Erika - Your "mistake" may just turn out to be the best thing you've done. Seriously. That whole faucet into the drain thing is a bunch of hooey IMNSHO. I mean really, how often do you leave the faucet perfectly centered and in place? Also, with today's deeper sinks if it's splashing up from hitting the bottom it's not going to get very far.

You're actually much more likely to get splashing / spillover from having your faucet too close to the edge and/or sides of the sink(which it would be if you set it back). Trust me - I know this from painful experience. I get reminded of it every single time I use our sink.

Before the kitchen was finished when someone chipped the dark toned plain color laminate on the edge most visible from the door.

"How long before you discovered your first mistake?"

HA HA HA HA HA! I laughed so hard it almost made me cry (thinking of my own list).

This is why I wish I'd had a "practice remodel": no matter how much time, thought, research goes into a project there are going to be "if only"s ....

When I went to install my tall pullout pantry and realized that my 8' ceilings were 7'11 1/2" ceilings. Doh!

Charlikin, we cut the toekick too. That panicked morning was actually the reason I stopped lurking. I had a 'Help Me' post. Everyone told me to get off the ledge, take a deep breath and cut the toekick. They were right nobody notices. It helps that it's on the side of the frig by itself.

You'd think with all the great support we have here on GW and how much time we have spent studying and looking at pics and learning from each other, there would be no mistakes, but alas, such is life. I went through so much to get my soapstone and than watched as they drilled 4 holes for my faucet, etc.. and 2 of those holes are too close together. And I was standing right there!!! So now, I have a left handed faucet, even though I'm right handed (drives me crazy) so that I have enough room for my hand.

I don't think that's such a blunder Erikanh. If you moved your faucet back you'd have to reach over the sink even more. I know because this is kind of my blunder! I went for the wider sink, so my faucet is a little farther back then I'd like. At first it gave me a little backache, but now I'm used to it. I do love the extra bowl space it gave me though.

You are just sailing thru with this renovation! Congrats of getting out of the powder room...that's a big step.

The first cold morning, when our lovely whisper-quiet toekick heater blew warm air into the kitchen from under the sink - and gently warmed the trash cabinet next to the sink... A year on, it's the only thing I would change about our remodel: you live and learn :)

I realized the half-wall I put behind my peninsula was a mistake as it was going in. But, I thought, wait 'til you see how it all comes together. I didn't want to ask the carpenter to rip out a half-day's work. Wish I had stopped it when I knew it was wrong. We'll redo it now, and the redo will be that much more of a hassle.

Guess I didn't answer your question...

Our project has been full of "mistakes" pretty much since the day we started. We're DIY and did not do nearly enough research before we started.

The very first day of cleaning/prepping the cabinets for paint, I realized that decision was a mistake so we regrouped to strip, sand and stain the cabs.

The stain color we "chose" was a mistake. I put that in quotes because our test patch (which I liked OK) used what wound up being different materials and methods than what Hubby ultimately did. I told him I didn't like it, he "fixed" it (though not really) and I didn't say anything because by that time he had started in on the top coats. I lived with it for many months. Every time I looked at the cabs I wanted to cry because to me they looked horrible. Finally I said something and Hubby and I wound up re-sanding the cabs and starting over. It's still nowhere near the color I wanted but I can live with it. I'm hoping that once we get to the doors and drawer fronts that we can "tweak" the color a little more to make it more like what I really wanted. To this day, I wish I had stuck to my guns and my original choices.

Oh, Erika, I can't even go there, because I hate to renew the teeth grinding that goes with thinking about those things! But if that's the worst 'mistake' you have, you are so blessed! Like has already been said, the water will find it's way down the drain from the sink, and you never leave it in one spot anyway.

I saw your marble and sink in the thread about windows down to the counter and am still trying to catch my breath!!

I'm usually not one for sales pitches, but I was so excited that I would finally be getting a new kitchen after 10 years of asking. I took a chance and got locked into a cabinet company by putting down a retainer fee. They promised I could get what i wanted within my budget. BIG MISTAKE!

