to jeri:
in my layout we are pulling forward the base cab next to the regular size fridge 6", the wall cabinet is tall and sitting on the countertop, so we still have 18" of counterop next to the fridge, rather than 12" (we wanted a tall wall to serve as a pantry in our small kitchen).
that coupled with the trim & panels around & over the fridge will make it appear built-in and not appear to stick out as much as it does.

I wish I wouldn't have ordered a new kitchen window before deciding on a kitchen layout. Our previous kitchen has the sink under the window, so we picked a casement to make it easier to open. with the lead time to order windows we thought it was best to place the order while still planning the kitchen. In the end we went with a galley style and there is nothing under the window, so we should have stuck with double-hung to match the rest of the house. at least we got trim for the window panes to match the double hung.

We have upper cabinets that come down to the counter. I wish I had made these uppers a few inches deeper so that all of our small appliances would fit inside.

I wish our refrigerator side panels were not ordered with toe kicks! Geeesh!!!!

I wish I knew I would gain 3" in width in my main wall before demo began so I could adjust my design accordingly. I made major changes as soon as demo was done becuase we were able to go with the design I wanted in the first place with the addition of those 3 little inches. Thankfully, all is well since I am doing IKEA cabs, and they weren't purchased yet.

I'm with those who wish their undercabinet light switches were in the same place on the wall by the door as the rest of the kitchen light switches - turning on and off lights requires going to five different spots (left cabs, right cabs, over sink, main kitchen, and rangehood.)

What I learned from GW people so I'm happy with:
- airswitch for disposer
- think through which side DW should be on, and which sink disposer should be in
- remember that doors have trim around them, so if you have any cabs with sides right next to the wall, you need to account for the trim.

I wish I'd known that my framers would have misread the plan and framed a niche for a 36" fridge 36" wide. I didn't realize this one for a few days, but for others I also really wish I'd known how extremely fast construction can move at times and how extremely fast, sometimes literally within an hour or two, mistakes can become too expensive to undo.

I'm still planning (so thanks to all who've posted, this is hugely helpful) but I wanted to respond to budge's and kitchenconfidential's comments about semi-custom vs. custom.

We're most likely going with DeWils cabinets, which are labeled semi-custom but they can adjust cabinet widths to 1/4" and drawer depths, too (I forgot to ask to what fraction but I'm assuming it's also 1/4"). We'll end up with very little wasted space in our lay-out. When I asked why this doesn't qualify them as custom, I was told that it's because they don't offer custom carpentry work, no curves, special cuts or fancy features that a carpenter might do on site.

On the other hand, the so-called custom cabinet maker a designer recommended had more fillers in their lay-out than DeWils did. For instance, they placed a 24" wide cabinet and a 3" filler in the same space that DeWils put a 27" cabinet. In my limited experience, the semi-custom and custom labels were misleading and if I'd gone by that alone, I would have been sorry.

rhome, now you have me second-guessing my decision to work with out existing windows. I love the to-the-counter look and this would give me the chance to order one window 6" wider making it much easier to change my sink placement. Hey, it doesn't cost me anything to dream, right?

Check, check, check!

We called the company soon as we realized there were errors on the plans for window sizes, about 5 days after the order was placed and manufacturer did accept a new set of measurements. But we could have ordered ANYTHING at that point, including stock sizes. We should have taken an extra day or two to rethink the whole window thing. I am very glad that we realized sooner that two other casements would have opened directly into the walkpath of drivers entering a parked car on our driveway. AARGH! Quick! Change the vertical windows to awning windows!

(Now, I wish we hand "ganged" the windows at front of addition in a set instead of replicating with bigger windows the pattern the designer had made. We're ditzing around with how to handle the variations in window depths; this is not a good use of our time and I will never be as happy with backsplash.)

I am very glad we thought through the swings of the recommended doors and cupboards. We realized that one door swung the wrong way and would be forever in our path as we walked along a hall.

I'm glad we made friends with the city inspectors so that DH the contractor/builder feels free to ask first instead of apologizing and undoing afterwards. Take more time that we did to learn the local code. (See posting elsewhere about totally stupid design error in range vent outlet to outdoors.)

Price out the windows, Lisa...can't hurt to dream AND do some checking! :-)

I'm already on it, rhome! I know the cost wasn't that outrageous when we added 2 windows to our DR when we resided a few years ago so perhaps this is within grasp. So while I'm at our local Home & Garden show tomorrow for work, I'll take time to do kitchen snooping.

