OliverTwist, Rinse aid is not a new thing to the automatic dishwashing process. It has been available for 50+ years. It was touted in the past as an optional additive to eliminate water spotting on dishware, but the parameters have changed. As other have advised, rinse aid is required for proper drying results in all dishwashers nowadays. They're engineered with the expectation that the consumer will use rinse aid. You can choose to not use it but the trade-off is much more residual moisture on the items. Many units now do not have heated dry, instead relying on heat retained in the items from the final rinse along with rinse aid to promote evaporation. Units that do have heated dry are running with lower-wattage heating elements, and the heat may cycle on/off during the dry period instead of remaining on continuously as in the past.

Also, with regards to enzymes-containing DW detergents; don't rinse your dishes prior to loading in the DW, just scrape them. The enzymes "feed" on the gunk on your dishes. If the dishes are too "clean," there's nothing on which to feed, and the enzymes can (and apparently will) build up on the walls of the DW, causing a fishy or other foul odor. We've used both CC and Miele tabs in our Miele Optima. FWIW, the DW smells just a bit fresher after running it when we use the tabs vs. CC powder.

Carol - We were going to get the ones from Crate & Barrell, and the night before I was to place the order, DH managed to break a tooth completely in half. Guess where my dishes budget went? The only porcelain we bought that year was his crown! Then all heck broke loose and dishes were forgotten about for a while. Right before we moved here, I said, "I am NOT moving these heavy, ugly dishes again. Let's just bite the bullet and get new ones." He agreed. We had decided on the Tyler Florence-designed ones from Mikasa. Then he said, "Wait until after the move to order them. No point shipping them here, then moving them across the country." First day I was here, MIL said, "Oh, I remember you said you liked my dishes, so I'm leaving them with you. They were a wedding present from FIL's mother." Soooo... Ah well, At least I do like them. And it IS service for 12 with every serving piece you can imagine. So, no big deal. At least I got rid of the ones I hated. LOL! Compumom, yes, COrelle will shatter. But it takes a LOT to make that happen. You almost have to fling it to the tile floor edge-first.

I like a lot of things about your plan and think this could be a nice kitchen to work in, and it's certainly lovely to look at. I especially like how you are separating your work zones. But I do have a couple concerns. I hope you don't mind some questions. First, how wide are your aisles? Aisles for a single-worker kitchen should be a minimum of 42". For multi-worker kitchens, a minimum of 48". Per NKBA guidelines. Second, it looks like your prep sink is right up close to the end of the island. You will want at least 15" as a landing space to place items from the fridge before you wash them. I would want at least 18"-21" myself but I believe the minimum NKBA recommendation might be 15", although I could be remembering that one wrong. It is a lot more convenient to have a place for items to be washed grouped together, then wash, then move all washed items to prep area. You could take items you normally cook out of the fridge and place them on the counter to get an idea of how much space works for you. Remember to allow a little extra space so items don't roll off. Third, how deep is your prep island? It looks like about 26", give or take a tad bit, depending on your overhangs. It is usually recommended that islands and peninsulas be 30" deep because you don't have the wall behind to keep things from falling off the back side. A narrower island can work but be aware that the last couple inches on the back are most unusable for prepping in order to have a buffer for items to not roll off the back. Just something you might want to think about. Fourth, drawers. You don't have very many. One of the few things we all seem to agree on here is that people should have drawers in their bottoms, not cabinets. Drawers hold so much more, are so much easier to access, no more crawling on your knees to reach in the back, and just plain easier to use. People are storing plates, bowls, glassware, pots/pans and their lids, casseroles, spices/seasonings, oils and sauces (in deeper drawers), and all sorts of other items and find that it is just really much more pleasant to work in a kitchen with lots of drawers. It's certainly something to consider. People find they can store more in drawers than in cabinets (this includes cabinets with roll-out shelves). Fifth, you have a lot of uppers around your cooktop which makes that area feel a bit crowded, imho. Most people like less uppers around their cooktop so it feels more spacious. And I read a lot of complaints about angled-corner upper cabinets as they become a bit of a black hole and it's hard to access and find everything. You might just want to consider making those uppers a straight run back to the wall. Now, onto your question about the pantry. You could certainly just have normal uppers/lowers with counter space to the right of the sink. You could then keep your dishes in lower drawers to the right of the DW and have your blender on that counter. You could have an appliance garage there to hide the blender when not in use, if you prefer. This could also be a good place for a coffee/tea center and a place for microwave to heat things from the fridge/freezer. My question would be: where would you keep your food without the pantry? Do you have ample spaces planned for food so you don't need all that cabinet area for food? If not, I would put drawers to the left of the clean-up sink and store dishes there. Or do you have other intentions for the storage to the left of the sink? So, really, this comes down to what you have to store, where do you plan to store it, and how much space can you give up for food storage? It's hard to give you a definitive answer without that information. And it's extremely hard for you to decide unless you have spent some time planning your storage needs. You really need to spend some time on that before answering this question. When planning for storage, you want your storage planned for your different zones with use-in-place storage for all your regularly used items. Items not used regularly can be stored outside this area, if necessary. Your cooking zone should hold all your pots/pans/lids, cooking tools, seasonings, sauces, oils, and any gadgets you normally use while at your cooktop like hot pads, tongs, yada yada. Next to the ovens would be a good place to store your casseroles, roasting pans, etc. For convenience, things that are used at both cooktop and stove should be stored between the two for easy access. Your prepping zone should have storage for knives, bowls, colanders, and other gadgets used while prepping. Possibly a salad spinner? And if you plan to use the prep area for baking, you will want your baking supplies in that area as well. Clean-up zone should have everything used for clean-up and be the place where you store your daily items for eating (plates, bowls, glasses, eating utensils, serving utensils, serving bowls, etc.). I hope this gives you some things to think about so you can plan your kitchen to work well for you. Please come back with further questions.