Kitchen - worth it vs. overrated

[k3am]

There are so many things that you can add to a kitchen.. Curious to see what people have added (or considered adding) and how they like them vs. what wasn't worth it. 

What's worth it? What's overrated?

Example: Our designer suggested a pot filler. Probably a me thing, I think it sounds convenient in theory, but if you're going to have to carry the heavy pot to the sink to drain, I don't see the benefit of it?

Appliance garages? Hidden storage for cooking utensils? Drawers for plates and bowls vs. storing in upper cabinets? Other things I'm missing? 

[deadwing]

I have never gotten to design a kitchen, but my favorite feature in my current house is the corner cabinet isn't lazy Susan styled.  It has two offset shelves, much like this.  I find it a very useful layout.

The other thing that I insist on in a kitchen is the stove needs counter space on BOTH sides.  It doesn't have to be a ton of counter space - I think I have about 12" on either side right now.  But you need things in easy reach while cooking.  So many kitchens put the stove/oven in a corner! 

[Susie]

I really like the offset shelf idea for corner cabinets, and I agree 100% about having at least some counter space on both sides of the cooktop.

Another thing I really like is vertical storage for baking pieces/cutting boards above the fridge.  I'm pretty short, and it's one of the few ways for me to actually USE that space, because I can get them out and put them away without a stool because they aren't stacked, and won't fall down on top of me.  e.g.:




IDK about worth it v. overrated, but our current kitchen has a few features that I despise.  #1 is the dishwasher placement, in a corner.  I can't reach over it to put glassware away, and it blocks the silverware drawer.  Hate hate hate.  Another is a pull-out cutting board that we never use.  Like this (not actually ours):



It sags, it goes over the silverware drawer, it's not particularly easy to clean up, there's really not much redeeming about it.

[lessel]

What I miss the most from our old kitchen (that we designed ourselves) was an island with nothing on the countertop. No stove, no sink... just wide open blank counter space to prep, serve a buffet, do arts and crafts with kids, wrap Christmas presents...whatever. That island also had big, deep drawers for mixing bowls, pots and pans, etc. I also miss the pull out shelves in the cabinets in that kitchen. Those were so handy.

I love that layout for a corner cabinet... I haaaaated our lazy Susan one and just tossed stuff in there that I rarely needed.

My current kitchen has an 8-burner range with double ovens. It's overkill. Double ovens are handy, but I feel like there are other ways to accomplish that without a 10k range.

[simpsongal]

I'm debating whether to read this since we're mid kitchen reno and it's basically too late to change things....

We're getting a corner cabinet like that - no lazy susan, I was impressed at how easy it was to access the corner storage. It'll house pots and pans. And we do indeed have decent counter space next to the range - agree that it's essential.

We're doing a 36" range and a second oven in the island - I didn't have space or the need for a 48" stove w/all of those burners. But the double oven was compelling for baking and holidays.

I'm doing a giant sink - single basin, I hope I love it. It's 39", I'm hoping to store a drying rack on one side as needed to avoid counter clutter.

I also opted to do inset cabinets on our perimeter and the other kind on the island so I could use my foot to open the garbage bin. I have a pull out bin for sheet trays and cutting boards too.

ETA: No pot filler - it's an exterior wall, plus the added plumbing cost and the fillers themselves are $$$. We have a bar prep sink, so 2 water sources seemed sufficient (plus the fridge). I've heard they're convenient for a quick fill on pots/watering cans. But I can live without it.

ETA 2: we have a beverage fridge in our mudroom - I do love having a separate fridge for just drinks on the first floor (we have a basement fridge too). It's great for every day use and entertaining.

[lavenderblue]

Jan 24, 2024 15:04:20 GMT -5 simpsongal said:

I also opted to do inset cabinets on our perimeter and the other kind on the island so I could use my foot to open the garbage bin. I have a pull out bin for sheet trays and cutting boards too.

This reminded me. My Mom had a Toe-Pull installed on her lower cabinet door where the trashcan is housed. I don't have enough cabinets to put a trashcan in one, but I always thought that was such a brilliant idea.

[womet]

I adore my island with nothing on it-- no sink or stove. Just like lessel said. It's perfect for entertaining (I have 2 bar stools at mine) and ideal for serving food from (we put our Christmas food on it and we each made our plate there. Then we had more space at the dining room table.

We have a butler's pantry that is devoted to drinks. We've got our nespresso stuff there, a nugget ice maker, drink syrups (for coffee or water), and a drink fridge. It has helped us keep our main fridge more organized and not waste food as much since we can see it easier. One thing we may add to that space is running a waterline to the icemaker so we don't have to fill it using a pitcher. But that will be easy for us to add down the line.

