We have had our Artisan and Pro. 600 KA mixers for many, many years. The attachments we have are the pasta roller/cutter, grinder, sausage stuffer and one more that escapes my memory at the moment.lol As we love to bake and the majority of food we make from scratch these mixers get a real workout. For rolling out sheets of dough the pasta attachment is fantastic. So happy we purchased it. Consistent thickness every time, doesn't get bogged down, clean up is easy. We make our own sausages and hamburger mix so we are always using the food grinder. Another attachment that gives us no problems. It comes apart for easy cleaning in the DW. We used the sausage stuffer frequently until husband wanted a bigger stuffer, so now it is regulated to the back of the pantry. But it too did its' job very well. Those are ones I can recommend to you. But it depends on how you personally cook and bake that will determend what you purchase. Seeing the food processor on TV that is one attachment I would pass on. For one thing the size is way small. Another, the constant pushing down on the food feed tube makes me wonder if it will damage the attachment bolt. I would just get a separate Cuisinart food processor. Even one of their mini choppers would be better then the attachment I believe. The other attachments you mentioned, sorry no help there. We have a jack lalane juicer that someone gave us for a gift, love it. Works well and cleans up in the DW. We have an ice cream maker but very seldom use it. Purchased a Vitamix a few years ago and that stays out in the kitchen. Use it all the time. Of course we have the storage room for all these small appliances. We have a pantry with many shelves. That also has to figure in on your purchases. Storage! HTH, and enjoy your KA mixer. NancyLouise

We did our whole basement a few months back in luxury vinyl tile (that's the lvt above :) ) and just love it. I think it's a no-brainer if you have dogs that will scratch up hardwood or need waterproofing (we put it through our laundry area and mudroom). On a main floor, I'd still do hardwood, because all of the other options feel fake underfoot (barefoot). But if that's not an option, the lvt is warm, soft, and has some awesome looks these days. I really think it's going to completely replace laminate pretty quickly.

I want the fridge at that end because of the various points from which it will be accessed, and I want that short end of the L because I like to have somewhere to put the dishes (that isn't the counter-space of the rest of the kitchen) before I load them into the dishwasher and wash the big ones. You might not bother with it, and you probably understand your priorities in your kitchen pretty well. Please know that I also understand mine. So that is why the stove is between the fridge and the sink. I think it will be okay. Our KD thinks it will be okay. Like I said, I'm happy with the layout. We've thought it through six ways to Sunday for about six months, and have had the input of two kitchen designers. At this point, I'm trying to place the window within this floor plan. I get that some people are like, "Oh, such-and-such element of the floor plan violates this idea that I have, and in my mind that is a huge priority." However, the two professionals I've worked with have openly acknowledged the need for compromises and the way the kitchen will be used as determiners. I think using a smaller sink cabinet keeps the sink out of the corner, and we have absolutely considered layouts that were all along the wall with no L. We decided we wanted that big area next to the sink. We just need to know how to handle that small extra space. Kill it? Try to make a little slide-in pan cabinet? (The KD said it was really too small for that.) We were going to make those counters narrower and shallower, but I really want that space for when there are two of us in there. I'm curious about options for window size and placement on that wall. If the sink isn't to be used for alignment, what should be? The space on the wall minus the clearance necessary for the stove?

We have gone back and forth on this as well- we are doing a major dining, living, kitchen remodel. We have decided to go with a beautiful wide plank engineered hardwood (French oak) from Bella cera called “Monza” bivio. It’s just light and natural and I think will look beautiful with our white cabinets. It’s a wire brushed engineered hardwood which I like more than the rustic hand scraped ones. It was very affordable at less than $4/SF. We have had a few people try to discourage real wood in the kitchen but my parents have had knotty pine floors for 30 year and they’ve held up fairly well and have been refinished twice. The only thing with engineered wood is the top layer is fairly thin with plywood underneath, so you can’t really refinish them but most wont need to be since they have a 25-50 yr residential warranty. I chose one that had some knots and grains and looked like it’d be forgiving. Some of the new lvt is more expensive but really pretty, I can just tell it’s not real wood and it feels a little plasticky and I just like natural materials. My friend has it in her yoga studio and for that application I think it’s great. The only thing I am nervous about is not being able to steam mop my kitchen and having to use wood cleaner with a microfiber mop. But I like rustic and genuine surfaces- we went with granite and are refinishing Saltillo. It’s not perfect but I’m just a natural materials person. You really can’t go wrong! But I think wood floors are always better for resale personally. The new vinyl is great though, and I would def do it in a bathroom, playroom, mud room, but don’t love it throughout the main house. Laminate is ok, but I don’t like the clickety clack sound when you walk on it, and I can almost always immediately tell something is laminate vs wood.