I am meeting with my kitchen designer this week to work on the kitchen for our new house. What do you like best about your kitchen (cabinets, lighting, appliances, etc.)? What do you have that you could not do without? What do you wish you put in that you did not? We are not looking to spend a huge amount - we can't as we're doing a whole house (4 bedrooms and 4 full baths).
Let loose!
Ame

By Tink on Sunday, January 20, 2008 - 11:48 pm:

Favorites: Bay window over the kitchen sink (lots of light and room for small plants), lazy susan for appliances in a corner cupboard, pull-out shelves in all lower cabinets, narrow cabinet for cookie sheets and cutting boards, lots of cabinets (25 in our kitchen and 10 drawers), office area with bulletin board, phone lines, computer hookups and charging station for cell phones (this area is my brain)

Wish I had: Island work station with a sink, recessed lighting, trash compactor, deep drawers with bins for staples like flour sugar, sheet metal counters, drain in the floor so I can just hose down the entire room!

By Karen~admin on Monday, January 21, 2008 - 08:51 am:

My house is very small, even with 4 bedrooms (small!), and the kitchen is no different. However, undermount sink! LOVE LOVE LOVE it! And our new fridge - French door type with freezer on the bottom with the door that tilts out. LOVE that too! We have a ceramic stove top, wouldn't ever go back to the other kind. Solid wood cabinets - MUCH better than what we had and well worth the investment. Since the kitchen is so tiny, we couldn't do most of the stuff Cori listed above. Instead of the narrow cabinet for cookie sheets, we opted for the pull out spice rack. We did get a couple cabinets with pull-out shelves, and I do like those. Couldn't get the lazy susan one because the cabinet was too small. We got the tilt out drawer right under the sink for scrubbies, etc., and I love that one. Obviously Cori has *MY* dream kitchen! LOL

By Dawnk777 on Monday, January 21, 2008 - 09:28 am:

In my last house, which had a far better kitchen, I loved the appliance garage, in the corner, to hide the mixer and blender, so they weren't just sitting out on the counter.

25 cabinets? I don't have room for that many, in my kitchen! LOL!

Also, I have a corner cupboard, on the bottom, that goes way in. One of these days I just need to pull everything out and make sure I haven't lost track of anything. I can only reach in there so far and that drives me crazy sometimes.

By Yjja123 on Monday, January 21, 2008 - 09:41 am:

I love my granite countertops, wood cabinets that go all the way to the ceiling (a lot of storage), drawers for linens, bread, etc. I love my undermount granite sink and tall faucet that pulls out to fill pots. I have a wall spice rack and it is wonderful for my daughter's collection of spices. I love my dishwasher (it is the first one we have owned that is quiet). I replaced a bottom cabinet with a small fridge, We use that as our beverage center. It is one of those little things that people always comment that they wish they had done that.

By Reds9298 on Monday, January 21, 2008 - 09:59 am:

We have a trash compactor and although it definitely eliminates bags of trash each week, they are a PAIN to clean!! It is always dirty, which you don't see until you empty the bag, but I just hate looking in there when I empty the bag. It's literally gross. I wouldn't have one again. This one was here when we bought the house. JMO! Good luck and have fun designing!

By Pamt on Monday, January 21, 2008 - 10:18 am:

I would love an appliance garage and an apron sink, plus good lighting is a must. My current kitchen is so dark and I hate that! I really like pendant lights for over the sink and island/eating bar. Our kitchen here does have what we have made into a sort of keeping room. It's really a breakfast nook, but pretty small so we have made a keeping room out of it. Since people tend to congregate in the kitchen anyway it's nice to have some nice furniture and a place to hang out in there.

By Shellyg on Monday, January 21, 2008 - 12:33 pm:

Karen, I have the same fridge and I love it!
We remodeled a year ago. I love my counter depth fridge, granite counters, and LOVE LOVE my big pull out drawers for my pots and pans. Also in my pantry all the shelves pull out.
I wish I would of put some more detail in my island. I don't even have a plug in the island. Be sure to take before and after pics.