I then came to realize i was not thrilled with the choices and was stuck with them. I had to choose and hope for the best. I know it kills my DH when he looks at our cabinets and knows the quality is not what we paid for.

Good thread! Our biggest mistake, which became clear after exactly a year, was ordering an undermount sink for our oiled wood island. Our GC refused to install it as an undermount and instead routed it flush with the countertop. It looked okay. One year later, the wood has expanded and contracted, and there's splintered wood on the edge of the sink. ugh.

If I had known then what I know now....I didn't discover this forum until after the architect's plans were finalized, and we were well into the design phase. Had I joined this forum earlier, there is no question that I would have done things differently (I will discuss this at greater length in my future "finished kitchen" post, but for now I will just leave you with two words: barrier island.) I knew nothing when we started this project. Really zero. And I was too impatient during the planning and drawing phase, because we had waited 12 years for this much needed renovation, and I was so anxious to get the ball rolling. Silly me. I console myself with two thoughts: 1) I discovered this forum in time to avoid other mistakes that would have been truly disasterous, and 2) no matter what, our new kitchen will be infinitely better than what we had. But I still wish, like rm, that we'd been given the opportunity to do a "practice remodel"!

Ah yes practice makes.....better. I wish we had realized the amount of remodel we were actually going to do before we started. We were thinking "oh just put new counters in", but then decided the floor needed to be changed, then it was the lights, and one thing lead to another and now basically everything has been replaced. If I had known we were bascially starting over I would have chosen many different things.

Made quite a few mistakes but at least the faucet and the drain line up...kidding. One of the reasons I agreed to work on my Mom's was for the practice and I have just started working on a friends super budget kitchen for 2010 (just picking a direction and nailing down a layout - trying to get him to do what I would do so it will be a more useful dry run for me - not sure he is buying it). Having said that I think things don't always work out quite like you invision and you have to adapt, it's the nature of these types of projects. Anybody catch something that wasn't a big deal, correct it only to make more problems? Just me, oh well sometime things are better off left alone. I still need to buy a home before I can get to my kitchen reno but when the time comes I'll be ready the mistakes.

MIS99!!

Oh no, you're kidding! I have exactly the same situation about to be installed! Ugh, now I'll have to rethink it!
Thank goodness for this thread.

I was going to ask you what brand of toe kick heater you got and then I read what problem you are having. Good grief!

Not sure if it's a blunder, but I can relate to the feeling you have about missing something. It's the choice of our sink colour - a biscuit silgranit. Something in my heart was telling me the colour wasn't right, that it was too yellow. But with everything else going on I didn't have a chance to address it. The sink was undermounted when the granite went in, and my heart stopped - definitely too yellow. We should have went with white!!

Is it a deal breaker? No way. I love our kitchen. But it's one of those things - that you wish you would have just brought up. Before it's too late!!! My dear, sweet husband has said we can change it one day, just saw through the cabinets and replace it with a white one. He's an angel...but I'd feel sick to my stomach. I'd like to get good use of this one first.

Found this forum halfway into everything, which helped to make some great 'corrections' I am VERY happy with.

Unfortunately it was too late to get under cabinet trash. I had no idea no one had trashcans anymore. There was no where to put one in my small, and very carefully arranged space. Now I have to look at that thing hulking over by the wall every day. :(

DH recently suggested what I needed was a Holodeck (Star Trek virtual reality room) I could go into and create my rooms FIRST. I TOTALLY agreed with him. Maybe a video game designer could do it? "Virtual House" plug in and play!

Day 22: Came home from work only to find my kitchen painted pink!!!

Here is a link that might be useful: My kitchen reno blog

Thanks to everyone for your reassurance that my drain mistake may not be so bad after all. You've made me feel so much better! I was determined not to obsess over it, but I couldn't help but chide myself for my forgetfulness.

I'm glad that rhome pointed out about being blessed. The other day I was making my way through washing a big stack of dirty dishes in my little powder room pedestal sink. I started thinking that my temporary inconvenience would still seem like the extreme height of luxury to women in many parts of the world who have to walk for miles to get water that may not even be clean.

