I had a microwave vent over my stove in my first kitchen because it was simply too small to do anything else. It worked reasonably well with a normal stove - I wouldn’t put one over professional style burners. I remodeled it on a really tight budget. Took over a 3x5 unused porch and the remains of a chimney that went nowhere, but it was till only 10’ x 11’ when I was done. My priority was to have counterspace, my only splurge was some handmade Italian tile for the backsplash. My current kitchen has bead board for the backsplash except for subway tile behind the range and adjacent counters. Very happy with them so far.
I have a huge farmhouse type sink in stainless steel. Undermount. Love it. DH doesn’t love the square corners for cleaning, but I do like the way they look.
If I had it to do again, I’d love a second oven. But there were very limited options for a 36" wide space and no obvious place for wall ovens.
If you have a closet behind the fridge you can sometimes steal a little space from it so that the deeper fridge will look counter depth.
My sink right now is my hands-down favorite. Undermounted stainless steel, one really big basin. It’s bulletproof, holds all the dirty dishes, I can wash the dogs in it, and so easy to clean because the kids can never put food down the wrong side of the drain. I can also put the entire huge turkey roaster in it and fill it full of hot water-it’s so nice not having the water slop out over the sides because something is too big to fit.
My least favorite is porcelain because it chips and stains like crazy. Hated it. Farmhouse isn’t worth the price to have that pretty “skirt” in the front. Copper is too hard to keep looking good. I don’t know what you mean by rounded corners-my sink is one integrated piece, no seams in the metal.
Two of the hardest choices we made were the sink and the faucet. We wanted a white sink…and have a two bowl quartzite undermount white sink. One bowl is pretty deep. The second is smaller, but not teeny. We have a Hansgroh brushed nickel faucet. The good CC folks helped me on this one. I actually found it at Costco for $200…but there was a $50 off coupon and it ended up being $150. The plumber who dos the installation raved about it…no plastic in the construction. He said it was a solid choice.
Our last sink was the same configuration (but not undermount) and was while Silestone (which is like Corian). It was 15 years old and didn’t have a mark on it. I would,have used it again…but I wanted undermount, and it couldn’t be. We gave it to a friend to use in their cabin.
One thing…be very careful of faucets. The ones at a plumbing place are definitely not the same as at Home Depot. Our first faucet in the kitchen was a Moen…and it came from a plumbing supply place…and supposedly was guaranteed for life. After about 10 years, it started to drip. We tried to,get a replacement at the plumbing place…but of course that place was out of business. We went to HD, and the very nicely gave us a new kitchen faucet that looked exactly like our old one. It lasted maybe two years. They gave us another freebie to replace that one. There was NO way I was going with Moen when we had our counters/sink/faucet replaced!
My plumbers wife is a good friend. She took me to the store they use, and ordered upscale sink and faucet. Though items at HD/Lowes might look the same, they have plastic parts. I like my big sink, with insert for vegetables or pasta. I hated my split sink, cuz I couldn’t get big pots into it or baking pans.
Would love soapstone, (the 100+ year old triple wash basin in the basement is that,) it’s the one decision I could make quickly. But I was told it’s not considered a durable stone (?)
Going to look at refrigerators tomorrow evening. Like someone else, my space is only 33", which limits.
I despise pot racks. Looks cluttered, messy. Don’t want to reach up for pots and pans even being tall. Any house we buy with one would have that removed the first day. So someone else loves them, but not me.
Sinks- stainless steel! Watch the gauge- lower better than higher number. Undermount. Someday I may want a single large sink instead of the two even sized bowls as I would use a dishpan if I ever washed dishes by hand without running water. I made the cheaper decision to take the 8" deep freebie from Home Depot with other purchases instead of the 9" one I could purchase. I was reminded that the inch of granite would make the sink that much deeper. Beware of cheap sinks that are high gauge and only 7" deep.
Years ago I was replacing a Moen kitchen faucet with a Delta one I had purchased from a local big box type store. I needed to call Delta one day and found out from them that when their products have the same model numbers as those from the plumber they were identical. The worst part of the job was removing the rusted in place old faucet with my back on the cupboard edge and bifocals not set for distances and angles under the counter.