I want to retrofit some rev-a-shelf drawers in some of our lower cabinets where we keep our pots/pans to make it easier to get them. In my ideal kitchen, I would include drawer inserts that fit perfectly inside the drawers for things like our utensils and other items so they stay organized. I have some now but they don't take up the drawer space fully, so I have some empty space.

I would never get a pot filler, but I love the idea of a hot water dispenser built into the sink. simpsongal, when we replaced our countertops, we got 1 large sink. I'm so glad we did. I absolutely love it. I love that I can lay a half sheet pan down flat in it to wash.

Must have: a pantry. When we were looking to buy, I can't tell you how many houses had no pantry. So food items would need to take up cabinet space. I love my somewhat shallow but wide pantry, but would be just as happy with a deeper pantry that has pull out drawers.

[mrsukyankee]

This is what is in our corner cabinet (not a pic of ours but something similar):




It is brilliant. It can hold so much and a lot of weight, is very smooth in functioning. It meant that I could fit in my wine fridge to the right.

Here's what it looks like (filled top pull out) in our kitchen:



Pic of our actual kitchen as it was being renovated:




I LOVE my wine fridge as it has two zones so can set up two temps - one for reds and one for whites.

The other thing I love is that one of our two ovens has a steam function. I use it every time I bake bread but I can also use it to heat up meat and the meat won't dry out. 

I chose not to get a pot filler and happy that I didn't. We have an electric kettle that we use to heat up water and it's super quick so not an issue.

We have drawers almost entirely. So happy with that decision.

[k3am]

I've never seen a corner cabinet like that deadwing - going to have to send that to the designer. I get the practicality of the lazy susan's, but things are always falling off. Our current kitchen has one corner cabinet with nothing built into help manage it (it's awful, and open inside the cupboard, so things are falling into the cavity of the dishwasher) and the other is entirely closed off and dead space, which might be worse.

Susie, we have the corner dishwasher issue. Even the 7 year old said it needs to go somewhere else. I hate having to unload to the counter, close, and then put stuff away.

The concept design shows good space on either side of the cooktop - right now we have about 6", so a good improvement.

We will theoretically have an "island" but I'd use the phrase loosely. There won't be enough room for full sized island, so they've included a moveable butcher block island, but I'm not sold on it. I figure it's a feature that we can nix once we get further into the design process, or if move forward with it and we hate it in reality, can be resold. We will have a peninsula that will fit a couple stools, but I'm imaginging that most of the entertaining will be at the dining table.

No pantry, unfortunately. I've actually never lived in a house with one. But we will be going from a kitchen with almost no storage to quite a bit.

mrsukyankee, DH is splurging on appliances, and the only area I haven't been annoyed by that on is the wine fridge, which definitely has zones for reds and whites. We are also considering going navy for cabinetry, so clearly I like your design choices.

[SusanBAnthony]

We have a simple/small kitchen.

Thing I don't have but want: a light in the tiny pantry closet.

Things I love:

Bottom drawers instead of cupboards

Upper cuboards that go to the ceiling

Double sink 4 lyfe

Undermount sink

Magic touch faucet

A handy spot for dog food right by where the dog food bowls are

Tons of windows

Wall space for a giant white board to organize our lives

[sju]

Not everyone will agree but we love having a trash can cabinet in our island. I hate the look of giant trash cans outside the cabinets

[InBetweenDays]

We too are very happy with our pull out trash drawer in our island (that has two slots for garbage and recycling).

Our lower cabinets also have pull out shelves that can each hold 100lbs. Very handy for our occasional appliances like wok, stand mixer, cuisanart, etc.

[k3am]

Another question.. where do you hang your kitchen towels? Our sink is not going to be very close to the oven, where I'd typically hang them. We have this issue now, which is sometimes annoying, but we don't currently have an island in between the sink and the oven.

[simpsongal]

k3am could you put a towel hanging bar over the sink cabinet as a temporary measure? Sort of like the equivalent of those 'over the door' hangers for bathroom org? Or if there's an end of a cabinet nearby, I'd probably mount a bar for the towels - my folks had one on their island, so handy. I use dish towels a lot.

I'm not sure where paper towels will live in our kitchen but they may be stashed in a cabinet b/c I hate using paper towels....

[Susie]

Jan 25, 2024 12:35:55 GMT -5 k3am said:

Another question.. where do you hang your kitchen towels? Our sink is not going to be very close to the oven, where I'd typically hang them. We have this issue now, which is sometimes annoying, but we don't currently have an island in between the sink and the oven.

