I researched this to the nth degree and ultimately decided I had to have an ice dispenser and went with a Gaggenau freezer tower with custom panel and ice/water in-door. These are also sold under the Miele and Thermador brand names too. They don't make internal ice dispensers just ice buckets/storage bins. From everything I read the SZ dispenser is very finicky about the water quality/water hardness and water pressure fed to it. Unlike competitors the ice dispenser goes from the freezer to the refrigerator side causing increased failures that can cost several hundred dollars to fix each time. Obviously if you use a lot of ice opening the freezer constantly will increase temperature variability, freezer burn/frost, and energy cost. Opening the refrigerator constantly for cold water will do the same minus freezer burn/frost. BTW The ladies in the Kitchen Forum will tell you that putting an ice dispenser on a wood paneled freezer is like a pimple on the tip of your nose. :) BTW II Sub Zero is made in Wisconsin while Gaggenau/Thermador/Miele is made by Bosch in a Bosch owned factory in Turkey.

Gary's picture is a very helpful illustration. It shows raised panels that do not have that puffy look that I warned against. I totally disagree with LWO, which is very rare. It is a designer's job, and LWO is a professional designer as is the KD you're working with, to say these things, but it doesn't sound to me at all like you're planning an "upper end kitchen". It sounds like a very nice kitchen, but more value oriented than high end. I definitely agree with your reasoning that the choice of fridge should be based on your ideas of form and function. You like your choice of fridge. Choosing a different one to suit what the Jones are doing in the magazines or what designers think is the latest hot look will take away from the rational choice you've made for yourself. I went into my own kitchen remodel assuming I was getting SubZero, and preferring integrated, and still looked at freestanding fridges like the KA to compare them and see if I liked them better. I didn't. I liked Miele better, so went that. You sound like you've done enough shopping and know what you want. If the look of what you want bothered you, you would have worded your post differently. There is nothing wrong with having the edge of the fridge showing like Gary has--it's a very nice kitchen, but not designery and it wouldn't change the look if the fridge were integrated. There's nothing wrong with having the freestanding panelled fridge you're talking about, and putting nicely made panels on it, and having the sides show a little in the opening with a couple inches of air space. It's not built-in, but it's decorated to match the kitchen. It's not a high end, designery look, but it's perfectly fine. I find the comments otherwise to show more about the snobbery of the people writing them than the look itself. Matching things are out, right now. That's a big part of the problem. The people who want to be "in" decide that it's wrong to match if you can't make the match indistinguishable. It therefore must be integrated. Some people really make the match perfect, with faux drawer fronts and all so that you really can't tell where the fridge is. People aren't advocating that. I think if you can tell by the size and shape of the panels, it doesn't matter whether it's integrated, built-in but frame showing, or free-standing. It's still a fridge, and a fridge is a fridge, and what you want it to look like in it's fridgeness is entirely up to you. I also disagree about the death of the work triangle. I cook. I walk that triangle constantly. I have two fridges and two sinks, so there are different versions of the triangle which overlap, but I would never, ever, given a choice, remove the fridge from the main cooking area. People remodel their kitchens just to correct this problem. A big reason I planned a full remodel from the time I placed the offer to buy the house was the distance from the fridge to the stove. It was massively inconvenient even in an almost straight line. Moving the fridge out of the kitchen just so you won't have to look at it is something that people may do nowadays, but it is greatly impeding the function for cooking. People also buy vastly uncomfortable chairs because they look good, and then sit on the floor with pillows because they don't like sitting on the chairs. For some people looks is the most important thing of all. I've always admired the Duesenberg, one of the best and most beautiful cars ever made. They designed the works first, then designed the beautiful carriage to fit over them.

Liebherr have all their fridges available without water.

French door oven will not work for you with your configuration (being right next to your fridge….you would not be able to open both the fridge and the oven at the same time). I agree with your designer about your oven placement. I would NOT move the ovens to where the appliance garage is. Aesthetically, it will look much better where you have it. The oven is very deep and IMO would not look good so close to your window…..it would make that area feel more closed in. And being so close to the doorway and what I assume is a tall pantry cabinet to the left of the fridge seems to me like it would be an area of potential congestion….I like the layout as it stands now. If they have accurate measurements for everyhing, they should be able to know for sure if you are able to do an apron front sink. Some apron fronts barely protrude at all….so maybe look for one like that and get the measurements to present to your kitchen designer so she can do all the figuring.….or she can source one out for you. I would try to lock that info down. I love the lighted glass cabinet….really pretty….would it be glass on all sides? Try to relax a little :)