Big, deep single-bowl sink and counter depth fridge that doesn't have cold and warm spots. Stuff doesn't freeze or rot and I can see it all! I was expecting to miss the fridge storage space but don't. Forces me to be organized about what's actually in there.

Like my air switch, too. Had never heard of those before GW and it is such a simple, inexpensive device. Never before had a house where I wasn't always choosing the wrong switch. (light vs. disposal.)

Shanghaimom,

Can you tell me more about the air switch? I always get the light switch and disposal mixed up.

My kitchen is almost finished but we haven't moved in yet! I am most excited about my GAS cooktop! I LOVE to cook and cook all the time, yet I have never cooked with gas. I love my island (butcher block) too...I would have to say it is a toss up! :o)
Great thread
Capegirl

I have several faves.
In no order:
size - prep, storage & aisle clearance
layout
all drawers
softer floor
high ceilings
all fridge, all freezer (esp becs not in garage any more)
dw that works and is quiet
table in kitchen
pantry in kitchen and not in bsmt
I love the new look and many materials, but the functional stuff is what really rocks.

Any other day I would have said my Advantium oven or the island marble countertop, but today, with 14 hours of no power and counting, it's absolutely my GAS RANGETOP (a 30 in. Wolf, though today any gas range would make me happy). We're bundled up in the house and DH is crying because so many of his hand picked trees and bushes in the yard and neighborhood have been so badly damaged in this October crazy storm, but we can still cook and make coffee and we are all safe, so life is good!

Now I just a need a plan B for tonight's dinner, as roasting a chicken won't happen (electric ovens). I'm thinking arroz con pollo, paella-wanna be stovetop one pot meal.

Besides the new gas stove, my favorite thing is the L-shaped banquette. It's so comfortable and a great use of space. It fits our family of 4 very well, plus we've had guests and sat around it to play games, etc. It has transformed our use of the kitchen.

There are so many things I love about the new kitchen is is really hard to name just one.
After all the time I spent making aesthetics decisions
(cabinet color, backsplash, counters, hardware, curtains, and finishes, etc.)
you would think that one of those things would be my favorite.
But in the end, my favorite part of the new kitchen is the layout and flow.

I love it that I can unload almost all of
our everyday dishes, glassware, and silverware directly from the dishwasher
directly into the cabinet above and the drawer beside without even taken a step.

I love the over four feet of counter space between the main sink and stove.
This is my main baking/food prep area and everything
I use to bake and cook are located in drawers or cabinets at arm length.
In my former kitchen I had very little counter space and everything was stored in a pantry,
over 12 plus steps from my work space.
I love the new "point of use" storage concept!

I love it that the three out of four members of the family who "snack,"
but don't cook, can move back and forth between the fridge and banquette
without getting in my way as I try to make nourishing and yummy meals for them!

FWIW - I would have put our gas/propane stove as a fave but we are not allowed to hook it up yet (at the 10 month mark). I have been using a single induction burner, which, while cool, is a little loud. I am glad we will eventually have propane and not a smooth top regular electric. My alternative wish for induction has been tested and I think if it made more noise having multiple burners going, it might bother me, although I'd still prefer having the ability to use more than one burner of any sort! Being able to cook when the power goes out is a major benefit I hope we can use one day (or not....hmmm....).

Gaggenau oven followed closely by Gaggenau combi-steam oven.

My most favoritest things.

Lower drawers instead of cupboards and the pantry. I anticipate loving the new single basin sink, but as there's no water yet, I'll hold off on that one.

So. hard. to. choose...

But, I would say these are a few of my favorite things (in my bestest Julie Andrew's singing voice):

My Kenmore Elite Induction range. I love it a million more times than I even thought I would.

All base drawers. Whoever came up with that idea was a genius IMHO.

My Kohler Dickenson farm sink. Lovely and so functional-what's not to love.

Our Marmoleum floors. Cannot say enough wonderful things about these floors. My whole family loves them!

More pantry space. Gives me lots of room to store items.

I'm probably being influenced by the fact that I just finished two weeks of having back to back house guests -- but my favorite thing is the island. Love having a place to gather for meals, or to drink coffee and chat, or to share cooking. And I really love that when I'm working at it I'm facing the living room and still feeling part of things -- especially when people I really want to be with are visiting and there's a lot of cooking going on.

Number one favorite thing was a surprise...my Bosch induction cooktop. I always thought I was a baker not a cook but this magical appliance has made me think that I've been wrong!
Number two is also a surprise...blumotion drawers and no lower cabinets (except for blind corners).

Ok, I'll hold back on all my other favorites (and mistakes) until I can post some finished photos.

Amy

Whats an air switch?

love love so many things--

low divide sink that is undermount for one=handed sweep of counter mess.

garbage drawer next to sink for same as above.

drawers and more drawers-- enough to dedicate 1 to doggie treats and 1 to vitamins.

quiet dishwasher.

dishes in drawers near dishwasher. (sorry, drawers again)

so far, really happy. will try try to post pix soon.

don't love... cooking on a hotplate for 2.5 months since dacor cooktop didn't work as installed. company says they are out nationwide????
kawh707

Do I have to choose just one?!
There are so many favorites in my new kitchen and I'm not even finished yet!

