Carree, you mentioned getting help with your paint colors. I did this years ago with a decorator when we built our house, I agree best money spent. Now I'm redecorating and am having a hard time, don't want to hire an interior decorator just for paint colors. Did you, by chance, use the services at Sherwin Williams or BM or did you hire a decorator?

This is a great thread. I'm homeless and kitchen-less at the moment, as our renovation is long overdue (10 weeks and counting) and we sold and had to move out of our previous home. The hotel does have a kitchen of sorts but that doesn't count! But here are things I loved about my last kitchen, most of which I'm incorporating into our new kitchen.

Loved:
Huge island w carrera marble. Loved how the size anchored the space and provided massive work surface and tons of storage. The only seating though was on one short side and allowed for only 2 seats. Next kitchen will have seating along the long end, even though that compromised a bit of storage.

Single basin sink with grids. Hide the dishes; practically anything could be washed in there. I had Franke Orka. Going with a Blanco this time as I wanted a cleaner line, but in a similar size.

Small sink in island. I loved having a separate place to wash veggies while I prepped and didn't have to use the main sink behind me. Will have another prep sink in island In the new kitchen but I went with a bigger size this time, only because I couldn't find a reasonably priced round sink similar to the Ticor I had in the old kitchen.

Pull out trash w 2 bins (one for trash one for recycle).

Pull outs for pots and pans.

Inset cabinets. I just love the look. Had beaded inset in last kitchen w simple shaker door. This time i did away with the bead and went with a bit of detail on the door/drawer face. Both looks are lovely.

Sharp micro drawer. So totally convenient to ha e it in the island, even though I microwave with infrequency.

What I'm looking forward to being different in the new kitchen:

Bye bye dishwasher drawers. I hated those things. Miele, I cannot wait to make your acquaintance!

Bye bye Bertazzzoni range. I loved you at first. You were gorgeous and the right price point at the time. But, gosh, you were finnaky and only I could light your oven. So looking forward to the new wolf range and the griddle! I had 5 burners on the Berta and think I will get a lot more use out of a griddle than that 5th burner.

Bye bye soapstone. You were gorgeous. I liked the idea of and loved the look of marble on the island and indestructible soapstone on the perimeter. But my soapstone was not maintenance free. I didn't like having to oil it so frequently and didn't like the feel of freshly oiled surface. It chipped around the sink and edges whereas the marble never chipped. And it scratched like crazy. I'll take etched marble anyday over scratched soapstone. Yes, I tried to sand it out but probably could have put more diligence behind that task. New kitchen is all marble.

Bye bye side spray faucets. I can't wait to return to a pull down faucet. And a waterstone at that. Can a faucet be gorgeous?

Things I will miss from the old kitchen that I couldn't work in the new space:
Vertical storage. I am clueless where to put my cookie sheets. I have more uppers than I know what to do with in the new space so hoping to somehow figure out how to store cookie sheets there.

Laundry adjacent to kitchen w a fabulous mudroom and drop zone. Laundry in basement at new house. No mudroom at all. Trying to figure out how to keep the island from being a drop zone.

Love: big peninsula, lots of workspace. Lots of natural light. Lots of lighting options. Giant sink. Sink grid. Two different counter materials (bb for warmth and quartz for around the sink). Adding a patio door to the kitchen for easy deck access.

Don't love so much: cheaped out too much on cabinets (compromise with husband), dishwasher in the corner of a run (compromise of a narrow kitchen), non-induction, non slide-in stove (compromise with husband), SS appliances instead of white (compromise with husband), planning on a larger entry to the kitchen instead of more peninsula seating. People really love that peninsula seating!

Had our budget been $20,000 to $30,000 higher I could have avoided the compromises....but I might not have a husband!

This post was edited by robotropolis on Tue, Feb 3, 15 at 12:05

SoonerMagicMama, most folks here would recommend drawers over pullouts for pots and pan. My Mom had pullouts in her kitchen for 30+ years, and rarely actually pulled them out, so they were effectively base cabinet shelves with less space.

Vertical storage - what do you have over your fridge? Lots of people put trays there. I have a 9" base cabinet next to the sink that I use for cookie sheets, pizza stones, and cutting boards. A final option is toe kick drawers.

