Fascinating thread. It's so nice to see what everyone's up to, even if it is not all rosy! I'm sure we'll all get there in the end. We're doing a kitchen and bathroom remodel and we are into week 3. So far, we've had demo and lots of new plumbing put in place. Old galvanized pipes are gone, new copper in. We seem to have had a bit of a hiatus since yesterday when my contractor called at 8am and said he wouldn't be able to come because of a doctors appointment he'd forgotten to tell me about - er what the whole crew are going with you?? I asked him if he was working on another job and he admitted he was 'finishing up something' but that he'd be on my job most of the time. He said he'd pop round that afternoon, that was yesterday and haven't seen or heard since and they are no show today so far. I don't think he liked that I called him on his outright lie of doctors appointment. I thought things were going well, but I don't like this new development! We're mostly functioning ok with microwave and some kitchen basics in the dining room but I am getting a little tired of microwaved dinner which feels like I'm eating airplane food and take outs. Anyone have good advice about how/what to eat when you have no kitchen?

Wait, kk, you thought I was southern? Nope! I live about 45 min north (give or take) from Manhattan. My parents and now my sister's family, too live in NC, so I guess I could be southern by association! You are dead-on about the taxes i-chic. Ours have gone up about $3K-$4K since we're in our house (a little over 9 yrs). Ouch! All just one of the joys of living in a suburb of the big city! FYI, people in NJ call where we live upstate (and my village is right over the border from NJ!), but upstate would really be Rochester, Buffalo, Syracuse....

Wow, my kitchen has three duplex 115vac plugs, all on the same 20A, there's another one or two on the walls, near the floor, for vacuum/whatever. Not sure about the dishwasher, may have its own circuit, and the electric range is 220vac, thus on itw own circuit. The above recommendation sounds like a lot to me. Not sure why there is any code requirements beyond having wire size that matches the circuit breaker, and perhaps GFI, not sure I agree with that being required either, but I wasn't asked. If code requires all the circuits mentioned above all I can conclude is the electrical contracting industry must have had something to do with writing the standards (a.k.a code), suppose they dominate NFPA work on this type subject...then the towns/cities just go along as they don't have any expertise to make independent judgement...love the good old days of less government and less regulation. Yes, our counter-top microwave and toaster are on the same circuit and I do note a change in sound from the microwave if I activate the toaster when the microwave is running, but no problem, no interruption of power or noticeable change in the effectiveness of the two appliances.

I think you need a kitchen designer. It is really hard to tell what is going on without a plan drawn to scale. Option one has no counter space on either side of the refridgerator. I think you would be better off with a range rather than cooktop and wall oven spacewise and counterwise.