By Debbie on Monday, January 21, 2008 - 01:23 pm:

I love my kitchen! I have a HUGE center island. I have cabinets in the island where I can store my big appliances. It is great counter space, and I do most of my food preparation there. My sink and dishwasher are on my island. I have all pull out shelves in the bottom cabinets. Along, with a special cabinet above the stove, with slats for cookies sheets, etc. I also have a double oven, which I LOVE. My pantry also has pull out shelves. I have a gas stove again, which I like cooking on better then electric. Also, this is the first time I have had granite counters, and they are great. The only thing I wish I had is a pull out spice rack. And, I do have the new fridge, that has the french doors on top, and the freezer on the bottom.

By Breann on Monday, January 21, 2008 - 02:16 pm:

We moved into our new house about 4 months ago. My favorite part of building was designing our kitchen. Here are a few things that I'm still really in love with:
granite countertops
trash cabinet (pulls out and has 2 trash cans in it)
soft close drawers (wish we would have done soft close cabinets as well)
under cabinet lighting
large island with barstools (7)
in some of our bottom cabinets we had roll outs installed. it makes it so nice for reaching things in the back.

Have a GREAT time designing!!

By Breann on Monday, January 21, 2008 - 02:19 pm:

I forgot to mention the stainless steel appliances. Love the look. If you are going with stainless, let me tell you what kind of dishwasher we have. It's terrible. I hate every second of using it. Before this "professional series" dishwasher, we had a cheap magic chef dishwasher that worked 100 times better.

By Dawnk777 on Monday, January 21, 2008 - 03:08 pm:

Oh yeah. My kitchen is too dark, too! I would love track lighting to light up my mixer area a lot better. When we were making cookies at Christmas time, we moved the Kitchenaid mixer to the kitchen table, to have more light.

I also don't have a range hood and really hate not having lights over my stove, too.

By Reds9298 on Monday, January 21, 2008 - 03:12 pm:

Would LOVE a double oven!!

By Amecmom on Monday, January 21, 2008 - 03:43 pm:

Wow! Dream kitchens abound here at MV! Here goes: Cori - how do you have room for 25 cabinets and 10 drawers?!!! You are for sure the organization queen!
At last count, we are looking at about 20 cabinets some with drawers some with doors - a lot with roll-outs and tray dividers. My sink is not on an outside wall, but I have my kitchen table in a huge bay window (almost 9 feet long. I will have a real office room for the "office" type things, so I won't need a desk in the kitchen. I should probably do a cabinet with the things you mention in my mudroom because that's the door I'll be going in and out of a zillion times a day. Thanks for the idea.
I am still deciding between a 36" or 48" gas cooktop with a grill (a Wolf or a DCS). We're doing a stone face hearth over it and the backsplashes will all be stone face. A double oven, a side-by-side fridge - love the french door fridges, but found a great SS side by side on sale at sears. We're doing two dishwashers and two sinks. One sink and dishwasher will be on the island. My mixer will be in a special cabinet where the mixer sits on a shelf that pops up when I need to use it (I don't ever use my beautiful mixer because it is such a pain to take out and put away. Maybe now I will use it). There will also be a knife drawer. Karen, I can't afford to do pull out pantries or pull out spice racks - but they sound really nice! There will be a big 4 foot long pantry closet, though. Shelly, I'm also doing big, deep drawers for pots and pans under my cooktop (something my designer suggested).
On my sink wall will be an apron or farmhouse sink, with a trash compactor on one side and my second dishwasher on the other. I already bought the dishwasher, Breann, and I have no idea how noisy it is. Again, we got it on sale at Sears. The appliances with the exception of the compactor and the cooktop will be the Electrolux Icon designer series.
Deanna, I know what you mean about the compactor. We had one in this house when we bought it, and I really got used to having one. I don't mind so much cleaning it. I just make sure that I don't crush anything unless I put down a layer of newspaper, or a plastic bag. It really cuts down on clean-up.
Yvonne, do you really get use out of the high cabinets? I am short and I hate to have to get out a stool to get to anything. Our ceiling is 8'6" and I am thinking of mixing 30" and 36" upper cabinets for dramatic effect. None of the cabinets will reach the ceiling, so I would have display space. But, maybe I'll rethink and put in some 40" uppers.
Dawn, I'm glad you got use out of the appliance garage. My sister says it's the best thing about her kitchen. I just don't know where I'd put one. Knowing me, lol, I'd just use it as a place to keep bread and rolls and cookies. .
Debbie, I'm glad to hear that you get use out of your center island with a sink and dishwasher. My original design had no sink or dishwasher there, but I'm going to have to put them there due to space issues.
Of course, granite - glad to hear those of you who have it love it.
One thing I am not doing is having seating at my island. Is that a mistake do you think? The family room is just next to the kitchen (will put a small beverage fridge/wine captain in there (thanks for the idea)and we'll have a huge kitchen table (plus a huge formal dining room with a wall that can be opened for big parties). I just don't think I need seating, but should I rethink it?
Breann, do you really like the soft close drawers? I would have to spend another $250 for the option, and I'm just not sure it's worth it for us.
Pam, you just got into the house. In time, you'll make it what you want. BTW - what's a "keeping room"?
Okay, recessed lighting is a go, also. But, what do you think about flooring, gals? Should I do ceramic tile? Wood?
Thanks for the ideas, keep 'em coming. I meet with my designer tomorrow am to finalize the design.
Just wait till I start on the bathrooms ...
Ame