Good luck with your new kitchen, and surviving the hotel!

My kitchen loves:
- much more efficient layout
- tapmaster; I like it better than the touch/less faucets in PR
- base cabinet drawers
- pantry/storage.
- stove griddle
- counterheight window above sink

Meh to dislike:
- built in paper towel holder. Although it's next to the sink, we never use it. May eventually look at replacing with a drawer - more useful
- had to keep non-kitchen related tasks in new kitchen space
- in ABB and hate that I can't seem to finish the last 2% of project
- range hood exhaust, referred to as the 'airport runway'

This post was edited by Mags438 on Fri, Feb 6, 15 at 17:15

I considered drawers over pullouts but the pullouts worked in the last kitchen and I felt w inset and the stile between drawers I'd lose obefall storage space. With pullouts, the handles of pots can spill beyond the lip of the pullout but would be totally confined in drawers. The extra step of opening doors and pulling out never bothered me. The pullouts are full extension and soft close.

Everything else below counters are drawers, with exception of trash and sink bass. Love drawers.

Very shallow (in height) cabinets about fridge and freezer. 8.5 feet ceilings and big SZ units. Nothing vertical there, though they could live there flat, if I keep a step stool handy.

My cabinet maker looked at me like I was crazy when I suggested toe kick drawers. He said he'd try them if I insisted but I didn't want to be his first attempt. This is an old house, floors not totally level and I have heat/air vents in a lot of the toe kicks.

I'll find somewhere. I do appreciate the ideas!

Isn't it funny the things we think are almost commonplace ideas, such as toe kick drawers or outlets under the cabs, are ...

RADICALLY

FRIGHTENING

I do thing a strong wish for me is the outlets under the cabs. But then, I've ripped my cabs out 3x and those outlets would have probably burst into flame by now.

(Someone who USES a 6" spice pull-out!? You are the Queen.)

I forgot - the 3rd thing I really love is the bamboo floor. See the photo at the top.

Interestingly, this looks to be the same bamboo that is now on sale at Costco for $70 a box vs the usual $90.

With the caveat that this house is barely finished and we are not living there yet, just using it a couple of weekends a month.

Love:
Every single appliance so far. I did a ridiculous amount of research here and elsewhere. I just hope everything lasts as long as I think it should! (Bosch DW and 36"induction, Zephyr hood, Electrolux oven, Liebherr CD fridge). I could write an essay just about what I love about each one.

Custom cabinets with a huge number of drawers, all full extension and with soft-close mechanisms, customized to fit just what goes there.

Quartz countertops, so durable and I even like wiping them down

Silgranit sink and Hansgrohe faucet that just work together beautifully. I've gotten a few of what I thought were stains on the sink, but they came right off, even the rust spots-- whew!

Matte tile backsplash 4 x 16 in Alabaster (Ann Sacks Grid) with low and horizontal receptacles that match almost perfectly.

Undercounter lights (Unilume LED) that light up the work areas so perfectly.

Pullout trash and recycling between sink and cutting board #1

Two built-in cutting boards: one by sink for veggie prep, another 36 incher at peninsula in the baking area.

Made the uppers 14 or 15 inches deep. A row of 4 glasses fits now, and just makes them seem like they hold so much more!

My swivel counter stools: we were not looking for backless, but ran across these at a consignment store and they work really well. We don't plan to sit in them for hours, though.

Spice storage at eye level on shelves inside uppers.

Microwave on shelf: we are both tall and we don't use it all that much and it is so nice to have it not taking up counter space.

The pulls I agonized over. Ended up with 4 sizes (although really mostly 3, 1 is an oddball). Figured out a decision rule about what goes where and it all looks great.

I don't hate a single thing. My one regret is that we left the footprint of the kitchen just the way the architect drew it. We designed the kitchen layout ourselves, and ended up with 2 SuperSusans. Because I wanted my baking drawers as wide as I could get them (ended up being 36") one of the susans is 12 " on one side and just 9" on the other.