Jeri-

Now that everything is installed, I look at the cooktop and there is less than 3" between the back edge of the cooktop and the backsplash. If I had more room back there, I could put oils or jars of spices or anything. As it is, I stood up a little wooden decorative picture and that's all that will fit.

Wish I had known that the best way to heat up the new mudroom wing off the kitchen (and taken over from garage) would have been a heated floor under our tile. Should've been immediately obvious to HVAC experts, but they didn't even mention it until tile was installed and it was too late. Now, we're stuck using a space heater.

I'm with plan, plan, plan: I spent 6 months planning our kitchen, designed it myself, and am glad I didn't engage a kitchen designer as I got exactly what I wanted.

BUT... I wish I'd thought about the kick heater being right next to the pull-out trash. Gently warmed trash: yum - not.

I wish I would have known to measure at three places for wall to wall measurement. At the floor, midway, ceiling. My old house is WAY off and even though I knew it, I didn't allow quite enough. My carpenter had to take off the drywall on the inside wall in order for the cabinets to fit that wall. He needed a quarter inch. Easy fix but it could have been a disaster.

I wish I'd checked into toe-kick drawers. We have furniture-style cabinets, and I think there's extra space we could've used. We have a "blind" corner that I let go into unused space because I didn't want a corner Susan, and I wanted symmetry on each side of the range with drawers. Now I think I could've had our designer use that space somehow. I was too dumb to know that I was dumb!!!

I believe I thought I'd have way more space than I actually do have. There are still jammed areas, and it has surprised me....I thought I weeded out the old crud! So, I think I could have utilized every nook and cranny better than I did. Oh, well.

jeri you asked about:
I would have done a pullout in the cabinet for my cooling racks and cutting boards

There was a picture I liked in a thread that I unfortunately can't find (and can't remember the name of.) The GWer had a pull out that organized her cooling racks, boards and some other things. Mine are currently in a lower cabinet, just leaning against each other.

The link below is what I'm hoping to add to mine.

Here is a link that might be useful: organizer for cooling racks, tins, etc.

I wish I had made space somewhere for a small folding step-stool or ladder. I didn't have one in the old kitchen - it was a stretch, but I could reach things on the top shelves. I didn't think about the fact that when we removed the dropped ceiling and fluorescent light box the top shelf of the new full height cabinets are now just out of reach. I am hoping I can find something tall enough to work, but small enough to fit in an existing space - maybe under the sink?

I also wish I had confirmed that the door panels I chose would work with cup pulls I wanted on the smaller drawers. I did ask, and believed when KD said "Of course" Shoulda went with "trust, but verify" When the cabs arrived the paneled drawers are too narrow for the cup pulls so I had to give them up.

HTH - there is no substitute for lots of good planning!

jreuter~I have exactly the same problem. My top drawers are too narrow for cup pulls. I didn't even think that would be an issue. I have finally resolved to getting a handle for my top/shallow drawers, and pulls for the deeper ones. I saw another kitchen here on GW that mixed the hardware in a drawer stack so I am going to do the same thing. Don't want to give up my cup pulls altogether!

When everything was gutted, I wish I would have known to have the ceilings leveled. Old house = uneven walls/ceilings = problems with ceiling-height cabinets and crown molding.

Wish I would have known the proper height to install my Advantium. Mine is too high.

I have a bump out window above my sink and I can't reach the windows to open them without a chair. I wish I would have made the bump out slightly more shallow.

I wish I had known to have the light rail on the bottom of my cabinets slightly deeper to conceal the under-cabinet lights better.

I wish I would have known to ask for some kind of flexible caulking between the counters and tile backsplash. My grout is cracked really bad. Still have to fix this. :(

My cabinets are a painted lacquer finish that were sprayed onsite. They are maple and when the weather got cold the wood sort of shrunk along the floor to reveal paint under the cabinets where it was taped off. I wish i would have known to have the painter tape off differently under wood. (I suppose this is something he should have known though).

Don't like that my Rev-a-shelf spice/pantry pull-outs don't fully extend like the rest of my drawers and main pantry pull-outs. The spice pull-out doesn't bother me too much, but the larger one seems like wasted space. I could have configured that area better.

The gas line for my cooktop in the island was placed too far forward and I lost 2'' on one of my "deep" pot drawers under the cooktop.

I have inset doors and my uppers are only 12'' deep...not enough to hold a standard dinner plate. Wish I had known to make my uppers 13.5'' or 14''.

Ultimately, I should have gone with my gut on which cabinet maker I wanted to hire. I ended up going with the persuasive guy who was charging slightly less. Big mistake. He was a major headache and there are things he just didn't do correctly. Coulda, woulda, shoulda.

