The Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)/Articles pages contain helpful information about how to navigate this site as well as the world of kitchen renovations.

The Kitchen Forum Acronyms will help you understand some of the acronyms used frequently in posts.

The Finished Kitchens Blog has pictures and information about many GW members' finished kitchens. Not only can you see them alphabetically, but there is also a category list if you're looking for specific things like a kitchen w/a Beverage Center or a kitchen w/a mix of dark and light cabinets. Access the FKB Categories Page via a link in the navigation panel on the right of any FKB page. Additionally, there is also a link to "In-Progress Kitchens" for those members' kitchens that are not quite ready for the FKB. There is also a link to "Coming Soon Kitchens" for those kitchens that are ready for the FKB but have not yet been added. To access the "In-Progress Kitchens", the "Coming Soon Kitchens", and the "FKB Categories", see the links in the navigation panel that is on the right side of each main FKB page.

The Appliances Forum is very useful when you have questions specific to appliances.

To start off the kitchen remodel process...take the Sweeby Test. Then, move on to Beginning a Kitchen Plan.

Other topics such as layouts, planning for storage, and stone materials are discussed in later topics in this thread. Even more information can be found by doing a search on the forum.

Tips:

• Before posting a question, please search the forum. There's a very good chance someone has already asked the question.


• When using the "search" function, be sure to use the search box on the bottom of the page, not the top!


• Note, however, that you will probably have better luck searching if you use Google (or similar search engine) than if you use the Forum search function. When using Google, to limit your results to Garden Web, include the following in your search criteria: ***site:ths.gardenweb.com


• In the Subject, the site changes the double quote used as the inches indicator (") to a single quote ('). We don't know why. To compensate, use two single quotes and it will appear as a double quote in the Subject. Luckily, the double quote works in the message box.


• When composing a new thread, you have a couple of options:


• Have replies emailed to you: check the box offering this option. However, you must have "Allow other users to send you email via forms at our site." box checked in your profile for this to work (see the "Your Profile" link at the very top of the page) [See the post later in this thread with the Subject: Getting Emails Sent To You...3-step Process]


• Insert a link: When you "preview" your message, you will be provided with two boxes for a link...one is for the link itself and the second is for the name or description of the link.


• When using the "Clip this post" option (far upper right corner of each post, small print), remember that only the current post is clipped, not the entire thread. Also, you are allowed a maximum of 50 clippings. Once you reach this max, you will no longer be able to clip or email posts.

How are the home page and the Forum organized? (based on the Kitchen Forum's FAQs entries)

• The Kitchens Forum home page lists 30 thread titles, starting with those that don't yet have a response. After the unanswered threads, threads are listed in order of most recent response. That first page displays the last 2 hours or so of activity. (If there is no response to a thread in an hour or two, the unanswered thread usually starts to drop.)
• Below the thread list are page numbers 1-67 for the total 67 pages of threads available -- capturing maybe 2 months or so of threads, less when the Forum is busy.
• Below that (and at the top of the thread list as well) is a space for you to switch to the Conversations or Gallery "sides" - these are set up similarly but are not nearly as active.
• Next down is a Search box -- very important! This is also the Search box you should use (not the one at the top of the page.)
• Always refresh the page two or three times b/f assuming a thread has disappeared right after starting it.
• As to searching...a thread will not be found doing a GW search for up to 24 hours after it has been started. This may seem too technical, but...searches are done against what are known as "indexes". Indexes use key fields/words to find things. iVillage only indexes threads once a day. So, that means that until your thread is "indexed", it won't show up in a search. If you start a thread just before the index is taken, you will be able to retrieve your thread by searching soon after creation. If, however, you start your thread right after the daily index, then you will have to wait almost 24 hours for the next index.
• Next is a place for you to start a new thread. And finally there are some instructions and links at the bottom.

Kitchen Forum "Sides"

Discussions: This is the "side" you are on. It is for on-topic discussions concerning kitchens...renovations, use of, etc.

Conversations: This is the "side" where you can post off topic threads such as regional get-togethers and non-kitchen subjects.

Gallery: This is the "side" where members often post pictures...especially if you're posting a lot or a finished kitchen. (Note: This is where StarPooh, our FKB person, wants you to post your finished kitchen prior to having it added to the FKB.)

Again, welcome and good luck! The journey is wild, sometimes bumpy, but fun and very rewarding in the end!

We will continue to bump this thread, but not the other threads I created. Please, do not bump the "subject" threads I will be linking to from here. We do not want to flood the first page with all those threads. To do so would knock threads from members asking for help, etc. off the first page and would be counter-productive!

Note: The subject threads have long since "fallen off" the thread list, so no amount of bumping or question asking will bring them back to the thread list. If you have questions, please start a new thread with your question.

http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/kitchbath/msg010521247761.html

What are zones and how do you design with them in mind?

http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/kitchbath/msg0508230128712.html

A piece of advice:

When you post a layout for comments, please do not take the comments you receive personally. Everyone here is trying to help, not criticize maliciously. We want you to have a kitchen that, in the end, functions wonderfully well and looks nice overall. This may mean that some of us may tear apart your layout and rebuild it to what we think will work better, but it's done with good intentions. We're not the best at just "validating" someones layout, we're best at critiquing!

