I have no issue with the quality. If there is any problem, it is easily fixed. And they are the type of people who will fix it. They want you to love your kitchen. Also, let's say you want to modify something in the cabinet so you can fit an odd sized cutting board somewhere (for example)--DW will do it. Their attitude has always been "that shouldn't be a problem" and they do it. I have a stages sink. They were able to make my cabinets so that I didn't have to have a full sink base under the sink. The sink base part is just under the bowl, and there is a set of drawers (top one being shallow) under the drainboard part. That is not something that you will get from someone else. They took my sink and made it work. Perhaps your GC should speak with Jason and maybe he will understand that this isn't some guy making cabinets in his basement. (and thanks for the nice words about my kitchen)

Buehl, thank you so much for doing that alternate layout for me. It really helps to see it. I actually really like the way it looks (although I might move the wine tower to the south wall or ditch it). It allows the less attractive range and ovens to be out of the direct sightline and lets me have the back wall full of tall cabinets and appliances like in my first design. The funny thing is, as much as I like it aesthetically, it might not work as well for us. I expect the aisle between the north wall and the island will be a prime traffic area, especially if kids and guests have to walk to the far east end of the kitchen, past the range, to get drinks from the fridge. The east wall is probably a more protected spot for cooking at the range, and keeping the ovens in the southeast corner means they will not open into the middle of a major traffic path. Cheril27, my preference is to stand on the north side of the island while prepping, so I am facing south, but can easily look west into the other room. The sink may actually force me to work on the south side of the island where there is a longer, unbroken expanse of counter. I know GWers really like prep sinks, and I can see it being useful occasionally, but I also see it being in my way a lot, which is why I wanted to tuck it into a corner. I'm not sure I understand what you mean by moving the sink to the middle of the island. Do you mean moving it further down the north side, like where I show the trash pullout or drawers, or move it the center of the shorter east end? I figured having the prep sink on the south side of the island across from the big sink would be pointless, since the 2 sinks would not be very spaced out then. I do occasionally look for Gagg ovens on ebay. I noticed several GWers comment in other posts that the Gagg warranties do not start until install, but MIL was told by the person who handles sales of BSH appliances to employees that the warranties for Gagg, Thermador and Bosch start running when they are delivered to us, even if they sit in the garage for 5 months waiting to be installed. Thanks for reminding me about the 18" wine towers. I originally wanted one to the far right of the sink, since it would be very convenient to the dining room, but DH hates the idea of a 24" deep tall appliance in that spot. If he is standing at the clean-up sink, he does not want a "big, hulking thing" right next to him and blocking the view into the next room (never mind that there is a support wall there anyway). Sandn, what kind of prep sink do you have and where did you buy it? Breezygirl, I appreciate the feedback because it makes me think. Right now, I cook a few meals on weekends, and re-heat leftovers or take out on work nights. We do want to start cooking more though. It is funny to me how many times I have been told the prep spaces in my various plans are small, because to us, they are huge compared to what we have worked with the past decade. I do want to get things right with this kitchen though, as I hope we are in this house for many, many years. DH is so upset with me that I can't just pick one of the many design possibilities we have discussed and just stick with it. He tells me it will never be perfect (because I can't fit what I really want in our space) and I should just be happy with 85% perfect and move on with my life. We have always made whatever kitchen we have work, so he doesn't get why I am stressing over the best possible layout (despite the large amount of $ it will cost and the fact that we plan to live here for 20+ years). DH is really pressuring me to go with the revised design I posted yesterday and not make any more changes, even little ones that don't affect our appliance order like swapping the DW position. He is getting very upset with me for re-visiting design decisions that he considers have already been made. He thinks I am flooding our unborn child with negative stress hormones because of this remodel and agonizing over decisions. He said this morning we should either go with the design I already have (no more changes) or put a complete moratorium on kitchen design (i.e., I can't shop, discuss, or even think about (LOL) the kitchen) for at least 5 months. Of course, if we delay, we lose the 40% discount on appliances. Like I am not stressed out enough without ultimatums. The kitchen design started out as a fun research project and has just become a miserable task. The custom cabinet guy called me yesterday afternoon to see if he could pick up some magazine pictures I had mentioned and to see if I have made any decisions. At the time, I was feeling pretty good about my design (with the changes to the island) so I agreed to meet with him today (in about 1 hour). He will give me 3-D color renderings of my design and a quote for the cabinetry. If I keep making changes, he will also think I am nuts. The last kitchen design we did with him was much easier. It was a smaller kitchen with a decent layout, so we decided not to move the appliances more than a few inches to save costs. I did one sketch of the cabinets showing exactly how wide and tall I wanted everything, and that was it. Having a blank slate is so much harder.

I agree with Chisue. We have over-educated under skilled people applying for work. College has been dumbed down so everyone can go. It's just doing time for many. Some don't even know why they are there. It's just expected. DH is in the machine trade. His experience has been that those who hire have no experience in the field, could not tell you the first thing what a model maker, a tool and die maker or a CNC operator does but they are the ones who decide. Because they are book smart and industry dumb they hire by how much paper knowledge you can present on your resume. DS is in computer tech. He went to a technology magnet in high school. Quickly became disillusioned. I kid you not when I say the same teacher who was failing him for not turning in lab note would call him at home at night for assistance with his PC. LOL In college he found that once again the teachers had little knowledge of what they were supposed to be teaching. This is a kid who was writing code for "fun" with his friends from his teens. His friends were all a decade or so older than him. He was on the team that designed the first autonomous robot for robot wars before most people had even heard of robot wars. He went to DefCon every year and was part of one of the teams the FBI was most interested in learning from. Tried college and got bored with the same crap he encountered in high school. My point is that if you want someone who knows their stuff in technology you have to look outside the box. The best computer people are not always those with a Computer Science or Software Engineering degree. Many of them just went into it for the money they were "promised". Some don't have the skills to solve the most basic problem because thy have been book taught and lack critical thinking skills. You want the ones who do it because it's what they do because they love it. DS does plan to go back someday and get a degree. But today he is wise enough to know he should get it for himself. Last time I talked to him he said he might major in history. Steve Jobs, the Woz and their friends in the Homebrew Club didn't build that first PC in the garage because they went to Stanford or Berkeley. They did it because they were intelligent innovators who loved their "hobby".

My kitchen designer (a Wood-mode dealer) also told us that its best to buy storage fittings after market from Hafele or Revashelf. You can also buy custom drawer insets in maple or lexan on the internet. That proved to be good advice for us. I bought custom maple insets for a few drawers such as flatware and utensils and lexan for others. We chose her because we liked her contemporary designs and attention to detail but she is definitely was not an organization expert. Her approach was to maximize drawers and design the cabinets to be flexible. If you want someone to measure every item you have and design a place for it I'd suggest you do that yourself (or pay someone to specifically do that). That's not going to be covered in a standard design fee. Just curious why you chose Wood-mode? Brookhaven is their semi-custom line. Finishes are shared so you can buy Brookhaven and then upgrade only the pieces you need to custom. Do you have a unique design or specialty finish that drove you to Wood-mode? Just about everything on the Wood-mode website is very custom (well beyond a $30K budget). How much is the hefty deposit? Design fees usually range from $0 to $2000 applied to an order. Have you signed off on the design yet and has the order been placed? I agree you aren't off to a good start. To be honest if the cabinet order hasn't been placed yet I'd talk to the designer about parting ways even if it means you lose the design fee. The designer may be willing to give you some if not all of the deposit back. My guess is they feel the same sense of uncertainty about the relationship that you feel.