Despite all of the "mistakes", I still love my kitchen and really enjoy the space. :)

What a jerk my general contractor and stone fabricator would turn out to be! How neither stood behind their work and how I had to get others in to fix things after they were both long gone with my money.

So much for checking references...

Lesson Learned: Two rights can sometimes make a wrong.

I love my Grohe Minta faucet AND I love my Ticor Prep Sink, BUT when the faucet is positioned exactly perpendicular to the wall (normal, straight on position) and the water is turned on, after about a 2 second delay about 90% of the water stream no longer goes down the sink but makes a perfect arc ricocheting out of the sink and directly toward the line of caulking at the base of the backsplash. It's because the faucet is aligned so that it shoots its water down on the front edge of the disposal ring. It so happens that I wasn't there on the day they installed the granite and installed the faucet (DH was), but I doubt I could have predicted this "phenomenon" anyway. I've learned that I can avoid the ricochet effect by either (1) keeping the faucet an inch or so to either the left or right, or (2) by quickly turning it to its sprayer setting after turning it on -- either of those will prevent it, but it's remember to do this in the 2 second window that's tricky. I love the faucet, I just wish I'd had the handle mounted on the front and then had it installed a little further back so that it was centered over the drain and not over the ring... Ah, hindsight...

If your glasses are stored above your dishwasher, make sure it is offset a little so you can stand by the dishwasher and comfortably get the glasses up in the cab.
Lisa

I wish I would have blown my budget way more. There were some things I gave up or didn't consider in an effort to keep within my budget that I now think I would have preferred to just do at the time, even if it meant borrowing some money, because they can't be done now without way more expense. Different size and style of windows and a coffered ceiling fall into that category.

I also wish I had have planned for a TV somewhere. I didn't think I needed one since the TV room is right beside the kitchen, but I have a hard time getting my girlfriends to leave the kitchen and retire to the TV room for our 'girls night' where we watch a couple shows together. They've actually specifically asked that I now install a TV somewhere :)

Some advice I have after doing my kitchen.
Role play with your appliances. I placed my Advantium too high not realizing that my old Advantium opened side to side. Now mine opens top to bottom. Its a much bigger reach when the door pulls down in front of you.
If you can go with a custom cabinet maker. You have so many more options and the market is good for that. They really need the business. I am so happy I did.
Plan out your outlets with your backsplash. Doing the electric is so far ahead of your backsplash but it's important to know where you want the outlets and its nice if it works out with your actual tile pattern. I put my outlets sideways and lower to the counter to make them less conspicuous and to hide the cords when you have things plugged in.
I have a double sink (which I wanted to use one side to drain washed dishes) , and I was told my drain board would fit in the small side but it does not. I would have physically checked it out first.
If you have room for a prep sink, do it. I have 3 sinks and love having every one of them. It was a last minute decision to put the third one in and I am so glad I did.
I have a bar area with stools but I would have liked one on my island too. I had enough room for an overhang but didn't do it because I thought that was the area where we would come into the kitchen with groceries. This is true but I could of had an overhang and slid the stools under that and still had good access to the counter. The more area where people can sit and converse the better.
Hope that all helps. My husband also said the only thing he would have done different is have someone else pay for it :)

Nursetammi,

What do you use your different sinks for? I ask because our current plan calls for 3 sinks -a prep sink on our island, a double-sink on the perimeter under the window, and a bar sink on our breakfast bar (we have a large space that includes our kitchen, breakfast room, and family room), and I wondering if I will really use all three. TIA.

@cali wendy --- how high is your Advantium? I'm getting an Advantium and plan to put it above the 30" oven.

Well, I'm nowhere near "done" but I'm married to a plan now and have a half-built kitchen.

I wish I had known that a DIY project requires a set of ground rules for the partners in the project. How will decisions be made? Are the decisions co-equal or does the carpenter get to trump the coffee and sandwich maker? When is it too late to make a change? Should I not tell you my worries or do you want to know? that kind of thing.

I wish I had spent more time with the DH learning what he likes. I thought I knew, based on choices we made many years ago. But he has thrown me in to a quandry recently by posing some ideas I had not considered because I thought he would dislike them!

He cannot picture things and it's useless to say to him, "Won't that seem too dark?" He just blanches and says, "You decide." He needs concrete guidance and concrete models. The most important thing we did in our planning is to attend the Parade of Homes where he physically saw and touched things I'd studied in photos over and over. He fell in love with large kitchen closets, among other features of the mod rooms.

