OCD)

Hi Karen Good question - it's not that I prefer the Lutron Smart Bridge over Samsung, it was just my recommendation for the initial inquiry regarding integrating climate control, lighting and music from one App and in my opinion the Lutron Caseta Bridge seemed to fit all of the requirements. Having said that - the Samsung Hub can do some pretty cool things as well and can work in parallel with the Lutron Smart Bridge. Example, you can use Samsung Smart-Things water sensors to work with Z-wave water shut-off valves (like "Leak Gopher") to shut off your water supply in case of a problem with plumbing, water heater or leaks around the house. So in general, it was just my personal preference since most home media integrators are Lutron Pros. Check out FAQ at Lutron below... What are the benefits of integrating Caséta Wireless with a SmartThings system? Integrating Caséta Wireless with SmartThings allows you to automate your lights and shades alongside additional smart devices like sensors, locks, cameras, and more. For example, add a SmartThings Multipurpose Sensor to your entryway door and you can you can create a routine that turns on a few lights when you open the door in the evening. Or create a routine that turns off all the lights and closes the shades in the living room when the SmartThings Motion Sensor in the room no longer detects any motion. -Frank P