Making your inset base cabinets 1"-1 1/2" deeper than standard depth will help a great deal with some of your integration issues. You will also want to make the uppers deeper than the standard 12" because a plate will not fit into an inset upper than is only 12" deep. Choosing deepr than normal cabinetry with inset should be "standard" with cabinet makers, but it often is a custom upcharge. Check with your cabinet maker about this before deciding to return any of your purchases---and encountering the restocking fees that will be levied.

We have been nothing but pleased with our Rubio coated floors. I am building a bedroom suite and seriously thinking about finishing it with Rubio when I came across this thread; and was a bit surprised by all the negative comments. I am neither a contractor nor a flooring professional, but finished the floors myself and found it was relatively simple and straightforward. Our floors have been in for over 5 years and look as good as the day they were finished. The floors are Owens Plankfloor engineered white oak (select and better rift and quarter sawn), which I highly recommend. We really liked the color of the natural white oak and did many blends of samples to try and keep the color as close to natural as we could. We finally went with ½ natural and ½ 5% white. We are doing a whole house remodel and not knowing exactly what we were going to do in the kitchen but tired of walking on concrete, we laid the rest of the house and left the kitchen floor unfinished. The kitchen was finished and subsequent flooring laid approximately a year ago (4 years after the original floor). Additionally we took out a fireplace and hearth in a living room and weaved in new flooring approximately 3 years after the original floor. In both cases the new flooring was coated with Rubio and blended perfectly. Had these floors been finished traditionally, it would have been very difficult to match finishes. The attached picture shows the transition from old to new (basically from the refrigerator back into the kitchen. We mop with Rubio Soap once a month or so and realize we may have to recoat at some point, but really like the matte finish. We don’t have children in the house but do have a small dog and 2 2-year old grandkids. <>YF

Shopping for an under counter Icemaker 15" wide. We have a beverage center area in house plans which calls for an ice maker. Great! Didn't know it would be such a hassle. My first search, I thought I wanted a model with a drain pump because that seemed better than just gravity. I'm not sure what else a drain pump does for you. 1) If the drain is beneath the unit, is the gravity drain sufficient? It seems less expensive AND I also read in an install manual that homes with a Reverse Osmosis system should only use a gravity drain. I'm not real clear why. 2) I can understand an undercounter RO system not providing enough water psi but a whole house system shouldn't have a psi issue so why would a gravity drain or drain pump make a difference? 3) There are many noisy unit complaints and I wondered if it was the drain pumps making all the noise. Since we have a drain underneath the location of the icemaker, it seems the gravity drain would work fine. Am I missing something? For you icemaker owners: Is it the drain pumps making some/most of the noise? 4) I've heard that only the very very expensive brands actually have a cooling feature, therefore, most units make the ice and the cabinet is basically a Styrofoam cooler wrapped in plastic/metal. This means, if you don't use the ice, it will eventually melt especially if the door is frequently opened. Is there a drain hole in the bottom of the bin that continually drains the melted water down the drain or will I end up with a bin full of cubes melted into a clump with fresh cubes landing on top? 5) Is there anyway to slow ice production down? In other words, I'm sure we won't use 50 lbs a day, probably less than 20 unless entertaining and somedays even less, seems wasteful to make it constantly and let it melt away?? Is there a model that can be turned off for a week at a time but be restarted without issues? My ideal model: filter unnecessary as whole house RO system in place, not particular in shape of ice clear or not, prefer not to have it too noisy the wall backs to the family room, want to be able to have ice on the ready but would rather not be tossing ice because we don't use what it can produces or the ice gets stale or melts, built in or freestanding-no preference, unless further educated it seems a gravity drain is fine. Recommendations?

My island is 4 x 9 and it's a centerpiece of the kitchen. I have a large sink (the only one in the kitchen) in it, and the range is pretty much across on the counter run. I have 4 ft of counter to the left of the sink (prep zone), and 2 ft of counter to the right (cleanup zone). Pretty much all prep happens to the left of the sink, counter space around the range is just landing space or quick staging. Here's my kitchen: https://www.gardenweb.com/discussions/5405111/four-years-and-two-babies-laterthe-kitchen-is-finally-almost-ready#22641193 I think you will find the utility of your kitchen reduced if there is no water source on your main prep space. I've heard people advocate passionately for a "large, open prep space" but I haven't yet found a way to prep without water, and it seems like a hassle to have to constantly cross the aisle to wash, to prep, and to move to the range. Try to re-enact your typical meal prep sequence and see what you think. We had no problem finding a 9+ ft long slab. I will say that islands wider than 4 ft seem like a hassle to clean. I am nearly six feet tall, and I don't really clean but on occasions that I do, I can't reach to the other end of the island, and it's a pain to have to walk around it to clean it.