Sure fire way to sort out the Democrats and Republicans? For ME, 1) Style and Function: I want it to look good, look good with it's surroundings, and I want it to FIT me. (dishwashers have racks I like, Fridge has shelves I like, etc). Not everybody has this choice though. There was a time when I'd have taken a free refrigerator, regardless of looks or age, just as long as it worked. 2) Price: I still remember those free/ugly/working days. I can probably go out and buy any fridge out there, but, being able to do so, and being able to "afford" it are two different things. So.....PRICE: Given same / same / same / same...I'll choose the least expensive one most every time. 3) Reviews: I fully understand that NOBODY gets on the internet with nothing better to do than leave a review telling how great their appliance is. Most reviews come from people that are on the internet, trying to figure out what's wrong with their appliance, and seeing if anybody else has had the same problems. AND...You'll find 5 reviews on an appliance that 20,000 were sold. But, I do look and this does somewhat affect my decision. WARRANTY: Yep, darn near last. If you really get down to the fine print, many warranties, and store extended warranties don't really cover much. My touchpad on my oven went out in 14months. I bought the extended coverage at an extra cost. OH, sorry, that does not cover the touchpad. It only covers stuff that doesn't break or wear out. I look for the factory/manufacturer warranty, for the longest duration on PARTS (not labor). I'm fairly proficient at parts removal, replacement, and just generally screwing up most anything. So, if I can just get free parts? I'm good. Although, I don't usually expect even that. I just take it upon myself to get a decent deal to begin with, and save the extra money for repairs down the road..if needed.

Okay, let's try posting this link with the message: http://kitchenplanner.ikea.com/CA/UI/Pages/VPUI.htm?LoadDesign=eac35664f7c148858c2e6f5d99bab853&UIContext=Kitchen&IsSharedDesign=1 My first post to Garden web...I hope I do this right!!!! Please tell me if our kitchen layout is crazy! Or anything else for that matter! Let me tell you our reasoning for what we came up with. Hopefully you will be able to see a little of it in the IKEA layout we did. 1.) the room is a crazy setup with part of the kitchen extending wider than the family room. Currently there is a door leading outside to a wrap around deck (driving me nuts because everyone walks right through the middle of the kitchen to get there) , but I am ditching it and putting in another set of garden doors in the side wall of the family room. That way, people do not have to travel through the middle of the kitchen to get outside. 2.) we HATE working in corners 3.) we want open sight lines at the end of each run with nothing large (deep) blocking our view :ie looking outside at one end (we have a beautifull back yard full of trees and a pool) , and at the end of the run with the cooktop in it, looking into the dining room which is across the hall from the end of that counter run. (Am I confusing you yet!) The hallway there is actually the one that is from the entrance to our house and as you first enter the house, divides the garage wall from the living room, and then as you continue to walk in, it divides the kitchen from the dining room (we have just totally opened up the entance to the DR so that it is as wide, a little wider actually, as the kitchen). It is more like one big space now. The complicating factor is that as you continue a few more steps straight ahead down this hall (you are actually in the kitchen/dining room now) it heads straight upstairs to our second floor. I tried to capture that in the IKEA setup with a big black square. All of this limits where we can go, and what we can do with the fixed parts of the kitchen. 4.) We want the cooktop centred behind the island, and visually from the family room 5.) we're planning 2 sinks...one at the end of the island (prep), and one near the windows. Our thinking with this is that we (me) want a lot of unobstructed island space for prep, and having fun cooking with the kids. The sink near the windows will be the cleanup sink, and out of view of the family room. I realize that this layout may not be what a designer would choose to do. I just want to make sure that it doesn't look completely awful. A couple other things to note: I have placed IKEA appliances in with this plan just to have an idea of what it might look like. I am actually going with the following (in Canada) : http://www.sears.ca/product/whirlpool-50-cu-ft-double-wall-oven/622-000153197-WOD93EC0AS double oven http://www.sears.ca/product/samsung-28-cu-ft-4-door-refrigerator-stainless-steel/646-000444646-RF4287HARS our friends have this fridge. It is beautiful and we LOVE it! The picture here does it no justice. http://www.sears.ca/product/kenmore-elite-30-induction-cooktop-stainless-steel/622-000774257-C970-40853 induction cooktop. We like that it won't stay hot when the pot is removed (curious dog and kids) We have got some good deals( we think? ) for these appliances if we take them: fridge $2229.00, oven $2489.00, cooktop $1399.00 (Remember..Canadian $) We already have a Bosch stainless steel dishwasher. We'll get a new microwave...haven't decided on a drawer model for the island (I'm conflicted here because I want that end cabinet space for a mixer lift, and I don't want to give up drawer space in the middle island cabinet ) or we may put it about the double wall oven like shown here: https://www.houzz.com/photos/art-and-design-show-house-2012-traditional-kitchen-atlanta-phvw-vp~1795602 I've accounted for opening space for appliances etc. The gap showing in the corner of the design between the wall ovens and the pantry that is at 90 degrees to it there will actually be a very narrow tall cabinet which we can stash our broom and a few other things in. The fridge has to go where it is as we want to sink it into the wall (garage) a bit so that it does not stick out so far into the room. The other wall is an outside wall so it is not possible to put it there and sink it in. I realize that the dishwasher is at a corner with very little room for opening clearance. The 2 cabinets it will open in front of will house things that we do not access often...at least not when we normally use the dishwasher. If it ends up being too tight, my hubby plans on making the cabinets there a little shallower so that the DW opens okay. We thought about putting the DW beside the wall ovens, but we are not sure how that would look. The 12 inch cabinet that is currently located beside the wall oven is for a pullout trash can...so that it is not under the sink. The island will also have another pullout trach, but that one will likely go under the sink. We are hoping to buy all cabinets on Wednesday. That's a lot....am I missing anything? Do you have any suggestions for us. Fire away.....please...really, nothing will offend me. As much as I am having fun with this process, it is also driving me crazy!!! I am SUCH A ROOKIE AT THIS! We will probably go with the IKEA fronts as well as the boxes. I don't love the lacquered look of Lindigo, and I wish the top drawers of the cabinets had more detail, but I think it is something we will compromise. We're planning to go with a butcher block counter top on the island and then some kind of stone on the rest. Floors will be cherry hardwood. Backsplash will probaly be small, rectangular marble tiles...lighter colour (poor description..sorry). Design link is at top. OMG PLEASE WORK!!! Please help!!!!!! : )