In hindsight, we probably would have been fine with 3" less of a walkway. I don't recall what it is, but it's at least 4 ft. We tell ourselves that if a 3" mistake is the worst we did, we did OK. Also that that particular susan is the one for "stuff we probably shouldn't have kept anyway" (The Harvest Gold blender that gets used once a year doesn't deserve prime space!)

We have LED cans for overall illumination and there's plenty of it, but in the old house we have track lights directed toward the uppers, so I feel like these are a little darker than what I'm used to. It's also not a fatal flaw, and I'm not even sure what would have been better since I really didn't want a semi-flush fixture in the middle of the room.

Forgot to add - I love having a broom/utility closet in my kitchen with upper shelves. And I especially love that I remembered to ask the contractor to add an outlet on the back wall of the shelves to serve as a hidden charging spot for phones/ipads to get those pesky wires off our counters! I can also use it to charge the dustbuster. Dozoens of people who have seen it say they wished they had done that. It's a simple add-on for any of you in mid reno with a broom closet.

Also, two years after doing the kitchen, we now have a dog, so the shelves in the utility closet serve as great storage for treats/dog food that is seperate from our own food stoarge. A lucky side-effect I suppose.

This is a really useful thread, thanks everyone. Great ideas here for those starting out (or dreaming of the future.....).

CEFreeman-you've been making me (actually) LOL lately. Totally agree on the radically frightening thing. I've been trying to talk my DH around to some new ideas:)

Having just moved in two weeks ago to a habitable but not done house, (except for the laundry room and my kids bedrooms, all rooms are works in progress) here's what I love so far about my kitchen.

Open concept layout. I love our new space.

The layout itself within the kitchen. I love walking in with groceries, placing the bags on the island (I have an island!) unloading them and easily putting things away into the pantry and fridge.

Lots and lots of lights.

36" BS range. I love having 6 burners, space to cook, to move pots around, the power.

Custom cabinets with lots of drawers with full extension slides and soft close doors.

Wood floors with radiant heat.

A lot more workspace than I had before.

The one con so far: after the whole design process was done, dh decided he did want an under counter wine fridge after all. So that took out 3 drawers from our island. So instead of having abundant storage we have just enough since we couldn't add storage anywhere else. It will keep us from having too much clutter that's for sure!

Great thread. Here are mine.

Love:
-My (almost) 9'x5' island. Put it to the test prepping for Thanksgiving and it passed beautifully.
-Super White Countertops. Having lived with them for 8 months, I'm thrilled with the decision.
-Coffee/Breakfast area. This small area houses our Keurig and toaster with coffee cups above and cream in the beverage fridge below. When entertaining, it easily converts to our bar area.
-Raised DW. DHs favorite thing in the kitchen. I'm sure we'll love it even more as we age in place.

Not loving so much:
-French door fridge. Having a hard time getting use to this. Would love to switch out for my old SxS.
-Water pressure in sink. Complained about this to the builder when we moved in and was told there is nothing that can be done. Takes forever to fill a pot or wash dishes by hand.
-Having only 1 easy-glide rack in my double ovens. My old Electrolux Icon had 3 in a single oven. Thermador gives you 1 in a double oven. At ~$200 each, I haven't raced out to purchase more.

Wow- I am closing in on 3 years and still love my kitchen

Definite loves -
-Drawers! Even though I am taller than average - it is so much easier to reach into a drawer and grab what I need. One of my favorite drawers is my container drawer - I used to have avalanches all of the time when they were in an upper cabinet.
-Induction cooktop - love it!
-UCL LED dimmable lighting
-LED 3000K can lights (see below)
-Angled Plugmold(see below)
-Baking zone
-Staging area
-Dish drawer, flatware, and glasses on same counter run near DW - in my old kitchen - everything was scattered on 3 different runs
-Boos cart(new from Craig's list)
-Advantium Speed Oven
-Spice Stack
-Organized drawers (and qualify as OCD in the kitchen)
-Waterstone faucet
-Hubbardton Forge decorative lighting

New Kitchen toys to go with kitchen
-Thermopen - every kitchen should have one!
-IR thermometer - another cool gadget!
-Vitamix!!!
-KA mixer found on CL

Neutral(new category)
-Wolf Oven - so far mine is OK but worry about the porcelain downstream
-Quartz countertop - works great, looks great but think it is unproven technology. I hear about GWers who claim it can fade - so far so good and everyone raves about it.
-Silgranite sink - Love it so far - but again, unproven technology and what happens if it does crack because I drop a 10lb LeCr pan - Guess I should use the grates more often LOL
-Brookhaven cabinets - had an issue with one of them early on. The cabinets look brand new at closing on 3 years. I thought I was getting plywood boxes but was dealing with DD end stage heart failure and was not totally on board and signed up for MDL - might be good in the long run but who knows....

