I would think your kitchen alone would sell your house! Geesh! What more do people want? :)

Should you decide to build and need layout help, you know you are in good hands here. Best of luck in your new journey!

These are not "official" things to watch for (we need buele, lisa a, and others for that) but things that were important for me when doing our reno - good size area for prep; if there are two sinks (prep and clean-up) have them create two non-overlapping work triangles; have the prep sink near the area where people gather when you are entertaining (as the cook/host don;t trap yourself into a corner of the kitchen away from the social action); avoid range door and DW door from overlapping into the same space; don't let any of the appliance doors act as barriers into the kitchen area; and pull-out trash beside the prep sink.
Don't be afraid to think outside of the GW box if it best suits your needs - eg, corner sinks, peninsulas rather than an island, wider/narrower aisles than typical.

Quickly and off the top of my head:

Decent aisles for what's on each side (wider if for fridge, seating, etc.)

Efficient and smooth work flow (no barriers or circuitous routes to do routine, daily tasks)

Work paths that don't cross if you'll have multiple workers

Appliance use and doors that don't conflict

Storage and work space where it's needed...Miles of counter don't do any good if they're across the room while the sink and prep/stove have very little.

Best wishes!

Ooooh, how exciting! And I'm with you on the "get a smaller truck" but you're also talking to someone whose hubby insisted on a 3-car garage, all out front, when I wanted more house, less garage facing the curb. He won that battle. ;-)

The only thing I can think of to add to all the other helpful advice is that if the plan has a corner sink, make sure there is at least a 12" cabinet between sink and DW or else you'll be blocked in.

Oh, one more thing comes to mind. Watch your doorways, especially as you make changes to the plans. Our house isn't that old (just passed the 17 year mark) but even so, our DR doorway is only 27" wide. It wasn't supposed to be that narrow but when we bumped out the DR wall 2' and changed the swing to a pocket door, the builder failed to let us know that the doorway would be smaller than the plan called for because the pocket door couldn't extend into an exterior wall (we didn't know this wasn't allowed). If we had been told, we would have added 6 or 8 more inches to the room so that we could have had a larger pocket door installed, which would have been preferable than paying to have the doorway enlarged when we remodel. Live and learn.

(blfenton, you flatter me, thanks! I'd like to add rhome and bmore to the list you started - they always have great suggestions. I learned from them!)

It always amazes me how many kitchens pay no attention to workflow.

This is the way you cook:

Fridge/pantry-->somewhere to put what you take out!-->Sink-->Prep surface (chop, season, yank body parts out of, etc.)-->Range or oven-->Somewhere to put the hot stuff! and the sink again, for boiling water.

You should be able to store whatever you need, where you need it. Knives, mixers, spatulas and trash near the prep are. Baking pans and such near the range or oven. Not serving spoons under where you prep, and the junk drawer next to the range.

I think most people just put appliances and sinks where they look good without regard to function. So you're balancing your chopping board on a 6" strip between sink and range while six acres of countertop gleam across the kitchen.

Some people maintain they do not cook following this workflow. One woman here used to say she never, ever used water during prepping. She doesn't post here anymore, probably because of dysentery.

I think the key thing is to not allow yourself to start, or get too attached, to the look of any one proposed feature before you have sorted out the layout issues.

Starting with form instead of function always leads to unpleasant choices - viz the current spate of people who ask for advice on the finishing details of kitchens layouts that are fundamentally problematic, but to which they are stuck like glue.

Anyhoo, my advice is not to spend too much time going down pathways of wished-for design elements, but spend your time thinking about and analyzing how you want the kitchen to cook in. Bring the layout here for top-level space planning review, and then feel free to go to town. I know you could perk up the inside of a morgue drawer and make it into the definition of chic gotta-have-ness.

And it's always much more fun to construct your dream kitchen when you essentially just populating a well-planned space. It's not so much fun finding yourself in the hard place between what you've got your heart set on vs. what actually fits in the space.

Are you doing the new-build long-distance, or renting somewhere while it happens?

L.

a relative had a home built...my take from all they said is the builder has budgets for -kitchens/flooring/windows-basic packages like that...and he sent them to a choice of a couple vendors-they could choose which they preferred, and then they picked these components within dollar amounts allotted OR for more "upgraded" choices-more money can be spent-for example they did more and larger windows and a better furnace. As far as the kitchen-they could put more money out and get upgrades-this was all worked out at whatever kitchen design outfit they chose. See if your builder handles some of it this way-each vendor spends time with you on the various "packages". the builder may initially just want to get the layout-walls/closets/windows openings, etc. Not sure you'll have to fine tune kitchen choices so early on.

In most areas of the country now, it cost about 20% more to build the same house that you can buy already. Absolutely do NOT build unless it's the only way you can get some very special feature that you HAVE to have. You can use that 20% to customize an existing house to fit you better and probably get more house to boot.

probably due to dysentery

marcolo, I laughed so hard, I was crying. DH thinks I've lost my mind.

As for the original question, just basically what everyone else has said. Good aisle widths, no barrier islands, inventory what you have & are keeping, leave some space for future stuff.

marcolo, it's just because she *did* die laughing. How'd you get so funny?

List seems good to me, sorry nothing more to add to the experts. Maybe look through some of Buehl's sticky threads?

You will spend more money building than buying an equivalent. This is true. But because you are building, you can make the house suit you and your family uniquely. You do that by evaluating how YOU live not how others live. Be honest and be realistic about your own life. Start by asking really good questions.

Do you need a walk in pantry? or would a pullout cabinet pantry suffice? Do you buy large bulk of food? 40 lb dogfood, 20lb bag of rice or flour, etc.
Do you need a place to store large entertaining type of items that you don't need daily. (platters, roasters, warming trays, tea service etc.)If you don't entertain like that, can you reduce the size of the pantry? These types of things are individually driven.

How will you access outdoor cooking during summer? Will you need to? Do you have a fully furnished outdoor kitchen separate from your indoor kitchen? (I am big fan of outside wall kitchen that has an easy access to outdoors in the summer.) Make sure the access/door/hallway is wide enough to get people in and out of the house with trays of hot food.

How do you visualize using the DR and the seating area? Do the appliance/storage placements work with that?

Do you even need a DR or can you configure the DR into something more useful for you so that you don't build more house than you need. Do you have a grand piano that needs a placement, for example? (in the long run, not over building for your particular need will save you money...)

These types of access/functional issues have to be nailed down before you focus on the 'kitchen layout' per se. I suggest that you walk through the kitchen in your minds eye at various phases of your day: getting up and making coffee, making dinner, having people over to cook with, serving them a nice dinner, having a cocktail party, large gathering where you eat buffet style, bringing in groceries, taking out garbage and recycle, kids doing homework. How do you come in and out of the kitchen for those functions? Does your kitchen's location and 'door placements' work for you? How is the view out the window? Are the window placement such that it optimizes the light and view.
All of these functions have to work, not just the "COOKING" function. Then you make trade-offs regarding what is really important to you.