Maggie, maybe she and I have stoves made of different material; I've tried what she suggested. I've also tried virtually every solution known to humankind... Nothing works. Especially vis a vis the rapid accumulation of crumbs et al. I suspect that happens with wry stove -- it's simply that black tends to show EVERYTHING. I've even considered painting it, with a Giani-type system. I used their stainless steel paint system on my dishwasher and on the oven hood with great success; the reason I didn't try it with the stove top had more to do with numerous reviews noting the rapid deterioration of the paint around the burners. Naturally, that's to be expected -- high heat and constant use with the dragging of pots and pans would result in a far less pristine surface that the dishwasher, which has remained perfect. I figured, why bother, it'll only need re-doing every 6 months... But now, having tolerated this black stovetop's weaknesses, I'm leaning closer and closer to painting it anyway and just DEALING with the need to repaint...

Green Designs came up with a great plan, as usual. It's very similar to my new kitchen. The aisle between my 9' island with prep sink and the rangetop wall is about 42" counter to counter. Its perfect. I've had much larger aisles and hated them. In fact, that's one of the reasons I reno'd my old kitchen. I'm the sole cook in my kitchen 99% of the time, and I would never, ever, ever give up my prep sink. Ever. I love having a large prep zone with a dedicated water source that I don't have to share with the cleanup zone. I'm usually the one who does the dishes too, but when DH occasionally does that when I'm cooking, he can do it out of my way. This kitchen is my first experience with separate prep and cleanup sinks, but it has changed my cooking habits and way of looking at things in the kitchen. You will not use the sink on the perimeter to prep the way you laid out the space. It's not convenient for daily prep. It is a great place for a cleanup sink. Being over on the side like that, your dirty dishes won't show much. Mine don't. Between the giant single basin cleanup sink and the perimeter location, the few dirty dishes waiting on the counter for the DW don't both my OCDness very much. And as you can see, my kitchen is open or at least semi-open to all the other rooms in the house and to the front door. I much prefer an island being all one height rather than bi-level. Your first inspiration pic island is one height. At one level, you can spread out for large baking/cooking projects and for school, sewing or crafting projects. A large kitchen doesn't have to have wasted space. It just needs to be laid out correctly so you have the right amount of space in the right zones. I agree with everything Holly said. I think you could have a great kitchen here!

premier, the window isn't as small as it looks in the photo I posted. Not really an expert at taking digital photos. budge1, looks like someone found your example - and I like it. I am looking on the interet to find some material I like. Not that I need a sewing project now, but chances of finding the colors I want already made is probably very slim. I think a lot of little things wouldn't be good either - either just one teal or aqua clock or a valance. dekr8 - are those your curtains? Did you make them or do they come already made up? If you made them, did you use a pattern? I really like that idea. I can almost picture some brown and aqua valance hanging from those pegs - I like the use of pegs - different than most valances. The first material, (link posted below) edged in brown would look great on my window I think. DH and I love aqua too. We once went to look at a boat and when we walked up and saw the interior was aqua, we just looked at one another and knew we were going to buy it. This is the first time we have used it in our decorating. Well except maybe years ago when the southwest type colors were in. retro cotton fabric, scroll down for photo vintage hip chocolate and brown Thanks for everyone's help. I have never bought anything on ebay before, I might try on that first fabric and see how it goes - I have 5 hours to think about it or I could just order one yard - since it is 54 inches wide that is probably all I would need - or I could get two yards and do a couple of pillows for the family room sofa or a table runner for my dark table. Would too much coordination with the same material be too hokey?

Sorry, folks. I didn't scroll down far enough in my google search. I found this thread with links from gardenweb last year. http://ths.gardenweb.com/discussions/2439307/full-counter-depth-sinks-brands Thanks!