Not so thrilled
-Wish I went with my gut and didn't put any plugs into the backsplash but heard of so many that hated plug mold. Love mine and wish I kept only the corner plug or none at all.
Broan hood - I was trying to avoid MUA but wish I had done a more powerful unit - it is OK but not great

Wish I had done
-Garbage swtich on sink
-Replace floor with kitchen but everyone loves my floor - I just know my old floor will not live as long as my kitchen
-Drawers or pull-outs under sink
-4 or 6 inch cans instead of 5 inch cans as limits choices

@robo -- an extra 20K to 30K -- sounds familiar -- and sounds like a fair compromise (at times... just kidding... ).

@mags -- which range hood and which CFM?

I'm glad to hear these longer term reports from other users as well -- I'm not in this forum very much anymore but I'm glad I clicked on this thread earlier.

@ lcskaisgir , you asked the question of help with paint colors...my local Wallauer has a BM decorating department attached. One of the decorators there makes house calls. I spent time with her at the store with many color strips so that I developed a sense of underlying tones and so then we were able to have a more informed conversation onsite in my home while she walked through the place looking at natural light and furniture, etc. Hope that helps. Good luck.

Love:

~15x17" prep sink with disposal on the rangetop wall. I have 51" of prep space to the right of the rangetop and 31" between sink and rangetop. Blissful.
~Drawers!
~A pullout for a dog food container in my bookcase/command center.
~Deep sink in island.
~A proper vent hood (FINALLY!).
~Placement of our dishes/cups/silverware in relation to the DW and rangetop. Because our main sink is across from the rangetop we really had to think about this. One person can be cooking and prepping and the other can be emptying the DW without running into each other.

Things We Didn't need, But Really Like:

~Main Trash/Recycling Pullout with Servo-Drive. Opening the trash with my knee when my hands are covered in prepping goo is fantastic.
~TV over our vent hood. Our carpenter carved out a niche in front of the vent casings and fitted it with a false front. The false front has a lift mechanism that is launched by pushing an invisible button under our island counter that is directly across from the TV. My husband is most proud of this. The button is right where he sits at the island.

Things I don't like:

~The width of our sink. A 36" wide sink is way too wide for us, and is a pain to clean with the spray function of our faucet.
~The reach of our faucet, too short.

I can't believe I forgot to mention my Rocky Mountain Hardware pulls. Since I touch and see them all day long, I decided to splurge a bit, and I'm so glad I did! They feel as good as they look, and since they are solid bronze, the more frequently used pulls are developing a beautiful patina.

Just in case anyone is interested, here's the link... chris

Here is a link that might be useful: Rocky Mountain Hardware

@gooster - I went with the modernaire barrel style hood in black and ss. The exhaust stuff was over my head at the time when I was making all those decisions, so I just took the easy/lazy way out by getting thru modernaire. It's the abbaka 1400cfm (10" rd) which is more cfm's than we needed, I think. We were undecided on a stove griddle or grill so I went with the higher cfm's. The old kitchen didn't have an exterior exhaust so this sounds loud to us.

nothing to add but wanted to say that that Rocky Mountain hardware is stunning!

Love:

Hood that vents outside

A stained island (vs white) that doesn't show scuff marks from shoes of people (kids) sitting at island

LED lighting (cans, ucl, over cabinet)

Counter depth fridge (very helpful since it is across from stools at island)

Pullout double trash/recycling bins

Wood Hollow cutlery insert

Cinder silgranite sink (old sink was white integrated corian sink that showed everything and slightly yellowed over time)

Wish I would've:

Microwave drawer (I was afraid the interior wouldn't be tall enough and did a Kitchenaid built-in in the island)

Different decorative hood

Forgot to say that I love my bank of 3 36" drawers under my cooktop and having a functional top drawer designated for pan lids.

