Wow how awesome is the ability to photoshop! Elwydee's verson looks great! Think that's the same as the first one you did isn't it? Your 2nd verson with the added cabinet also looks great. From that angle it doesn't look strange with the ceiling change above. Nancy made a good point though. Maybe you could check out both of those isues with another mock up from another angle or simulate with some cardboard at home. RKB and Elwydee can you please share what photoshop software you used? I learn something new every day on this site! Thanks.

I appreciate the input from CircusPeanut, Lascatx, Fori, Doraville, GizmoNike. Thanks so much. Lots of agony, sturm and drang until midnight, but have decided with DH that the cupboards will not be extra deep. It was a long and gentle argument I won't bore you with. But just remember as you read further that I am the "Queen of the Tablesettings." So...Now in the plans, there are two 20-inch pullout breadboards on that bank of lower cupboards to provide additional launching and "plunk space" and chopping/prep surface slightly lower than countertop and allowing stool use for long sitting if the boards are used for multi-cook occasions. One of them will have a direct view outside, perhaps centered on a bird feeder. The upper cupboards as I said previously will hold everyday drinking glasses, wine glasses, dishes, serving pieces on lower 2 shelves; less used but attractive glassware and serving pieces on upper two shelves; fronts are rough semi-translucent glass. The window separates the two doubledoor upper cupboards. The whole wall is designated in my plans as launching place for tablesetting and for a beverage/bar station and for sandwich making. In my G design, this is the top of the G. There is a lazy susan that turns the corner from top of G to side of G. Lazy susan will hold cereal and cracker boxes, hard liquor, canned appetizers and salsas, coffee and tea gear, teapot, canned beverages (we drink pop and juice only occasionally), auxiliary induction hotplate and electric warmer unit for serving, At the top of the G, the lower cupboard has two stacks of 3 symmetrical drawers about a yard wide each. The top drawer closest to refrig and dining room will contain everyday flatware and napkins and other yet-to-be-named stuff. There's a possibility that I can fit it with silvercloth dividers to hold a set of everyday silverplate flatware that currently is stored in a box. The other top drawer will have a) beer/wine openers, a couple paring knives, tea balls, hors d'ouvres- and cheese- serving gear b) candle-related and flower arranging gear (matches, candles, short candlesticks, "frogs," bobeches, shears). Two sets of deeper symmetrical drawers below will hold some of my china and the offseason dishes destined to be used on deck/patio in summer, which can be rotated upward to more accessible places in season. I have given up the idea of making a tablecloth drawer--there just isn't enough room, I fear. Instead, the horrible former front hall closet on the far side of the dining room will be outfitted with shelves to make a storage closet for vases, awkward silver serving pieces, and tablecloths hung from dowels or hangers. In a great article I read recently, another tablesetting maniac suspended her tablecloths from a closet rod and had permanent pin-on lables to indicate tablecloth size. I might be able to put two very wide table leaves in here also, rescuing them from under my bed storage now. I really wanted the deeper 27-inch drawers, but hey, Florantha, remember this mantra, "You can't have everything." I also tell myself when I get upset about all this, "If they had wanted perfection, they would have hired God." Breadboards rule!

It depends a lot on how you use the kitchen. DW is 5'4" and I am 5'8" so we're very similar in size. I went with 19" because I use a tilt up mixer a lot and when I've had a lower clearance I've felt it really affected my sight lines/made it harder to see what I was doing. On the positive side - It does make the higher shelves on your uppers easier to reach. Are you planning on any undercab lighting? If so what kind and how will that affect your clearance? I know a lot of people are opposed to this, but I actually like a slightly shorter counter height so I had 3/4" shaved off of my base cabs (but not the island where the range is) . I asked my GC who was extremely knowledgeable if I could shave off an inch and the max he advised was 3/4". He was right - more would have been trouble. I'm happy with it so far and don't think it's that noticeable. It could bother someone at resale time, but I'm willing to live with that trade off for a counter height that's more comfortable for DW and myself. If you do shorten, you want to be very, very careful about measuring your DW and range. My brand new Bosch DW had problems and had to be swapped out with a new one. The repair person who swapped them out (not the original installer) was not pleased about the clearance but did manage to get the new one in. Also, IMO, This is the kind of thing a KD should help make the right decision on, not make a bad decision for you without consulting you. They absolutely should have checked with you about this. If this can't be fixed easily, I would ask them to make it up to you in some other way.

stephanj - yup, DIY projects will certainly test a marriage! ;) Another decision change here: since those two upper cabs over micro/fridge are on the opposite side of the kitchen and separate from my planned white cabs by the sink/window, I think I'm going to have those stained, too. That way, if I decide to do a full white on that accent wall, the stained cabinets may provide some nice contrast...just more thinking out loud. Re: BS, thankfully, we'd be adding only 12 sq ft by extending it to the top. Does that still qualify it as giant? :) Maybe the space just looks larger in the photo. I did my nerd thing last night, actually. :) Know what? It's a necessary step to take, and I promise it'll make you feel much less overwhelmed -- I know I do. Are you getting new cabinets or just reorganizing where things will go? If the former, here's another super, super helpful thread just on the topic of drawers. Scroll down about halfway, til you get to: This was such an eye opener for me, as up to now, I was applying vertical storage concepts only to pizza pans and cookie sheets. I was up and down out of my chair all night, measuring all my glass baking pans, casseroles, etc. Now I have to go weigh items (that I plan on storing in the same drawer) to see if I'll need to upgrade the drawer hardware -- knowing me, I will, just to be on the safe side. And absolutely LOVING this: Can you smell another DIY around the corner?! Because of the current configuration of my island and the way the downdraft ducting and electrical is set up down there, I'm going to end up with a (get this!) space in the left/front that measures 30" high x 24 wide x 12" deep. Goofy/Wasted space (I think) to put a stack of drawers there (each one would have, what, about 10" front-to-back length of usable space?). I wanna hang one of these across the top of the space (so, sitting just under the granite top), and hang my everyday skilles, pots, etc. off here. I wonder if these hooks are on a sliding rail: how cool would THAT be, to accommodate pans/pots of varying heights?!