We have xenon strips under 6 cabinets on 3 switches. I've probably turned them on less than 10 times in the 6 years that our kitchen has been done (some of them have been on only once or twice.) They are not a necessity in our kitchen even though I cook fairly late at night in the dark. It definitely depends on your kitchen and how you like to use light. I personally don't like light coming from a source under my eye level. We have great ceiling lights throughout our kitchen and the uc lights have no functional value (and in my case, no aesthetic value either.) Our major work zones are the peninsula, range, and 2 sinks and all have ceiling or hood lights above them. The counters with upper cabinets have can lights placed in such a way that shadows are not cast on the surface (they center on the edge of the counter.) I prefer the even light from the ceiling to the more concentrated beam of light from the uc lights. In some kitchens they are a necessity but it's misleading to say they are a necessity in all kitchens. We used 2 fluorescent uc lights a lot in our old kitchen since the only other light source was a centered ceiling fixture with 1 bulb. Since I hated that lighting (including the concentrated light from the uc fixtures) I was determined that our new kitchen would be well lit. I was aware that my eyes would age which is why I have 4 additional can lights that I rarely turn on. They only come on when I want our kitchen to be over-the-top bright.

A similar question was posted a few weeks ago, and I think most agreed that it was time to go new. Even after they spend $2,000, most of the rest of the oven will still be 15 years old, and you may be in for more expensive repairs in the future, or a useless oven if the manufacturer discontinues the part you need. In contrast, while it will cost more to buy a new stove, 5 years from now you will have a 5 year old stove, not a 20 year old stove. I was faced with a similar question and spent about $2,500 repairing an older Viking, and other parts continued to fail, until I bought a new range.

Having a good Cat 5 wiring layout with a place to interconnect them is very valuable if you do any home automation, add telephone lines, want to interconnect computers, or want to add TV outlets. Some of the newer TV cable technology (for example, AT&T Uverse) can send the TV signal over Cat 5, so anywhere you have a Cat 5 drop you could also have a TV. Cat 5 is much less obtrusive and easier to camouflage than coax cable when you need to have it visible in a room. There are many recessed Cat 5 enclosures, or maybe you can just cut out the sheetrock and recess the one you have. Then you can put a removable panel or door in the back of the cabinet so that you can reach it if you need to do something with the wiring. Also ensure they did not put any AC power outlet in the Cat 5 enclosure, because you cannot put sheetrock over AC power junction points or receptacles. They must have an accessible cover. Bruce

Kountry Wood Products vs. Diamond I don't know Kountry Wood, but Diamond is good stuff. - 1/2 inch particleboard cabinet box sides Go with the strongest boxes you can get. These things are going to be around a long time, and -- as you say -- changing them is a lot of trouble and expense. They're going to be used and abused, stuffed full, leaned upon ... go with strong stuff to start with. - Standard overlay Standard overlay is usually called partial overlay. I'd definitely go with full overlay because it allows you better access to your cabinets -- I'd be willing to pay extra for this. With standard overlay, you get that "post in the middle". Something you didn't mention: Are you going with at least some all-drawer stacks instead of standard cabinets? Drawers give you better access to all your stuff. You also didn't mention whether you're using any specialized pull-outs. I don't think these are a very good bang for the buck. They cost $$$, but they only store a tiny bit. Consider: A similar cabinet concept: If you're using a Lazy Susan in the corner, but sure it's a Super Susan, not just a Lazy Susan ... the difference is that the Lazy Susan (left) is shelves supported by a central post, whereas the Super version (right) is wooden shelves supporting the turn-tables separately. - Flat drawer fronts This is a matter of style. No functional difference. - Solid wood drawer boxes with dovetail joints - Cheap epoxy coated side mount drawer slides - Thicker 3/4 inch shelves - Smooth bottom mount drawer slides with full extension and soft close Yes, pay extra for these things. When they're new, all drawers should work great -- you're paying extra so they'll continue to work well in years to come. I'd go so far as to say you should go with heavy-duty drawer slides on ALL your drawers. And be sure your drawers go allll the way to the back of your cabinet. I know, you'd assume they do ... but I have a 30" deep peninsula with two 20" deep drawers, which means I have about 10" of empty space behind those drawers that's going unused. The style we want is white shaker style. I don't think anyone's bought anything else for the last decade. The builder did say that the issues with the warped doors and loose center pieces can be fixed, but I'm skeptical about that and feel that brand new cabinets shouldn't need fixing I agree with you -- if they're not right on the day they're installed, they'll never be right. Is this the Kountry brand? If so, I'd avoid them. I was always amazed that these giant houses often had the lowest level of cabinets offered by this manufacturer. It might not be 100% ignorance. Don't we see plenty of people on this board building big-big houses, more than anyone needs? I do wonder if some of these people don't reach the finishing stages -- things like cabinets -- and realize that their finances force them to go with builder-basic items because they've already shot the budget. I would steer clear of any company that deliberately misspells their own name. Nothing good can come from that... :) My father's been dead almost three decades, but I can still hear him ranting about that very topic. I wish I could direct my potential clients to this thread when they try to tell me they can get cabinets that “look” just like the ones I’m selling for a much lower price. Yeah, but will those cheaper cabinets still "look" (and function) just like yours in a decade? We all know the answer to that question. I understand that cabinets are tremendously expensive, but this is an area where it makes sense to put in quality -- doing anything else is false economy. Our ceilings are also 9 ft. Our uppers used to be 42" tall with 12" of empty space above. Now our uppers are 46" tall (custom cabs) with 8" of molding above to meet the ceiling. Yes, I totally agree that cabinets-to-the-ceiling are expensive but worth the cost. You can achieve this by buying taller cabinets or by stacking two shorter cabinets.