I have the same refrigerator and you're right about the water dispenser being sloooooowwwww. It's an especially poor design considering you have to keep the refrigerator door open while filling a glass.

I find that I have to keep the refrigerator's temperature fairly warm, otherwise, vegetables stored in the back start to freeze.

Tem,
Beautiful kitchen. I'm hoping mine comes out as nice (actually, I'm expecting nicer, given how much I'm spending on a big new room, but for politeness' sake, I'll stick to "as nice").

What did you end up choosing for countertop surface? I can't tell from the photos if that's real or engineered stone. We ended up getting 28% off list on Zodiaq at a 'friends and family' sale at Great Indoors.

Except for the stovetop (Thermador), we're going with non-pro-line appliances: GE oven and micro, Frigidaire (or is it Whirlpool, I can never keep it straight, gotta go dig out the Abt receipt) dishwashers (yes plural) and separate fridge and freezer. This was based partly on a cost issue, partly on Consumer Reports reliability statistics and mostly that we wanted to go with white, not stainless appliances, which is impossible with the pro and Euro-line stuff.

JoelF wrote:Tem,
Beautiful kitchen. I'm hoping mine comes out as nice (actually, I'm expecting nicer, given how much I'm spending on a big new room, but for politeness' sake, I'll stick to "as nice").

Don't sweat it For the $$$ you're spending, it *better* be way nicer than mine !

What did you end up choosing for countertop surface? I can't tell from the photos if that's real or engineered stone. We ended up getting 28% off list on Zodiaq at a 'friends and family' sale at Great Indoors.

It's granite. "Azul Platino" to be exact. I didn't want black and I didn't want something super-light so I thought it was a good compromise and I liked the blue tones that go well w/ the maple cabinets. I've got that color blue in two other rooms in my place so it gives a nice "flow" from one room to the next. you can't really see it in the photos but there are lots of silver flecks in it as well. They were also able to use one piece for the sink/counter to the left of the stove so it's great to have no seams, anywhere. Here's a closer-up photo I found on the web. Mine is a little busier, but it's basically the same.

Nice granite. Didn't see that shade. Everybody shows this one blue shade whose name I forget but it was (a) darker than that, and (b) not really blue at all except in the reflective bits.

Zodiac's Borealis Blue is pertty dark, but not as fake-blue as the similar Silestone and Caesarstone shades.