Oh, good thread because I think that we all have benefited from the generosity and knowledge of fellow Gardenweb'ers.

First and foremost, I was drawn to a modern style that wouldn't have fit with the rest of my traditional suburban home. Now I have what I will term as "transitional" and the house doesn't look like it suffers from multiple personality disorder.

I had a problem with green bloom on my granite, this was solved here. Otherwise I would probably still be depressed over my newly remodeled kitchen being ruined.

Drawers in my base cabinets, my single bowl Blanco Silgranit sink....I could go on and on...

I had so many great ideas from Gardenweb that I'm not sure I can remember all of them. Plugmold, LED strips for undercabinet lighting, Sherr's cabinets, butcherblock from Hardwood Lumber Company, etc etc.

The best was to get a sink with an offset drain so that the left side of my sink cabinet could hold a pullout trash can. I have two medium-sized containers, one for trash and one for recycling, both under the sink, that saves having a dedicated trash cabinet elsewhere in my small kitchen.

Can I get the recipe for the all-natural marble cleanser?

Thanks to SoCalGal I fell in love with Jeffrey Court Pietra Fire & Ice Quartz for my backsplash. I kept looking at other tile for months after I first saw it on here, but kept coming back to it. The place where I purchased my tile told me if I had such a reaction to it, it was the only choice that would make me happy. I'm so happy that I went with it and I'm sure that I would have never found it except for this forum.

I too have GW to thank for my Miele DW. And for learning about the benefits of shopping for warehouse sale/floor modes for appliances. I never knew there was something called a 1/4 positive reveal for countertops, or that drawers can be a better option than lower cabinets until I started reading the forums. I also bought our plumbing fixtures online and found many of my sources from GW. There are lots of other examples, but I'm drawing a blank right now.

And there were several instances where I swam against the GW tide, but knowing about the different options made me think long and hard about how I wanted my kitchen to function and that's always a good thing.

Hi Annkathryn,

Yes, the cleanser is from Cat_Mom. It's rubbing alcohol (70% isopropyl) and water, with a few drops of lavender essential oil.

She uses 30-50% alcohol, I use closer to 25-30% alcohol. Add lavender oil until it smells nice and the alcohol smell is pretty well concealed.

Cat_Mom uses it on her granite, stainless, and white Thassos marble. I use it on my Vermont Danby marble, my travertine floors, and sometimes on my stainless (although I prefer vinegar and water for the stainless).

I love the fact that it's simple, inexpensive, and doesn't contain harsh chemicals.

15'' deep upper cabinets.
A prep sink.
Super susans instead of lazy susans with a pole.
Super susans in the upper cabinet corners as well as in the base cabs.
Outlet strips under the upper cabs.
All drawers instead of cabinets.
Toe kick drawers (still gotta get those made, though.)
Pop up power outlet on the island.
Window for a backsplash over the range.
ModernAire vent over the range.

And it goes on and on and on.

Two ideas I didn't really see in time and regret not having: a garden window over the sink with the bottom at countertop level and over-sized super susans on the corner shelves in the pantry. (Oh, tears and woe, drool and lust.)

But seriously, so very, very much of my favorite room in the house came from here!!

Everything. Well almost. The mixer lift - I get a little thrill every time I use it. Adding drawer pulls to bottom cabinets. The sink. Oh yes, yes, yes, the sink. I love this sink. How did I ever live without it? And the faucet. Love it. The refrigerator cabinet and the cabinet over it for cookie sheets and trays. The granite counter. And I have someone here to thank for giving me the idea for a place to keep my step stool.

And last but not least, the vent hood. It's not working yet, so I can't tell you how much I love it, but I know I will. Dh used to gripe about the cost of it, but every time I cook anything that smokes or has smell, he walks over to it, and turns on an imaginary switch and makes a fan sound. We're both looking forward to being able to use it.

Without GW I don't think I would have had the confidence to go with a single bowl and would have ended up with a double. I'm so glad I went with the big single.

Rachiele copper sinks. My 36" farm sink with a right rear drain is one of my very favorite things in the kitchen.

Waterstone faucets.

All drawers instead of pullouts. I couldn't afford to put them in the whole kitchen so I put them in my work area and plan to add pullouts to the rest of the kitchen.