And thank you carree for the info!!

My kitchen is not new but something hsw_hc said prompted me to share this.
Her remark about opening her trash with her knee and not having to touch the trash can. I have a stainless steel oval garbage can that is motion activated. It's quite large. It has an electronic type eye on the top, just a very small red light actually. All you do is wave your hand slightly over the red light and the lid opens. The lid will close by itself after about 10 seconds or so. The lid opening is a good size, I've never had a problem getting gallon jugs etc into the opening. We are building a new home and it will definitely go In the new kitchen. It is battery operated and the batteries last for months and months. I use mine a lot and I think I put in new batteries about 4 or 5 months ago.

Love: the soapstone counters, all the drawers, gas Capital range, real vent hood, under cabinet lighting!
Regrets: Not raising the counters (we are both tall), not putting dimmer switches on ALL the lights. Wish we had a couple more smaller drawers.

Lisapoi: what a great idea for the hose sleeve, thank you. Will have to keep my eyes peeled for an appropriate sleeve.

Current kitchen: (Note, I am building my future home around my dream kitchen! This one ain't it!)

Love: I have one.

Dislike: Everything else.
- Only two dual electrical outlets. One of those has the fridge attached to it.
- The half bath, basement, and back doors are in a nook at the back of the kitchen where they all slam into each other when they open.
- Only one upper cabinet worth the effort to call an "upper cabinet". There are also three 12-inch-wide (outside measurements) upper cabinets of dubious utility.
- Refrigerator can only fit into a marginal-sized space, meaning I can only buy a marginal-sized refrigerator.
- Cabinetry cheap and painted with many coats of whatever.
- Countertops old-school formica with seams.
- No Space!

Good job....You can remodel your kitchen in many ways. With the availability of diverse interior design materials it is possible to give a new face to your kitchen according to your budget. As kitchen is one of the most important rooms in a house where health and wealth of members are decided, one should be able to design it in all possible ways.Visit Kitchen designs in bangalore.

Here is a link that might be useful: Modular-kitchens

lisapoi - I did the same thing! (kinda) Couldn't stand the sound of the weight clunking over the drainpipes every time we pulled down the sprayer -- also could NOT see paying $17-$25 plus shipping for an official Moen hose corral, which is nothing more than a hard plastic sleeve and clippy device at the top. DIYed one on my own, cutting tops and bottoms off apple juice plastic bottles (64 oz) and jamming them together. Sits nicely at the bottom of my sink and doesn't take up much space. Ugly as all get out, but it's hidden and works perfectly!

Brilliant, javiwa. And it probably works better, too since the sides are harder. If you shove something under the sink without paying attention, I imagine it's possible for the Moen sleeve to still collapse and get squeezed. Not so with plastic bottles. Clipping this.

zorroslw - who makes that trash bin? are there smaller ones?

Oh, funkycamper -- my first clip! :) But, wait, there's more...bonus pic of the ugly-but-practical gizmo! Correction: one apple juice bottle plus one cranberry juice, shoved together (don't even need tape for this little project). Just buy generic juices -- the store brand tends to package them all in the same shaped bottles. Sits neatly at the cabinet bottom and has a very slender profile.

Also not a very new kitchen, but found lots of help here while doing it.

Love:
Granite countertops. After 25+ years of tile & grout, just love them.
Lower cabinets coverted to drawers. Kicking myself for not converting more. Gradually adding pull outs to partially make up for this mistake.
New appliances
Trash/recycling pullout. Previously had trash under sink.
Vent hood. Works much better than OTR microwave. However, it's noisier than I would like.
New cabinets around refrigerator that are very useful and hide the big "monolith" look of the fridge. Also vertical storage for cookie sheets, etc. there.
Hardware on cabinets. Never had any before. Hated using the finger-pull edge. I splurged on the hardware and am not sorry one bit.
Stainless sink and pull down faucet.

Don't like: Not much

Wish I would have:

More drawers as noted above.
Replaced some solid cabinet doors with glass. Got talked out of this one.