By Bea on Monday, January 21, 2008 - 03:44 pm:

If you have a narrow space at the end of a row of cabinets, have them put a skinny door on it and have a cookie sheet and baking pan rack. They stand on their sides. Get pull out shelves in the bottom cabinets and have a lid rack in at least one cabinet. Deep drawers are great to hold linens and spices. Have lots of outlets installed.

By Yjja123 on Monday, January 21, 2008 - 04:03 pm:

"Yvonne, do you really get use out of the high cabinets? I am short and I hate to have to get out a stool to get to anything. Our ceiling is 8'6" and I am thinking of mixing 30" and 36" upper cabinets for dramatic effect. None of the cabinets will reach the ceiling, so I would have display space. But, maybe I'll rethink and put in some 40" uppers."

YES!!! I have a small kitchen so I had the cabinets go to the ceiling. I actually have space left over (empty shelves). I am 5' tall. I use the top shelves for items we only use once in a while. I would rather have to use a stool to get these, than store them somewhere else. It is nice to have the space to store all my linens and extra dishes in my kitchen.

PS---I hate the dead zone with cabinets not going to the ceiling. Either they look cluttered with "decorative" items or they collect dust. I think it looks nicer to have them go to the ceiling and have crown molding around them. The high end kitchens are all doing this.

By Yjja123 on Monday, January 21, 2008 - 04:09 pm:

We installed recessed lighting. It added a lot more light to the kitchen. In fact, we are adding it to our master bathroom (I am gutting it at the moment).
I chose not to have seating at my island. I felt it would clutter the look of the room and we had enough seating at our dining table.
I have wood flooring and love it. It is easier to clean than the tile we had previously. If you go with tile make sure it does not chip a different color.

By Bea on Monday, January 21, 2008 - 05:57 pm:

The wood-look laminate flooring is wonderful for kitchens. We've had our Pergo floor for 14 years now, and it still looks great. It's so easy to clean. It has a cushioned under layer that is easy on your legs and feet also.

By Reds9298 on Monday, January 21, 2008 - 05:58 pm:

Love my laminate! Super easy to clean and looks terrific.

By Tink on Monday, January 21, 2008 - 06:55 pm:

Another vote for laminate. I think it really warms up the look of a kitchen without being difficult to clean and it's so much easier on your feet and legs than tile. As for my many cabinets, our kitchen is NOT big but we have a wall that is all counter and cabinets and we have a cabinets on every wall plus our bar area. Our cabinets go all the way to the ceiling and it's how I prefer it. All my seasonal or once in a great while items go on the top shelf. And, honestly, some of my kitchen cabinets are still empty. I simply don't need all that space and I hate to keep things just because I have the room. Several are used for the kids' art and homework supplies and the pet food, treats, flea spray, etc. I don't have my full office area in the kitchen but we enter through the laundry room into the kitchen so mail, school papers, etc end up in there and it's central for everyone to use. If you have that much seating nearby, I don't think seating at the island is a priority, although I would rather have it, personally.