Lots of information about plugmolds that made me realize they would have been a mistake for me. So glad I didn't use them.

Rubbing alcohol/water to clean my granite.

Haven't even started gutting yet so I'm getting the full benefit of GW.

1. A much more functional and efficient layout than I would have ever come up with on my own.
2. Prep sink.
3. Drawers
4. Inset uppers w/frameless lowers

Surely there is more that doesn't come to mind right now.

Yeah, nearly everything for me, too!
-LAYOUT!
-Yes, you can put a range in front of a window
-all drawers
-Bluestar range
-CD fridge
-drawer MW
-Widen door to DR
-sink drain in rear corner
-DIY soapstone counters
-UCL
-Eventually, my backsplash!
-frameless cabs
-Easy-reach corner upper cabinets
-epoxy grout
(Not to mention a million technical details on how to do these things.)

1) Microwave drawer - never heard of this before gardenweb

2) Vertical tray storage in upper cab over fridge, copied from a pic of buehl's

3) Moved my island back 6" to get extra aisle width and did various other small adjustments courtesy of rhome410's advice

4) Copied backsplash directly from thynes' kitchen

And then spent a lot more money than I'd initially planned on appliances and other pretty things that I never even new existed before gardenweb, but it's all good. :-)

And last but not least, the vent hood. It's not working yet, so I can't tell you how much I love it, but I know I will. Dh used to gripe about the cost of it, but every time I cook anything that smokes or has smell, he walks over to it, and turns on an imaginary switch and makes a fan sound. We're both looking forward to being able to use it.

LOL. I loved reading this.

Wow, so I'm not the only one living in a kitchen that never would've been had it not been for GW!!

Angie & Taggie, we're doing a MW drawer in my parents' house. We had some questions, but now we're convinced it's a great idea thanks to all the GWers who love theirs.

I'm fairly new here, so I can't say that I've used any ideas yet . . . but this board is helping me form ideas. We have at least two years ('til our youngest graduates and we can leave this area) 'til we begin building, and I feel sure that this board is helping me flesh out what I want. Things I've garnered thusfar:

- Layout. I'm not there yet, but I've received some valuable ideas.
- Offset sink drain to provide better storage space under the sink. I didn't have a clue this was an option.
- Garbage disposal. I have never had one and didn't see why they'd be useful 'til I read what they could do.
- Single bowl sink. I've always had double-bowl sinks, and this was one of those "this is the way it is" things in my mind. I"m sure that I want a single bowl.
- Drawers instead of cabinets. Okay, I've seen these elsewhere, so I probably would've picked up this idea anyway.
- Mixer lift. I love my mixer, and it's used enough to deserve a special house.

However, I've also rejected some ideas:
- Extra deep cabinets. Cool concept, probably great for some people, but it seems expensive for little value for my layout and for my physical size (I can't reach far).
- The absolute need for guest closets near entrances. I mean, I am Southern.

And the jury's still out on other things, but I do appreciate learning from everyone here. This board is different from reading many internet websites because no one here is trying to sell something to someone else; thus, it's easy to trust that it's truth rather than propoganda.

Besides not feeling like I was the only one going crazy with all the decisions, delays, problems, etc.........

What kind of details to look for in materials, things I didn't even know that mattered. Love my Kraus sink!

Sources: Sink, faucet, backsplash, cabinet hardware. Bought them all online from sources found here.

Information on processes, especially stone selection and fabrication. We would have probably just picked a granite from a big box store and paid too much for it. Instead we got something unique for a good price.

We now have a great kitchen we love. The experience, help, and information we got here helped us to decide to buy a rental condo and we are almost finished with totally gutting and replacing the kitchen. It's not going to be the prettiest thing, but it will be new, sturdy, work well mechanically, be relatively easy for us to maintain, and give the tenant as much storage and function as we could fit into the space.

The resource pool here is priceless!

D U T C H W O O D

(I would have such a loser kitchen if I did not know about them and pushed my builder to use them)

First, Gardenweb steered me away from a mural in my kitchen (THANK YOU!!!), they approved the backsplash I eventually found, and they led me to the decision to run it up to the ceiling and through the molding. I got conflicting info on whether or not to remove the polished finish on the granite, but by focusing and asking enough questions, I got some informed opinions and ended up leathering the granite and am delighted with the result. They also talked me into installing soap dispensers in the granite and using the Never-MT (did this but haven't moved into the house yet to see how it works).

