wow vicnsb - your kitchen looks wonderful!! last time I ran across photos of it was when the cabinets were being stained/painted. Nice job. You must love being in there!! To all the other "small" kitchen owners, I don't know about you guys, but I never really considered my kitchen "small" until I started seeing all the ones here! My kitchen has never been an "eat-in" or had the room for an island or peninsula, but for a 1600 sq ft ranch, it seemed to be a very normal size :) Both my sisters and my mom have large, open, eat in kitchens with double the amount of cabinets and counterspace than I have, but their houses are all two story 3000+ sq ft, so you get that. Even though I am the one who loves to cook most in our extended family, I have never envied them the size. Small kitchens can work SO efficiently when you have the right set-up. charlikin and all others who live on the East Coast - I lived upstairs in a 2 family before moving here and I had a neat kitchen there. Built-in china cabinet with glass doors and huge drawers in my kitchen. Beautiful, beautiful door and moldings everywhere. My refrigerator was actually in the butlers pantry........ but ohhhhh, the shelves, counter space, deep cabinets with ice box latches and beadboard wainscotting. Man, I wish I had a picture of it. It was never "updated" except for fresh paint and it was to die for. I MISS that pantry......

Tile, Here's a suggestion for a layout. What I've tried to accomplish: * an open, airy feeling created by storage mostly below the waist and avoiding bulky items around windows/doors/openings * sink and island prep areas allow window views * friendly seating area provided by 15" countertop overhang * min. 36" clearances (OK according to Sarah Richardson kitchen designer) * use mostly drawers - the IKEA ones are super practical for almost everything * replace the corner unit with the 37x37 one, which is generally considered more functional, especially if you put in 32" super susans (mine holds all my pots *and* small appliances) * suggest a smaller, cuter fridge that is more appropriate to the scale of your kitchen - the layout below shows the 28" wide IKEA one, or you could use this adorable model: e.g. Northstar Model 1950 in buttercup (29.5" wide) * put microwave on a shelf below the counter in the island * I would not clutter up your walls with upper cabinets - minimal open shelving for decorative and frequently used items cabinets below are: 1=37" corner, 2=18" drawers, 3=30" sink, 4=edited-dishwasher, 5=24" wide+12" deep, 6=18" wide+12" deep, 7=24" drawers, 8=36" wide - put microwave here, 9=18" drawers This post was edited by feisty68 on Thu, Apr 10, 14 at 14:41

Yes, the air circulation requirements are fine. No longer have the option of using a trim kit (unless I put it in base cabinets elsewhere, which would be even more inconvenient with all the bending) as the depth of this unit would have to be increased from 18" to 21" to accommodate that sort of microwave, which would eat into precious galley kitchen aisle space, so this is the only option at the moment. I'm thinking of making the corresponding area on the other side a drawer (not sure if that's possible at that height) as then I can get past the design issue of one section having a single lift-up door, and the other having two doors.

Different people have different needs. As I outlined in my posts a 48" all gas w/ 4 burners and 24" griddle/flattop serves us well 98% of the time and then the countertop induction hobs add some additional versatility/capability. I talked w/ Scotsman and they said cutting the power is fine. It's not ideal but given Scotsman's lack of a timer it is what it is. Ideally every icemaker should have the ability to set a programmed on and off time along with an overide for entertaining. If a $20 coffee maker can do that an icemaker certainly can. An 8 hr pause is better than nothing but still very limiting - we do a 20 hr pause most days. I would NOT put any range in the island - unless you live on an island (and so have lots of windows open at all times) or are OK with a really big hood. https://bamasotan.us/range-exhaust-hood-faq/ If you want a griddle/flattop (and I do recommend them) then stick with gas. Consumer level induction and electric perform quite poorly. And if you like to cook or want to expand your abilities then you'll want gas burners. Induction works well for a lot of people and perhaps most people but there's a reason restaurants still use gas. Consider doing a pass-thru between your pantry/scullery/prep and kitchen (good idea on using that as back prep or scullery). Counter level so things can be slid thru. Pocket door (about 12x12 or 12x18). You could also include a fixed window or two between the two.