We can't hang ours off the oven because our puppy would steal it, so it just gets tucked into any of a number of upper cabinet pulls.  It is not a particularly elegant solution, but it mostly works.

[k3am]

Susie, do not miss the puppy stealing/eating everything days. Our lower oven continues to be used 95% of the time as a holding spot for food we want to keep safe from the dog, since he's big enough that there is no safe spot on the counters.

[kitty]

Jan 25, 2024 12:35:55 GMT -5 k3am said:

Another question.. where do you hang your kitchen towels? Our sink is not going to be very close to the oven, where I'd typically hang them. We have this issue now, which is sometimes annoying, but we don't currently have an island in between the sink and the oven.

Having a handle that made a good towel holder was a pretty big selling point for me when choosing a dishwasher LOL! I don't love our dishwasher but I do love hanging my towel there right next to the sink.

[k3am]

Jan 25, 2024 14:42:24 GMT -5 kitty said:

Jan 25, 2024 12:35:55 GMT -5 k3am said:

Another question.. where do you hang your kitchen towels? Our sink is not going to be very close to the oven, where I'd typically hang them. We have this issue now, which is sometimes annoying, but we don't currently have an island in between the sink and the oven.

Having a handle that made a good towel holder was a pretty big selling point for me when choosing a dishwasher LOL! I don't love our dishwasher but I do love hanging my towel there right next to the sink.

Well that solves it. I just looked up the dishwasher and it's got a handle. I've spent so much time with dishwashers with no handle that I forgot they exist. 

[kitty]

I vote overrated for pot filler but also have never been fancy enough to have one.

I don't think I would have a big preference for drawer vs cabinet storage for plates but if we ever remodel and open up to the family room we would lose a lot of uppers and would probably have to go with drawers.

I would consider an appliance garage for my ugly toaster oven but I'd want one where the doors tuck away into the sides instead of the roll top 90s style ones.

I love my double wall oven. Utensils in a crock in the counter don't bother me. I keep them to the side of the cooktop and on the other side I have a bottle of olive oil and a knife block. I don't think I'd want to have to open something to grab a cooking utensil or knife if I'm in the middle of something messy.

My inlaws have a narrow cabinet for storing baking sheets and cutting boards on their sides and I'm jealous because it's a much better use of space than the pile we have in one of our lower cabinets.

This probably makes me sounds 1000 years old but I kind of wish I had a bread drawer. Our bread just ends up all over the counter and looks super messy whenever we have multiple things open at once like bread and rolls and english muffins. We have one drawer that has traditionally been used for plastic kid stuff that they can reach on their own. Once my youngest gets a little taller and can reach the real glasses, I'm going to reclaim that space and see if I can find a metal bread box insert for it!

[k3am]

kitty, one of the reasons the drawers for plates and bowls is attractive is so that my kids can reach them. I know it's a phase and won't last forever, but it would be convenient in the meantime. (Our designer has done a great job of moving me away from design decisions that work for us right now vs what makes sense in the long run - biggest example, right now, our dining room is in standalone corner of the house that we wanted to keep. I love that we can have an adult dinner in that room and close off the doors, and send the kids elsewhere with a mostly private area for the adults. But my youngest is 7.5, and he's not going to be loud and obnoxious forever.)

[dutchgirl678]

I can live without a pot filler. We don't have a pantry but two big cabinets on either side and we had pull-out drawers installed in all our lower cabinets plus these tall cabinets. One of the lower cabinets has a tall box with inserts so the sheet pans and cutting boards go in there. I love it!

[lolalolalola]

100% drawers for lower cabinets. We got about 80% drawers and wish it was 100% ]

I store my baking sheets above my fridge and have divider inserts which works great for putting them on their side

A big enough sink for a cookie sheet. Pull out garbage drawer - north garbage and recycling. Can’t imagine not having it.
We love our divided sink but I know that’s not popular- for us I like having a sink full of water and one empty one for rinsing, drying etc. but we have a big sink in our laundry room so it’s not a big deal for us to wash big things there.

I love having a walk in pantry. All of my food, paper products, and non-daily use appliances are in there. It’s convenient.

Eta I hade never understood the appeal of a pot filler!

[lolalolalola]

Jan 25, 2024 14:46:08 GMT -5 k3am said:

Jan 25, 2024 14:42:24 GMT -5 kitty said:

Having a handle that made a good towel holder was a pretty big selling point for me when choosing a dishwasher LOL! I don't love our dishwasher but I do love hanging my towel there right next to the sink.