I will have reveal photos very soon, hopefully this week. I've learned a ton from reading threads here, and I know my kitchen is more beautiful and more useful thanks to the fine folks here. Thank you all!

Oooo, this is fun! Like Deedles, haven't started yet. But I'm approaching the point in time where most normal people start planning since our project is in May and already have a lot of things almost set.

-layout! I know it seems odd since I ended up almost where I started, but the 40+ odd drafts I have in my file (plus a ton of half drafts that clearly didn't work) based on all the great comments I received are a testament to the kind hearts of those on the forum here. I had to think long and hard about each decision, and learned the tradeoffs each decision came with. And though it isn't perfect, for the scope of what we feel is reasonable to do I think we ended up with the best option for us. That damn Advantium better end up being worth those 30 inches I gave up, lol!

- which reminds me, the Advantium. I had no idea what speed ovens were, and I'm hoping we made a good choice to replace the MW (used infrequently) and toaster oven (rarely used for toast).

- frameless cabinets

-the importance of a proper vent. I wanted to get a real one anyway, and all the advice I read here confirmed that decision.

-dimmable LED UC lights. Now that I know they are out there, WANT!

-silgranite! Even DH is looking forward to this, now that he knows what it is. And low divide too!

- pull down sink faucet. Choice yet to be made, but they seem like the way to go.

-induction. We have this already since the range died too soon, but it is absolutely heavenly. DH didn't understand it at all and really wanted gas, but trusted my research. Nobody we know has induction, and the information here, on the appliances forum in particular, was invaluable.

-all tile backsplash, yet to be picked out. I've never had anything but 4 inches of laminate.

-granite. Thought it was out of reach and not necessary. But actually less than some quartz, there is a ton of great info about counter choices here, and after seeing the gorgeous slabs here I was hooked. Plus I have learned what to look for, what to ask, and what to expect (for granite, but also many other things too).

- deep cabinets, hoping for some 15 inch uppers if it's in the budget (it was in the specs to be priced)

- CREE recessed LEDs thanks to lighting and this forum. One less thing to wander around Lowes trying to pick out.

-cork flooring! So excited about this.

-drawers for most bases and a mixer lift.

-knife drawer insert. I'm getting my counter space back, yay!

-tap master and air switch for disposal if in the budget

-useful storage, like tray dividers and pull outs. Really thinking about where each item will go, and things like zones and workflow. Never thought to apply that to the kitchen.

On the list for the theoretical future kitchen in the home we will build someday are a walk in pantry, plug mold, vac pan (or dust hole, still working on DH for this kitchen), paper towel cubby, filtered water faucet, prep sink, counter level windows, spice drawers, and I'm sure a few others that don't immediately come to mind. Oh yeah, and a sliding backsplash. Don't think it's in the cards for this house unfortunately.

But most importantly, I learned there is nothing wrong with wanting to make your kitchen the best you can. I feel normal here! I can't wait to be able to post my in progress pics to share with everyone, 7 months to go but I will be choosing things to order soon.

The list is endless, but some of the things that come to mind-

- our Bluestar rangetop (never heard of it before GW and it is the perfect rangetop for us)

- our charging drawer

- drawers vs. doors

- different granite edge on island and perimeter

-backsplash help

-not to count the tons and tons and tons of photos/kitchen reveals that sparked thoughts we never would have had unless we visted this site.

-general knowledge/sanity checks on anything and everything to do with kitchens. as our GC said "you guys really do your homework".

Thanks GW!!!

I also wanted to add, since someone else posted that they got their BS directly from another GW'er. Kellienoelle- thank you for posting your BS.
We copied it (hope you don't mind!) and it's perfect for us.
Looking forward to posting reveal soon to show pics, but we're a bit burnt out from GC minor issues. Hopefully soon :-)

So much knowledge and tell it like it is information that you just can't ascertain from sales websites. For me, garden web gave me the confidence to make decisions from the enormous array of choices in every facet of the kitchen. Thanks to GW, I found my custom cabinet maker in PA, put mostly drawers in base cabs, prep sink, charging drawer, correct aisle widths, kitchen zones (even though I am still working on this). When I struggled with my decision for the window above my kitchen sink, GW showed me their bay windows, so I ordered mine.

