Check out some of these threads for some information...

You might also check the Appliances and Cooking forums...especially for small appliances & cooking tools recommendations. Good luck & HTH!

Best advice from this forum

Care to share your best kitchen storage ideas?

Now that I have [X], I think I could have lived without it

tray cabinets - top 1/2 wasted space

What do you wish you had done differently?

I understand completely! If you go to my blog and scroll down to "Defining a Kitchen", you'll see everything that I did -- work zones (prep, clean-up, storage, coffee/tea, etc.). And, I do list my favorite items such as pots, pans, knives, gadgets, etc. I opened up my cabinet doors to show how I organized.

Granted, this is "one woman's opinion" but I've had the experience of building and living in 3 homes where I learned and improved upon what works for our family. I even have a more recent blog entry where I address what I would have done differently. I used my experience as a product manager to "define before design" our requirements.

I cook A LOT. My DH grills a lot and assists me. When our sons are home (both in grad school), they cook, too.

I hope this is helpful.
Cameron

Here is a link that might be useful: Defining a kitchen