I'm so jealous. I love the chimney.

Loving your sink and the concept for the kitchen.

Wonderful stainless sink/countertop set up! I am very jealous. You've done a great job fitting everything into a small space. Plus the hutch really helps keep things from looking institutional.

As to trash: my sister keeps an attractive crock (about 10'' high) on her countertop that she lines w/ grocery bags (or whatever other plastic she can reuse) and then empties it every day. I realize that your countertop space is at a premium, but if you can't find an undercounter solution, that might work.

As to the hearth, are you referring to just the floor space in front of the fireplace or also to the area immediately surrounding the fireplace opening (in the pictures that area looks like it's not yet compete, but that could just be my monitor)? If it's just the floor, here are a couple of thoughts - I don't know where you are geographically, so YMMV.
Bluestone or a slate to pick up the grey cabinet colors. (Bluestone always reads "grey" to me more than blue.) We have a bluestone hearth that has worked very well.
Limestone in a color to coordinate with the stone around the fireplace.
Tile. That might give you different color/finish options.

It's really looking good.

Why not soapstone on the hearth?

what I need to do is line up the samples so you all can see. The soapstone looked too dark and too busy (our hutch soapstone is very veiny), limestone looked too pink or too yellow. I'll be back. Kids on the loose.

I love how this is coming together! I have to admit, you had me already with the title of this thread ;)

Why not get a nice looking freestanding can? It does not need to be huge.... One with a step mechanism is great for when you have dirty hands.

its awesome.

its so fun watching your progress!

This is what we did -- two bins turned sideways in front, one for trash and one for recycling. We decided not to put them on a pullout because that would lift them just enough that we would have to pull them out to use them or they might even hit our sink (10" deep), so we would have to go to a smaller container and the next ones we were finding were much smaller.

You can see that we have a disposal and another basket of supplies behind the bin on the right (trash bags, block oil, more dish soap, etc.) The DW detergent and Bar Keeper's Friend stay in the front of the middle basket with extra sponges in the back. There is also a Never MT connected to a large bottle of soap in one corner, an instant hot tank, the water supply lines, drain and connections for 2 DWs.

We put a pullout trash in the island, but it came down to a trash pullout or a second DW and the DW won. Having used it all for some time now, I have no regrets on either. Hope that helps.

That is awesome! Can't wait to see the finished product, very unusual.

Beautiful! I love your choices so far...

I used a door-mount trash can for compost, and it may work for your trash. The product is actually quite nice, and if you're only generating a plastic grocery bag worth, it might be large enough for you. I was surprised at how well it's held up to pretty heavy loads of compost and wet coffee grounds. There is a black plastic bucket with a handle that lifts out of the cylinder. It's really nice that the lid closes it when the door is shut, too. There are several brands, Rev-A-Shelf, Knape & Voight, and I believe also Haefele. I compared dimensions to find one that would work in my space. It looks like this:

raro I think you will find you can make do with smaller trash containers than any seen so far. This is because you separate things out, you recycle, you compost, etc. I'll bet you shop carefully too so you don't end up with mega packaging.

The sink and the range are far enough apart, in my view. It all looks very good. The drain board is a great thing to have built in to your countertop.

Under the sink I didn't see a filter, or an insta hot tank. I think you still have room for one more spout in your sink back "shelf" area. Whatever did you decide? Or did you leave it open for now, to be decided later?

Raro, this is so exciting. Agree with palimpsest: why not carry your soapstone countertop over to the hearth? People make woodburning stoves out of the stuff (look at the Tulikivi -- sp? -- website for examples of their fireplaces). You already have plenty of materials going on, would not introduce another unless you need to.

It's fun to "do the bump" with someone you love...only permit people you love in your kitchen and space issues between range and sink are solved.

To me the trash space you describe should be fine -- I wish there were a way to put a small version of one of those tip-out thingies with a footpetal on one side, so that you don't need to touch your hardware/cabinetry with sloppy hands. If I were redoing one thing in my kitchen, that might be the thing. Have you looked at the Haefele site to see what they have invented? They're clever.

Love the stainless sink/counter arrangement. Makes me want to do major surgery.
Lynn