Wolfgang, The house you lived in sounds quite lovely. I have heard how cold tile is on bare feet from my DH. He is a carpet man! I am sure I will have gel mats or throw rugs between the island and the cooktop and by the sink. I am a very messy cook, and spill something making every meal. We have a dog and cat, who would be rather hard on wood. My dog sloshes water at a great rate. I think tile will hold up pretty well. I understand your preference for disguised appliances. I thought about doing that. I have seen some striking kitchens with appliances hidden. Our kitchen is an amalgamation of new and old. If the kitchen were truly period, it would make more sense to hide appliances. But our kitchen is designed to be compatible with our 1892 house rather than replicate an original kitchen. Hiding some appliances are budget busters, and we will keep the existing refrigerator. I had the KD check into hiding the oven behind pocket doors. It takes too much cabinet space; it required a much wider and deeper cabinet to be accomplished. I don't have room to spare in the kitchen. As long as one appliance is in its natural state, so to speak, the DW may as well be too. A paneled DW doesn't seem like it would wear very well, either. The MW and a small convection oven are in the cabinet to the left of the refrigerator behind pocket doors.

If you do floors first - 1. The HW needs to acclimate to the environment in which it will be installed - ck flooring forum, maybe 5-7 days 2. You would put flooring under all of the above - you can't have it under the cabs and not dw - it will throw everything out of level for one. It would be self defeating to not run it under - that is one of the reasons for running it first - much easier to lay the flooring - There are potentials for leaks in every kitchen w/every type of flooring - there is no bullet proof flooring. Even if it were not under the DW & that leaked it would still leak to the surrounding areas - even tiled floors have flaws related to leaks - grout is not waterproof and water will leech in btwn tiles & start growing some nasty mold in btwn the sub floor & tile (have you seen bathrooms gutted?) - Many gas ranges have feet & sit up off the flooring so no hw would look odd - those that don't have feet typically have a storage drawer - so the heat is far enough away with either to not be an issue w/the flooring. good luck

I have had wood island countertops in 2 kitchens now and love them. I would only use John Boos Hard Rock Maple with the oiled finish. It is super easy upkeep, and allows you to cut right on the countertop. The oiled finish is just an easy rub in/ rub off application. When the counter is new you need to do this about once a week for about a month, then after that about quarterly. It is so nice to have a fully useful counter. Just yesterday I fixed 35 pounds of pulled pork and did all the "pulling" and chopping right on the counter. So nice. current house: previous house:

Which Cairo Oak is a much different color than these two provenzas but after lots of research we decide this color was perfect for our modern farmhouse look! We are doing all white cabinets now with also a White Island.. white oak pantry door and vent hood (stained to match Cairo oak) and Calacutta Laza by MSI counter tops 😃