Gillylily, anything can be improved. Moving is stressful. This whole process has been stressful. And you have all those boxes! It's okay if you're not immediately in love. At least it's pretty!

So CONGRATULATIONS on finally making the move.

Better than pictures, can you post a basic floorplan? It doesn't have to be exact. It's not like any of it is being redesigned. But we might be able to help you figure out strategies if we could see the paths you have to follow to deal with the space.

(((((HUGS))))))

Don't worry. I know once you start using your new kitchen you will figure out how to organize it to suit your cooking style and I know all of the experts here can help you get it just right.

I am so happy that you love the way everything looks. Pics pretty please?

Congratulations on your new house.

oh honey, I understand. I'm struggling to figure out my new kitchen too, but I know that with some time, I'll figure it out, and so will you.

As you get used to the space, you'll figure out what works, and where to put things that you need so that they are easier to use.

Definitely post some pics and layout pics up when you can, there are some really smart folks here who I'm sure can help you make it more efficient for you.

Enjoy your new space - this is huge!

I have been in my "new" home for about 14 month. It has taken a few iterations to sort out the storage and I think I am not done yet. My kitchen is quite small, so the choices are limited. But, I have ancillary storage in the pantry/mudroom and the basement. I am always "improving" it seems, juggling things around, moving little-used items elsewhere, etc.

Bottom line....it just takes time, and trial-and-error and living there to figure it out. It will come to you and you'll get happier.

I also built and my experience was very difficult. In retrospect, I think it took me several months just to get over the shock of it all. I kind of sat and did nothing for a handful of months. Give yourself time to ease into the newness and get over the profound stress that building often is.

I wish I could remember or see your layout. But what you're experiencing isn't unusual. I moved from a 9 x 10 or 12 kitchen to a smaller one while we built. I was a little lost at first in my new 16 x 19 kitchen. We can't have a good size kitchen and keep the efficiency of being able to reach everything from one spot...There are adjustments and compromises in order to gain larger work areas and room for others to join in the fun without bumping elbows and fighting over the best or only counterspace.

I have been in my kitchen for almost 2 yrs now and have juggled things around a bit now and then to improve it. My cups and dishes are still diagonally across the kitchen from the coffee pot and microwave, and across the kitchen from the breakfast counter where we have the toaster oven and have sandwich making supplies...which isn't the best, but the way it is. It's really not terrible. After all, I have the room for those things, and many, many pluses over my last kitchen. Give it some time. I think you'll learn to love the advantages over the adjustment frustrations. :-D

Thanks all!! I guess i was just expecting to come in fall in love and know where everything should go.. It's funny b/c all along, my mother was trying to tell me to add more pull out drawers. a pantry cab., etc. and I kept saying, no the cabinet maker knows the best layout.. I guess I am learning MOM is always right (i hope my little girls think that when they are old enough).. Luckily, she is coming up from NJ today for the week to help me out while my DH travels to help me get settled in. Thank goodness for MOM's!!!

There are a bunch of issues with the cabinets themselves - I am waiting for the cabinet maker to come by- the two drawers i was going to use for my pots/pans are not on track- and there are a TON of scratches that were here before we moved in.. Luckily, I am the first house in an 8 house lot so they can't avoid me YET.

Thanks again for all of your support. I will certainly post pics. as soon as I dig out my camera!! ..

You know, the other thing that I have found to be true as well is once a huge project is finished, is that there is this empty feeling, like what do I do now? So you should be prepared for that to hit after you get a bit organized and settled too.

I'm sure you knew we'd all say, give it time, so that's probably no surprise! I happen to love change, but have found that regardless of how much I like it, there is still always a process to adapting. I hope you post a layout and lots of pictures. As you know, there's so many great suggestions, maybe you'll be able to benefit from a few.

I was just thinking about this very thing. My new kitchen is going to be so much bigger, I bet it won't feel efficient for a while until I figure out the best way to organize it.

One way to handle putting an old self into a larger new kitchen is to draw a smaller old kitchen inside of it. All those things that used to live in the den? Or the basement? Or on the high shelves of the kids' closets? Those are still your least used things. It's great to be able to store them in the kitchen now, but you don't want to have the Christmas dishes and turkey roaster and martini glasses between you and the action.

As much as you can, put the stuff you use the most away first, and do it in the tightest workflow area you can, best at point of use, designing your point of use at the closest comfortable place to the previous and next steps in the cooking process.

