Kitchen renovation - share ideas!

[devonpow]

I am so excited - we settled on our contractor and architect and are gearing up for the beginning planning of our kitchen renovation!!! We won't actually start construction until next May, but we will have initial sketches done over the summer. We are taking down one wall to make what used to be an unused mudroom/ pantry area into part of the main kitchen and to create a nicer entrance to the deck. All new cabinets, island, floors, etc ,

So, what are the things you like best about your kitchen? What are the small details you love? Give me ideas !

[devonpow]

Here are some. " before" pics. The door with the wreath ( old pic - I promise we don't still have a wreath up) is the wall we are taking down to expand the kitchen a few feet.

[devonpow]

May 5, 2015 9:32:52 GMT -5 @juno said:

::Fans self:: I might have to lie down. Your taste is impeccable, so i'm sure i have not much to offer you, but your house already makes me light headed. I don't think i can take it if you perfect the kitchen.

Touches we have used and loved like crazy so far: multiple built in cutting boards; a tall thin cab for cookie sheets, jelly roll, etc.; extra uppers instead of soffits. I also love that i insisted on no toe kicks. Those things are always disgusting and i haven't stubbed a toe once, tyvm contractor. (Cutting boards not so important for granite or quartz but have been a life saver with wood and marble counters.)

I wish i had done a shallow drawer next to the stove for large cooking utensils. They are in a crock now, but i wish i'd though of a drawer.

Thank you! And because I know you are passionate about windows, our architect is all about keeping our original windows ( I told him originally that we were ok with either keeping or replacing in this room depending on what we do and he practically had a heart attack then gave me the lecture on how we would never be able to match the quality of the original ones, lol. We are adding a few new ones though, so we will have to research where we can get ones that match as well as possible).

[memenee]

May 5, 2015 9:32:52 GMT -5 @juno said:

::Fans self:: I might have to lie down. Your taste is impeccable, so i'm sure i have not much to offer you, but your house already makes me light headed. I don't think i can take it if you perfect the kitchen.

Touches we have used and loved like crazy so far: multiple built in cutting boards; a tall thin cab for cookie sheets, jelly roll, etc.; extra uppers instead of soffits. I also love that i insisted on no toe kicks. Those things are always disgusting and i haven't stubbed a toe once, tyvm contractor. (Cutting boards not so important for granite or quartz but have been a life saver with wood and marble counters.)

I wish i had done a shallow drawer next to the stove for large cooking utensils. They are in a crock now, but i wish i'd though of a drawer.

Ok devonpow I'm gonna need to see this house of yours! I totally remember your beautiful LR - Have you shared more pics?

[TBM]

May 5, 2015 9:32:52 GMT -5 @juno said:

I wish i had done a shallow drawer next to the stove for large cooking utensils. They are in a crock now, but i wish i'd though of a drawer.

That was the one thing that I forgot!   Luckily the cabinet guys were still around making adjustments so I had them install a pullout drawer in the tall cabinet over the oven...just to the right of the cook top.  It has worked out great.

I love all of the pullouts in our kitchen, and drawers instead of cabinets with shelves wherever we could make it work.  Our corner cabinet pullout is sort of peanut shaped, and it pulls forward then swings out to the side so that you have easy access to everything on it.  I had pullouts put in the cabinet above our pantry cabinet.  The cabinet guy thought that I was nuts, but it is where I store my platters and a couple of much loved but seldom used specialty cooking pots that take up a lot of space so I din't want them in my drawers with the other pots and pans.

We have such a small kitchen that we worked hard to make the best use of every inch of space.  We even have a tiny cabinet (something like 5") on the back of the island, (drawers are on the front) because we had the trash/recycling pullout on one end and the cabinet for the mixers on the other and there would have been dead space.  It turned out to be the perfect spot for storing my step stool.

Since we had walls open and we were swapping the sink and cooktop, DH suggested installing a pot filler.  I thought it was unnecessary, but I am really glad that I agreed to it.  I use it a lot more than I expected.

Really think about the things you own and the way you really cookand live in the space.  Having nothing but time when we first moved here gave me the opportunity to really think about all of that.  I taped things out on the floor and the wall to help me visualize it, and it really helped....much more than the professionals who tried to make me do things differently (before I found my cabinet guy who listened to me and asked the right questions.)  

[devonpow]

May 5, 2015 14:55:06 GMT -5 memenee said:

May 5, 2015 9:32:52 GMT -5 @juno said:

::Fans self:: I might have to lie down. Your taste is impeccable, so i'm sure i have not much to offer you, but your house already makes me light headed. I don't think i can take it if you perfect the kitchen.

Touches we have used and loved like crazy so far: multiple built in cutting boards; a tall thin cab for cookie sheets, jelly roll, etc.; extra uppers instead of soffits. I also love that i insisted on no toe kicks. Those things are always disgusting and i haven't stubbed a toe once, tyvm contractor. (Cutting boards not so important for granite or quartz but have been a life saver with wood and marble counters.)

I wish i had done a shallow drawer next to the stove for large cooking utensils. They are in a crock now, but i wish i'd though of a drawer.

Ok devonpow I'm gonna need to see this house of yours! I totally remember your beautiful LR - Have you shared more pics?

These are some really out of date ones from right after we moved - it's a lot more "finished" now in terms of art, rugs, etc. I need to take new photos and make a bio  

pandce.proboards.com/thread/350681/turn-huge-aw-house-pics

[memenee]

May 5, 2015 17:25:47 GMT -5 devonpow said:

May 5, 2015 14:55:06 GMT -5 memenee said:

Ok devonpow I'm gonna need to see this house of yours! I totally remember your beautiful LR - Have you shared more pics?

