Went to get the kitchen stuff sorted.

http://www.antyx.net/up/img/sample/ <-- pics of a completed apt. of the same project.

Mine'll have smooth cabinet doors, painted. Top left cabinet replaced by a shelf for the microwave and a vertically-opening cabinet above it. Sink will be the same material, but larger and with a dish tray on the side. Two-burner stove.

Talked to my artist/interior designer friend today. Mentioned that one of the colors I was considering for the cabinets was a titanium sort of grey, dull metallic. He came up with an idea to make the basic solution of the apartment entirely grayscale and then add color with furniture and artwork. Might be nice actually.

Basically I want to keep the hard-to-change bits as conservative as possible, since I will be selling it at some point. Then again, since I'm making the choices, might as well make it something I'd enjoy. And dropping the designer's name at resale time might help. ;)

Oh yeah, the prices on integrated fridges are completely ridiculous. The fridge goes into the bottom left cabinet - and the cheapest model they had was $430. Fortunately it's also the best in terms of layout...

There's a solution they've done where a freestanding fridge goes onto the edge, and they extend the furniture - not really expensive to have that done - but I have no need for a large fridge and don't want to waste the space.

With winter coming, can't you just wait 6 months to get a fridge?

Either that or tuna fish and ramen noodles.

Is it common not to have a refrigerator?  Here in the U.S. it wouldn't even be considered negotiable, but my refrigerator would fill up most of your kitchen space and we didn't by a gigantic fridge.