at the moment, I'm kind of regretting getting inset cabinets over full overlay. I do have a cabinet rep coming out on Tuesday, so maybe I'll feel differently after that - but right now, I feel like they all are not perfectly even around all 4 sides of drawers/doors and it's making me crazy. I knew they would adjust over time, but shouldn't I be able to get them perfectly even at any point in time? I don't know if it's a cabinet issue, installation issue, or lack-of-experience-adjusting issue. Hoping it's the last one as that's easy enough to fix!

Other than that (hahahaha - cabinets are the most expensive thing!) no regrets. I'm trying really, really hard to focus on the BIG picture of the kitchen, not the nitty details, but it's hard when it's all so new. I'm looking forward to the day when I walk into the kitchen and see it how others see it (as it's comprehensive, very attractive, functional space)

This post was edited by kitchen-reno on Mon, May 19, 14 at 11:01

When we laid out our cabinets, we forgot to add in a space next to the wall for the cabinets under the peninsula.

When we were installing (DIY), we realized the error and were able to pull the cabinets over a bit so the drawers would open properly. Unfortunately, the molding wasn't on the door at the time, so we didn't move them over quite far enough. We resolved the issue by shaving a bit from the molding later. Honestly, if you aren't standing in just the right place and concentrating on the door molding, you wouldn't notice. And now I realize we never stuck the filler piece in. Good grief.

The good news is that we just ordered vanities for the two bathrooms, one of which has that same door/drawer configuration. We planned it right this time, although it made us move from a 60" vanity to a 54" vanity. That's OK. We needed a little more elbow room for the adjacent toilet anyhow.

There is an integral shelf in our backsplash and I wish I had thought to put the outlets under the shelf instead of above. Not so much for function but rather for looks. Other than that, there isn't anything else that bothers me.

Our uppers are inset and my gaps aren't uniform either but only I notice it and I'm getting over it already.

All in all I'm overjoyed at my new kitchen. Love that I'm able to cook and hardly move from my prep spot at all. Thanks to GW it's really functional and as well planned as a little kitchen can be IMO. Now, if I could just get my last pantry door I could post my reveal!

I have a U shaped kitchen and the back wall of the U is a dishwasher, the sink, and then another dishwasher.

When my cabinet maker asked me about filler pieces for dishwasher clearance, I didn't even think about the fact that our current dishwasher had a handle sticking out with all the control buttons on top.

I got the cabinets installed, went to put in my dishwasher and suddenly realized it wouldn't work. The handle sticking out prevents the drawers on the sides from opening.

I had to go buy 2 new dishwashers with the recessed handle/clasp in order to be able to open all my drawers.

Oh well. I still love my kitchen!

Oh, hell yes.
Most of my mistakes I've been able to fix. Many of them could have been prevented if my then-GC-Dh had dropped his passive aggressive BS & just spoken up. He was the pro, not I.

In the meanwhile, though, the only thing I haven't been able to fix from that .. "era" is the fact that my kitchen wasn't laid out to deal with door and window trim. I haven't come to the point to put up trim, anyway, so I'll deal with that when the step comes.

I've learned so much in the past few years, I have no fear that I can't fix it.

I just wish I'd known he'd bail on me and I would have figured out a way to incorporate the kegerator into the kitchen. Still working on that idea. I like beer.

I don't like where our dishwasher is. It's to the left of the sink. I'm sure it works for a million people, but for me, it's awkward, and it forces me to take a lot of extra steps when putting away clean dishes. I debate every time I'm putting away dishes whether it's worth the trouble to move it. Moving it to the right might put it more in the way of prep, but considering I'm generally the only one using it, I think it might be worth it. I'm pretty sure moving it breaks some kind of GW law.

I also wish I would have broke the aisle clearance rules as well. There's about 40-42" between the front of the stove and the island counter. I wish it was 36", maybe even a little less. I want to be able to dice up some onions and turn around and dump them in a pan on the stove, but instead I have to take a step or two. It just feels like a few less inches would be more efficient. Maybe as the kids get older, I'll appreciate the extra space, but even with 3 kids on stools in the aisle, there is more than enough room.

