About pests with rasping/sucking mouth parts. I have 4.95 lbs of Marathon, which is a granular product that makes the insecticide imidacloprid systemically available via the root pathway - essentially the same product linked to a couple of posts upthread. I won't use it again because of the negative impact on root health I've witnessed when using the granular vehicle. A better and faster acting product (still employs imidacloprid as the active insecticide) is Bayer Advanced 3-In-1 Insect, Disease, and Mite Control. Used topically (outdoors) in the early morning and left in the shade for a day, it's absorbed into the plant much faster than soil drenches and granular products that use the root pathway. It also contains a very effective systemic fungicide (tebuconazole) that works efficaciously on most varieties of fungaluglies. If you're concerned about bees, don't apply to blooming plants. There is nothing wrong (from the plant's perspective) with using imidacloprid that's delivered via the root pathway; however, I've found the 1.47% liquid soil drench used for trees and shrubs, diluted to 1 teaspoon in a qt/liter of water to be far superior to any granular product I've used, for reasons mentioned. Soil drench. Al

I was suggesting it be put inside the upper cabinet - not between the cabinet and the counter. So outlets and tile are safe. As long as shelves are adjustable, the cabinetmaker should be able to do this. You could use copper piping like I did. They are small = thin, so soft. Lowe's also sells small wooden dowels that will fit inside the copper tubing... BUT the dowels MUST be put inside the copper BEFORE the copper is cut. I have a double plate rack - dinner plate above, salad below. The chicken wire on the doors doesn't show up well in this picture. I hit/went over it with dark glaze dipped in a sponge brush to knock down the silver/shiny finish. If you don't want to do a skirt under the sink, or if the plate rack proves to be impossible, you could always replace the glass with chicken wire. Leave as is, or put fabric behind. If you decide not to remove the cabinet over fridge, you could remove the center panels from those doors and add fabric and/or chicken wire. Fabric to hide storage, or chicken wire only for display. You can see my hood in the link. My HVAC guy measured and cut the copper. You can see the edges/corners have a piece that bent - they do that on a crimping machine they have to make duct work. He brought - but I did not use - a small (about 1") copper piece to go straight down the front/center. I left it off, wasn't needed to hide a seam. So I know they can cut and crimp a piece or pieces to go over your entire hood, or fit inbetween the raised wooden pieces. That said, I haven't seen your wood hood in person, I'm going on a wood hood I had similar to yours in our last house that I could have fit copper between. Here is a link that might be useful: my kitchen

Love them all but the pretty blue one look fabulous in my living room. I've got to get my creative juices flowing so I can add to these KT give aways. They are always so much fun. Anne

Ladder step stool in the kick I agree the stepping is an artificial design choice too much. I'd just do all 18" deep wall cabinets. Move the micro to the left end use the shelf the height of the micro right for the toaster shelf. Use two large pull out draws where you show the doors (top with bread boxes bottom for tupper wear) and next to it two slim Silverware draws and a bottom larger to match those on there left. In this way you have a 2nd work triangle for sandwiches. I call this the short order triangle and set up the use of a smaller island salad sink on the opposite side. If you have that pictured in your mind here the clincher. Flip the whole wall refrigerator is on the far left where it has full access to the main work triangle. I always try to do the double work triangles in larger kitchens. A nice touch is to put the toaster on a pull out shelf for loading and to not over heat the above cabinets.