I'm trying to be very respectful of his decisions and desires. Some of them are based on "how hard is this to do? do I have the physical energy and skills to do this?" and some are based on "I like this." It's hard to tell which is which sometimes.

I feel very bad that he recently told me that he wishes I would stop mentioning the "mistakes" and things I'm questioning. "This is going to be the best space of any kitchen we know. Don't you realize that?"

I have to audibly give him more credit. He is putting in a terrific amount of his heart and soul and sweat. He is trying to be a traditional craftsman and this house addition is his tour de force. Gotta love him.

I wish I had better planned out where incidentals like the coffee maker, toaster, etc. would be going so I could have had the electrical outlets hidden behind them better.

great thread! i'm 95% done with my project now and for the most part i'm really happy with it. But still there are things I wish I'd known, like:

1. if you have an extra-deep (9" or more) sink, make sure the plumbing comes in from the wall low enough so that the garbage disposal can go on that deeper sink if you want it there

2. ditto the point about the undercabinet light rail molding -- make sure it's tall enough to really hide those lights if you want them hidden (and you probably do)

3. if you like a tall faucet, make sure you're ok with the fact that it's going to splash whatever's behind the sink

4. really, really pay attention to where the light switches are going -- I had talked through a plan with the guys (who for the most part have been great), but still I realized they were putting in fewer switches than I wanted, and in the wrong places. This was fixable -- but I think electricians just presume their ideas are fine, so if you have ideas and care about this, make sure you're clear and articulate about what you want.

Things that are great: pullout trash/recycling; drawers in the base cabinets; tray dividers in the over-fridge cabinet; air switch for garbage disposal.

Even with planning, scrutinizing, and troubleshooting galore, there will still be a few things you cannot anticipate -- so my biggest advice is to think hard, plan a lot, do your best, and then try not to obsess over the little glitches when they inevitably come along.

I wish I had known I would gain 3" in my main wall due to wacky HVAC framing! This caused me to change my plan (somewhat drastically) the day the walls came down. Although it really wasn't a big deal (hadn't bought the cabs yet-IKEA) it did cause me several sleepless nights calculating and measuring into the wee hours...It worked out WONDERFULLY though, since I had been planning for SO long, I knew exactly what to do and how to do it. So I went from a peninsula to an island which has really made the space.

I am still under construction, but the only other I wishes have been-

I wish I used my own plumber (My GC is even pissed with these guys).

I wish I had spent the extra money and used maple stock for my island legs instead of fir (not smooth enough).

I wish I knew that the Rohl extended flange in combination with a Shaw sink and a Waste king batch feed 3-bolt disposer wouldn't work together...

I wish I knew that my RH Turner flush mount lights would look like nightlights (now I need another fixture that is 4" deep- hard to find).

I wish I had paid the extra money for a dustless hardwood flooring sanding system. THAT is worth whatever it costs, believe me.

bump for a good thread

1. The three most expensive words in remodeling are when your contractor says: "What if we...."

2. A good kitchen designer is worth their weight in gold and will keep you sane.

3. You need to find some whimsy to get you through.

4. Moving out is a very reasonable option. Trying to live in your house with all the subs there is very stressful, no matter how nice they are.

5. There are times to go with the flow and there are times to dig in your heels over something. Knowing your "Must haves" from your "Wish list" is really critical in keeping your project running smoothly and within budget.

Yeah, cali wendy...how high is your Advantium. I'm going to stand there when they start to hang mine :)

Also, What do you all mean when referring to an airswitch for disposal????

My kitchen has been finished for 1 1/2 years.

Learned:

Clear glass pendants show dust!!

The little "freak outs" I had about everything
being PERFECT were wasted hours of worry.
Only I can point out the imperfections
no one else sees.

Enjoy the finished kitchens shown here, but keep in my
YOUR needs & YOUR budget.

Found this site after my layout had been finalized. Wish
I knew about it before the remodel!

Picking up from a thread elsewhere last week...Consider including storage space for table leaves. One great idea is to make a space within the long side of a peninsula or island. Doesn't even need a door if you don't want one.

Another great idea which I have seen in a cabinetmaker's website is to team the upright storage area for cookie sheets, trays, stools, etc. with the corner door for the lazy susan. One of the susan corner door panels is wider than the other, allowing that expanded space next to the susan to be used for the tray divider. Many of us use the vertical storage space as a flexible width in making our plans, adding to it or subtracting as the plan flexes and it frequently ends up next to the susan anyway. This way, less space goes to the frame and face of the tray cabinet, it can be taller or have more dividers, more room is in the innards, and there is one less knob to buy.

