Kitchen reno--fave features/overrated updates?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:upping the HP on the disposal- the difference in price between standard and something that can grind anything is negligible

this is very true.

[Anonymous]

One big sink! At least a few drawers for pots/pans. A bosch dishwasher. These are my favorite kitchen things.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We did a gut reno of our kitchen and, like others, we splurged on a few items. The things I like most would be our 71"LaCanache French range, a single bowl 36" sink, a butler's pantry, and separate commercial sized refrig and freezer - each one is 48" wide and having that much space is great, especially for storing larger things. I also had spaces for all small appliances earmarked so the cabinets could be designed with them in mind.

I'm not sure your definition of a "few splurges" matches with the OPs. Or anyone else in the 99.9%

[Anonymous]

Toe kick heater vent under the sink. Wonderful to stand at the sink in the early am and have warm toes.

Drawer microwave. Pricey -- but I love it.

[Anonymous]

A pantry.

Good range hood that vents to the outside.

Two ovens - actually, one of our ovens is a small Advantium microwave/ oven combo, and the other is a full oven. That setup has been working well for us.

I would have loved to have an appliance garage for the food processor, but that wasn't an option for our current kitchen.

[Anonymous]

Love our touchless (one-tap) kitchen faucet. Also deep kitchen drawers. Think about placement of outlets in your kitchen island to make sure all the space is usable for the small appliances that get hidden away when not in use.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are about to redo the kitchen in the house we bought (complete replacement, including floors, cabinets, appliances, countertops), and considering which features we want/don't. We are opening it to the living room, and it will have an island and cabinets to the ceiling (pet peeve). We don't have an unlimited budget for sure, but since we're doing a complete reno, we have the opportunity to make strategic splurges. We have two littles, who will eventually grow

I thought I'd crowdsource things that you can't live without or wish you had, or features you thought you'd love but wouldn't do if you did it over again. I know we want deep drawers in place of some cabinets, soft close cabinets, and a pull out trash can. We don't want/need a wine fridge. Most other things are up in the air--little splurges, specialty cabinets, pantry, lighting, appliance features, etc etc. Share your wisdom!

The #1 feature you cannot live with is a good layout that works for how your family cooks and lives. A poorly laid out kitchen will be a trial even with a million-dollar counter. Invest a thousand or two in a kitchen designer who will take time to plot out your space. Don't rush this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Don’t choose wood because it will look dated in a year. Wood always ages poorly.

Having had both I disagree - painted cabinets are significantly less durable than stained wood. Not to mention thermofoil.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We did a gut reno of our kitchen and, like others, we splurged on a few items. The things I like most would be our 71"LaCanache French range, a single bowl 36" sink, a butler's pantry, and separate commercial sized refrig and freezer - each one is 48" wide and having that much space is great, especially for storing larger things. I also had spaces for all small appliances earmarked so the cabinets could be designed with them in mind.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We did a gut reno of our kitchen and, like others, we splurged on a few items. The things I like most would be our 71"LaCanache French range, a single bowl 36" sink, a butler's pantry, and separate commercial sized refrig and freezer - each one is 48" wide and having that much space is great, especially for storing larger things. I also had spaces for all small appliances earmarked so the cabinets could be designed with them in mind.

This sounds restaurant-sized and not in a good way. I tried to google to find images like this even described and could not.

[Anonymous]

We doing a kitchen now and added toe kick drawers and instant hot/cold filter water faucet at sink.

[Anonymous]

Large, deep single-bowl sink (33" wide in our case). So glad I got rid of the double bowl system!

Blind corner cabinet (vs a lazy susan rotating style) similar to this https://www.cabinetparts.com/p/kessebohmer-organizers-kitchen-organizers-HAF54810440-p24386?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI4d2np4bb7AIVh5WzCh1y9Al1EAQYBSABEgJeYfD_BwE

6 burner gas stove by Bluestar which fits a full size sheet pan and has limited electronics so I don't have to spend a fortune repairing the control board or whatever

Our microwave is stored on a shelf behind a fancy lift-up door (google Blum Aventos HL) - this has been awesome because we could choose from a bunch of microwaves that fit in our space, and we won't have the hassle of having to replace an expensive built-in microwave or drawer microwave. Plus we have room for tea boxes and prescription meds there. It's in an upper cabinet next to our fridge, with a counter below, and I love that I can just close the door and not see it if we have people over.

Large lower cabinets where we store our large appliances like mixer, blender, and food processor. I don't like a lot of stuff on the counter, so we just take them out as needed.

Walk-in pantry with shallow shelves on one side for my insanely large spice collection. I hate having to look for spices in a deep cabinet and prefer to keep them out of the light/heat of the kitchen

[Anonymous]

Seems basic, but under cabinet lighting. I never knew how much I used it and needed it until I moved into a place without it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Seems basic, but under cabinet lighting. I never knew how much I used it and needed it until I moved into a place without it.

+1 I totally agree. We have ours on a dimmer which I like a lot.

Ditto to the other posters on the large single bowl sink and lots of deep drawers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We did a gut reno of our kitchen and, like others, we splurged on a few items. The things I like most would be our 71"LaCanache French range, a single bowl 36" sink, a butler's pantry, and separate commercial sized refrig and freezer - each one is 48" wide and having that much space is great, especially for storing larger things. I also had spaces for all small appliances earmarked so the cabinets could be designed with them in mind.

This sounds restaurant-sized and not in a good way. I tried to google to find images like this even described and could not.

+1. Does your kitchen look like the back of a Burger King (+ a $14k stove though, of course)