The laundry forum gave me the great idea for double decker counters to fit more laundry baskets. Best idea ever!!! And the ikea countertops were priced right too.

Of course, there are things where I didn't
Follow GW advice and now I wish I had (ie xenon ucl) but I guess that would be a different thread.

Thanks GW for helping me design the best kitchen for me!

1) Lots of info about the guts of faucets, helping me choose one with all stainless innards.

2) Would have been snookered into an unnecessarily expensive sink without explanations about steel quality and Ticor sinks.

3) Info about LED lights-- we love ours.

4) Generally enough ability to kick the tires on details that I had confidence in decisions whether they went with or against the prevailing GW winds.

5) Support in taking the importance of these decisions seriously and then letting go.

6) Endless countertop material analyses giving me confidence in our ultimate granite choice.

7) Support in choosing to extend our wood floor into the kitchen, which made me nervous but was perfect.

8) A focus on good ventilation that led me to point out to our contractor that in fact we could easily run a vent outside and led me to buy a good quality vent-- love, love, love.

Goodness, I couldn't even begin to list the GW elements in my kitchen. The most important help from GW members was layout. My basic layout was set before I found GW. (By an architect. And he did a pretty darned good job.) I'd insisted on having the DW in a spot that conflicted with the range, simply because I'm a righty. Folks here convinced me to put it (and the prep sink) in the correct spot. Can't imagine working in my kitchen if I hadn't been convinced to switch things up.

Layout help
Using a custom cabinetmaker
Drawers, drawers and more drawers
Induction range
Plugmold in the island
Vented range hood (DH fought this but I stood my ground.)
Dimmable LED recessed and under cabinet lighting (lots of good info in the lighting forum)
Blanco Silgranite sink
Never MT

and much, much more. All of your questions helped me figure out my kitchen plan. Thanks so much!

Okay, what is this mixer lift everyone's raving about? My KitchenAid is my prized possession!

Wow, where to start??
The suggestion to take down the wall between the kitchen and small dining room came from GW. The few inches that were taken from the DR made a huge difference in how the kitchen works.

Adding drawers in the blind corner on the DR side of the peninsula (after seeing Buehl's pet center).

Drawers for my pots.

White inset cabinets that I love.

UC lighting at the front of the cabinet that lights the counter top.

Miele dishwasher that I still love even though I just had an expensive repair cost when a sensor failed.

Too many to list but here are some favorites of decisions made:

layout
drawers, drawers, and drawers
single bowl copper sink
induction cooktop
recessed fridge
lots of windows with few upper cabs
island seating idea (thanks cat_mom!)
hickory floors

Next will be BS.

Thanks GWers!

I didn't need help with my layout but...

*SOAPSTONE !!! thanks to ebean & marthavilla I found a really good dealer and avoided another one,,,
*Philips eW Powercore LED light bars-best task lighting. Thanks to all of davidtay's expert advice about UCL and Oldbat2B gave me a vendor
*Shiloh-Love my white & cherry inset cabinets, as soon as I saw the photos decision made !
*Miele DW-read ALL of the threads, antss information was very helpful. When it automatically shutoff the other night I posted to get more info...
*undercabinet fridge-so useful for my lifestyle

GW can give you information overload(backsplash options-WOW-deedles & Angie) but is also a place to de-stress during a tough renovation ...
One thing I'm glad I didn't see before I purchased my Franke sink was deedles copper one...

my dish drawers thanks to rhome..love them

miele DW..saw in store and GW confirmed a smart purchase

miele induction cooktop...another confirmed smart purchase and so much info on induction in general. i knew that's what i wanted, but it was great to hear others were so happy with it. its everything i thought it was and more. couln't be happier with our choice.

miele speed oven..thanks larsi and others, another purchase that we love and use daily

wolf "e" oven...thanks rhome!!!

to know when you really find "the one" (granite choice) and to put your name on it with a sharpie!

ucl..expensive but so worth it (seagull)

catmom's recipe for granite cleaner

this website is such a great wealth of info. so much better than regular review sites. it really is a treasure!
thanks everyone for all your time and knowledge :)

@kimpossible, the mixer lift is a small shelf on hinged arms that fits inside a cabinet with your mixer on it. When you want to use the mixer, you just open the cabinet and pull the shelf/mixer out and up and it locks into place right in front of your counter area. Rev-a-shelf makes one, and I saw the hardware other places too, just not remembering where at the moment!

