Is it too late to make some comments? We just got through with a kitchen remodel (link below), and I just thought I would share a few thoughts. We have white cabinets, so big difference from the oak.
We love having a French fridge and would not have any other kind. I can't stand bending down to put or take things in and out of the refrigerator. The freezer is used less often. A side-by-side has less space. We also really like having a counter-depth fridge, but they work better when you have another fridge in the utility room or garage.
If you can arrange to have a corner cabinet or a rational section of cabinets with glass fronts it can be really attractive, especially if filled with nice glassware. You want these to be lit with led lights with glass shelving.
LED lighting is cheap and good. You should buy it off Amazon rather than Home Depot, as it is cheaper. An electrician can put in the boxes for you so nothing will show so it won't be sloppy and will work with a switch. This will look amazing, and you can just run in all the way around under your cabinets. We just have a single line way over the sink, which is a mistake, as there is no other light. For more light, just run the led lights back and forth four or six times to make it extra bright so you will have lots of light over the sink. You can connect these lights for any length.
We used 6x24 tile in a herringbone pattern and could not be happier with the way it looked.
We had a 12" space on the bottom cabinets and ended up putting in a pull-out spice rack. This included space for the little 2-inch tall cans of spices. This has turned out to be a great thing, and we didn't think it would be.
Here’s a link to our Airbnb listing, which I believe is permitted according to the forum rules. It only has one kitchen photo, but it shows the under-counter lighting, the glass-front cabinets, and the semi-commercial grade vent-a-hood, which is nice. Also, we like the commercial-style oven, but that’s just our preference.
Just a small side note: don’t assume the electrician will always care about how evenly the lights will be installed. Our GC always installed the recessed cans by himself and just let the electricians wire them; based in his multiple years in the trade, electricians only cared how well the wiring was done, screw the aesthetics.
Oh, and if you already have recessed cans in the ceiling, there are retrofit LED kits that will convert the existing cans to LED. Easy peasy.
We don’t have gas, and I bought an induction range not quite 6 years ago that I may have loved just slightly more than my children, lol, and then about 5 weeks ago while cooking dinner I heard a loud “pop” and the thing hasn’t worked since – not the burners, not the oven, not even the timer. The whole controller died and took out one of the burners, and the part has been on back order, with the arrival date receding into the distance and the cost of repair around $1000. I was holding out for repair because I love the stove, which cost $2500, and I think it’s obscene to junk a major appliance that’s not even 10 years old. But GE finally talked me into replacing it with a deeply discounted newer model that is uglier and has fewer features for $300 more than the cost of repair. Ugh. All this to say that if you have the option to get a gas range/cooktop that doesn’t have the fancy electronics, it’s a no-brainer. And if you are getting something electric and choosing between a range vs separate cooktop and oven, think hard about the latter, because that way if one of them dies, at least you still have the other.
Unfortunately from what I’ve now read, 6-10 years is the norm for modern electronic ranges – and I guess lifespan is being pushed toward the shorter end by manufacturers’ failure to maintain a supply of parts.
Yep…from what I inderstand…new appliances last about SEVEN years. My DH hates our fridge…I told him he only has to hate it for three more years,it’s already four years old.
I wish our fridge would die. My new range has no electronics except for the ignition. I had to replace the computer on the old one and it cost a fortune. And somehow it was going to cost twice a fortune to also fix the broiler.
My just four year old fridge is already freezing items at the back of the freezer section. I give it one more year…max. And it cost $2800…counter depth.
My Viking stove is a workhorse-they never die because there’s nothing to die-no electronics, no lcd screens, no motherboards. It just cooks well, and that’s all it does. I love purpose-built stuff.
My Kenmore fridge is nearly 25 years old and still going strong. The ice maker produces so much that I have to turn it off for a few days until the two of us use it all. My Kenmore range is original to the house (1978) and still works. And the 1978 dishwasher works, too, except the door is “sprung” and does not seal properly, causing it to leak water onto the floor. But mechanically, it is fine. My Kenmore washer and dryer are approaching 20 years old, too. Wow. I sound like an ad for Kenmore, but I have had really good luck with them. My understanding is that the new ones are not made as well as the old ones. I really wish my stove would die so I would be forced to replace it!
“I’m going to sound like a grumpy old geezer but they really don’t build things like they used to!”
I started a thread here on this exact topic when I joined CC many moons ago and was quickly ridiculed by some posters. Thank you for vindicating my thoughts.
@BunsenBurner I’m lamenting the demise this week of my Cuisinart Food Processor that I’ve had for 31 years - yep, 31!! and I use it quite often - because I know the new one I buy will be nowhere near the same quality. In fact, the base of the food processor works perfectly still. It’s the bowl and other parts that have broken and it costs more to replace them than to buy new. I sure got my money’s worth, though.
@doschicos - how do you keep that “butt-joint” on the piece that goes inside the cylinder of the lid from snapping? Nothing else has broken in ours, except that piece several times. The piece I mean is like a poky stick that attaches to the outside of the elliptical inset.
In my last house, we had dual GE wall ovens that were 51 years old and going strong! Of course, there was nothing fancy except bake and broil but the oven light would occasionally shock me by going on.
It’s called the “pusher sleeve” I believe and you can see at the upper left, a place where there’s just a thin piece of plastic holding the longer stick part.
Thank you for vindicating my thoughts.