<p>Wow, I just checked out Houzz for the very first time. I LOVE it!!!</p>
<p>Another Houzz lover here. I wish they had posted the article on setting up a temporary kitchen before I began my remodel. I thought I was organized until the contractor covered everything with plastic and I “lost” all of the stuff I had left out to be accessible. With cabinets finally installed as of today, I can spend the weekend putting stuff back in my wall cabinets and in the pantry. Beginning to feel on the downhill side of things with some nice results!</p>
<p>If you’re looking for a mega-hood, try Vent-A-Hood. We turned our kitchen around when we remodeled so that the stove was on an outside wall, and vented with the Vent-A-Hood. It’s strong, sleek, and the best thing is that the filters snap out very easily for cleaning!</p>
<p>Now, even when my DH turns the burners on to incinerate for a stir fry, the smoke detectors don’t go off any more!</p>
<p>Oooops, yes Houzz. I got 4 out of 5 letters right.</p>
<p>I don’t think so. You could always store them somewhere so that when you sell the house the new owners could put them back if they wanted. It’s more likely they’ll just want a new kitchen anyway.</p>
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<p>You learn to navigate the place after awhile, but it’s not well organized or user friendly at all. Once you crack the code, it really is a goldmine, though. Gardenweb is divided up into separate forums - the home forums and the garden forums. Home forums are divided into sub forums, for example, kitchen, appliance, decorating etc. </p>
<p>Within the kitchen forum, you are right, it’s mostly just one thread after another. There are a few posts that have compiled some of the most valuable threads, but they sink until someone eventually decides to bump them up again. </p>
<p>There is (or was) a separate place to put finished kitchens, searchable by feature, but there doesn’t seem to be an easy way to find it anymore! They used to have an link to it right on the front of the kitchen forum:</p>
<p>finishedkitchens.blogspot.com</p>
<p>However, the majority do not post their finished kitchen in the archives - most just make a thread and include photos and info and of course many never post the end results at all.</p>
<p>You can always do searches for “finished kitchen,” “soapstone vs honed granite” or “Wolf vs. Viking” etc. either on the forum itself or right on google, by specifying the website. To do the latter type into the google search box:</p>
<p>Viking vs. Wolf site:gardenweb.com</p>
<p>soapstone vs. honed granite site:gardenweb.com</p>
<p>finished kitchen site:gardenweb.com</p>
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<p>Here it is -an excellent link for FAQ, popular past threads and other resources:</p>
<p>[New</a> To Kitchens? Posting Pics? Read Me! [Help keep on Page 1] - Kitchens Forum - GardenWeb](<a href=“New To Kitchens? Posting Pics? Read Me! [Help keep on Page 1]”>New To Kitchens? Posting Pics? Read Me! [Help keep on Page 1])</p>
<p>I learned something from the granite people when they came to do my template earlier this week. I mentioned that I had wanted an ogee edge, but had to stick with the budget and choose one of the standard edges, the 1/4 bevel. The guy said that I actually made the better choice, regardless of cost. I mentioned that I thought the ogee edge was really attractive and he said that it is the one most likely to chip and show dings.</p>
<p>Not a kitchen remodel question but since we are outfitting our new kitchen, what coffee maker does everyone like these days? I like a drip coffee maker that can brew at least 12 cups at a time. We have a 10 year old Mr. Coffee in our current home which makes good coffee but is not hot enough. Any suggestions?</p>
<p>I just bought a Cusinart with the additional instant hot water dispenser. I would love a Keurig but we drink too much coffee for one.</p>
<p>I have a Keurig and I LOVE it. I was worried about the coffee output with company but it is not an issue at all. I usually use my own coffee but I have a variety of K-cups for company. It’s wonderful. I had a Cuisnart that broke after a year and a half. I find I use far less coffee with the Keurig because you brew one cup at a time and never have waste. I can brew at least 3 cups of coffee in the time it took my Cuisnart to brew a pot.</p>
<p>Can I wake this thread up and throw out a new question? It’s about a second, small prep sink in the island.</p>
