Any Kitchen tips or advice??

Tomorrow we are meeting with the Designer at Home Depot to figure the layout and design of our new kitchen. Does anyone have any input or things that they wish they would have thought for when they did there kitchen? I have an idea of the layout we want and the cabinets and colors but not sure if I am missing anything and I don't want this person to try and sell me something I don't need. Any info would be appreciated. Thanks

Re: Any Kitchen tips or advice??

We got most of our ideas from the HD kitchen designer. Some features we got that we love are:

-a tall pantry with roll-out trays
-cushion close drawers (even if you try to slam them they stop before they slam and close nice and slow)... LOVE this!
-lazy susan, if you have a corner section
-built-in garbage
-small tilt out drawer for sponges in front of sink
-glass front cabinet doors... love this look

Have fun!

Re: Any Kitchen tips or advice??

i just remember when my friend did her kitchen from there she got the "better" cabinets...if i remember correctly, it was the ones that were real wood (i hope i am making sense!)...she paid more for them but they were stronger than i guess their cheapest brand

Re: Any Kitchen tips or advice??

Re: Any Kitchen tips or advice??

hmmm - def the cushion close drawers...

I also got a bread drawer and a lazy susan for a corner cabinet (otherwise we would have had a lot more dead space).

I also asked for deep drawers on our island for pots and pans.

Re: Any Kitchen tips or advice??

I wish that I had done some more extravagent things, they would have been worth the extra money. For instance, I should have gotten granite counters, and a bigger fridge/freezer.

Re: Any Kitchen tips or advice??

definitely the slow closing drawers and i wish i had put in a pull out garbage. who wants the garbage out in the open when you just finished your kitchen!!! get the real wood not the laminant. and just make sure that you take this guys advice with a grain of salt. talk to a few different businesses before deciding on who to go with.

Re: Any Kitchen tips or advice??

1. We put a pot filler over our cooktop. It really is a nice convenience to have.
2. I definitely agree with the other ladies about the pull out garbage. It's nice not having it out in the open.
3. We put in a counter-depth refrigerator. If I could do it again, I would NOT go this route. My fridge is too small. I'd spend the money on a built in fridge or I'd go for a regular depth fridge.
4. If you are going to have an island, think about putting bookshelves on one end. We did that and it's immensely helpful. That's where I keep all my cookbooks.

Re: Any Kitchen tips or advice??

Re: Any Kitchen tips or advice??

Thank you all so much! I am going to take some of your ideas

Re: Any Kitchen tips or advice??

Re: Any Kitchen tips or advice??

I have drawers in my lower cabinets and love them (vs. doors and pull outs. ) One less step when you are trying to get something out. They are very deep and hold big stockpots.

Cushion close is nice, esp with small kids - no pinched fingers.

I got moulding on the bottom of the upper cabinets so the undercabinet lights (puck style) do not show.

Pay attention to cabinet itself and whether you plan to open it right handed or left handed. The one next to my stove for spices would have been a PITA if it opened left handed.


If you don't like the ideas they give you, try to go back and get another appt with someone else. I used HD for my design and the guy was full of great ideas. My kitchen is small but I really feel like he helped me get the maximum space out of it. I consulted with someone else before that (at Consumers) and his ideas were awful - I would have been miserable with some of the things he told me were my only option (they weren't) So design help is only as good as the designer.

Have fun with it!

Re: Any Kitchen tips or advice??

We met with a Home Depot designer last night and she did put together a nice kitchen but I wasn't WOW about it. I liked it but I am not sure. Do you think I would be crazy if I went to another place and see what they came up with? I was thinking of trying Consumer Kitchens and Baths. I am pretty sure they will be alot more $$ then Home Depot and Home depot was about $13,000 just in cabinets not including countertops, installation thank god DH will be doing do that.

Re: Any Kitchen tips or advice??

I think it's a great idea to meet with another kitchen designer. In my own experience I found that some are much better than others. What I would also suggest doing is a lot of research online so you can decide what you want and what's important to you. The first time I met with a kitchen designer I wasn't crazy about the layout they gave me. I, too, was expecting to be "wowed". But then I went online and looked at tons of sites to try and figure out what was most important to me. One of the sites I found very helpful was this one:

Kitchen Ideas

They have a lot of pictures and they also have articles about laying out a kitchen. I thought it was really helpful.

As far as Consumers is concerned, I have only used them for bathrooms and I wasn't too thrilled with them. However, like any other place, I think they have some staff that are more creative than others. Be sure to make an appointment. The wait times can be ridiculous if you don't have one.

Re: Any Kitchen tips or advice??

I had quotes and designs from 7 kitchen places before I decided on my final one. Use their services.

Re: Any Kitchen tips or advice??

I want slow closing drawers and that little pull out spice rack next to the sink.

Re: Any Kitchen tips or advice??

Posted by SUNSHINE

We met with a Home Depot designer last night and she did put together a nice kitchen but I wasn't WOW about it. I liked it but I am not sure. Do you think I would be crazy if I went to another place and see what they came up with? I was thinking of trying Consumer Kitchens and Baths. I am pretty sure they will be alot more $$ then Home Depot and Home depot was about $13,000 just in cabinets not including countertops, installation thank god DH will be doing do that.