Designing a kitchen

[MichelleinMaine]

If you were designing a brand new kitchen, what would you be sure to include? (Sink, stove/oven, fridge are givens!) Or- do you have any "I wish we'd done ____" in your own kitchen?

We're entirely redoing our kitchen. Planning to go to a couple different designers for ideas too, but trying to do some initial planning of what we might want.

My biggie thus far is at least one counter at a lower height. Our current ones are extraordinarily high (and I'm fairly short.)

 

[The Mystery Machine]

If you were designing a brand new kitchen, what would you be sure to include? (Sink, stove/oven, fridge are givens!) Or- do you have any "I wish we'd done ____" in your own kitchen?

We're entirely redoing our kitchen. Planning to go to a couple different designers for ideas too, but trying to do some initial planning of what we might want.

My biggie thus far is at least one counter at a lower height. Our current ones are extraordinarily high (and I'm fairly short.)

Wish list....

6 burner stove and 2 ovens.
Big hood and not in an island either. I hate cook tops on a island.
Ice maker (I hate the fridge ice maker).
Make sure to have back splash that matches.
I would also like a small prep island and a seating island.

 

[abdmom]

If you were designing a brand new kitchen, what would you be sure to include? (Sink, stove/oven, fridge are givens!) Or- do you have any "I wish we'd done ____" in your own kitchen?

We're entirely redoing our kitchen. Planning to go to a couple different designers for ideas too, but trying to do some initial planning of what we might want.

My biggie thus far is at least one counter at a lower height. Our current ones are extraordinarily high (and I'm fairly short.)

In the past 20 years, I've had 5 houses. I've had the chance to try out different kitchen layouts.

Things I've learned: I love my dishwasher and I'm hard on it. I would have 2 dishwashers. I also like large drawers for pots and pans. They're also good for cereal. I'm also a fan of wall ovens, maybe have a double.

Things I've learned not to do: Paint the kitchen cabinets. My husband and I were barely speaking after we did this ourselves. In a subsequent house where it was done professionally, the paint started chipping - uggh.

Something else I wouldn't do again: have a huge center island. It just collects junk.

 

[clarabelle]

I would think about how you are going to use different areas
For example if you are going to make coffee- have it work where there is some way to store coffee, mugs and space for the maker
Have outlets for the mixer , food processor , etc... close to where you will store them.
I love my instant hot water. I use it every day. These are not expensive and are great if you make instant oatmeal, grits, tea, coffee, hot choc...
Also good for cleaning
I enjoy my big deep drawers like pp mentioned
I also like my pull out shelves

I don't use my warming drawer like I thought I would
I wish I had gotten a double oven instead

 

[TwingleMum]

We are planning on re doing our kitchen and these are a couple of my wish list items:


* Wolf 6 burner range with grill (and red knobs )
* pot filler at range
* Double ovens
* prep sink in island ( I bake alot so I would like a baking area on island where I can store my Kitchen Aid, cake pans, cookie sheets, cooling racks and have a marble slab for rolling dough)
* microwave draw in island
*dedicated electric for stove, range, refrig ( our cirrcuits are always blowing if you have 2 or 3 appliances running at same time)
*large pantry
* I have a chest freezer in my mud room that is a God send. My Costco , left overs and sales items are stored here. For a family its very handy
* I'm looking at wood floors I am tired of tile.

 

[mckryan]

The one thing I did on my renovation was add a single BIG stainless steel sink. Oh my gosh...I love that thing! It's 36"L x 18"W x 10"D. I can lay a cookie sheet flat in it to wash it. I could wash a baby in it if I wanted. All my friends rave about the sink when they come over. I kept my cabinets, so I just upgraded the current appliances and added granite. We put in a new island that was bigger with more storage, and I love it, too.

 

[204charity]

Have you joined Pinterest yet? I am on their and I am getting TONS of inspiration.

lights underneath my cabinets to illuminate the counter-tops
little open-drawer thingy under the sink for sponges etc
bay window over my kitchen sink for small indoor herb garden
double wall oven
island with casual seating and extra prep service since we have NO counter space in our kitchen!
large pantry with roll-out shelves for maximum storage and accessibility
dividers for cookie trays and pans up high
cupboards all the way to the ceiling - adds closed in storage and nowhere for dust to collect anymore!
nuetral backsplash in case of paint color update in the future
hardwood floors - NO more vinyl!!
put garbage and recycling in island, for easy clean up after prepping food

 

[jujube]

Our old kitchen had a double wall oven. We took that and moved it to the laundry room. Along with the stove oven, the old ovens are great for holidays and parties.