These are some really out of date ones from right after we moved - it's a lot more "finished" now in terms of art, rugs, etc. I need to take new photos and make a bio  

pandce.proboards.com/thread/350681/turn-huge-aw-house-pics

Thanks for sharing! Your home is gorgeous! Can't wait to see your kitchen reno!

[simpsongal]

I like having a place for my cookbooks. I also like having my pans hanging in my pantry (easy access, less concern over scratching nonstick) and lids fit easily above.

What are you thinking for the layout? Will you keep the sink in the island?

We have a double sink - I use the left basin for a small drying rack. I LOVE not having a drying rack on the counter. We don't wash a ton of dishes, so I don't need a big drying rack, but it's nice to have one for some hand washing.

We also have a faucet like the one you currently have, but it's a little more traditional. As much as I love the fancy double handle ones, you can't beat the ease and convenience of that single neck & lever design. There was a lot of opinion on this board regarding soap dispensers in the counter too....so consider that issue as well.

Please try to salvage/donate those gorgeous wood cabinets!

[devonpow]

May 6, 2015 9:14:08 GMT -5 simpsongal said:

I like having a place for my cookbooks. I also like having my pans hanging in my pantry (easy access, less concern over scratching nonstick) and lids fit easily above.

What are you thinking for the layout? Will you keep the sink in the island?

We have a double sink - I use the left basin for a small drying rack. I LOVE not having a drying rack on the counter. We don't wash a ton of dishes, so I don't need a big drying rack, but it's nice to have one for some hand washing.

We also have a faucet like the one you currently have, but it's a little more traditional. As much as I love the fancy double handle ones, you can't beat the ease and convenience of that single neck & lever design. There was a lot of opinion on this board regarding soap dispensers in the counter too....so consider that issue as well.

Please try to salvage/donate those gorgeous wood cabinets!

. We are going to rotate the island and make it bigger. No sink. We want to use it more as a prep and eating area, and I think we will do a dark wood top to the island whereas the other counters will be light marble or granite.

And I think we are moving the cherry cabinets downstairs to a room we use for storage and as an art room for the kids. The white cabinets are going, though

[dr.girlfriend]

May 5, 2015 8:58:51 GMT -5 devonpow said:

I am so excited - we settled on our contractor and architect and are gearing up for the beginning planning of our kitchen renovation!!! We won't actually start construction until next May, but we will have initial sketches done over the summer. We are taking down one wall to make what used to be an unused mudroom/ pantry area into part of the main kitchen and to create a nicer entrance to the deck. All new cabinets, island, floors, etc ,

So, what are the things you like best about your kitchen? What are the small details you love? Give me ideas !

My favorites are -

touch faucet
instant hot water faucet
air switch for garbage disposal
cabinets on dining room side
double countertop between dining room and kitchen (counter-height counter in kitchen and then 18" of bar-height counter in dining room with cabinets underneath
pull-out drawers instead of cabinets with doors
pull-out pantry the full depth of fridge
the bonus cabinet on the end/side of fridge
the funky moroccan light fixture in front of the window
windowsill big enough for small plants

I have a bunch of kitchen reno threads...the big planning one is here:

pandce.proboards.com/thread/350182/girlfriends-mega-kitchen-reno-thread

And this has a lot of before-and-after pics:

pandce.proboards.com/thread/387408/kitchen-reno-before-after

[Marmee]

If I was redoing my kitchen....I really like the outlets that are a strip under the cabinets instead of in the walls so you can keep a clean look on the backsplash. Pull out drawers for most of the base cabinets. I like an accent pendant light over the sink. Fullsize built in fridge & feezer (they are separate & both a normal fridge size).

[TBM]

May 5, 2015 18:02:41 GMT -5 @bluesky said:

Outlets, outlets, outlets. Especially if you plan to sit somewhere in the kitchen with a laptop.

I couldn't agree more.  I wish that we had put in dedicated outlets for a charging station.

Under cabinet lighting is another thing that I love.  We use it more than any other light in the kitchen.

Even though we ran into problems and couldn't have the double oven we wanted, we used the narrow (but tall) cabinet for small appliances and had them put outlets inside.  DH keeps the vitamix plugged in in the cabinet and pulls it out to use on the bit of counter between that cabinet and the cooktop.  I normally use the pop up outlets on the side of the island for other appliances, but DH uses the second outlet in the cabinet for the toaster and sometimes the waffle iron, although the cord on that is a shorter so it is a little tight.


Oh, and make sure that you choose your appliances well ahead of time, and your architect knows all of the clearances needed ahead of time.  Since we got our own cabinet guy, our contractor didn't have his guy check everything, and if the building inspector hadn't checked, we wouldn't have known until we failed.  At least we had time to make some changes to the plan before it was a bigger problem.  Also, the range hood listed one clearance, but the cooktop had a different one, and that was the one the building inspector went by.  Luckily, I caught that one when the guys were installing the hood, because, they couldn't be bothered to read the specs when I had the on the counter, book opened to the right spot. sigh    Also, our contractor was upset that we bought our own appliances, because he could have gotten us a great price (and marked it up and made money off of it), but our appliance store discounted everything for us...and technically, we are still waiting for a price on a fridge from two years ago.  Our kitchen was finished almost a year and a half ago.  We asked for a price on a particular model, and our GC got sick, forgot about it (even though we reminded him)..and he wonders why we didn't use him for that stuff.lol