<p>We re-did our kitchen four years ago and opted not to have a prep sink, and we’ve never been sorry; we really love the large, unbroken work space our island offers, and the sink isn’t far away.</p>
<p>We’re relocating and will redo the kitchen at the new place, though, and this time there’s probably room for a prep sink. I would really love to hear how people feel about them.</p>
<p>We have a second, smaller sink but it isn’t in the island. Our main island is very large, 7’ X 9 1/2’, and that’s where our main sink is, a large farmer’s sink. Our second sink is in one of the outer counters and I’m very happy that we got it. It’s convenient for filling dog bowls and for cleaning the built in coffee maker. Also useful for big family dinners when someone is helping prep things for the meal. I think if you have room for one, you won’t regret the decision to put one in.</p>
<p>Wow, what a coincidence, Harriet. I’m this thread’s original poster and what just thinking about it today. I can’t answer your question. But, I can report that I ordered my new cabinets today and our remodel is officially under way.</p>
<p>Good luck with your move. :)</p>
<p>That’s exciting, DB! Good luck and take lots of pictures for yourself as things progress.</p>
<p>We can’t move for a while yet. I’m trying to look at this as a good thing, because it gives me time to gather a lot of information.</p>
<p>alwaysamom, that’s very helpful, thanks.</p>
<p>Harriet, I’ve learned a lot over on the gardenweb kitchen forum, where people discuss and have opinions on every aspect of kitchen design and remodeling. The expertise of those folks is amazing. I highly recommend it. If you don’t want to post you could search “gardenweb kitchen forum prep sink” or something similar, and pull up old threads to review. Best to search in google rather than using their on-site search, which is not very good. The most important thing I’ve learned is, when remodeling, incorporate as many stacks of drawers as possible. They are much more efficient and ergonomic than cupboards. But I digress!</p>
<p>I think the take-away with prep sinks, as with most kitchen options, is that it depends how people and work flow in your kitchen. If you can install it in a spot where it will be handy to use for your intended purpose (washing veggies? washing hands? thawing stuff? filling a glass of water?), with needed items nearby (refrig, towels, wastebasket, freezer, glasses, whatever) and you have the space and it won’t be in the way and it will keep people from jockeying for position around the main sink, it’s probably worth it. If you install it just because some people like and use them, but you’re not sure what it will be used for and your layout is awkward, it may be a waste.</p>
<p>zipyourlips, thanks. Yep, we resisted the second sink last time pretty much for those reasons - “everybody said” we’d like it (but we had no idea how it would work for us), and it would have called for changes to other elements that were really important to us. Now I can definitely see how we might use it, and we might have room for it. But I’m very interested in hearing about how it works for others. (BTW I like drawers a lot, too - though I’m definitely not going the microwave-drawer route.)</p>
<p>I do like gardenweb, but on CC, thanks to keeping up with several years’ worth of recipe threads, I have a better sense of how various posters cook, so people’s opinions have a little more context for me.</p>
<p>When I last remodeled my kitchen over 20 years ago, I had a prep sink installed on an island and I do all my food prep on the island. I am getting ready to remodel again and I can’t ever imagine to be without one.I like to keep that sink clear without having dirty dishes lying around.
I forgot to mention that I am short (5’2") and my prep island is a couple inches lower than counter height.</p>
<p>My friend has a prep sink in her island even though the main sink is nearby. She wouldn’t think of not having one.<br>
Depends on how you cook–the more cooks there are, the handier an extra sink becomes.</p>
<p>I’ve never had a prep sink, but if we had a big enough kitchen I’d be tempted because of the way we use our kitchen, two people often want the sink at the same time. We also always end up in the same corner of the kitchen - if there were two sinks we wouldn’t be wanting to use the same space. I really, really need to redo my kitchen. I’m currently experimenting with having a pennisula - I dragged in another set of wire drawers to see what it was like and it’s clearly a good idea.</p>