Our plans originally had our dishwasher to the left of the sink. When it was installed it just felt off, I even posted a thread about it. I made the decision to move it back to the right of the sink and I am so glad I did, it just feels more comfortable to me on the right.

I made a couple of mistakes in my kitchen, the biggest one was not boxing in the fridge. My old fridge had black sides, so it didn't look as bad as the new fridge with gray sides. Without the fill pieces, I could have had a panel, but it didn't occur to me and the KD I worked with never mentioned it.

The last time I reno'd my kitchen I chose to have a range, but almost immediately wished I'd done separate double ovens and a rangetop. It is really difficult with just the range to cook multiple dishes for a party or holiday, or even just a family get-together. So I am planning double ovens and rangetop for my new kitchen. Having said that, I keep reading on this forum and the Appliances Forum about all the problems people are having with their ovens (oven door problems, temp problems, chipping enamel, fans sounding like jet airplanes, electronics going out, etc. etc!). I am tempted just to keep my dated white range for my new kitchen. It works great, and has never given me a moment of trouble.

I have been living with my kitchen for almost 9 months, and there isn't anything I'd consider a mistake. We have a vaulted ceiling, and DH wishes we had put in over-cabinet lighting; it never occurred to me, or I would have at least gotten pricing from the electrician.

And DH (who does the vast majority of cooking in our house) loves the built-in cutting board so much, he wishes there was one on the other side of the kitchen. These are both very small things.

I did spend several years planning my kitchen, and a lot of time here during the process. I did break a few GW "rules" - my DW is on the run adjacent to the sink, for example. Just as a fun exercise, I've drawn out different layouts with the DW next to the sink, and I lose something significant every time. Having the DW a couple of steps from the sink doesn't bother me nearly as much as the sacrifices I would have to make to put it next to the sink.

The novelty of the new space hasn't worn off yet - I still love everything about it!

We spaced the BS just a tad high above the counters, which will make a bigger caulk line than I wanted.

i have one deep tall cabinet where i put in shelves where I should have had drawers. totally fixable. i ordered the drawers today. I was paranoid about not being able to stack things. it's just a black hole right now, and I have baskets in them as storage.

Hm, with DIY I agonized over all the measurements. We replace the floors, counters, moved the gas line, electrical and water for the fridge. We deinstalled the cabinets and reinstalled them but had to cut them down since the flooring had previously been installed around them. I painted the cabinets and we moved the outlets to add subway tile. However, we (mostly I) decided that subway wasn't for us and decided to do shiplap which we then added to the whole kitchen. The results are lovely so far but it was a LOT of added work. I'm sure it added about three months on to the project with the shiplap, trim, etc. Oh, I also decided to build another cabinet in that amount of time as well which was partially DIY with ordered doors/drawer faces and drawer boxes.

Sorry that was a book.

Mistakes. All that to say that it's been tons of DIY and I really stressed over everything. One detail that I overlooked along the way was where a small window met up with a cabinet. I'd planned on the thickness of the shiplap but had managed to forget about the thickness of the window trim. I had the doors off of the uppers to minimize risk from damage (plenty of chips along the way from all kinds of stupidity from me and just about every workman we've had in). So, our neighbor saved the day when he let us use his planer. We trimmed down the trim and it works out very well now. Thank goodness.

Other mistakes or potential mistakes - I've now ordered tile twice and haven't liked either. The tiles I've purchased have had wider color variety than the samples I've brought home. I also think I've made the same mistake twice of getting smaller tiles that look rather busy. But I've got two major limitations - the first being the size of the area to tile. It's just the 5 3/8'' strip between the range cabinets and the breakfast bar which is 76'' long. Not too bit a space. I love the white macauba that we have and don't want to compete too much. The second limitation is that we've got shiplap everywhere which is pretty stripey. The floorboards are also narrow at 1.5'' to match with the original floors of the house. I like elonogated shapes but most everything seems to add to the stripes of the kitchen. Someone here warned me about it looking like a bowling alley!

