I've had Sub-Zeros in various homes for nearly 30 years. I'd never consider another brand. I also think the refrigerators the company is producing today are the best they've ever made. The Sub-Zero warranty is second to none, and on the couple of occasions when I required a service call, Sub-Zero's service was fast and efficient. In both instances, the required repair was covered under warranty. I doubt you'd be happy with another refrigerator. Sub-Zero's dual compressor system really does make a difference, especially in the refrigerator compartment where the higher humidity level in a Sub-Zero keeps food, and especially produce, fresher much longer than in an ordiary fridge. You'll also find that the model 650 has a much larger freezer section than in your previous model, with much better accessibility. The pull-out drawer is a huge improvement. The idea of a counter-depth slide-in fridge sounds awful to me, especially the idea of leaving the old Sub-Zero grill above. It would look sloppy, unfinished and like you were skimping -- particularly if the edges of the cabinetry around the refrigerator opening aren't finished. Do yourself a favour and go for another Sub-Zero -- you'll be much happier. But if you're still tempted to look at another brand of built-in -- be sure to compare the warranties. Just my two cents. James

Francoise47 - I LOVE Tinker's kitchen. Drool! Those look so nice and simple yet elegant in her kitchen but yes I agree about cleaning them. I don't think I'm willing to do that. I also don't find blinds to be all that user-friendly. Things always seem to go wrong with me and blinds! CEFreeman - I don't see the Lowe's link (?) but I can google it now that I know the location, thanks! I think a valance would block too much light, but the strip of horizontal wall color just above the windows acts sort of like a valance-of-sorts actually! The paint color is Benjamin Moore's Fieldstone a.k.a. Fieldstone gray. Thanks! Lake Girl - thanks for the positive feedback and sorry I didn't see (or don't remember) an old link in which you asked about the tile. I wanted something that was white and cheerful though had a little bit of gray and tan in it so I could warm up the coldness of the stainless countertop (and so I could have both warm or cool colors in the kitchen in general). Hence, calacatta. It was a PITA (although at times sorta fun) and here's what I did: I bought 12" x 12" pieces of calacatta marble from a local stone and tile business. I then called around and found a good fabricator to hone and cut the tile into 2x6" pieces. THEN I pulled out all pieces that were either too dark or busy or too plain white (although I did throw in the occasional plain white piece here and there to keep the backsplash from being too busy looking) and then I had what was left installed! OY! Not quite as easy as stopping by Lowe's, eh?! :: Funny thing was, when the guy was done installing the tile, there was almost no pieces (of the good stuff) left! So it turns out that I ordered the exact right amount since wasting the other pieces couldn't be helped. I can no longer remember the grout color but if you google my name along with the name gardenweb and type in something about grout color, it might pop up. I'm not crazy about the light gray color and wish I'd gone with white but oh well. I don't dislike it that much. I wonder if I could sell the left over pieces. I don't think anyone else would want gaudy pieces either though - especially in those less common dimensions. Thank you!

I took annkh's idea of creating an L kitchen with island and ran with it. :) I completely missed how wide your kitchen area is earlier and how much wasted space you have by not using more of the area between window wall and fridge wall. So I added more wall to the office area to give you a longer range wall. Then I moved the fridge over to the window wall with the DW and sink next to it, creating a good work triangle. I moved some of your existing cabs to fill in the space left behind when I moved the fridge so you're still using them. And then I gave you a nice-sized island with room for 3 seats and lots of storage. You can even top it with butcher block, either all of it or just the end closest to the range. [Contemporary Kitchen[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/contemporary-kitchen-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_709~s_2103) by Rehoboth Beach Home Builders Echelon Custom Homes [Traditional Kitchen[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/traditional-kitchen-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_709~s_2107) by Louisville Kitchen & Bath Designers Kenneth Fromme [Traditional Kitchen[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/traditional-kitchen-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_709~s_2107) by Atlanta General Contractors Blake Shaw Homes, Inc This plan still leaves very generous aisles between island and run of existing cabinets and between island and W/D closet but you won't be running around the kitchen to make a meal nearly as much as you would with your proposed plan. btw, I had to guess on the length of the fridge/sink wall. Your drawings didn't include the whole length of the space, only measurements for portions of it. I did the best eyeballing of "hmm, it looks like it's about X long" and went from there. Ditto for how much room you gain by lengthening the office wall. Obviously, you'll need to double check my numbers. This is just to give you an idea of what is possible. Oh, I forgot to note that the MW is a MW drawer in the island across from the fridge run.

Nina, In most parts of Oklahoma the summer weather, particularly the heat but the sunshine as well, is brutally hard on raspberries, especially in the hotter and drier years. They'll do best in afternoon shade, and you're going to be growing them in afternoon sun, which is even more challenging. First, to address the zone 7 issue. Many plants that are said to be hardy in zone 7 may be cold hardy in zone 7 in some parts of the country---but zone 7 is not the same everywhere. All that being in zone 7 tells you is what the range of your average minimum temperatures is----so zone 7 in Oregon could be quite different from zone 7 in Oklahoma or Texas or Long Island, NY. Even though all those diverse areas have minimum low temperatures in the same range (0-10 degrees Fahrenheit), they have different climates overall. The zone maps commonly used are only reliable as a reference for cold hardiness, not hot hardiness. So, keep that in mind when choosing plants. In our climate, the AHS Heat Zone Map is a more reliable indicator of whether a given type of plant can thrive here, but even it is based on the plants being kept in moist soil at all times, which is incredibly hard to do in our heat, particularly in containers. Even letting a plant get too dry once can make it underperform compared to its AHS Heat Zone rating. Blackberries are more commonly grown in Oklahoma because they tolerate our erratic weather better than raspberry plants do. Often, with raspberries, a little warm spell in winter or late spring causes them to break dormancy and leaf out, and then when we have a return to colder spring weather, the new foliage and canes can indeed suffer freeze damage. That may be what happened with your plants. Since the damage isn't spreading, that's my best guess about what happened. If it were spreading and if you are in an area that has received plentiful spring rainfall, I'd be thinking it might be a fungal disease. Since it seems more likely that it is cold damage, you have two choices: you can go ahead and prune off the damaged canes since it is likely the scorched leaves aren't conducting photosynthesis and therefore aren't helping the plant, or you can wait a couple of weeks and see if the old leaves fall off and are replaced by new ones. With regard to the soil-less mix being well-draining, that may be an issue as well. In Oklahoma, it can be really hard to keep containerized plants moist enough in July's and August's extreme heat. In our hottest, driest summers I have had to water tomato plants grown in 10-20 gallon containers up to 4 times a day to keep the soil evenly moist. It is hard to keep plants moist on summer days when the high temperature exceeds 100-110 degrees, especially if that weather goes on for many weeks. I find it easiest to keep them on a drip irrigation system with a timer, but you still have to adjust your timer as the summer weather can fluctuate from flooding rains to no rain at all for long periods. I'll link the OSU Fact Sheet on Growing Blackberries and Raspberries in Oklahoma for you, but be advised it mostly is about how to grow blackberries since growing raspberries in our state is not recommended by OSU. Some people do grow raspberries here but it takes an extraordinary amount of effort and attention to detail, as well as some luck and cooperation from the weather, and raspberry production tends to be lower than blackberry production. Dawn Growing Blackberries & Raspberries In Oklahoma