4' x 7' Island=love

Make sure your dishwasher has a good lay out for your dishes. It surprised me to see the varying configurations for the interior spaces of different machines. Some did not seem that they would hold as many dishes as others.

I have a 30" range. I wish that I had cut my counter space a bit so that I could have put in a larger unit.

We had the cabinet maker build a large armoire that serves as our pantry.

Mixed solid and glass doors on upper cabinets

Our counter tops are Brazilian cherry which I love. We keep them oiled with olive or canola oil.

Make sure you have good lighting and maybe a separate fixture over the island.

 

[Styx Fan]

I'm short also, so for sure some lower counters

A sink in the island....one water source in the kitchen is just enough when several people are working in a kitchen like we do at holidays. and an area for bar stools.

A desk area. My kitchen is the command center of the house and I get so sick of school and home papers all over the place. Then I could have the phone there, phone lists, calendar, etc.

Love the ice maker idea, not one I had thought of before.

 

[luvflorida]

I have a kitchen because it came with the house. I read that on some thread here on the DIS. Anyway, it fits me. I don't need or want anything too fancy, because it wouldn't get used. Give me a fridge, stove, sink and a dishwasher and I'm good to go!

We had a new house built last year and there were two things that I definitely wanted in my kitchen. They're in the picture below.

We had a cable connection added so I could have a small tv on the counter. That tv gets far more use than the larger one in the living room. I love having the Today Show or the evening news on while I'm puttering around the kitchen or dining area. The second "must have" was a full backsplash on all the walls above the counters. I just like the way it looks, and it's so easy to wipe down and keep clean.

Another favorite item is my 9 foot long granite desk/counter top. I use the desk part of the counter all the time, and I love all the extra counter top space and the cabinets underneath on either side of the desk area.

 

[mickeysgal]

When we gutted and remodeled our kitchen, I spent a lot of my time on gardenweb dot com. Their forums - especially the kitchen forum - is very active and wow - the advice and recommendations are incredible. Those folks think of everything and then some. Head on over there - you won't regret it.

 

[kelly495]

We redesigned our kitchen 4 years ago and on our list was:
1. pull out trash.
2. counter depth fridge (sticks out way less than the full depth and I LOVE that I no longer lose anything in the back of the fridge).
3. a little more space between the counter and cabinets. We had our cabinets custom built at 39" rather than the standard 42" and it freed up 3 full inches. The cabs are a little high for shorter people, but I feel like I can breathe now - we are taller people.
4. all the filler spots we filled - we have a 3" knife pull out and a 6" cookie sheet cabinet.

What I WISH I would have done was put a recyclable can behind the trash can. I did get one in the laundry room, but wish it was in the kitchen.

GOod Luck!!

 

[rwdavis2]

Here's a link to photos of the construction of our new kitchen:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/7587313@N06/6110396562/in/photostream

This is the original and then just keep clicking the "Newer" link to see the process.

Our goals were more lights, cabinets, gas cook top, better quality ovens, new floor and a reconfigured island. We got it all. Questions welcome.

The cabinets are stock cabinets with custom features. The counters are a manufactured stone called Cambria. It's made of quartz and you can see the crystals in the stone. What's nice is that the samples look exactly like the finished product.

 

[kaligal]

I like the higher counter, cabinets with pull out drawers, the roundy-round cabinet things in the corners, the pull off faucet and my dishwasher on the right hand side of the sink.

I like a few cabinets with glass, so I can see my pretty bowls and stuff, but mostly I like cabinets made of wood.

I love having a dispenser for tin foil and saran wrap and such built in to the wall. Had to find a very old guy to explain how to do this to today's home builders, lol. I don't know why they stopped that (wait, yes, I do - money), but it's great.

I cannot stand stainless steel and hate most granite. I am patiently waiting for the next trend in kitchens, lol.

