Q for those who redid their kitchens or love their kitchen

We are in the process of planning a kitchen update and am wondering what everyone loves or hates in their kitchen

Double sink? Deep sink? Undermount? Wood floors? Tile? garbage disposal? type of counter? types of lighting? etc. etc.

Anything you are so thrilled with or very disappointed with? I appreciate any input.

Thanks

Re: Q for those who redid their kitchens or love their kitchen

I like that we have a lot of counter space. I like that we have a eat in kitchen, and it is pretty roomy for a smaller house.

I like that there are two lights on the ceiling, so I can have one on or both on, and that I have the option of dimming both of them

I love our slate tile Backsplash

I love that you can see into the living room from the kitchen, and it isnt closed up.

I love the windows in the kitchen, it makes it very bright in the room

I love the floor - We have pergo throughout the 1st floor of the house, and the floor just flows from the kitchen into the living room

I love our kitchen table....The chairs and the base of the table have an antique look, and the table top is glass.

After we put up the paintings and get a round rug for the kitchen under the table, the look will be complete
Scott

Re: Q for those who redid their kitchens or love their kitchen

Re: Q for those who redid their kitchens or love their kitchen

Posted by Wendy


When we redid our kitchen we installed a deep, undermount and I'm actually not all that thrilled

Re: Q for those who redid their kitchens or love their kitchen

Posted by LisaW

Posted by Wendy


When we redid our kitchen we installed a deep, undermount and I'm actually not all that thrilled

Can I ask why? This is something we are considering...

Re: Q for those who redid their kitchens or love their kitchen

We have a lot of counter space which I love. We also have the microwave above the stove which is a fabulous space saver. Our sink is a double sink and not really thrilled about it because it just feels so small. It's great in keeping things seperate (if I have something sitting in the sink because it's defrosting and need to wash something else) but just not a big fan of the double sink thing.

we had a garbage disposal before we lived in the house and didnt like having it. Never really used it and felt like it was just a waste to have.

We have tile floors and no complaints on that. Very easy to clean.

We have high catherdral ceilings and almost a flush lighting. Wish I had a better way to explain it. I do wish we had under the cabinet lighting. But no biggie. I just think it looks nice.

Message edited 2/8/2006 10:14:16 PM.

Re: Q for those who redid their kitchens or love their kitchen

I have a 1 1/2 sink (it is not consider a double sink since one part is really small). I don't love it, would rather 1 large sink. It is also not very deep.
My kitchen is a eat-in kitchen with an island. It is open into the family room. I love how open and airy it feels. When I am in there and DH is in the family room, I don't feel like we are seperate.
I have 3 seperate lighting controls which I love - 1 for the high hats, 1 for the undercounter lights and 1 for the chandeliere over the kitchen table. I love that I can contol the lighting and the mood of the room.
I love that the deck is right off the kitchen. Our BBQ is onthe deck so it is almost like an extension of the kitchen.
I have really high cabinets. I am so so on this. I like having all the cabinet space but since I need a step stool to get to them, I feel that they are not used as efectively as they could be.
I have stainless appliances - which I LOVE LOVE LOVE!!! The only problem is that the former owners did not put in a new refridgerator. Or house is only 4 years old but I think when they built it, they put in their old refridgerator. It is about 15 years old! It is very ugly and I can't wait to replace it with a new stainless model. It is tough to find exactly what I am looking for though because I want the stainless loook with magnetic front. Every brand has their own name for this but it also doesn't show fingerprints.
I have granite-look laminate counter tops. I am OK with them but I think if I were to choose a counter, I would go with a silestone or corian counter instead. Again, this is just my opinion as the counters don't look any different. I would just know.
I love my stove (picture below). Love that it is gas. I once had an electric stove and I really don't think I could survive having electric again. For people that don't really cook, it isn't a problem. It just takes forever to heat up and it is not easy to control the temps on a stove top with electric. I think the only thing I would have "chosen" if I could have though would have been to have a wall double oven. I love that!

