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ardcp

wish i hadn't ...

ardcp
9 years ago

i remember when i was planning i saw a post where people posted their hindsight advice on layout. my kitchen is not done yet but i already have a big wish i hadn't, the ez reach upper cab! i saw them in person and online and thought it would be a great swap for the diagonal corner cab but i really don't like it at all. i don't feel like there is enough space gained over a blind cab to justify the added cost and it feels awkward to reach. now i wish i had combined the ez reach space and the 12" cab to make a bigger 24" blind cab!
my stove is jammed up against the super susan on the right and i wish i had made the cabs to the left smaller and put a filler in between the range and ss. the door opens but i worry about hitting it against the range. plus we had wall issues that when shimmed to level ate up some wiggle room between cabs and range so i am going to have to keep my fingers crossed that when i get a new range, they don't ding up the cabs in the removal/install process!
i have a hunch there will be more as it gets done.

Comments (11)

  • lisadlu
    9 years ago

    It's always feels like this when you are making a big change and a big investment. When everything is all done and some time has gone by you won't even remember you felt this way. It will all work out beautifully. :)

  • annkh_nd
    9 years ago

    Do you have 12" cabs on both sides of the easy-reach? I can see where that would be disappointing - 12" cabs are a pain. But I do LOVE my easy-reach, compared to the diagonal uppers they replaced.

    But since this is what you have, you might find it less objectionable if you rearrange what you have stored in each space. I thought I knew where everything was going to go in my new kitchen, but ended up shuffling things around as I actually had a chance to put things away and use them in their new spaces.

    Can the door on your super susan open the other way?

  • jellytoast
    9 years ago

    It's hard to get through the entire process without a regret or two (or more!). I can't say I've forgotten my mistakes since I have to live with them daily, but time passing does make them less annoying.

    What is an easy reach upper? I don't think I've ever seen one. I have a blind corner upper cabinet and it's no piece of cake to get into. It was one of those "lesser evil" choices.

  • andreak100
    9 years ago

    If it's any consolation, I have a list of "I wishes" too. Most are minor, but they are annoyances.

    * I trusted our cabinet maker when he said that a certain size cabinet would work for our sink...I questioned him on it twice and he said it was good...when it was installed, it turns out it was just a bit small and had we gone even 1 inch larger we wouldn't have needed to scoop the sides. If we ever had to replace the sink...well, let's just not even think about that. :(
    * I wouldn't have listened to my GC who said that the heat run under our pantry wouldn't heat up the pantry. He and I virtually got into an argument about it. He assured me it wouldn't get warm. I told him that it would. Guess who was (unfortunately) correct?
    * I should have gotten an induction cooktop without stainless steel "bars" that go across the front and back. It's so easy to clean. Except. For. Those. Stainless. Bars. And it really doesn't add anything to the "look" of the kitchen. grrr
    * I wish that we would have put just another inch of fill in the area where the LeMans corner unit is. As it is, I have to be careful when opening it so that the door doesn't hit the handles of the cabinet by it.
    * I wish that I would have known the weight of the barrister style door that we have - it's not terribly heavy, but I could have cut it down by a few inches had I known that it was going to be rather heavy.

    There are a few more, but those are in the front of my mind right now. I think that as you become "friends" with your kitchen, you'll learn to embrace the idiosyncrasies and love it. In as much as there's a list of things that I wish were slightly different...I wouldn't go back to my old kitchen for anything in the world!

  • debrak2008
    9 years ago

    I think I have the corner you are describing. While I do wish the range was further down there was no other option for us. Can you post a photo?

    You have the piano hinge door in the corner right? We have fit the range a few times but no marks. You get used to it really fast.

  • fishymom
    9 years ago

    I agree, most of us have things we wish we had or hadn't done, but once you get some distance from the design/construction phase, most will be non-issues. I have a few "wish I hads", framing in the fridge and drawers in two of my base cabinets, but I have made my peace with it. For now!

  • romy718
    9 years ago

    At least you have a Super Susan. Somehow, I ended up with another Lazy Susan. I was so impressed to have a hinged door that didn't gap open that I totally missed the presence of the pole in the middle. All the discussions I read about Super Susans...
    Many more little mistakes but that one really annoys me.

  • GenX-Luddite
    9 years ago

    Oh gosh. Still in the middle of a small-ish kithen redo, and I can't believe the number of little tiny things that bother me. It's funny: the old kitchen was here when I arrived, so although there were some small things that bugged me, I didn't have any choice in the matter. I just dealt with things and put them on my list of improvements. Now that it's up to me, it has become super stressful to get it ALL right. And even though I have great help and I'm getting a lot of ideas here, there are already things I didn't foresee, like the way my new faucet won't stay on "spray" when I turn it off. This means I have to change the way I rinse the dishes when I'm washing by hand (crystal, etc), and it really really ticks me off when I'm forced to "work around" something that's supposedly an improvement. I'm secretly hoping the beautiful new faucet breaks before its time, so I can get one that works like the old ugly one did. And that is just sad.

    So if I were starting again I would think long and hard about exactly what in my kitchen routine was already simple and efficient. Then I'd triple-check to be sure the physical changes I was going to make to the kitchen wouldn't interfere with what was already good.

  • ardcp
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    annkh- i have a 12" cab to the left of the ez reach. i thought i would love it but now that it's in my kitchen, it seems awkward. of course, there was no way to know that until it was up!
    debrak2008- i think my awkward corner is super common. i asked several kds about the ss right next to the range and they said it was fine. but with full overlay doors, there is very little space between the range and door. i do think our range is a little tighter than it was supposed to be because of the weird waves in the wall (lots of shims behind the cab to make it all level)

  • annkh_nd
    9 years ago

    My cabinet maker built a spice rack to go inside the door of a cabinet next to the range, and it's very handy! The shelves are then recessed, to provide clearance for the rack.

    My cabinet is 24" wide, and there's only spice rack on one side (since that's the side most convenient to open when cooking). What I really like about it is that the less deep shelves make it a lot easier to see and find things on those shelves. Something like this might make your 12" more useful, at least.

  • debrak2008
    9 years ago

    ardcp, I have a sense of deja vu.

    Here are some photos of my kitchen.

    This photo was taken as someone wanted a photo of this.

    This is a photo while still under construction and the range is not pushed back into place.

    What are your cabinets and where did you get your handles?

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