I liked the idea of 6 burners but not the larger 36" oven -- I rarely use more than one smallish pan in my oven. So my compromise was a 30" 5 burner range by Capital (DCS also makes one, they are practically twins). I can't use 5 full size frying pans at once, but I've never needed to, and the center burner is something like 25,000(?) BTU. The other option for you might be a 36" rangetop with a separate wall oven.

We are a family of two and are upgrading from a 30 inch cooktop to a 36 inch. The 30" is too small when you have several pots. The handles all get in the way of each other.
We have wall ovens and an island cooktop. Like idrive65 said, look into a separate wall oven and either a rangetop or cooktop.

We are also two, and I bought the DCS 5 burner, 30" range. Works for me!

Thank you everyone for the feedback. Also, doing research on this site, I realized that one reason to do more burners would be to have burners with differing BTUs -- that it is not a matter of needing 6 burners for 6 pots/pans, but of choosing the burner that is right for what you are cooking.

I, too, had thought about the crowding issue, and just having more space for handles, etc., or space to move one pan off to a burner not being used.

The rangetop/wall oven idea is a good one, but I don't have space for a wall oven. I could think about doing a rangetop and then one of two ovens under the counter, though I don't think I have room to spare for two under-counter ovens.

Thanks again. Any more comments are welcome!

I too vote for a 36" rangetop and a separate 30" wall oven. The 36" rangetop will give you room for all your pots, as Scrapula says, even if you only use 2-3 of the burners. It also provides convenient landing space. E.g., if a pot is done cooking you can just slide it over to another burner not in use, rather than trying to set it down on a trivet on the counter or something like that. Also, a 30" wall oven won't take as long to heat as the 36" oven in a 36" range. Also, a wall oven means no bending. Perhaps your architect is suggesting the 36" range becaue s/he wants it as a focal point since 36" ranges can be showy. Yes, but that's been my experience with architects--they go for looks over functionality. Just my $.02!

Cambreno - when posting my message, I hadn't seen yours about not having the wall space. But, are you sure? Ask your architect! That's their specialty!

Another consideration is that with the bigger range and more burners you will need a bigger and more powerful hood which will add expense. I finally chose a 30" Bluestar range (just ordered it from Eurostoves, am very excited). Sure I would like a bigger cooktop with more burners, BUT, I absolutely do not want/need a huge 36" oven and 99% of the time 4 burners will be more than enough for me. Even a 30" oven is too big for me on a daily basis so I have a separate Breville countertop oven for heating small items. It's basic but it's fine for that purpose.

Good luck with your decision - I know how hard it is to make these decisions as it took me forever to settle on a range.

I know this thread is a couple years old but, hey, I was looking for this information, too.

Several posters mentioned that 36 inch stoves come with bigger ovens. However, in the case of Five Star, the 36 inch range has the exact same size oven as the 30 inch range. In other cases, some 36 inch range ovens are just nominally larger and shouldn't equate into that much more heating up time.

So, in other words, look at the oven sizes of each size range before making a decision. Bigger isn't always bigger or, at least, that much bigger!