It looks like #2 is the fave! Thanks everyone, your input has helped me feel good about that option and it's also an easy fix. buelh, you have an eagle eye! Not to worry, my real-life oven setup is much lower. There is only one drawer underneath, not two, and the upper oven is a MW which is substantially smaller than the main lower oven. I made sure our short family (I'm 5'2") would be comfortable with the height. Unfortunately I could not find something 100% accurate in the sketchup 3D library to use in the drawing, and I'm not yet competent enough in the software to do cabinets from scratch efficiently, so I used something just close enough to visualize the whole. I appreciate your pointing it out though! It would definitely have been a problem if it was accurate. The cabinet dimensions, placement and aisles, etc. in the drawing are otherwise accurate but the style of cabinets is also a bit off. florantha, it sounds like you went through a very similar thought process. The jumble you describe would definitely bother me. The whitish glass you are using sounds great, is it an online source you can share? I'm sure it will look classy. My corner cabinets will house everyday glasses of all sorts, white everyday mugs and cereal bowls (all light in color), and coffee-making paraphernalia. This is why I hope to find an opaque glass and/or maybe use good quality glass film on the inside to achieve total opaqueness. I've seen some great results with privacy window film (it's come a long way!). palimpsest and blfenton, you picked up on other elements of the room (the balance with the diagonal wall and the windows across the space) that I had not, and it gives me confidence that option 2 will work and not look accidental or cobbled together. Now I'm glad I put in that last picture of the other side, I almost didn't! Thanks Jillsee, Inspiredisabele and boxerpups for the encouragement. I didn't hire a KD because I was not planning to change the footprint or the layout of the kitchen very much but there have definitely been times when I could have used a professional eye. This forum is a great resource though. The collective wisdom and experience here can't be beat and cannot be duplicated by any one KD. dianalo, I really like the idea of a shelf with the BS behind it up to the ceiling as well! I was planning to do a high BS behind a chimney hood but that not to be (darn ducting issue again). I was inspired to consider this other way of getting my to-the-ceiling backsplash after I saw something similar in a kitchen that archnista posted here a few weeks ago (and which I told her I would shamelessly try to steal). I don't want to do it if it will look out of place, though. I'm still leaning towards option 2 but what if I take your suggestion and make the shelves glass also? Option 4-glass shelves and glass doors-OK, I think it's between this and #2 for me now!

This forum has been brought to my attention and I think I can add something useful. I'm Milton, and my wife Amalia and I are architects and interior designers with our own firm archspaces (archspaces.com) We have worked with moda cucina, as well as water and fire, as well as Weston kitchens, metropolitan, and others. We did two water and fire kitchens, and also three moda cucina kitchens. The water and fire kitchens ended up being beautiful, but were long agonizing ordeals to complete. The parts kept coming damaged, incorrect, wrong size/finish, from Canada and Italy. It was one excuse after another from water and fire and their suppliers who I ended up calling directly. Paul got a group of investors and partners together to buy into his moda cucina concept of locally made premium kitchens that can do not only traditional, but true european finishes. My wife and I loved the idea, if you look at our website you will see we are modernists. Each moda cucina went off almost flawlessly, with two minor exceptions, 1 kitchen which was somehow incorrectly measured. An entire 17 foot run of cabinets was re-built within 2 weeks and delivered before we even had to break the news to the clients. And one kitchen which had custom backpainted glass, the glass imparted a green tint to the paint and the client rejected the glass. The glass doors are being remade with starfire (crystal clear) glass. The response time has been fantastic, better than we've experienced anywhere, and the freedom as designers is tremendous, we've been able to think much more creatively with their custom work. I don't want to take away from the validity of what the disgruntled water and fire customer had said, it sounds inline with what happened there. The first few years we heard nothing but good things about them, then as they grew, and their suppliers got busier and moved away from small specialty producers, things fell apart. I gave Paul another chance, and we've been very pleased thus far. I've been to the shop and it is very impressive, it takes a lot of guts to put it all on the line and say enough is enough, and make your own factory. If anyone has any questions please feel free to email or call us through the contact information listed on our website.

Hi marcyde, interesting you say that because I have been looking at slide in ranges, maybe kitchenaid. Would love a viking, but I don't know that they make a slide in. I also have been eyeing up the subzero 30 inch counter depth fridge (panel ready) but not sure I want to lose that many cubic feet for the look.

You can call them "native wildflowers" or you can call them "native grasses" or you can call them "native plants" but they will grow in your yard with minimal effort because they have been growing in the Los Angeles area for thousands of years. You can remove your existing turf grass and wait for the natives to seed naturally. They will eventually come on the wind, even from a mile away. You'd probably have to identify and weed out some aliens that compete with them. But nature will fight to reclaim if you give her a chance. You can harvest native seed from wild areas nearby. You'd have to find a wild grassy area nearby and go in season and collect seed. Or you can buy native grass/wildflower seed by the sack. If they sell them in Austin Texas, I'm sure they sell them in Los Angeles. Or you could do a combination of all 3 methods. You don't have to listen to anyone telling you to buy specimens from the horticultural industry. Those products may not be native. They may not be right for your soil. They may be difficult to keep alive without pampering, soil amendments, and special watering schedules. Remember 75% to 90% of horticultural products sold to homeowners meet untimely demises. Stores are designed to make money. That's all. They make you feel like it's your fault if their plants die. There's a much simpler and cheaper way. Nature does it successfully every day.