I never had a place to store my Kitchenaid where I could get at it, most recently it was on the top shelf of the bakers rack. No way I was lifting that sucker down from over my head! Looking forward to having it accessible after the Reno, just hoping I don't pack on the pounds from all the baked goodies I'll be able to make:-)

You know, this board has actually confirmed decisions I had already made, or had somewhat unformulated in my imagination.

I moved my microwave base cab into the peninsula so it didn't show when one walked into the room.

I did have my Ah HAAAAA moment about beaded inset, which has driven my cabinet choices and replacements ever since.

I wanted a bigger window over my sink, but hadn't realized it would be so cool to have a counter height window. I will have that.

I already had cork, all drawers, tray storage over the fridge, and made my butcher block. I am making a drawer under my farm sink, which so far I find to be unique.

Oh! I hooked up my blow dryer and curling iron in my MBR with a power strip in the drawer. I did see that here. Love not having cords!

I have a 14" frameless cab I want to use in an upper bank. (Replacing the regular 12"er I already have.) It is 14" deep, and I was calculating how to cut it down and add a beadless frame. Now, I'm thinking I might now cut it down, and might move the other cabs out to match its depth. Or not! Got that here in this thread.

I just know I love to look at pictures and feel like I'm being fed when I look at something finished and beautiful. "Finished" is something I never seem to achieve!

Thanks all. :)

Williamsem: I totally hear you when you say "I feel norma here"

...there are so many kitchen things I want to talk to my friends about, but I know they have limited interest, and I'm always saying to myself "The GWers will get it" :) :) :)

- induction cooktop - never heard of it before GW. All of my appliance research was made so much easier by the wealth of knowledge here
- buying appliances on eBay - never would have dreamed of doing that otherwise and it saved me thousands
- neverMT - hated filling my soap dispenser from the top
- inset cabinets - didn't even know what these were before I got here
- kitchen zones - allowed me to think through my layout in an organized way
- cabinet accessories - so much feedback on which ones are good, which ones aren't
- Dutchwood!
GW is the first and last place I go before making any of my decisions. Without it, I'd be lost. If I hadn't found GW when I was starting out on my design, I would have ended up in a much worse place. Now, I can feel confident in the choices I make because I can hear about others' experiences and make informed decisions. Thanks everyone! Now I'm just waiting to see how it all turns out...

I cannot say enough about how much GW has helped me!

I still do not have a kitchen yet but it is underway.

-I found first and foremost DUTCHWOOD! This allowed me to get the inset cabinets I wanted with a bunch of bells and whistles that I could not have afforded had I gone with a bigger manufacturer.
-the glass front cabinet design that i have chosen
-Bluestar range
-drawers versus cabinets
-Hardwood Lumber Co for my Walnut Island top
-plug mold
-layout ideas and advice
-ice box latches instead of twist latches for my cabinets
-glass knobs on my glass front cabinets
-bringing windows down to the counter and having the counter deeper behind the sink

There are more but that is all I can come up with for now!

Like others, my biggest "get" was finding Dutchwood here. Although, it has been slow as molasses working with them due to all the other GW-er's!! We must have all contacted them at the same time. That said...I'm so excited for them to start fabrication next week.

Also, lurking on the appliances forums and kitchen forum was very helpful in selecting our appliances.

Oh and how could I forget, quartzite!! I don't know what rock I had been hiding under not to know about it before...although most stone yards keep it on the DL. Love the madreperola we selected and can't wait to see that everyday instead of the black formica we have now.

Since we're just finishing today, I can't tell you exactly what works the way I had hoped and what may not, but I can tell you that without GW and all of you I would have had a miserable time of it. Almost all of my decisions came from here after many hours, days, weeks, months and years of reading! I probably won't post the kitchen pics until after Christmas since I have to figure out how to do it and life's too busy right now, but I'm determined to do so. I cannot tell you how grateful I am for the help and ideas received; I feel sorry for those who undergo a remodel without this website.