Well that solves it. I just looked up the dishwasher and it's got a handle. I've spent so much time with dishwashers with no handle that I forgot they exist. 

We hate our dishwasher handle for this. The towel slides off and it also sits on the floor when the door is open which grosses me out. I ended up putting some clear 3 M hooks on the cabinets in front of my sink. It seems to work!

[dr.girlfriend]

Jan 25, 2024 14:54:03 GMT -5 kitty said:

This probably makes me sounds 1000 years old but I kind of wish I had a bread drawer. Our bread just ends up all over the counter and looks super messy whenever we have multiple things open at once like bread and rolls and english muffins. We have one drawer that has traditionally been used for plastic kid stuff that they can reach on their own. Once my youngest gets a little taller and can reach the real glasses, I'm going to reclaim that space and see if I can find a metal bread box insert for it!

We have this bread box -- it holds at least three full loaves and a whole thing of bagels, and since it's mostly vertical it can sit at the back of the counter where we don't really use the space anyway.  Highly recommend.

www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07YC9B9R2/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1

[mrsukyankee]

Oh, definitely a big sink. I love that I can fit EVERYTHING in mine.

We keep our towels in two places - we have a hook next to the window above our sink and we put another towel over the long drawer handle on our fridge/freezer.

[kadams767]

#1 worth it (and a requirement, honestly) for me is the large, single basin sink. Every time I need to use a split basin sink elsewhere, it drives me nuts. So much easier to wash dishes, clean produce...heck, even water my plants, with one large basin.

Also much prefer the open island/peninsula without anything in/on it. As others mentioned, its great for sitting at regularly, and also great for a service/buffet area when people come over. So much easier to put all the food and drinks out there and let people serve themselves than trying to pass dishes or plate at the dining room table - or, in my case, also in my living room where my overflow seating goes.

Also a must have for me is a hood vent. I previously had a venting microwave above my stove, and I didn't realize how ineffective it was until I remodeled and had an actual hood vent installed.

Overrated for me: potfiller, second sink, drawer microwave.

[dr.girlfriend]

Oh I almost forgot - we got a touch faucet and love it! And this was like 10 years ago.

We also put the microwave under the counter (not a drawer microwave, just a regular one) which is good for me since I'm only five feet tall and was also good for the kid until he got much taller than me.  The contractor kept trying to talk me into putting it above the stove and I would have hated that.

[deadwing]

Jan 26, 2024 19:53:49 GMT -5 dr.girlfriend said:

Oh I almost forgot - we got a touch faucet and love it! And this was like 10 years ago.

We also put the microwave under the counter (not a drawer microwave, just a regular one) which is good for me since I'm only five feet tall and was also good for the kid until he got much taller than me.  The contractor kept trying to talk me into putting it above the stove and I would have hated that.

I have a microwave over my stove and I don't get why this is such a popular choice. I like that it's off my counter. My eyeline is at the bottom of the door. I can't keep an eye on what's in there. And I'm constantly afraid I'm going to splatter hot liquid all over myself taking things out. A below the counter built in makes so much more sense to me.

[litasail]

We remodeled this past year and here are a few of my favorite things:

- Big island (or in our case, peninsula). We use it to eat at, to prep, to cook, etc. The space is amazing and so flexible. We also have bookshelves at the end and made the bottom one into a space for dog bowls, which keeps them out of the way.

- Workstation style big sink. This was something I thought looked cool but wasn't really sure how useful it would actually be. In reality, we use it all. the. time., including every single one of the "attachments." And it wasn't even very expensive! www.costco.com/delta-33%e2%80%9d-stainless-steel-dual-mount-single-bowl-kitchen-sink.product.100853242.html

- Layered lighting. We went with pot lights, pendants, sconces over the sink and under-cabinet lighting. I love playing with different combos to get the look I want.

- Wall o'cabinets. We replaced a much loved hutch with a wall of cabinets and it is amazing. So much storage, including a full pantry, space for all of our appliances, a spot with our stick vac hung up, etc. While I miss the hutch, this is a wayyyy better use of space.

I think the only thing that I'd do differently were we going back in time is to add a small second prep sink to the island. That would be nice sometimes when we're both trying to do things in there.

[gt7301b]

I think most of the my favorite things have been mentioned but I'll list them anyway. I didn't see the point of a pot filer.
- Island with nothing on it. I love all the space for cooking
- No corner cabinets
- We don't have an appliance garage but I use the high shelves above my pantry for storing appliances
- Coffee nook
- Tea drawer
- Double drawers in the cabinets

- Pill out drawers instead of swinging doors in the island

- Single large sink