If there's room leftover in your working path--like whole empty shelves or drawers, you can put in some of the least used stuff that makes sense in that location (roaster in the cooking zone, etc.) and put the rest of the overage in the more outlying areas, pantry, wherever isn't blocking you from using your kitchen efficiently. I think Buehl has winter dishes in her dish area because there was room (and she has a very efficient kitchen), but if you can tighten up your workspace by putting the Christmas china out, do it! And swap it in at Christmas time, if you use it all day for a month.

There is so much expectation when moving...it's hard to wait to have everything done, and then it's hard to realize that it's not perfect. I know I will be EXACTLY like you. I tend to consciously have to re-set my mindset when going through challenging events--I can now recognize that in myself.

Feeling a bit "lost" seems natural. Try and think of this as a process instead of an "end zone"....you haven't moved in (one day event), you ARE moving in over the course of the next month. An adjustment, a change, a new environment. It all takes time.

I laughed when I saw your comment about your DH....I know mine will probably go bonkers if I say one negaitve thing about our new house....I am serious!! Will have to vent here on this board! :)

I hope you are enjoying your new house soon! Living amidst packing boxes is NOT fun...

It takes a bit of time to get used to new patterns and form new habits. We decided to put all our cups and mugs in a drawer, and it took weeks to stop reaching for the cupboard above the coffee maker for a cup. If we didn't have little kids, I would rearrange several things in my new kitchen. I like that our new kitchen is flexible enough to meet our needs, but I second guessed several things and rearranged several drawers, etc. as we got used to the new kitchen.

Yesterday I told my dh that I just realized that I should have painted our island green instead of red and that I can't believe in never occurred to me that green would have been just the right color and it would solve my dilemma about what color to paint the chairs for the table. Too late now, LOL!

Have a fun week with your mom setting up your new house! I felt like I should have made a map for my Dh and kids so they knew where to find (and put away) things in the new kitchen.

We had moved in Dec. 10, and when I got ready to prepare Christmas dinner, I got really stressed because I couldn't find anything, or remember which drawer I'd put anything in. (In the 2 weeks prior to that, we were just eating out of the freezer and canned goods.) We've been in for over 2 years, and each time we have company for dinner, I still move something the next day because it didn't seem to be in the right spot.

Also, after all the dreaming, planning, making choices, etc., moving in was anti-climatic (we were owner-builders), we were exhausted, and I was still second guessing myself. I think it took 6 months before I really began to enjoy my kitchen.

Give yourself some time to relax and settle in to your new space. If you still feel the same way in a few months, people here will help you figure out how to improve the problem areas.

Anne

To help with "I can't find anything" issue, create a map of your kitchen showing all the cabinets with each drawer and shelf as a separate line/box. Then, fill in the blanks with what you've stored there. Yes, you will change things around (I still am!), so use a pencil so you can erase!

I update it on the computer every few months, print it out, and put it in those page protectors. Then I store it in the cabinet w/my cookbooks so anyone can check to see what goes where...not that my immediate family does it...I still have to hunt things down b/c my DH would rather just put things away in the first empty space he comes across! However, my mom does use it when she visits and even I need to check it now & then!

Something like this (sorry it's so big, but you can't read it if it's any smaller!)

Buehl - I love your map! What a great idea. While I'm only in the beginning stages of planning, I'm printing your map and considering how my kitchen would compare.
Thanks.

Sorry it has taken me so long to say "thank you" for all of your kind words.. We have been without cable and phone since we moved in almost 2 weeks so I have not been able to get back on my computer (my husband has a wireless card but it conveniently stopped working while we had no access)..

While my kitchen is now organized, I am still getting used to it. I guess my biggest concern is I have to do a lot of walking from point to point. I tried to strategically place baking stuff on one end (since i Have a wall oven i didn't need to be with my spices and cooking utensils) and my cooking utensils and spices near the range. My one regret is not putting doors on both sides of my island (front to back).. I think that may have been a good idea.. BUT.. i am in, i am using it (unfortunately my first cooked meal was turkey bacon and eggs b/c we hadn't had a chance to go food shopping) and I love my new house!!

so thanks again for all of your help and support!

I am in the same boat as many here also. Been in my new home for 3 years and although I do love my kitchen, I don't have it organized at all. Drawers, cabinets, pantries are all hap-hazard. I am just now starting to figure out where I want things and think it will take me another year to get it all situated.

Hang in there, take your time, it will eventually fall into place. Nice chart idea...may try it myself.

Lilly how exciting!!!!

I can't wait to see photos : )