One poster listed things to get but not the many mistakes. Likewise for me. We built a house and renovated a house. There are always things we would do differently, along with different products available at different times. It amuses me to see people on House Hunters who diss houses because they have “out of date” décor, appliances and other cosmetic things. When do things (finally) become “vintage”? Then those who want houses with “character” but all of the modern design features such as closet space, larger bedrooms… One person’s “character” is another’s nightmare. The younger, first time buyers typically are least wise, practical.
Finally- we gain all of these shopping, renovating et al skills then never need them- expect on CC!
Well…yes @wis75. When we built this house 21 years ago, we made the decision to have stained Woodward instead of painted (which was coming into style by time). Our downstairs moldings are also upgraded…look like something in an older house, solid wood stained doors everywhere too, like old houses had.
We are having the interior of our house painted…but,we,aren’t touching the woodwork. I like it…and that is what matters.
So @fendergirl think about the look YOU want in your kitchen…and go for it!! It’s going to make,you feel,good every day if it’s what you like!
We are getting a silgranit sink. I’ve read very good things about it over on the gardenweb forum, and our kitchen guy said he installed one in his kitchen and loves it.
I really wanted a silgranite sink. Drooled over the colors and styles. dH wanted porcelain enamel. He won because he does all the dishes. I got my 6 burner gas cooktop. Win-win, but I still sigh over those sinks.
I have a crushed granite sink similar to SILGRANT that is large single bowl undermount. The material is incredible, never scratches and very easy to clean. But the sink mounts inside the garbage disposal in a way that makes opening small for hands to get down in there to get that dang fork someone dropped into disposal. Also the drain flange is made of some kind of material that melts if you put a hot pot down into sink. Ive got a melt mark in drain flange.
Love my large, deep single bowl stainless sink. Most of the time I keep an adjustable strainer to the side. It’s a handy place to set things to dry or set a colander or implements while cooking.
Remodeled 9 years ago and got a white, huge, double bowl cast iron porcelain Kohler sink. Very deep-18 month old big baby can take a bath and only her head/shoulders are above. Undermount, which I love love love. Wipe crumbs in, no crud around a rim.
I can’t wait to re-do though and I’m going back to stainless. This gets marks from pans that are very difficult to remove. Our water, even with a Culligan softener, has iron and stains it.
Zodiac quartz countertops in a dark gray. This hides a lot, but I like clean, shiny countertops and wish I’d done granite. Limited countertop and I’d like to put my microwave in a lower cabinet. I’m very short; H very tall–so no great options.
Love, love, love my induction range. Much more control over temperature than with an electric stove, and much easier to clean. I boiled over some soup the other day and cleaned it up with a paper towel while the burner was still on.
Another vote for Gardenweb’s Kitchen and Appliance Forums!!! Was addicted there 10 or so years ago when we redid our kitchen. Learned about soapstone and would not have any other counter. Unfortunately, had to buy a stove before I learned about Bluestar or Culinarians. . .Our Miele DW died before its time even after an expensive interim repair, so we just installed a Bosch; not many choices for an 18" DW when you want a third rack.
For life w/o a kitchen, I highly recommend using a couple of busing bins instead of dishpans. They can be purchased at restaurant supply places. They are about the same depth as dishpans, hold quite a bit more, and are great for busing!
I used to spend a lot of time on Gardenweb’s kitchen, home design and appliance forums too, but quit when the site was taken over by Houzz. All this talk about GW makes me think I should suck it up and give it another try.
I haven’t read the whole thread but when we replaced appliances we went with Whilrpool’s “White Ice” collection, It is a nice alternative to pure white- it has kind of a more modern edgy look to it. It does not show any fingerprints of dirt and I love the color. It is hard to explain the difference as compared to regular white but it is very fresh looking. I’m not a fan of SS or black, so was happy to find this.
“Would love soapstone, (the 100+ year old triple wash basin in the basement is that,) it’s the one decision I could make quickly. But I was told it’s not considered a durable stone (?)”
@lookingforward If you like the look of soapstone, and durability of granite, consider leathered (satin) Marron Cohiba granite. I remodeled several kitchens, and this countertop is my favorite. It has a very warm natural tone, does not stain, scratch or shine, and feels great to the touch. Mine looks similar to these:
