Correction, the Bosch 500 series induction cooktop. (Don't care about the "auto chef" feature )

Yea! Great day indeed.

Congratulations, that's a landmark event. We are getting the same oven and cooktop, so those must be brilliant options. How did you decide on Thermador for the fridge? I'm still struggling with fridge and hood. (I don't think DW will be too hard, and I don't care much about MW.) Would love to follow someone else's thought process.

Here's how I made each choice:

Oven - I coveted slide out racks, and the Electrolux' are brilliant - very smooth operation. There may be others in the next level up - Miele etc., but we weren't interested in spending that much.

Cooktop - we looked at all of them, again, a price level down from the top. My husband thought the trim on the a electrolux would be a crumb-catcher, and he preferred the ability to directly set power levels (Bosch over GE Profile).

Microwave - because of our layout, the microwave has to be in the island (rejected a micro-hood---- we have that now and don't like its looks or the functionality as a hood). We didn't think a door microwave made sense under-counter).

Fridge - we're doing this kitchen for ourselves but also for resale. In this market, high-end appliances are almost a given. We would have done the Sub-Zero but the Thermador is several thousand dollars less expensive. Frankly, I think the interior or the Thermador is more solid than the Sub-Zero too. Now I just hope I don't have problems with it!

Bosch dishwasher. We considered the Mieles. We liked the layout/capacity of the Mieles a little more than the Bosch but ours is an open kitchen, so quiet was even more important.

Hope that helps.

Thanks, that does help. I'm still stymied on the fridge because it's a tight spot, but I'm not concerned with resale, at least (hoping it is an issue for my heirs and they can't really complain!)

Sounds like you are not too concerned about finding just the right vent hood? Are you staying under 400 cfm and do you have to do makeup air where you are? I'm leaning toward a chimney-style, but could still switch back to under counter.

I'm going to be so relieved when I'm' at your point in the process. I hope so, anyway, will probably just move on to the next thing...

We're in a condo that was formerly an industrial building. Hood has to be recirculating (no venting to the outside). In addition there's a loft above the kitchen, so that wall of the kitchen is only 84" high (the ceiling is about 10-1/2'). We're kind of stuck with an under-cabinet hood. Hoping to find some reasonably effective and low profile.

congrats! I AGONIZED over appliance choices. I ended up with different brands for everything too.

We've agonized too! This was just the culmination of all that agony. It would be a relief but there's still so much to do (and ours is a small project, compared to so many others).

Congrats! What a relief. you will enjoy the Bosch cooktop especially for its shutoff timers, as well as everything induction.

sjhockeyfan, if your budget runs to it (and you're willing to forgo the cabinet over the range), check out the ARS series from Ventahood. I'd love one of these, but can't afford it. They are by the far the best recirculating hood, the only one that really does much:

Here is a link that might be useful: ventahood ARS

I will check them out (first question, though, what do they run? We want good, but not looking for the gold standard either!)

Next question - service plan. When we did our last kitchen (the house we sold last year), we bought our appliances at Lowe's -KitchenAid refrigerator, dishwasher, oven and wine fridge (I think it was KA), and some trash compactor - don't remember what brand. We also got a Viking cooktop elsewhere (another story - I hated that cooktop). We bought, very in expensively, a 4-year service plan that covered the fridge, oven, dishwasher and wine fridge. The compressor on the fridge went out in 8 months, so that was within the regular warranty period. The dishwasher had no less than 1,000 service calls (I exaggerate, but only slightly). The oven didn't have any service calls (wasn't a great oven, but at least it worked) and I think we had one call on the wine fridge (thermostat issue).

So here we are again, and the appliances are much ore expensive, and even more "sophisticated" (as far as electronics go). Consequently, the extended service plan is also much more expensive. It would run close to $900 for a 10-year service plan on all 5 major appliances, the fridge (dual compressor) of course being the most expensive. Just wondering what you think. It is for 10 years, so that's really only $90 per year, so maybe it's worth it?

The last time I checked the ARS line ran around 1K. Not expensive as a good range hood goes, but very pricy compared to the average model used when you can't vent out.