As far a s kitchen design, this book helped me a lot. A chef that used to post here recommended it.

http://kitchendesignwithcookinginmind.com/

One thing I did was put the microwave next to the frig because that allows anyone who wants to come in and heat a snack to do that away from where I am cooking. I bought a spacemaker and it sits on a open shelf in the cabinet,very easy to replace. I did consider a MW drawer but thought it might be difficult to clean.
As far as a frig I have the 48" built in KA. It works great, but the doors do not close evenly. There is almost a .25 inch difference that they cannot fix because the gaskets were manufactured 2 different sizes. That does speak to the quality of manufacture. I like the built in ok and all my 9x13 pans fit front to back. I spent the money on the built in,though, because the regular type frig that was there stuck out into the doorway and the wall could not be moved. Some of the built ins have a lip that stuck up on the back of the shelf that might interfere with your pans.
If you are considering a double oven , some have bought two single ovens so that if something happens to one, the other one still works. I bought all different brands of appliances because of things that I liked about each one.
My other appliances are a Wolf DF 36" range, Electrolux 30" oven and a Bosch dishwasher. All have been great. I had some flaking with the Electrolux, but they replaced the whole oven immediately and it has been fine. I cannot speak to the DCS. Good Luck!

The DCS dishwasher is a rebadged Fisher & Paykel model. Its price point is in the realm (~$1700) of a mid-level Miele or top-of-line Bosch. Fisher & Paykel, along with LG, are the two most repair-prone brands of dishwashers reported by Consumer Reports readers. I would not buy a FP or DCS dishwasher, personally. There are much better choices available.

Among GW appliance devotees, the votes seem to coalesce around Kitchenaid, Miele, and Bosch. I currently own a Bosch and love the performance. Were I to need to replace it, I would go with either a Miele or another Bosch, depending upon what was available at the time. The current number one and number two spots in the Consumer Reports ratings are Bosches. Some GW members insist that the newer Bosches with the gray tub-floors are inferior, but I have no experience with them. Mine has an entirely stainless tub and it cleans like a bad mofo.

As far as a rangetop goes, for the money you will be paying for the DCS, I would go look at a Bluestar slide in rangetop. If you like to cook, see one before buying a DCS or any sealed burner rangetop.

Bluestar does not make any other appliances other than cookers. They come from a stoveworks in Pennsylvania. Their forte' is cast iron; you would not want a refrigerator from those guys.

As far as "slide away" microwaves go, if you are talking about a microwave drawer, I have not heard too many good reports on them.

But, as a suggestion, if you have space for two wall ovens, make one a full size and the other a speed oven. Electrolux and Miele both make them.

The speed oven IS a microwave, and a convection oven, and an outstanding broiler. You use it just like a microwave for quick warmups, defrosting, snacks, etc., But it uses its various heating modes (microwaves, convection heat, broiler element) in combination and bakes stuff faster than you have ever seen. My speed oven, a Miele, is absolutely amazing.

As far as fridges go, I think the looks of the built-ins are just outstanding. We would have one in our kitchen if there had been any with satisfactory ice and water through the door. I could not find anything like that when we were looking, so we settled on a cabinet depth fridge instead. Although not built in, the look is pretty spiffy and it keeps the milk cold just fine.

I have a DCS range and love it. The dual stacked burner is awesome for simmering. The stainless top has been very easy to maintain.

I concurr about the speed oven, it is our most used appliance. So much faster than the regular oven with identical baking, roasting-convection baking results.

One advantage the Miele has over the Elux Speed Oven is the Miele can Broil--the top burner on the elux is under a slotted cover and hence can't broil, but it can do everything else, grill, bake, microwave etc. This isn't a big deal to us, as we do our broiling outside on an infrared broiler on our bbq and if we did hafta broil inside, we could use our regular oven.

Looking at your fridge choice, I would also look at the Jenn-air (another Whirpool Company offering).We particularly like that all the "working parts" are at the top of it. The cover can easily be removed(It is Panelled) and it hangs down via chains when opened making self maintenance easy for us--changing the water filter and vacumming the evaporator--which you should do to any fridge to prolong their life and maintain optimum efficiency. Another advantage the JA has over the KA is it's use of a variable speed compressor.Any motor,(compressor etc) takes the most power when it first starts and a conventional one starts like your car would were you to "Floor the accelerator pedal" then it stops like "Slamming on your brakes" IE full on/full off.
The variable speed compressor uses a "Soft Start", much like some of the new dimmer switches for lights.I have my whole house on those type of dimmers and I have yet to burn out a light bulb in the 4 years I had them.

Both the Variable speed compressor as well as the soft start dimmer switches save a lotta power. Our electric bill this month was $50.(I suspect our induction cooktop helps here too).

From Personal experience, both the JA Fridge and the Speed oven have been trouble free for 4 years now with the exception of the handle on the speed oven starting to come loose and being lazy, I had a local company come out and fix it--cost Me $125--but I also got a chance to check out that company--just in case something might need a repair , someday.

Good luck with your pending decisions!

Gary

Don't forget about ventilation.

For the DW, both Miele and Bosch have smaller interiors, due to the standard cabinet depth in Europe being less than North America. If you want the max size tub interior, I would look at Electrolux, Whirlpool, or Kitchenaid. We ended up choosing Electrolux because of the interior room issue. If there was a bigger interior option we may have picked Bosch.

wekick - thanks for the link and info.

mojavean - I have seen alot on here about Bluestar. What are the price ranges for their 36" or 48" rangetops? Is Electrolux and Miele the only two brands that make the speed oven?

Thanks for all the comments from everyone and keep them coming. Has anyone ever looked into getting commercial fridge and freezer for their kitchen? I was looking at turbo air which offers commercial appliances and they don't sell them as a combo but you could maybe put them side by side. Just looks like you would get a whole lot more room for your money if you could pull it off. I know it would be all stainless inside and out and not too residential friendly without the glass shelves and sleek look inside but man the room you could have with the same amount spent. The built-ins look good but man you don't get the room for the dollar when you jump up to the slide in fridge. So many choices what to do.

I think I have made my decision with a Bosh for my dishwasher selection. mojavean any recommendations on models for the Bosh. Now if only you all could pick out everything else for me lol. Oh, I also just was informed that I can get Thermadore Appliances at cost through a friend. I know this was a little to pricey for me but if I can get it at cost is this a brand worthy of looking at?

>>Has anyone ever looked into getting commercial fridge and freezer for their kitchen?

For what it's worth... my boss' boss put a commercial refrigerator in his fancy new kitchen. Looked kind of cool, but he hated it because it was noisy and produced a lot of heat. He returned it and got a high end (Liebherr, maybe?) home refrigerator.

As far as a model recommendation, I really don't have one. I'd probably look at the top of the line 800 series in order to get the dedicated cutlery rack and the ultra-quiet sound rating. But I can't say for sure as right now I am really digging the new Miele with the removable tine/support assembly in the bottom basket. I would definitely be looking at those first.

I think the 48" rangetop is around 4k, but you need to call around.

As far as Thermador, the company is owned by Bosch. I really don't know much about them but we did look at a few Thermador cooktops along the way. They struck me as attractive and pretty highly priced. I would say that if you can get Thermador appliances at cost that would be a good road to investigate. Just make sure that you check the prices on corresponding Bosch stuff just to make sure you aren't paying more than you have to for the same appliance.