Other mistakes. The crown molding was probably the worst part of the project. DH says that it's the devil's invention. He may have miscut a couple of pieces. We may have a blow up. We did fix it though and creatively inserted a couple of slivers that have been well masked. We did patch our shiplap cuts a few times and the patches keep cracking and separating despite using latex putty. So, I guess I'll be caulking them.

During the whole process there were a few mistakes. None of them have been too large to overcome. I'm way more confidant in my abilities now. Our woodworking had consisted of building a workbench and as of now we've installed shiplap and trim to the whole kitchen and also built a cabinet. I think we learned from all of our mistakes. Time will tell how it all functions. (I hope well!)

We have a 4 ft entrance to the kitchen. I wish we'd narrowed it by 3 inches to make the susan door longer on that side. But that one is for the seldom-used stuff, so I don't think it will be too inconvenient. Plus, I remind myself if it just a few inches we are talking about, we did OK! (Of course, our kitchen is not even operational yet, so there could be other mistakes we have not discovered yet!

No real mistakes or design flaws. There are a couple of things I would do slightly differently just for aesthetic reasons.

Oh, wait, two things. I guess not thinking about where he would move the phone jack (yes I still use a land line) was a mistake, because it is in a spot between the refrig case and the outlet without enough room to put the phone on the wall! He could have put the outlet lower and the jack above it, or the jack under the outlet for the phone to sit on the counter. Fixing this is on my to-do list, shouldn't be too hard to cut the wall, pull the phone wire over, and patch. I think.

Also, I told the cabinet maker that I wanted the microwave shelf to be about chest high. Meaning MY upper chest -- I am 5'5". He is at least 6'. It is at his chest level! This can't be fixed but fortunately hasn't been intolerable.

We've only been in our new kitchen for about a month, but mostly, no problems. If we're not careful our fridge door will bump the edge of the oven handle when we open it. Can't open it full or it will 'scrape'. Looking to get a clear rubber 'stopper' for protection.

Another issue that has been "resolved" is that the countertop fabricators carelessly drilled the wrong size hole for our faucet. When the faucet was right there. And the instructions. I don't want to dwell on this, but I am kicking myself for not 'making sure' they were doing it right. Because they weren't.

Oh yeah, there are some mistakes. Mostly minor...mostly irritations.

1.) The LeMans corner unit should have had more fill in the corner - the fill doesn't quite provide enough space for things to open completely without rubbing.

2.) I would opt for an induction cooktop that doesn't have stainless rails at the front and back...still, I consider myself brave for getting induction - it was prior to finding GW and literally no one that I know had it.

3.) I would have cared a little less about keeping a "clean line" and my roll out for under the MW would have been a separate door instead of under the retracting door.

4.) We did plug mold, save for one plug at the counter. Originally, we planned on our tile going horizontal, and we decided upon vertical..our plug was placed low and horizontal to line up with the way we *planned* on our tile going originally...now, it breaks up more tiles. Oh well, it's at least still positioned low and is covered up by the charging base for the cordless land line (yes, we too maintain a land line still).

We are at the ABB (and a bit of trim) stage, and I really love the kitchen, but I would change a couple of things:

I wish that we would not have gotten the 4" granite backsplash, which will probably look weird with my "real" backsplash--if I ever find one. :-)

I also wish that we had not gotten the trash pullout. It has a single can, and we are simply too "trashy" for it. We may store the bag of dog food in the can, because it's too small for the recycling, too. I should have paid more attention to the type of cabinet that we were getting--maybe the double one would have worked.

I do want to thank all of the folks on GW for sharing your knowledge--I learned so much from this site, and I know that our kitchen wouldn't be nearly as well planned without you all. (Best things from GW suggestions? Induction and LOTS of drawers!)