Re: Q for those who redid their kitchens or love their kitchen

We had our kitchen done about 8 months ago. We love it. There are a few little things I would have done differently. Our sink is to deep. We have black granite which we love but its sooo hard to keep clean. I should have gotten the bottom cabinets with drawers. We only have one we could have had 2 more.

That's about it.

Re: Q for those who redid their kitchens or love their kitchen

Our kitchen is brand new and I truly love it. I LOVE the deep rectangular sink that we have. It fits big platters in there and the water doesn't splash out too much. Our is stainless steel and we got one of those grids to protect the bottom, which I like too. It's also undermount which I love- you can just sweep crumbs right into it, instead of them getting stuck in the lip.

We have tile floors which I like too- very easy to take care of and I don't worry if I spill stuff on there. It just wipes right up. We have granite countertops, which again I love - so far they are easy to take care of - i am jsut very careful to wipe something up after I spill it.

We have a garbarge disposal and in all honesty, maybe because I never had one before, I don't see the need for it. I don't like to put big chunks of food down there so maybe i just didn't need it... It's good when I use it, but I don't think its a necessity.

We have highhats and a chandelier over the kitchen table - and 2 pendants above the island - all on different switches which I love. This way you can choose which lights you want on. I will try to attach a pic but I'm not sure if it will work.

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Re: Q for those who redid their kitchens or love their kitchen

Re: Q for those who redid their kitchens or love their kitchen

Re: Q for those who redid their kitchens or love their kitchen

What I love...
The undercounter lighting.
We have our garbage cans in a slide out cabinet, so they are hidden.
The glass cabinets with lighting to display stuff.
Stainless appliances.
Counter seating...we sit here over the table.
Cabinets that go to the ceiling, I just love this look.
Small LCD TV mounted under the counter.

Re: Q for those who redid their kitchens or love their kitchen

We have a new construction home and the builders kitchen was a disgrace! I'm not sure that was even real wood.
We re-did it about almost 2 yrs ago & it took about 6 months! DH, I & some handy family members mostly DIY'ed it..that translates into countless midnight runs to HomeDepot & all-nighters on the weekends.
I LOVE the mix of cherry cabinets & maple contrast.

I LOVE the hood over the oven,there is a viney-grape motif throughout in the woodwork & even the pulls to the cabinets & drawers.

I LOVE our apliances,we did splurge but it was something we both firmly wanted. I wanted the Wolf oven (just love those red knobs) I swear it cooks a damn chicken in minutes! My DH is so impressed by the fridge (SubZero) something about 2 seperate fans..I think that it keeps well..milk,fruits,veggies last for weeks.

I LOVE our light fixture that I searched high & low for, found it in Fortunoff,matches the walls.

I LOVE our granite countertops..sleek & easy to maintain.

The kitchen is open to the familyroom & back deck so I am in the middle of all of the family action.. before my DH said I aways talked to him with my a$$ turned to him (position of sink)..now with the sink in the middle of the island..we always talk while I'm cooking/washing.

I LOVE that the shelves on the bottom are deep for pots & slide out.

I LOVE our tumbled marble backsplash...ties the whole look together.

I DO NOT LIKE: that the oven is NOT self-clean..its restaurant grade so cannot be...I'm NOT lovin' the grill feature on the oven,although it tastes like a BBQ,again,bitc* to clean.

Also the Miele dishwasher is mostly very silent but there is a period of about 3 minutes in the very beginning of the cycle that sounds just horrible...like a screeching tractor trailor!

Here are a few pics, before...during..after..
I do not have a complete pic on this computer..so they are mostly pics in progress. The other white walls have been painted a deep redish color..it all goes well,very comfy..also the outside deck was expanded & changed to composit wood (whole other vent in itself) a baclsplash was added.very similar to Merfs.