I would hold out for a stool storage space in the toespace if I were to do it over again. I got talked out of it.

florantha - regarding the SS - do you mean something like this?

I wish I had not allowed the granite fabricator to talk me out of runnels. He thought they would be unsightly but having a microfiber pad there is much more unsightly and no one ever puts it away but me. I wish I had put outlets on all four corners of my island. I wish my broom closet were taller and wider. I wish I had put regular doors on my walk-in pantry instead of pocket doors so that they would be shut more often. I wish my travertine floor were darker. I wish my in-cabinet lights and under-cabinet lights were on different switches so it didn't seem like such a big deal for them to be on. I wish I had skipped the blind corner cabinet and just put in another bank of drawers.

What a great thread! I have already found 2 potential problems - better now than after cabinets and granite go in!

Please explain air switch for disposal?

TIA--Carol

Carol,

An airswitch is a mechanism that uses air to power your garbage disposer switch, by the press of a button. It's plugged into your GD under the sink and tubing is connected to the actual button assembly, so you do not have to worry about wet hands and wall switches, as it uses air through the tube to power the switch. It is great for islands, and uncluttered backsplashes. Though most often seen on top of counters, people have installed them under the counter, in between cabinets, etc.

Here is a photo of mine, so you get an idea what they look like:

It's that round button left of the faucet.

Hope that helped at least a little bit. :^)

Shelayne,

Wow, that is awesome. I have never heard of or seen this before. I think it is probably too late to add it to this remodel since the electrical is already done, but I will definitely look into it for the next kitchen. Thanks for the explanation.

desertstef,
Yes, I'm talking something of that sort, but yours looks even better than the photo I saw elsewhere. Is that your kitchen? Lots of ideas in it!

bump

I wish I had....

-Extended the cabinets to the ceiling
-Concealed the outlets under the cabinets
-Ordered the appliances about a month earlier
-Painted the kitchen before the cabinets were hung
-Not watched "10 Grand in Your Hand" and thought we would want to do some things ourselves. The trouble is not worth the money we saved.

But overall, we are very pleased with how the kitchen is progressing.

GREAT thread....I've noted a half dozen things to watch out for or ask for!

Desertsteph...how do the doors work on the tray storage/susan combo....looks like a great idea, but I'm having trouble visualizing the doors. Can you post a pic of them?

Really wish I had the door and drawer manufacturer build my cabinets! They would have made a plan, with details, a contract and a set price! And I would have solid maple cabinets, no plywood!

Wish I had watched the build every minute. Every time I was out of the room something else was built wrong. Wish I had insisted they fix it! And had not paid them till it was finished properly!

* Wish I had never bought the counter-depth SxS refrigerator. It essentially holds nothing. Fortunately we are retired and have no kids munching all day long.

* Wish I had paid more attention to the placement of the light switches (as several others have mentioned.)

* Wish I had had my professional cabinet-maker SIL make my cabinets. He is a perfectionist and his bid was acceptable but he would not promise them in time to suit the GC. In retrospect, I'd rather have perfect than fast.

*Wish I had done the kitchen 10 years earlier. I really enjoy the improved layout and open view to FR and garden.

Nishka, why do you wish you had painted before installing the cabinets? Thanks.

My opinion on pot fillers. If the pot is too heavy to carry to the stove when the water is cold, I sure don't want to carry it to the sink when the water is boiling. For the effort/cost I don't need one. YMMV, though.

I wish I had run my layout by gardenweb members for feedback.

I wish I would have thought about a pull out cutting board. I haven't had one for about 30 years and had adapted. Would really like to have one again.

The matt white Formica shows every speck of everything! Good, because I can wipe it off right away. Bad because if I haven't wiped it off right away everyone can see it. I live on a gravel road. I rarely use my a/c. Windows are open all the time. The FX stuff I originally planned might have been a better choice. Maybe next time. I do like the look of the white, though.

I really hate my upper diagonals but I also hate the blind corner cabs. The more complicated pull down/out doesn't appeal to me. Problem still not solved. I don't like what I have but I don't like the other choices.

I thought and thought about this and only came up with the three "I wishes", so all in all, my kitchen turned out pretty good. I am more than delighted to have the peninsula gone and every time I think about my new kitchen I suspect my face has the orgasm expression.

I should have had a clear idea of the basic three elememts of the kitchen. Cabinet color, granite choice and backsplash. I had such difficulty with the backsplash because of my granite choice. I know it is one of the most difficult, but mine was made even harder because of the giallo granite paired with my white cabinets. I learned (too late) about cool and warms from this forum. So, if possible, have the entire vision beforehand.