Afr66,cpovey, bluekitobsessed, live wire oak, emagineer, palmalou, antiquesilver: Thanks for the help. Re (1), my effort to get a standard-depth refrigerator to look built in: It's clear that when I first asked the question, I didn't go into enough detail. So: I don't have the problem of getting the refrigerator to be flush with cabinets, because I am not going to have any cabinets on that wall. But I do need the refrigerator to very much look built in to the fake wall we plan to build, because this is hopefully going to be a very modern minimalist kitchen, i.e very stripped down. (I find it very odd that the most minimalist kitchens, Minotti and Bulthaup, are so expensive: It seems to me that so far as money is concerned, less ought to be less.) And meanwhile, afr66, yes those built-in suckers are way too expensive. I am going with your third alternative, having the refrigerator cabinet -- in my case, wall -- built to fully enclose the fridge, but you said that it will not be as perfect as a true built-in. Is that only because the cabinet doesn't extend beyond the case of the refrigerator, or are there other differences too? Cpovey, you wrote "The good news is that you don't need a lot of room to vent-generally one inch on all sides is sufficient," and, antiquesilver, you pretty much said the same thing: Did you both mean I have to leave a one-inch gap between the fake wall and the refrigerator on both sides and the top of the refrigerator? I am having trouble visualizing, but what I come up with doesn't look so attractive. Would it work to position the refrigerator out an inch or two from the real wall, to provide venting space, and build the fake wall edges to be flush with the top and sides of the case of the refrigerator? Bluekitobsessed: It looks as if the solution you wrote about is the same one I am working towards, but I couldn't find the relevant threads in the kitchen forum. Can you perhaps remember any parts of the subject lines so I can search? Re (2), the finger print problem: Live wire oak, I had no idea that those models were made out of fake stainless; thanks for the info. And live wire oak and emagineer: How often do you wipe down your refrigerators? I ask because I am a lazy slob and might be less willing to work at keeping the refrigerator presentable than you are. Palomalou: So Electrolux Icon may be the only SS fridge with a smudge-proof finish. Antiquesilver: Thanks for preparing me with regard to the length of the cord. And I'm curious: Are you doing a silver kitchen or do you collect silver? Sorry to be such a pest, Observer1 .

Squirrel, thanks for the compliments! We have not progressed in the DR much other than properly framing out the archway to the LR and adding another archway to the staircase. Not typical, but it lets so much light in and also allows a view of the fireplace (formerly in the LR, now the foyer). I work at RH now, and might get one of the lanterns there but really like one from PB so that may be my next job! I do love the RH chairs though, an investment for sure. The table will be the last thing since ours works just fine and is long, just too airy for the room. I might try to deepen the maple with a get stain if we do go for the chairs. My concerns with the DR were mostly due to that rug, which I love but if you recall had really rich golds, ambers and reds. Works great with my house, but as a good friend of mine says, sometimes with these old homes you need to let them breathe, which to me means using a lighter rug like sisal or seagrass and doing the walls gray, and using window treatments sparingly. So we'll see. For now we still have the wallpaper and the rug. Heavy! I did get lots of different opinions about the tower and I'm still not sure I made the right choice, but I stuck with it full height, just made it narrower by 3 inches and made it only 6 inches deep. Considering mirrored doors if they won't (further) break the bank!

We have a center tower on our 8' double sink vanity and really like it. Since you have a 10' wide space having 2 towers on either end would be nice. These are the things I learned when designing it: - Make it shallower than 12". I found that if the tower is deep, it will look like someone plunked a kitchen cabinet on your counter. Mine is 9" deep x 20" wide. - Make sure there is plenty of elbow room around the sinks. With a 10' wide space you'll have plenty. - Since you have 10' of space, if you wanted a center tower, you could design your tower to be on the shallow side, but a bit wider then you typically see in pictures. That way it won't protrude as much, but you will still get plenty of storage inside. If it's wide, you could have 2 doors. They can be hinged in the middle if you want, that way each person can open it and it will be open to their side. If doing side towers, still make them shallower than the typical 12", and have the hinges on the outside so the door opens the right way for each person. - Design your tower for your needs: if you want exposed storage, leave things open or have glass. If you want closed storage use doors. We have doors and glass at the top. - If using glass or open areas in your tower, consider putting in lighting - Put adjustable shelves inside because the items you want to store may change in height over the years. - Put electrical in your tower. We charge our electric toothbrushes in the tower. If you design your tower to be wide, you could put 2 outlets for toothbrushes, razer, etc. - For more electrical on the outside, you can put a dummy panel at the bottom and put electrical on the outside, low down on the tower and turn the outlets sideway. You may prefer your electrical to go in your side walls or somewhere else. For us, it's in the tower. If you are doing side towers, your electrical could easily go in the bottom on the outside of each tower. - figure out where you are going to hang your hand towels before you finalize your design. Could go on the sides of the towers, on the side walls, on a towel holder, etc. Just make sure to decide before you pull the trigger. - If possible, find a way to "tie" it to the ceiling. What I mean is, don't leave it open and unattached at the top. In one of the photos above, it is tied to the ceiling through a dummy panel and then lots of molding at the top. Tie this into the crown molding of the room. Sometimes you see a picture where the person did a fur-down or bulk-head to tie it to the ceiling and then they can put small LED lights in there. Both of those look better than leaving it open at the top IMO, but of course that's a personal preferences and either solution works. - Protect the bottoms of you towers: I saw this picture on HOUZZ as I was designing mine: I replicated this in my bathroom. Just have your fabricator make a piece of your countertop material using the same edge profile as on your counter. That goes down on your counter and the tower is installed on top. This will protect the wood of your tower from any spills. Over the years, small spills and dribbles can add up to damage. P.S. In the picture above, I like how the middle of the vanity bumps out in front of the tower. We weren't able to do this in our bathroom, but I think it looks really nice. - Have your drawers line up with your towers. Like in the picture above, have vanity drawers that are the same width as your tower. That'll work with 2 side towers also. I love towers if there is sufficient room, which you certainly have with 10'. Good luck with your project!

Check the manufacturer's instructions to make sure there are no clearance requirements (I can't think of why there would be on the sides, though). If you can open to 90 degrees, that is plenty for loading and unloading. I'm not familiar with this product, but assume the washer is a front loader so little risk of unbalanced loads causing it to shake? Would only suggest a bit of protection for the wall if it were a top loader (like some foam board between machine and wall.)