I will warn you that most of us here are "function over form" (or "function first")...meaning we strive first for a functional layout and then fit the form or look around it. It is far easier to make a functional kitchen look nice than it is to make a nice looking but dysfunctional kitchen functional. So, if you are a form/looks over function person, be sure to state that when you post.

Some people here think "function over form" means that we want all kitchens to look the same....not true! What we do want is all kitchens to function well...which means that in 99% of the cases, the workflow is the same...so that will mean some similarities due to workflow. However, as each kitchen is unique, each will have its own unique quirks, etc.

In the end, remember this is your kitchen. You don't have to make any of the recommended changes if you don't want to!

[Note: If you're just posting for validation of your layout (i.e., you don't want comments that suggest changes), state that as well. If you don't, people will comment on it!

Warning: People may comment anyway, it's tough to let a kitchen go that you think is dysfunctional and will cause angst later...especially if it's not yet installed and we think we can help. Bear with us, we're just trying to help!]

http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/kitchbath/msg010523449014.html

http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/kitchbath/msg0105292031876.html

http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/kitchbath/msg0105254810134.html

http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/kitchbath/msg0105280230861.html

Will this bring it back? It's disappeared!

I said hello, NewToKitchensThread,......well, hello, NewToKitchensThread
It's so nice to have you back where you belong
You're lookin' swell, NewToKitchensThread.......i can tell, NewToKitchensThread
You're still glowin'...you're still crowin'...you're still goin' strong
I feel that room swayin'......while the band's playin'
One of your old favourite songs from way back when
So..... take her wrap, fellas.......find her an empty lap, fellas
NewToKitchensThread'll never go away again

(instrumental break)

I said hello, NewToKitchensThread,.....well, hello, NewToKitchensThread
It's so nice to have you back where you belong
You're lookin' swell, NewToKitchensThread.....i can tell, NewToKitchensThread
You're still glowin'...you're still crowin'...you're still goin' strong
I feel the room swayin'...while that ole band keeps on playin'
One of your old favourite songs from way back when
So...golly, gee, fellas....find her an empty knee, fellas
NewToKitchensThread'll never go away....i said she'll never go away
NewToKitchensThread'll never go away again

And...a ***bump***

'Look out weekend cuz here I come!
Because weekends were made for fun!'

Can anyone name that song?

"All you ladies, clap your hands, stomp your feet and grab your man"

I mean the

BUMP

The title to that Sly song is a bit ironic considering my post on the "What stage was the hardest for you?4 the lucky one's done" thread.

I played the Sly song, and my cat sat up and looked freaked out, looking around, wondering where the noise was coming from. (I don't often play tunes on my laptop.) Too funny!

This calls for another song.

I think this link should explain it:

http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/kitchbath/con050122094808.html

Breezy:

Still lovin' the music choices!

The day my Dad died, I crawled up in his chair and found his headphones and mp3 player on the chest/side table. He hadn't listened to music on his house stereo much over the past decade or so partly due to his hearing and partly due to his wife's preferences, but I spotted him on occasion using the headphones. When I pulled them on, I felt so close to him sharing this very personal expression of himself that seemed recently a private experience with the headphones. Plus, it felt like a little escape from all the family goings on in the house without actually leaving.

Every song had a meaningful connection to what was happening that day. The first was Elvis Presley's 'Peace in the Valley'. No tears on that one. ;) The second was this John Denver song that he sung randomly in acapella to my brothers and I growing up. (He did his little annoying acapella renditions of many songs frequently, but what I wouldn't give to hear just one more.)

As a child, I thought Mr. Denver was singing about West Virginia. We live in the opposite side of the country, but my Dad grew up in the heart of our regions's Palouse farming area. Despite living most his adult life in the non-farming side of the state, I think his heart always belonged there as he spent weeks every year helping his farming cousins run the combines during harvest. He much preferred being outside farming, hunting, fishing, hiking, and whitewater rafting all over the West than persuing more urban activities.

I see a deeper meaning in this song now.

In addition to my previous song, my brothers and I included this one in the photo show that played both before and after my Dad's memorial service. My Dad also serenaded us as children with this "little ditty" as he called it. Then, as a final touch, he ended his little ditties with a "scooby-dooby-do" at the end. He thought he was funny. Us? Not so much.

I think this should be my last musical bump as I'm so OT.

I tried to do a musical bump, and I came up empty with anything I wanted to share.... :-(

Domingo isn't my most favorite tenor (I don't dislike him by any means), but I wanted the visual to go along with the audio.

And breezy-another:

But every Sunday, after church, this was the song, no, album of choice. I knew that entire symphony by heart.

Breezy, thanks for the Q of H memories --- loving that song was always a dirty pleasure. But re-listening to it, it didn't even seem all that bad. I still think she has a great voice and the song is good. I wonder what happened to her?

