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.

Large sink, double oven, 5-burner cooktop, huge pantry, huge island. All things I would not want to live without.

Currently am loving boldly painted cabinets like blue or a dark green. Also love the brushed brass hardware. Recommend getting a big range or double oven if you plan to do a lot of cooking. Oh and a dishwasher that has capacity to fit a lot.

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

second dishwasher, big ass sink

We made the second sink into a sink for filtered drinking water. You lose less freezer/fridge space this way, plus the in-fridge ones can break, freeze up, or leak. The sink is on the island and has a disposal, so I can use it for prep, but since it's just smaller second sink, it doesn't attract the messiness the way island sinks sometimes do.

Biggest sink you can fit, single-bowl.

Had a 36-inch double sink that was awful because big pans didn't fit. Now have a 30-inch single and it's glorious.

A friend of mine did a reno, and instead of a wine fridge, they put in a small fridge and used it for kid snacks. It seems like a great idea to me. Even at age 7, DD still has trouble reaching things in the fridge, or knocks something over when it's all stacked on top of each other (like cartons of berries). It's also a good way to help control their snacking a bit, since you can make the fridge healthy snacks that they can get themselves.

With older kids, it's nice to have drinks on hand for when friends come over, but they also take up a lot of room in the fridge

I love those pasta water faucets over the range. Completely frivolous but could be convenient and fancy. Also recommend "slow-close" doors and drawers.

Big ass’ed sink. And if you have space for it, a second big ass’ed sink.

Vertically divided cabinet for cutting boards and cookie sheets. I love it.

Anonymous wrote:Large single sink (rather than divided sink)
Under-cabinet lighting

I’m the PP and we have both of these and I can co-sign that they were good choices we made as well. Especially the under cabinet lighting.

Large single sink (rather than divided sink)
Under-cabinet lighting

We chose deep drawers. Theses are great. We did a corner lazy Susan. Another good choice. We also put in open shelving. This tends to look quite messy. Don’t choose wood because it will look dated in a year. Wood always ages poorly.

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!