@javiwa - Maybe it's just the first clip you're aware of, lol. Question: the color I'm seeing is different colored plastic, right? It almost looks like you have a leak.

funkycamper -- That was the reason for my disclaimer! My original post said two apple juice bottles, and I didn't want to be caught in a fib here on the GW! The bottom/darker bottle was the cranberry juice one...I think. Maybe vice versa? Can't remember, but definitely two types of juices: apple leftover from Thanksgiving turkey brining, but that's a topic for another day/thread!

[Don't say leak. If you've seen any of my other posts about my long, drawn-out issues w/ granite, you'll know what I mean.]

As mentioned, because of the nifty ball joint swivel on the sprayer head, I don't need to pull the hose very far out at all...which means the weight doesn't travel very far up. However, if folks need more height, juice bottle #3!

Love:
The Drawers - thank you GW

The below drawer - I got the idea from another GWer for two of these 20" tall drawers flanking the range.I put dividers in one & I love having a spot for really big platters, etc.The other one holds my Wolf pizza stone kit & some other big stuff.

Spice Drawers
Knife Drawer with insert

36" ORGANIZED divided drawer dedicated to Tupperware/plastic ware

36" Dish Drawer - once I got heavy duty hardware. I have two more of these large heavy duty drawers for casserole dishes. I plan to purge some of the casserole dishes & get one or two Le Creuset Dutch Ovens.

Vertical Storage -I love the verticle storage. I didn't have that in my old kitchen. I have 3 areas: one cabinet over the 24" wall ovens, one narrow base cabinet & the big drawers next to the range.

Pull-out trash (resisted this as I didn't think I needed)

Disposal AirSwitch (resisted this as I didn't think I needed)

Prep sink (with disposal & air-switch) resisted the need for a prep sink, obviously I was clueless.

Kohler Irontones low divide sink - turns into a large single sink once you fill it above the 4" divide.

RO system - we have well water & for the first time in 20 years we have ice & tasty water.

Dimmers on all lighting
I love all my appliances although I'm still learning how to use them. The range top, I figured that one out.

We moved a doorway 15" to create a longer Range wall. This also allowed us to put in a 15" deep floor to ceiling pantry in the hallway/vestibule that connects the kitchen to the laundry/mud room.
My Encore Silver Backsplash - the tiles were much warmer than I anticipated. A lot of angst over that but it ended up really warming up my white kitchen & is probably my favorite design element. It was pointed out to me by several people here that the warmer tiles were going to be an asset.

Regrets:

I wish I had gotten a slightly larger prep sink (from the person who didn't think she needed a prep sink).

No Super Susan - somehow I missed that & have a Lazy Susan. I'm just mad at myself because that is basic GW Kitchen Forum knowledge.

Outlets in the Backsplash - could have been avoided as our walls were open. I just didn't know. In the end, we found outlet covers that are a good match to the backsplash.
I probably, also, should have relocated some of the light switches.

Pull-out cutting board - I just don't use it & another drawer would be nice. I need to force myself to use it.

Vent hood - wish I'd investigated a remote blower located outside or in the attic. I like to listen to the TV in the adjoining FR when I'm cooking. It's a little loud for those sitting in the FR.

I used a reputable KD Design Co who also GC'd the project & the subs. They did great work & everything I wasn't happy with, they fixed.

Except: grout instead of caulk between the countertop & backsplash. They fixed it but I now realize he just put a line of caulk on top of the grout. I suspected that & I should have spoken up. My grout lines also should have been larger. I have slight lippage that can only be seen when the hood lights are on. This was the sub I had extreme confidence in - a tile guy named Milan, an artiste. I also had to ask him come back & seal the crackle tile & the grout.

In the end, no regrets that really bother me, except the caulk.

Thanks to everyone who has shared so far. I'm glad to see so many of the items I'm including in my upcoming remodel made the "love" list. Since I've nothing to add to this thread yet, I thought I'd share a link to an old thread on a similar topic.

sjhockeyfan, when my family lived in S. Fla, we stored oils, PB, nuts, bread - anything with oil in it that might go rancid quickly - in the fridge. It was a nice change when I moved to Oregon and didn't have to do that anymore. I had more fridge room than ever before.

