We moved into our new house about a year ago and I thought it might be useful to report our experiences with some of the decisions we made. Most of these things are kitchen related, so maybe I should crosspost on the Kitchen or Appliance forum.

>Liebherr 48 inch BioFresh Refrigerator - This is a wonderful refrigerator. It's perfect for us (a couple with kids long gone) but the freezer is relatively small. This could be a problem for larger households. Also, the ice-maker makes great ice but it is fairly slow to re-fill.

>BlueStar Heritage 48 Cooktop - Also wonderful, except that I would not necessarily get the Heritage if I had to do it over again. I would just get a griddle instead. Cooking on these burners is a joy. Cleaning is also very easy -- everything comes apart.

>Gaggenau Combi-Steam Oven - A+, although I still find myself figuring out what to steam.

>Gaggenau Convection Oven - Also A+. The only possible negative is that the timer "buzzer" is hard to hear -- although that may be more my problem.

>Kitchen Island with Stainless Top - We had this custom made and it is my favorite kitchen feature. The stainless top develops a patina of little scratches over time, but it doesn't bother me at all. In fact, it makes the kitchen look more like a "working kitchen" -- which it is.

>Sharp Microwave Drawer - I was skeptical about this at the time, but the only place we had for a microwave was in our island. I like it much better than the standard door microwaves I have had in the past.

>Ipe Deck - We decided to let it weather (i.e., not stain it) and that was a great decision. I can't imagine having to restain once or twice a year and the "greyed" deck looks fine.

>Accordian Doors - The doors are 14 feet wide (4 panels) and allow us to open up our great room to the deck. It's like having one big indoor/outdoor room and really works well for parties.

>Stained Concrete Floors - We couldn't be happier. They look great and are very easy to maintain (we use a Roomba). We were a little worried about how cold they might be, but, year-round, they stay the same temperature as the average temperature for our area (Austin - 72 degrees). That could be a problem in Minnesota.

I hope this is helpful for those of you trying to make certain decisions. After a year, we are 99% happy with our decisions, most of which were made after getting great advice in these forums.