BTW, I "practiced" sponging on the bottom half of the wall where I knew it would be covered by the cabinets & backsplash... looks good in person.

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Message edited 2/9/2006 11:18:09 AM.

Re: Q for those who redid their kitchens or love their kitchen

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Re: Q for those who redid their kitchens or love their kitchen

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Message edited 2/9/2006 11:13:11 AM.

Re: Q for those who redid their kitchens or love their kitchen

Holy cow Andri that is one heck of a kitchen!! Are you on LI??????? Lovely!

Message edited 2/9/2006 12:00:36 PM.

Re: Q for those who redid their kitchens or love their kitchen

Thank You.
We live in Whitestone,Queens. Right by the Whitestone Bridge.

Re: Q for those who redid their kitchens or love their kitchen

Your kitchens look great ladies!!

Re: Q for those who redid their kitchens or love their kitchen

I hate my countertop. It's some kind of black, mini-speckled formica and it shows everything! Every little crumb and every speck of dust stand out making it look like I never clean the kitchen. It also scratches soooo easily! The kitchen is not a place where I need to be careful of everthing I do. When I ever get a chance to redo my kitchen, I'm putting in a nice solid, lighter colored, more multi-toned counter top.

I also hate my sink. I WISH it was undermounted. There is also a very high and arched faucet--because it's so high, when I do the dishes, water splatters everywhere.

My cabinets stink!!! Everyone walks into the kitchen and says how much cabinet space I have, but it's so deceiving. A lot of my cabinets are these little half size things that I can't fit any appliances, pots, cereal boxes or soda bottles in. I have no place to put most of my stuff. If I owned nothing but cans, I'd be set.

The previous owners bought a new Amana fridge and left it for us. They raved about the this. I have a love/hate relationship with it. The fridge side has seperate compartments with seperate temperature settings so you can keep milk colder and more humidity in with the veggies. But everytime we go in the fridge, we inevitably hit one these by accident and change the temp so the milk is ice and the lettuce wilts. Also, I HATE the freezer. It has all these baskets to hold the food instead of shelves. I can't get any boxes in there normally or find where anythings located causes it's all just piled on top of each other. Why couldn't they just put shelving in??????

Another thing is that the garbage can is a pull out in one of the cabinets. We HATE it. The can is so small and fills up in a day. Then one of us shoves to much in there and we can't open and shut the thing. And when I have dirty hands while I'm cooking, I have to touch my nice white cabinet door to open it and get at the trash. We'd put in a regular garbage can, but that brings me to the last thing I hate, no extra space in the entire room! They put cabinets in every inch of the kitchen. So, I can't have a regular garbage can or it'd be sitting in the middle of the floor, and I have no wall space to hang anything decorative or put up a shelf or anything.

The kitchen is nice looking when you walk in, but I find it very non-functional.

Message edited 2/10/2006 8:40:10 AM.

Re: Q for those who redid their kitchens or love their kitchen

Here are some pics of our kitchen:



dining room but kitchen is right next to it

Re: Q for those who redid their kitchens or love their kitchen

Ooh, I never attached pics of my kitchen! (At least not in this post ) Here you go!

Re: Q for those who redid their kitchens or love their kitchen

I don't have any pictures but I love my kitchen.

We have a DEEP sink which I love because I can pile all the plates and platters in and start to wash and the mess stays inside. It also looks alot less cluttered when you have people over because it kind of "hides" the mess.

We have a TON of counter space. This is a must for me as I like a lot of room to prepare my meals and it also works well if we ever set up a buffet or a hero for a party.

We had a garbage disposal when we moved in but I immediately pulled it out. I think I watched too many horror movies with hands getting stuck in there so it scared me!

We have hi-hats in the work area which is great for task lighting. We have a regular fixture over the table.

We have hardwood floors that cover the whole level of the house into the kitchen. For me I like the uniformed look and it makes everything look bigger.

Our cabinets also go all the way to the ceiling. It gives so much more space for storage which I could always use.