If your water is as hard as mine, You want to get a whole house water softener, alto I put mine on the hot side only and the Miele is connected to the Hot Side.

Our extra hard water here, totalled my 9 year old KA.
It looked like snow inside of it! Didn't want to subject
the pricey Miele to that.

After 5 years, it still looks new inside, thanks to the soft water, and I don't hafta mess with putting salt, etc in the DW.

Alto the Miele does a pretty good job of cleaning and drying, I still miss the heated dry, and hollerin' "Yeow" if I tried to remove the dishes from the old KA too soon after it finished---just seems to me, more sanitary, but after 5 years, no diseases, so maybe the Miele is OK?

Nice choices on the other appliances, especially the Fridge/Freezer combo, We have a 48" built in and paneled Jenn-air and it has been trouble free, cept for replacing the ice maker after 5 years, but was easy for me to do and not pricey.Like you, we wanted as much fridge freezer room as possible and the ability to store that which we use most at the most convenient height (for us). I'm not into getting on knees and digging into a freezer (LOL)--just not as "Limber" as I usta be!

We have the Electrolux oven and speed oven,(for more than 5 years), and they have been trouble free, and bake great.
A poster here has both an Elux oven and a Wolf oven and likes them both equally well, so the Wolf should "Suffice".

Gary

For a major kitchen remodel a few years ago, we purchased the Freedom Column units that you're considering . We love them! The way they accommodate custom panels made it possible to execute a key component of our overall design, to make them look like a Japanese tansu. Plus, the interior is well thought out, and they always seem to have space for everything that I want to put in them. The quality has been great, and we feel that we got good value for our $$$. There are photos of them installed to the right of the rangetop, in the article at this link. If you are having custom panels, I recommend finding someone who specializes in installing Thermadore appliances. Even though the guys who did ours had tons of experience, it still took most of their day to complete the job on the Freedom Columns. But they stuck to it, patiently, and got the panels situated just right. Good luck with your own remodel. It sounds like you've given it a lot of thought, and that will certainly pay off in years to come as you enjoy the results of your planning!

Here is a link that might be useful: Trends Magazine article showing Freedom Colums with custom panels installed.

hi there-
thank you so much for your feedback. gary, what water softener system did you use? how often does it need upkeep?
hanadesign, very cool kitchen!
thanks again.