remodeling: what is in your kitchen that you cannot live without?

[tiggger1]

We are in the planning stages of our new addition on our house and our remodel. we will be adding a new kitchen, full bath and a living room and remodeling 2 rooms into bedrooms and adding a hall and an office as well as a stairway to the basement.


we picked out the cabinets and the countertops we want but we are not sure of the layout or what else we need.

Aside from major appliances, what is in your kitchen that you cannot live without?

 

[ChrisnSteph]

What I love about my kitchen:

Trash compactor - this is our first house that ever had one, and I LOVE it! Don't think I'll ever go without one again!

Countertop range - I love having this vs. a stove/oven unit. It's way easier to clean, and I love that I can store my pots and pans in the cabines underneath it. Plus it just looks nicer and more streamlined.

Double micro/oven - LOVE having this.

Frosted glass pantry door that says "Pantry" on it.

Long island vs. square - more counterspace underneath, plus outlets on each side.

Under-cabinet lighting

 

[mtemm]

we love our trash compactor. it is not something I ever even thought about but we moved into a house that had one. it is wonderful!

 

[720L]

I love my lazy susan, my cabinets that go all the way to the ceiling (which I thought wouldn't be that useable, but I put stuff that I don't hardly use up there which gave me a lot more empty lower cabinet space.) I also love my walk in pantry.

 

[clarabelle]

make sure you have some kind of pantry. Either a closet with SHALLOW shelves or a cabinet pantry unit -with all the neat pullouts.

we are getting ready to redo our kitchen as well

 

[mickeyboat]

Another vote for a trash compactor.

Also, it might be a no-brainer, but a garbage disposal.

The best thing we put in our kitchen is comfortable seating. Our house does not have an open floor plan, and I hate working in the kitchen alone while everyone else sits in the lving room. So I made room for a love seat! DH and the kids hang out there and cuddle in the morning, or while we are making dinner, and it leads to nice conversation instead of everyone out watching tv. Think about it.

Denae

 

[lucyanna girl]

I would hate to be without my under-counter ice maker. It is about the size of a trash compacter and makes the best ice.

 

[Cindy's Mom]

we love our trash compactor. it is not something I ever even thought about but we moved into a house that had one. it is wonderful!

this is how I feel about a garbage disposal - can you believe that 2 years ago, we tore out the 60 yo kitchen in our "new" home, we put in EVERYTHING brand new, appliances, cabinets, corian, everything - (or at least I thought we did). Then when I was finally able to make our first meal in my new kitchen (after about 7 weeks of takeout) we ate dinner, I put all the scraps in the (underthe counter) sink, then I looked high and low for the switch to the garbage disposal. where it was supposed to be was a switch turning on the outside lights to the garage.........the contractor NEVER INSTALLED it. We called him, he said that he has to get the electrician out to add another outlet, blah blah blah, he mailed us a check for a couple hundred and our garbage disposal sits in a box in the basement.

 

[diznygirl]

Under cabinet lighting, drawers instead of cabinets for all sorts of things. Lots of outlets!

 

[airplane]

1. Insta Hot - my new house doesn't have one yet and I am going nuts w/o it!
2. garbage disposal
3. trash compactor (although I can't find bags anywhere but Kmart)
4. The little drawer under my sink that holds the sponges

 

[mickeyboat]

3. trash compactor (although I can't find bags anywhere but Kmart)

airplane - have you looked at Sears?

Denae

 

[Cindy's Mom]

4. The little drawer under my sink that holds the sponges

You can buy a little kit at home depot that will make a "drawer" out of the fake drawer that is there - - its really cool

 

[disykat]

Lots of drawers, and lots of uninterupted counter space.

 

[alliecats]

My Corian counters. No, they do not add convenience. But the satisfaction of looking at their beauty every day instead of the stained, cheap, ugly crap that was on there previously...in a color you couldn't even identify...ahhh, priceless.

 

[FSUGrad97]

In our newly built house, we have an island with a sink, two large corner pantries, tons of cabinents and drawers, & tons of outlets. I can't wait to use my new kitchen, and I don't like to cook!

 

[missypie]

Our pantry was just a small closet with stationary wire shelves. We had it redone so that the shelves all pull out...the best money we ever spent!

 

[elgerber]

Hands down my walk in pantry!!! Dh just put an extra shelf in there last night for me, and I have so much space now, there is empty shelf space!!!!

 

[Denine]

my huge kitchen island!

OK, I could live without one, I did until a little over a year ago, but I wouldn't trade it for anything now.

 

[debaudrn]

Garbage disposal, drawer under sink for sponges, pantry cabinet, under counter lights, granite counter tops. I did over my kitchen a year ago and these are still my favorites!

 

[Freyja]

I loooooovvvvvvvvvvvveeeeeeeeee my long island, where I do almost everything: Bake, chop, wrap presents, read the paper, EVERYTHING. I couldn´t live without my drawers either, I hardly have any cabinets, just drawers in all sizes.

Have fun!