And of course, those pictures of WVA are so deeply restorative. I remember driving through the blue ridge with some friends on college Spring Break and phoning my parents saying: "Why didn't you tell me there was a part of this country so incredibly beautiful"? I still think it's the most lovely from within an awfully crowded field of competition. Just when I was beginning to resign myself to living in this godforsaken desert....

And of course linking to Van Zandt is interesting too as there is such a culture of honoring folk music within and around those hollows of WVA. That song always was, probably still is a favorite among that particular crowd.

These nostalgic songs are about to have me weeping now, all on account of GW getting a sticky thread. Geeesh.

Thanks for the healing tones....

Here is a song that I haven't heard in decades. And there is a kitchen.

Angie--Thank you for introducing me to Townes. The first of the two you linked touched me. And the Hooters! Great! I was obsessed with CL's 'Girls' back in the day. I didn't so much like her crazy appearance, but loved the song.

Bee--I always enjoy Tchaikovsky and now my children are forced to listen to CI with me! Sounds like your Dad was a lot like mine. You've been a helpful inspiration to me over the last months knowing that you live a daily happy life despite losing your father. I don't mean it to sound dumb, just that I know (duh...) that I can make it if you did.

Aliris--WVA is area of the country I'd like to explore some day. Pictures make it look like misty heaven.

Enduring--I have to admit that Willie still doesn't flip up my socks, although I do have a greater appreciation for him now than I did when I was forced to listen to him as a child.

I've missed this thread! I've only checked into the forum a few minutes at night recently as life has gotten busy. My Dad's widow put her house on the market with all of us expecting it would take many months to sell, but she had an offer within 3 days. It's been emotionally difficult helping her pack up; try to divide her things from those of my Dad that go to my brothers and I; and say goodbye to my Dad's beloved hunting dogs. I have a particularly soft spot for the black lab Pete. His hunting skills and sweet personality were so dear to my Dad. I wish I could have brought him home to live with us, but we're just not set up for a dog. My Dad's former boss took the dogs on a temporary foster so we still need to find a home for them.

Here's a song that keeps running through my head lately because of the hook not the lyrics. When will my world change? When does the day-to-day grief change?

I was going to mention an idea I proposed on the thread about the excitement of having a new sticky. Now that we won't be able to have our fun bumping this thread any longer, how about a thread over on the Conversation side of the forum for our musical whims? We could check in every day or so and post music or...whatever. Just a place to share music. Thoughts?

And I wanted to tell you of a sheet of paper a friend brought by for me when my Dad died. She'd been given it in hospice. The gist was, or at least I took away two things: it will take a minimum of a year to fall through to 'normal'-ish-ness. And that said, no matter how long you think it will take, double that. Sort of like a contractor's estimate of cost, eh?

It probably took 4 years for the horrible, sharp, acrid images of my father's death (also from pancreatic ca) to fade. But they have mellowed now. It will happen; it is possible to grieve through to the other end.

The only solution I know is to love every second of the here-and-now. I think Uncle Seymour (Van Zandt's buddy) mentions something about being thankful for every second you get. Love your babies, they disappear so fast! ... and that's what feels so sad, because your Dad did.

I'm going to start a music thread in the parallel kitchens forum world now. You can hear one of my favs there...

Since we aren't allowed to post it, I can't fix it!

I'm trying to get the FAQ online, but I'm waiting for the iVillage developers to fix an issue I'm having.

Oh, and here is a link to the promised "musical thread":

I do not care for censorship.

http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/kitchbath/msg0805380617952.html

https://www.google.com/#hl=en&sclient=psy-ab&q=ivillage+michelle+add+a d+ipad+site:gardenweb.com

She -- or someone -- once removed a post of mine noting that Salvation Army was non secular. It was explained to me that "politics" is OT.

I can't believe he's going to college this fall! He was only 12 years old when we started planning our kitchen remodel and I joined GardenWeb!

Works in progress...

http://ths.gardenweb.com/faq/kitchbath/

Keep on bumping! :-)

Bonnie Rait is in my town tonight. Here is a young Bonnie Raitt covering "Runaway."

-------------------------

saw this awesome ensemble this weekend. There are three sisters from Donegal, Ireland called the Henry Sisters, and 4 Appalachian guys from WV called The Fox Hunt Band that met up and started playing wonderful tunes together.

Angie--I'm off to listen to 'Hang Me' now!

'Angel from Montgomery' reminded me of another of my favorite BR songs. I'll link to the original singer, Sippie Wallace.

It orginated from a community perception of the need to organize and preserve valuable shared knowledge about kitchen renos.

Buehl stepped up and organized - and then faithfully maintained the thread over its many incarnations. And all of us watched out for it and threw in the needed bumps to keep it visible on the front page. We often referred newbies to it, confident it would be there for them, as it had been for many of us when we started out.

This thread perfectly matched the down-to-earth, problem-solving atmosphere of the KF in a way that having most of the same content parked up in a static thread by the management will not. I will miss it.

Though I can imagine Buehl will be glad of having it off her shoulders and out of her care. Thank you (again) Buehl!

Liriodendron