Circuspeanut--you asked to see my Green Wellness Marmoleum some time ago and I thought I could do that for you. At the time the floor was still covered and in the following weeks the kitchen was so crowded with stuff to put away that I thought I'd wait until it was more presentable. I really will try to get that for you!!

Induction cooktop with bridge burner
Elux oven (I thought the Kitchenaid was prettier)
720 cfm Kobe hood (didn't know anything about cfm, never heard of Kobe)
Ecosmart LED recessed lights
Paper towel cubby
Drawer organizers
Bins for potatoes and onions

Blue Star
Walker Zanger Gramercy Park (thank you Mamadadapaige)
Benjamin Moore Aura paint
Danby Marble
Prestige blowers (and need for good ventilation)
Single Bowl Shaw's sink
Drawers (island)
Miele Dishwasher
Cup Pulls

Have been scarce on here lately as we are STILL trying to nail down someone to do our kitchen, but....

Hands down the most important thing of being here is that reading and watching others has helped me really THINK about how I use my kitchen and what will work best with the compromises that I need to make...we typically all have some compromise levels in our remodels or builds, so I've come up with ones that are "workable" to me.

I think about the kitchen that I almost would have had...and it would have been new. But disfunctional or at least not as functional as it should have been.

There are going to be touches of GW throughout our kitchen. While I'm not going with the typical look (we've planned dark floors and dark cabinets...certainly not the favored look here), there will be a lot of things gathered from here that will be implemented into our new kitchen.

We're going with induction - would have never had the guts to pull the trigger on that if not for here - none of our family or friends have it.

Almost all drawers rather than roll-outs (why didn't I think before of how silly it is to open a door, roll out a drawer and then reverse the process. Way easier to go with a drawer.

What to aim for in terms of construction of cabinetry. I honestly had very little clue before.

Plugmold and LED strip lights - would have known next to nothing about neither of those.

And so, so much more.

The most valuable thing for me were the intangibles: people's insights, real-life experiences, arguments for/against, generous giving of time and talent to help others with layout, etc. And, as several people mentioned, all of these give one the confidence to make INFORMED decisions, regardless of their popularity, allowing us each to have the best kitchen that we can.

Love my ModernAire hood, which I learned about on GW. I might have gone with a Silgranit sink, but I couldn't see a white one in real life, so I chickened out and got cast iron.

I spent so much time reading GW, DH told me, "You're obsessed." "No," I told him, "actually, I'm TKO."

Threads like these introduced me to so many ideas and products. It's hard to tell now where all the final decisions came from. The biggest help was feedback for the layout. Everyone hated it! The space was too narrow and awkward. Then a few people suggested moving the kitchen where the office was. Crazy right?! I kept looking at it, and suddenly it made perfect sense. I could have a kitchen overlooking the backyard with big windows and all the room I really wanted. It looks like it was always meant to be this way and we love it.

Other things we incorporated were a single basin sink, soapstone, all drawers, and a small pantry with a glass door and a small window. I love my little pantry. DH got a ton of help with the lighting.

Thank you GW!

Any chance we can include this in the sticky on page 1, or the Read Me thread?

So much of the above, I'll try not to repeat. Definitely the hafele foot pedals.

This deserves its own paragraph: caulk that matches grout. Hags00 gave me this link to an online site where you can find it (thanks again and again, this is one detail which thrilled me).

http://www.colored-caulk.com/

Just compare this:

To:

30" deep countertops and 18" deep uppers. 48" CC (wonderful to have the room to cook and cool on). SS countertop surrounding the CC. Torquay quartz countertops. And of course, the OTF (One True Faucet/KK).

I also took some chances with dark tile. Hollysprings pointed out that I was drawn to contrast with my inspiration pictures. I love the bold tile we selected for our backsplash. I also picked a very dark tile in our 'dog room / fire room' and it grounds the room amazingly.

Decision we avoided: repainting the island. I thought it was too red and wanted to paint it grey and advice was to live with it and select a backsplash first. I'm fine with it :) Thank you GW!