I'm in the middle of my biggest mistake right now (see my thread "freaking out about my new backsplash!"). Have decided to deal with it rather than settle. It's killing me right now, but will likely be a distant memory when I'm happy again!

I wanted my cabinets installed at 20" above the counters, not 18. I repeatedly told this to GC and his kitchen layout person (I have referred to this person as a KD in my other threads, but that doesnt seem fair to KDs). I was told no problem. Day of install, big problem. Wall crown and cabinet crown wont fit at 20", only 18". I've got the whole crew standing around waiting on my decision, and I'm just pissed. They tried to make suggestions to make it work higher, but pretty sure it would have looked funny at the top, so I finally gave in and said just install at 18".

I dont consider this my mistake since I was clear from the begining, in writing as well as verbal. My prior cabinets were at 24", and although a tough reach, I liked how they made the kitchen feel open, less, claustrophobic. I knew 20" would give me better reach, and still give me plenty of clearance for a vitamix and my cooking utensil crock. I still miss those two inches, and it does bug me daily, but I manage not to rumminate on it anymore.

My biggest mistake was not researching cabinet companies better. We just went with what GC recommended. I researched everything else but cabinets. Mainly because I felt under the gun to get a layout completed, felt like I had to just get it done or I'd never have my kitchen back. My cabinets look nice, but they've had a lot of QC issues. (Still waiting on two fixes, and first install was in Feb I think?) I was brand new to GW during my layout stage and didnt research cabinets enough or ask the right questions here!

I should have ran 10-3 instead of 10-2 for the combi steam oven, even though the oven going in uses hot/hot/ground. There's no guarantee whatever goes in 20+ years from now will not need a neutral. You try and think ahead, but sometimes you miss something.

My inital mistake was being talked in to a granite that was too brown for my white cabinets. Then my first backsplash had to be replaced. It was clear that it was a mistake. (The entire BS created a gray caste.)

The installation of the first backsplash was flawless so it didn't occur to me to even question how the second would go in. Well, my DH, who is great at contracting and over seeing, helped make the decision with the tiling man. There are slivers in the corner! I could not believe it. When I explained to my DH that this was really not acceptable, he said he knew that it would happen and it was the only way to center the tiles other wise it would be off behind the sink. Sigh.

I put my Keurig in the corner and I don't notice it now.

I would probably do a mood board next time and maybe I would have seen how the tiles would react to light.
I would have had a clearer vision of the three elements; the color of the cabinets, the granite and how the BS relates to the two.

I'm glad I'm not the only one with a land line!

My electrician told me about the greatest invention ever - a hot phone jack, that has power right in the jack, so I don't have to run a cord from the phone to an outlet!

I have 10" of pull regret - 20 door pulls set 1/2" too high. I try not to notice it.

I wish I had been around during counter install as it didn't go as I would have hoped.

I let my husband and contractor talk me into stainless behind the sink and I would have much preferred tile.

So in the end a lot of the mistakes are stuff I wasn't around to tell the contractor exactly how I would like it. I am much more picky than I thought I was.

One mistake-not sticking to my guns about wanting a deeper counter. Three years later and it's getting fixed this week before our real countertops go in. I've lived with marine varnished, triple poly coated MDF. Now that the real ones are coming in I told my husband now is the time. GC came over today and it's happening Thursday or Friday. It probably sound stupid to most of the world, but in my 9' x 10' kitchen every square inch counts. Especially on that 42" between my sink and stove where EVERYTHING happens. I can't wait...

We didn't get any drawer base cabinets - big mistake! Also, we got a double trash pull out. A single would have been enough.

@annkh
We have one too but it's not connected to anything outside the house. A box that connects with our mobiles through bluetooth is at one end, and a couple of land lines are at the other ends. If I'm at home and my mobile rings, the land line phones ring too. It prevents you from hearing your phone ring somewhere in the house and having to go run around and find it before the call goes to voice mail.