ChristyMcK, which Kohler single bowl sink do you have?

To all of you, posted already and are planning to: it would be great if you'd either post a pic of your kitchen or include the link to your reveal thread. And if you haven't posted a reveal thread yet, please do! We love eye candy/kitchen porn here on GW.

Thank you, everyone!

Here is a link that might be useful: Hidden Gems

Next time I do a kitchen remodel, I'm including that drawer!

romy718: OUR tile guy (floor, though) was also Milan...and an artiste!

sjhockeyfan: to tide you over until your next remodel, if you have such a space, store your pans/sheets a la Martha, using spring tension curtain rods as dividers. Mine work great until something better comes along. This space is high up, above my microwave, and I used to be forever at risk of pulling everything down on my head.

Desertsteph

The maker of the auto trash can is Ninestars. Just key that into Google and you should bring up their website. Yes, they have various sizes. I have been very happy with mine, no problems.

Here's my reveal thread, from September 2013

Here is a link that might be useful: Ann's reveal

Romy718- what size is your prep sink and what size do you wish you had?

Thank you for posting that link, lisa_a. I remembered the other thread, but could not locate in with a search because the name was too different. I was beginning to think I had just imagined it!

Love these types of threads--so useful having the great features listed together for later reference.

zorroslw - thank you! I looked it up and found one about the right size. I'll double check the measurements but I think it's small enough for the lid to open easily under my kitchen sink.

romy, is there a link to your reveal? Thanks! I hope you read this.

3 years into the new kitchen and I can say I am very very happy overall. A couple high level thoughts for those making decisions..

Love love love:
Induction cooktop. Risky when we did it, cause it was newer tech. Love the control, the easy clean and the look.
Warming drawer - get used many nights a week with kids/family schedules
Soapstone counters - whoa.. The are are gorgeous and indestructible
Drawers for all lower cabs- sooooo much easier to use!
Miele MW/convection oven - so great to have a second oven and a mW in one box.

Things I'm less in love with...
Oven is very large, takes a looong time to preheat. Dislike digital
Really wish we could've afforded the built in fridge..
Backsplash is ok. I don't hate it but I don't love it. Simple to change, will probably do sometime.

It took us a long time to get the kitchen done and it was a major remodel (tore down walls and stuff. But I am so glad we did! Good luck to everyone on the journey!

Nancyjwb - my prep sink is 17" x 18 3/4" (14"x16" x7.5" depth, interior bowl dimensions). I wish I had gone with the larger Kohler IronTones, approx 21"x 21"(interior: 18"x18" x9.5"). The 7.5" depth is okay & I can fit my largest stock pot in it, but a couple inches bigger would be more comfortable for draining those large pots of boiling water.
Catkin - I haven't posted my reveal yet. Still planning to. Just waiting for DH to take pictures with a real camera.

I used my pull-out cutting board (one of my kitchen regrets) for the first time tonight. I was making stuffed peppers, meatloaf, sloppy Jo's & burgers. Not only did I enjoy cutting on the board but it gave me an additional 21"x20" of prep & landing space. I prep pretty exclusively on my island, which I wish was about a foot or so longer. Now I have that extra space. I'm going to have to rearrange a couple of drawers as my prep bowls & liquid measuring cups are in the drawer immediately below the cutting board.
I am now a pull-out cutting board convert!

What a great thread. I'm signing the contract on our reno tomorrow morning. This is all so helpful. The biggest question I have right now is about the refrigerator. It seems like they all stink (unless you can go Subzero, which I can't). If any of you have wisdom to share on how you chose a fridge and whether you're happy with it...I'd love to hear.

dimmergut, "stink" like literally or just aren't very good? I have a Kitchen Aid side by side and it doesn't smell bad or have any other issues. It even runs quietly. People have preferences about layout (doors) and size and appearance. There's something for everyone out there and not necessarily SZ.

The only fridge I ever had that stunk was one where we had to evict the renters and they hadn't paid the electric bill so power had been shut off for who knows how long. Stunk doesn't even begin to describe it. Straight to the dump.