@geoffrey b - I had to replace several appliances over the past 15 years. The dealers delivered into the house and provided installers (additional cost) to properly move and install the appliances. This includes a wall oven and a built in 36" refrigerator. I provided installation instructions to an installer who ignored them, basically. This came from a very large dealer in my area but none of his people really knew what they were doing with what I bought except the guys who installed the washer/dryer. Other brands perhaps. Initially, I inquired about who would do the warranty work on my appliances and even called them. They were very nice. Then one guy became ill and they went out of business. It was a mess after that. When the fridge door was recalled there was no one in the area who would agree to do the work. Unfortunately, it's difficult to make decisions based on service issues these days. How delivery works can be tricky and needs to be clarified in advance Then there may be additional steps. As I said, a bargain can be expensive.

We just installed a higher-end Bosch dishwasher in our kitchen that had actually been sitting, all packaged up and untouched, in our garage for 2 years. It offgasses HORRIBLY. I mean, the asphalt smell is OVERWHELMING. I have an indoor air-quality monitor at home, and the VOC readings are in the 500-1000ppb range, whereas <150ppb is considered good air quality. Let that sink in. I called Bosch, and they suggested running it a few times since the bitumen sound-deadening blanket needs to "cure." I asked her how it had not cured in the 2 years it's been sitting, and she indicated it needed to heat up, which makes sense. But for God's sake! The smell makes my throat tighten (I have asthma), and from what I know of petrochemicals, it's likely that it's not healthy for indoor air quality in the long run. I ran that baby 7 times, on high heat, hoping to get the smell to reduce. No luck. What's more, a glass vase I put inside to wash (the ONLY dish I put inside, because I had a feeling) came out stinking like asphalt, too. So, anyone have a non-bitumen wrapped stainless machine? I had asked Miele a few weeks ago, and they said that they do use a little of the bitumen soundproofing, but it does not heat up, and thence does not produce fumes. I may have to go that route, because this just cannot be healthy.