 

[clh2]

In my next home...I want a "dumping spot" right when we come in from the garage - cuz as a PP mentioned, the island becomes the "drop spot" for EVERYTHING.

And - I want cabinets that go up to the ceiling. Who the heck wants to dust on top of cabinets.

I have a pull-out trash drawer that I love!

 

[bellebud]

Here's a link to photos of the construction of our new kitchen:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/7587313@N06/6110396562/in/photostream

This is the original and then just keep clicking the "Newer" link to see the process.

Our goals were more lights, cabinets, gas cook top, better quality ovens, new floor and a reconfigured island. We got it all. Questions welcome.

The cabinets are stock cabinets with custom features. The counters are a manufactured stone called Cambria. It's made of quartz and you can see the crystals in the stone. What's nice is that the samples look exactly like the finished product.

beautiful!! we have very similar taste.

OP - I wish I had 2 huge side by side cabinet-pantries, OR a walk-in pantry. I have neither, just regular cabinets, and I hate it. I hate the food all separated, and I have no where to put a case of paper towels.

Be aware of size if you get wall ovens. I had to give away my large round pizza stone because my wall oven is too shallow (the door won't close all the way w/ it in there). It also won't hold a huge turkey.

I love having 2 dishwashers and use them both all the time.

I love having 2 pull-out garbage cabinets (one for garbage, one for recyclables).

I love having 2 microwaves (one is an advantium/microwave, and the other is a convention/microwave).

I love my single, huge sink. I had a double sink before, and always hated it. I'd never have anything but a huge single now. I have to be able to lay down a cookie sheet or large roasting pan in it.

I wish I had a desk area. The kitchen is command central, no matter how I try to move those things off my counter. I use regular counter space for things like my pocketbook, everyday files, all the plugs for phones, etc, and it's just annoying.

I love my huge side-by-side fridge, and I also love my smaller under-counter fridge, which I load up w/ drinks, the kids fruit cups, yogurts, cheese sticks, etc. We call it the "kid fridge", and all our kid guests know they can go in there and get anything they want.

I like the look of my island, but it's a dumping ground.

I wish I had a raised counter for stools.

I love my glass door extra large cabinet that holds ALL of our dishes, glassware, etc. It's the last cabinet near the dining room table, so everything is right there where you need it, all together, and people can see everything to help themselves to a dish or glass.

I wish I had cabinets up to the ceiling, whether they were regular wood cabinets for storage, or glass door lighted ones for display of platters, pretty bowls, etc.

You can never have too many outlets.

I hate that my stainless steel fridge isn't magnetized.

I love, love, love my wood floors.

I have a couple of thin cabinets that hold cutting boards, platters, etc. You can just achieve that w/ dividers in a regular cabinet of course, we just had some extra space, so used it.

I love my under cabinet lighting, on a dimmer switch.

Have fun designing!

 

[Planogirl]

I have plans for our kitchen when we can get to it. We need a new window and all new appliances. We also need the plumbing reworked so that water doesn't tend to back up in the dishwasher. I want new countertops and new light fixtures. I want the popcorn ceiling gone which will be complicated since someone painted over the old ceiling. It's VERY hard to remove. I want the wallpaper gone and new paint. Finally, the cabinets are OK but I want new hardware.

 

[joviroxx]

1- Double garbage bin pull out drawer
2 - One BIG sink
3- Under cabinet lighting (lots of it)
4- Pull out Drawers for pots and pans
5- Double ovens
6- Pot filler at stove/cooktop
7- Counter and stools
8- Windows!!
9- whether you like granite or not, a surface that you can put your hot pots on

I can go on about appliances but that would be a whole other post LOL!

 

[minniecarousel]

great ideas on Houzz.com

My favorite thing in my new kitchen is the pull-out spice cabinet. I almost went with a second oven, but we're empty-nesters and we'd use a second oven on Thanksgiving and Christmas only. I also love the pull-out trash/recycle bins.

Pull-out drawers for all lower cabinets and soft-closing cabinets and drawers! gotta love the person who came up with these ideas!

Another thing I'm glad we did was use granite behind the stove - looks great with the vent hood. (same granite as the counter-tops.)

 

[rentayenta]

These were before the back splash and microwave shelf were finished but you get the idea. I don't think the pics do it justice. I absolutely adore my kitchen.