It's good that we can laugh at our mistakes, maybe help someone else avoid making them, and enjoy all the other terrific things about our kitchens. =)

Erika

So another mistake I made was not paying enough attention to the undercabinet lighting. I knew I wanted fluorescent lights. My framed cabinets would have a 3/4" recess underneath, and because my backsplash was going to be short (see my message above), I didn't want to add a light rail. My contractor told me the fluorescents he used were 1". The lowest-profile ones I could find were from W.A.C. and were 7/8". I decided that for 1/8", I was not going to obsess about this, and I'd just let the contractor use his standard ones.

MISTAKE! His standard ones are actually 1-1/4". (Amazing how fuzzy contractors can be about measurements when their jobs are all about measurements!!!)

I keep telling myself it doesn't really matter. When you're standing in the kitchen, you can't see them whether they're 1-1/4" or 7/8". When I'm sitting at my desk outside the kitchen, I can see them, but I would be able to see them whether they're 1-1/4" or 7/8". Not sure what a light rail would do for me, or if this extra 3/8" means that if I do decide to add a light rail, I'd need a bigger one than I might have needed otherwise... Still don't *want* the light rail. (Didn't want it when I thought my backsplash was going to be 18"! Definitely don't want it with my backsplash at only 16-3/4".)

I'm going to stop obsessing about this. I am.

MEANWHILE... the lesson learned (sort of) is that there are so many details to keep track of, so many choices to make... There's going to be something you don't stay on top of because you're staying on top of so many other things. So it's not going to be perfect. But it's going to be GREAT. And that's good enough. ;-)

My mistake was that my refrigerator is a 36" side-by-side. I finished my kitchen the week of Thanksgiving (I was determined to have Thanksgiving in my new kitchen). So it was quickly apparent by Wednesday before Thanksgiving that my refrigerator was too small. The side-by-side configuration was a mistake; it's just too narrow. I had enough space in my kitchen for a single door/bottom freezer style fridge, but it just never occurred to me to buy one. It also didn't occur to me to go wider than 36", even though I had the room for it. I just always had a 36" fridge, and never thought about a different size. It's not the end of the world. Most days it's not a problem. Just when I have parties and lots of dishes to refrigerate, I really REALLY wish I'd gone bigger--and wider.

akchicago - any room for a second inexpensive (ie used) fridge in the basement or the garage? We deliberately went with a smaller all-fridge and freezer drawers in thh kitchen, and have both a stand up fridge and freezer in the basement (what can I say - it's the Italian in me!!)

Eliz

Elizpiz - Thanks, but I don't have a basement, and my garage, well, living in the city, I am grateful just to have my teeny garage, which barely fits my car, so no room there. I just make do, and wait for this fridge to break so that I have an excuse to get another. However, the irony--after having read so many threads on the Appliances Forum about malfunctioning fridges--is that my wonderful Kitchenaid side-by-side has never had one problem, nor been off by nary a degree, so I think I'll just live with this mistake. It's not really so bad!

Erika,

Glad you're comfortable with 'your mistake'now. Truly, I had never heard that the faucet had to be positioned directly over the drain before coming to GW. I still don't know why? Doesn't the water get wasted running down the drain that way? Anyhow, love love love my new gooseneck faucet with spray head - love being able to position pots and pans and vases to be filled, and love washing down the sides of the sink with the sprayer. Guess for me, it took 14 months to fully realize my major mistake- that's when my kitchen company declared bankruptcy before finishing off the reno from he**. 3rd carpenter we hired to complete the job just phoned and will be coming by tomorrow to pick up doors that don't close properly (we hired him Aug 08), once he does this last chore, and DH finishes with the UC lighting, it will all be finished- started May 07!!! Oh, and my major mistake was hiring the company I chose- feel even better about your faucet positioning now?

I think we selected the wrong color grout on the backsplash. The bad news is - we already began to grout. D**M!

DD

My major mistake was HUGE! I discovered early on that we had chosen the wrong contractor. Out remodel was "completed" (what a joke) two years ago and we're still repairing the long list of mistakes. We aren't spring chickens and should have realized the two contractor brothers were dishonest and intensely disliked by their subs....and consequently the work showed it.