Karen, I'd love to have an undermounted sink and the fridge you mentioned. This is our first side-by-side fridge and I'll never have another one! There's not enough room, especially in the freezer. We've had to put a 2nd freezer out in the garage. One area my kitchen could use some work on is the appliances, although I wouldn't get a ceramic stovetop. I love cooking with gas!

By Bellajoe on Monday, January 21, 2008 - 07:41 pm:

I have a corner pantry and LOVE it!

I also love my fridge with the water in the door.

I didn't really read the posts here, i just read the first one. Not much time.

By Bellajoe on Monday, January 21, 2008 - 10:15 pm:

I have a sort of angled island in my kitchen. I have my sink and dishwasher in it. I have 3 pendent lights above it and 4 stools. I love that area. The only thing I don't like about my kitchen is that there is not a lot of preparation space. In my old kitchen I had a nice sized island and used it all the time. Now i have this sort of angled one with 1/2 the space.

I love the granite countertops too. I also like the slow close drawers. It's just neat to have. What i had in my old kitchen was a drawer that pulls out that is a cutting board. That was cool to have.

I also love my cabinet that pulls out with the 2 garbage cans in it, someone else mentioned this too.

Flooring- if you do wood, do the laminate 'wood'. I hear tile is hard on your feet and legs. I have real hard wood. I've been in the house for 1 1/2 years and the floor is dented and scratched already. I really wanted the laminate but dh is snobby and would only go for the real thing yeh, he never listens to me. But that's a whole other post
In our old house we had Armstrong Swiftlock laminate in our hallway. We were there for 5 years with 2 small children. They pushed dolly strollers and hotwheels cars down that hall every day and there was not ONE scratch or dent on it.

By Truestori on Tuesday, January 22, 2008 - 12:17 pm:

We are remodeling a whole house and it has been crazy..LOL My husband and I designed the kitchen ourselves, and I have to say I absolutely love the fact that we have no upper cabinets. It makes the space feel so much bigger and modern.
I will post pics when we are done. We are still deciding on flooring and countertops, though.
Is your husband handy? That helps in the expense department, also.
Email me if you get a chance, Gallegosbug at yahoo dot com. I have so much more to share, but I'm at work and can't type it all here..LOL

By Breann on Tuesday, January 22, 2008 - 04:18 pm:

Yes, yes, yes! I adore the soft close. We did it because we thought it was a neat feature, but now we just love it. In fact, our bathroom vanities were made by the same cabinet makers, and we didn't do soft close in there. SO annoying, lol.

Our dishwasher isn't loud, it just doesn't clean well. I despise it. It's a frigidaire professional series. The one with the stainless handle and the controls that you can't see from the front of the dishwasher. It looks great, but it really is terrible.

By Yjja123 on Tuesday, January 22, 2008 - 05:15 pm:

"Is your husband handy? That helps in the expense department, also."

Women can be handy too LOL... And YES it helps keep the budget lower.

By Amecmom on Thursday, January 24, 2008 - 05:41 pm:

Well ... it's designed. Thanks for all your input. As far as being handy goes, we have a great builder who is renovating our house, but the kitchen designer prefers to do the install - this way we also save on sales tax.
I never really had any idea how much a kitchen can cost! Not including appliances, fixtures(sinks and such) or the electrical or plumbing work involved, it's costing more than 22K and around here, that's actually a good deal.
So thanks again for all those ideas. When it's in, I'll post pics.

By Reds9298 on Thursday, January 24, 2008 - 07:50 pm:

Yep, sounds about right on the price Ame. That sounds like a good deal! We looked into that a few years ago when we considered building a custom home here on our own land. It's crazy!!