Well, I've already commiserated with kitchen-reno about inset spacing and I think I, too, would have forgone inset if I'd known what I would get. My custom cabinets were also by far the biggest part of my budget, so it's hard for other mistakes to produce that level of regret!

The corresponding regret is hiring a friend to build the cabinets. :-S

Arrghh! My mistake was taking my 5yo to gym class & lunch today. While I was gone, the real work of our cabinet install got underway and the project manager and KD made a game-time decision on handling a support stud (6in wide and about 3in deep) that wasn't fully planned for when the design was done. We all knew it was a probability and I had been told, and confirmed with the project manager a few days ago, that it would be covered by filler. But even when I left the house today, I was worried.

I came home to find that they had talked by phone this AM and decided the wrap the cabinets around the protrusion by cutting them up!! They had already installed the upper and were just about to start butchering the base cabinet - which happens to be one of only 2 sets of drawers I have in the entire (tiny) kitchen!!

The only other issue has been when they went to do the floors, they brought laminate instead of engineered wood (we're on a slab). I objected, since I had always said eng wood and had even discussed it again with the contractor on demo day. But it delayed things a few days, so I felt guilty about that.

The hardest part for me is figuring out when it's appropriate to be an OTK freak & a total shrew, and when I just have to settle for good enough. My husband has no shame about being demanding - his theory is that it's his money - but he neither knows nor sweats the details and just wants the chaos over ASAP.

I "cheaped out" on the dishwasher. When we planned our renovation, we did not plan on a GardenWeb-quality kitchen, just take it from "shabby" to "acceptable". Now that it is done, I realize we have a quite attractive reno and we receive lots of compliments. But the dishwasher that I bought on Cyber Monday based on price, quietness, and reviews only drags it down compared to much sleeker models.

We should have invested in more lighting for under-cabinet and in-cabinet, but, once again, I didn't know we were going to have such a nice result that was worth the extra money.

I wish I had known about GW before our engineered plans were finalized. We had about three weeks from first seeing the plans of our whole house to finalizing them, due to a variety of reasons but mostly due to the land being a foreclosure and the bank being ridiculous to work with. The land is the true prize: two wooded acres a stone's throw down a dirt road from the school where my husband works and my kids attend.

I didn't know much about building, let alone kitchen plans, and by the time I found GW the basic layout was finalized. I could have turned my g-shaped kitchen's peninsula into a large island and opened up the whole kitchen if I had known better. Cabinets will be in in a few weeks so hopefully it's not as bad as I fear. :-(

GW did help me with 1) getting a hood instead of OTR micro 2) adding drawer stacks 3) no built-in backsplash 4) upgrading to dovetail drawers and adding decorative end panels

I am sure more mistakes will follow, but hopefully not as big as the one I already made.

Our kitchen was more of a rebuild than a redesign. We didn't change the layout very much but one of the small changes we did make ended up causing an issue. The original end cabinet on our cooktop wall was 9". We used the bottom for trays and it wasn't too awful but we didn't use the top cabinet at all because it was useless. After the KD laid everything out we talked about it and decided to change that cabinet from a 9" to a 12" cabinet. Good for trays below and since it would have a glass door we could put a few display items above. In order to add those 3" the KD took 3" from the super Susan in the corner. The resulting problem wasn't discovered until the cabinets were being installed and I was called at work and told that the run of cabinets 90 degrees to that run was coming up 3" short of where they should be! She had taken 3" from the super Susan and added it back on the one run but never added it back to the other side! My kitchen is not big enough to lose 3" of floor space or counter space. I had the carpenter remove that run of cabinets and move them out the 3" and add a filler. I hated that filler though. We had a pretty lengthy delay between putting in the cabinets and adding the counters so it gave me plenty of time to stare at that gap. I ended up ordering a 3" spice pull out from rev-a-shelf and it is a much better solution. I only wish I had known about the gap,well beforehand. I'd have moved those cabinets 6" instead of 3" and had a more substantial pullout had I had time to really think about it.