Here goes:

Soapstone countertops with runnels. Never knew what a runnel was before finding GW, now I can't imagine living without them!
Large single bowl sink
Quiet Bosch dishwasher
Built in fridge with freezer on the bottom (tall girl's friend!)
Vent a hood. Ventilation. What a concept!
Under cabinet lights
Easy open drawers with soft close, doors with soft close.
Organizers from blind corner, spice pull out to trash pullout. Very cool!

Nikkidan, an air switch is a button on the sink (or wherever you want it) that you can push that will turn the garbage disposal on and off. It replaces the traditional wall switch. I love mine!

I went from a kitchen with a 5X5 foot workspace and one window to a kitchen that's 18X20 with lots of windows and light. I guess the biggest thing for me is lots of space, which makes it possible to have the other things I like about my kitchen. With so many big changes it's hard to pinpoint just one that is my favorite, but I can try hard to narrow it down a bit:

1. My induction cooktop. Love the instant power, ease of clean up, and the timers--I love the timers. I use them all the time, especially when I'm using my pressure cooker or making something like rice or pasta. I find it freeing to be able to tell the cooktop to turn itself off in 20 minutes, and then turn around and chop the onions, or talk to someone. :-)

2. The island. It has a lot of storage, it's got my prep sink (another fave thing), and it has plenty of seating. Everyone gathers there and it's my favorite place to work, with my family or friends around me, sometimes helping and sometimes just talking.

3. The way everything in the kitchen works together. I, too, love the "point of use" storage. It just makes things so easy and so comfortable, whether I'm cleaning up or baking or just cooking dinner.

4. I have to mention the Tapmaster. It's a foot pedal that turns the water on and off. I only installed it on the prep sink, but it's really, really handy and definitely qualifies as one of my favorite things.

Ooh CJ47 -- you're making me covet an induction cooktop -- have never ever heard about the timers before, great idea! I'm going to have to go look for your finished kitchen pics now to see this thing....

I love my new kitchen...it's hard to decide on my fav, but here goes...

Cooking with gas. So much fun for someone who has only used glass top! I love the low burner on the Wolf. I can melt chocolate,(or butter) in a metal bowl and it does not burn.
One bowl sink. I would never go back to a double bowl. I also love the grid, which I had never used before.
Undercabinet lighting.
A vent that works.
The super susans.

Induction is to other cooking methods what a computer is to an abacus. Now that we are used to having it, it's like "no big deal". A couple other aspects of our kitchen still impress us:

natural / "silent" sound of wind air moving through a largemouth duct that exhausts cooking fumes

mega size drawers displaying contents easily (and well lit, too) "Open Sesame"

I think it's our pantry-closet. We never had such a thing before. The broom is now really close at hand, so I use it more; ditto the vacuum cleaner. The dining room table leaves are now used more--we made a niche for them in the closet. I can access canning gear, cookie tins, lightbulbs, cleaning bucket, etc etc etc nicely. But it also means that it's important to keep the room straightened up and logically organized so we don't just stop in the doorway, sigh, and shut the door again.

We run our dehydrators in there, but only one at a time--turns out we can blow circuit if both run at once.

Light and counter space. The best decision I made was to open the wall between my kitchen and dining room and add a peninsula between the rooms. My old kitchen had no windows and light pours in now. The peninsula tripled my available counter space.

Drawers for pots and pans.

Pantry cabinet with pullouts. All my dry food in one space now and easily accessible. Nothing gets lost in the back of the cabinets.

I would NEVER have believed I would say this, because my lack of cooking skills are legendary....but my 36" dual fuel KA range! Man, I love that thing...it really makes me feel like a grown up, one who can actually cook! I love seeing the flames when I turn on the burners...and my children really appreciate the fact that the griddle is so easy to use and clean I make pancakes more often! :) I love the huge, beefy knobs and the big ole pull to open the oven...it just feels so sturdy and substantial, like it is going to be in my kitchen forever!
*thus ends my "Ode to a Range" :)*

While it's not a "thing", the best feature of our new (1 year old) kitchen is the layout.
It's about 1000% better than what we had before.
But, if I had to pick a thing,
It would have to be our 36" Blustar 6 Burner.
It is as someone on the appliance forum has described it,
"A Box of Fire"

1) Granite countertop-- we had laminate and I love not worrying about it much.

2) Second workspace that our new layout permitted.

3) New organization of things based on where we use them-- e.g., colanders live under sink not across the room; e.g., dangerous things are up high so I don't have to worry about my toddler, much.

It really is hard to pick any one thing but the one thing that I seem to think of first is my induction cook top.
Then I start thinking about how improved the layout is, how much I love my big drawers, my island that added so much more work space and storage, the quartz counters that are so easy to clean and how lucky I am to have this wonderful new kitchen.

I always had an electric cook top and had planned that someday I'd have a Wolf gas stove..... I was nervous as could be when I made the decision to go induction. No one I knew had it. All I can say now, is how much I love it and would never want gas. I cook all the time.

Nancy