It took me a week before I found out that there were something wrong on how the carpenter placed the cabinet, I mean if you can only see how the carpenter worked on it you will be disappointed, too bad I wasn't there while he was working on it, and the results was too damn awful.

Good thing I still have budget to renovate my kitchen cabinets, but lesson learned not to entrust all the jobs on the worker, but guide them also and not leave them behind for they may do crazy things.

Here is a link that might be useful: henrickson butler

I guess I'm lucky, It's been five years, and no major mistakes discovered yet. I had a great KD company and KD, with good advice and I got just what I wanted and needed. Everything works well and my kitchen is still a pleasure to work in.

None of my faucets are centered over their drains, so it's not a big deal. My kitchen drain is on the right side of the sink and the faucet is in the center, any my laundry and powder room faucets aren't directly over the drain, though they are both in the center. I've had no problems.

I agree with raehelen about the location of the faucet and having water run around the sink before it goes down the drain. Since all my faucets swivel, I make sure they don't run directly down the drain.

I got a smaller fridge and love it. Since it's usually just me, I don't mind not wasting energy cooling a big fridge that I only need a few times a year.

Good luck.

I have to add on that sometimes I feel like my cream colored cabinets were a mistake. I LOVE, LOVE the light cabinets, but I do worry that they are going to show wear and tear fast. I wish I had done a stained dark island. My 2 yo son loves to drive his trucks right up to the new toe kicks!! I do like the fact that if you see dirt, you wipe it up. I just worry about the dings showing more than a stained door.

But, then again if I had done dark cabinets, it just wouldn't have been me.

We just started this project and already there are things that we screwed up and or wish we did differently.
Our ceilings will be MAX 84 inches and I trusted my KD when he said I could have a 12 inch cabinet with the OTR Micro. Well, that would make the micro too close to the range. I finally found a micro that is smaller and we figured out a way to make that one cabinet higher, I really hope it doesn't look OFF.

I then ordered the wrong size pantry, again Thanks to the KD. By the time we realized, it was too late to change.

I think I jumped in too fast. The reason for our new kitchen is frozen pipes and I felt like I had to get everything NOW. Turns out my 4 foot hole in the ceiling and some missing cabinets isn't so bad and I could have taken my time.
I also wish I would have found this forum prior to ordering cabinets. So much would have been different.
I'm sure I will love what I bought but the thought of how much better it could have been...ya know?!!

well, i've never had a faucet positioned so the stream flows into the drain and i don't think it's anything to even consider error, so don't worry! even now with this house i'm getting a 36" farm sink and the drain is off-set while the faucet will be centered so there's no way that would happen anyway.

so, imho no mistakes made! good luck and i can't wait to see your finish.

Hi all,

Oh, the mistakes! We've never built a house before but had a pretty good idea of what we wanted. Like many here, I want to say, if there's a mistake going in, STOP IT before it multiplies!

I came up to our house site one day and they were starting with the window trim. They had done two, and they were mitering the corners instead of doing square corners with a little overhang. I thought, "well, they've already started..." I really dislike them. I can live with it, considering, but they irk me every time I see them.

Mistake two was my fault: granite tile on the bathroom counters. I really like granite tile, but even though this looked great with my cabinet and tile samples in the showroom, I absolutely HATE the way it looks in the bathroom (could be because I--and everybody else) LOVE my ceramic tile on the floor and in the shower. This granite is coming out and DH is going to tile (his first job) the counter with the ceramic.

I AVOIDED mistake number three, getting the wrong kitchen counters! I was SOOOOO lucky I couldn't find the Uba Tuba color I wanted, then I couldn't find a Tropical Green in the right size...what I really wanted all along was soapstone. Thanks to this forum I am assured it is the right choice. Even though we'll have to travel quite a distance to get it and DH will have to fabricate it himself (and we'll have to find strong friends to help), we'll actually SAVE money 'cause we'll do it ourselves. I'm not sure he's too happy about it, but I think he'll go along if I do all the legwork.

- Magpie