I don't have a warming drawer, but am planning on one in our new home. I want it for proofing bread, making yogurt, keeping foods warm till serving time, warming plates, I'm looking at the DCS because it seems to be the deepest and should be able to hold my crock while proofing bread dough. If the temp goes high enough, I think it could also hold my canning jars while waiting to be filled. So I'm sure I'd be using it several times daily. Currently I use my Excalibur dehydrator for a good deal of defrosting of frozen foods; and I also use it for quickly drying my blender container, my olive oil jar, and plastic tupperwares. But I think the warming drawer might function almost as well and would hold a lot more.

You had me at "everything has to come off the floor at some point". No short term solutions, move it once and be done, and I cannot say this firmly enough. We did a whole house update/remodel and addition, and that POD was absolutely a life saver, and we should have had it in place sooner than we did. We also had work being done on the garage and in the basement, so those areas were not so great for storage. Trust me, when the demo/building gets going hot and heavy, the very last thing you guys want to do is find somewhere else to put those boxes. We had to do this with some boxes that we stored downstairs and it was, to put it bluntly, stupid. We should have had that POD in place the week before demo began. Live and learn--and then share here! The POD will be worth every penny you spend on it. (unless you have a large, unused room somewhere else that's not being worked on at all--then use that) Put things that you think you MIGHT need towards the front of the POD so you can get to them if you end up needing them. We started out with basic plates/glasses/silverware in the temporary kitchen and quickly packed those away and bought disposables from a warehouse club. You can even get disposable paper bowls that can go in the microwave. Washing dishes in a basin in the bathtub just wasn't working for me--it was the only water source on the main floor available at the time, and it was also our only bathroom. I had made and frozen a lot of meals in advance and we thawed and ate those, interspersing pizza and other brought-in foods as needed. I am a cook from scratch person and my kids were simply amazed at the amount of pre-cooked food out there that they never even heard of! :-) I had a single induction burner and a rice cooker that also came in very handy in the temporary kitchen, located in one corner of the living room. For boxes, find a supply company like U-Line or Associated Bag--you can buy boxes in bulk for less than you'd pay at the UPS store or somewhere like that. We used paper, but you can buy bubble wrap in bulk there if that's what you want. If it's local, they'll usually let you come and pick it up, saving you even more. Label clearly--you will thank yourself when the time comes to unpack! It's too early in the game to be fighting with DH about anything remodel related. Save it for the big stuff that will undoubtedly come later. Or better yet, discuss now how you will deal with those things, because when the tension is high you don't need to be fighting about details. Best wishes for a fabulous remodel! Cj

you’re either referring to the law (in Washington State, anyway) regarding rental properties, or you live in some place that has uber nanny legislators. And seriously? YOU don’t think YOU are smart enough to know what temperature YOU want YOUR hot water in your home? Any who, I don’t want the dishwasher to turn the electrical heating element on. Electricity (unless your using magnetic induction) is an inefficient way to heat water. It is better for my house to use hot water from my tankless HWH. I have a tankless HWH that will produce 190° hot water if I set it correctly. I have a dedicated line from the manifold that natal led between the heater and the Case Acme temperature regulator. I send 160° water to my dishwasher, and washing machine. (I also have a dedicated line that supplies 160° to a separate faucet on my sink that takes the place of the under sink contraption that crapped out a while back. (120° is the legal limit? Don’t tell InSinkerator. I doubt those gadgets they make can even go down to 120°.) I would use 180° water but I am afraid the water temperature alone might melt some plastic ware and also damage some synthetic fabrics. Here’s a thought, when it comes to how YOU choose to live in YOUR house, man up, and grow a pair.

Back again. We were busy again with kid activities this weekend. We also started the move out of the house for the reno. Found a house in the neighborhood to stay so we moved some furniture and stuff over to get a jump start on next weekend's big move. Lavender--I do live in Washington--Olympia to be precise. I have a great aunt and cousins over your way in Oakesdale. Where are you? I'm still working on my plan. I'm having trouble finding a way to store all of the stuff that got displaced from moving the two wall ovens to undercounter ovens. I need a few more hours in the day to have time to really concentrate on it! Got the mag. Thanks for calling it to my attention! You're right about how cute that banquette is. Round tables seem more inviting to me than rectangular. That whole space is so inviting and warm. I wish I could pull off a space as put together as that one is! My kitchen and family room would be the same location in that house if I moved the kitchen into the dining room and moved the family room into the living room. DH is still concerned that the family room will be too narrow there. We need to make sure there is enough play space for the kids as that's their main play area. After seeing that DIY hutch in BHG, it reminded me again of an idea I had a long time ago, but was dragging my feet on. I think we've decided to move the antique hutch/sideboard out of the dining room (don't know where else we'd use it) and put build a bigger one with cabs, drawers, countertop etc. like Candace Olsen. It will give us soo much more storage space. Plus, it will give that bland area some character. We decided we could also use it for serving wine and drinks during parties. More cost, but worth it. Yes, I know Cali_Wendy's kitchen. It was one of the first ones I took note of when I found this forum. It confirmed my idea of white cabs. Every time I see it I fall in love again. Rhome--I didn't want to bother you with a re-draw until I had a pretty firm grasp on it. You've got enough to do--like enjoy those new ovens!