Picking out the countertops and hardware. My tastes tend toward the more colorful and I never thought DH would go along with what I was leaning toward. Boy, was I surprised. As he put it, we're just so over the "shades of taupe" that were required living in a cookie cutter house in an HOA neighborhood, where we had to worry about resale. We have not done anything crazy on the exterior of this house, but we certainly have gone with our preferences on the inside where we and our friends will be spending our time. And if life does take an unexpected turn, counters and paint are easy to change.

Here is a link that might be useful: our kitchen thus far

Fun thread idea! I am not even in the market for appliances, but I still like to play with them.

Meeting with my cabinet maker was my favorite part. He's not what I consider wildly attractive, but he's tall and lanky and smells like sawdust. And every time we met, he said "I just want you to be happy!" At one point my teenaged son said "Mother [like parents who use the kid's middle name when they're serious, he calls me Mother], is your husband aware of this fascination you have with the cabinet man?" Yep, and he was fine with it (which is why I love DH too!)

Stone yards were fun, for a while, as were tile shops. It's interesting to see all the things that are available. I think visiting kitchen showrooms and seeing the display kitchens was fun. I got a chance to see and kick the tires on stuff I knew I had no intention of buying! It also gave me some insight into what was possible. If I hadn't seen a functional drawer directly below a cooktop I wouldn't have realized it was possible and would have lost a drawer that I use every time I cook!

One of our goals was to upcycle as much as possible. I had a great time looking for cabinet pieces at Habitat Restores, Boulder Resouce, and flea markets as well as scrolling through Craigslist for pieces.

We also enjoyed building the island sections. I got exactly what I wanted and I am still amazed that everything works so well for us.

Diane

zeebee I'm sorry about the setback but it sounds like you're having a good attitude about it!

My favorite part was definitely the research - I love pouring over kitchen pictures and collecting ideas, talking with the helpful people on GW and formulating a plan. It's been really great to see all that work (slowly) coming to fruition. I walk into my kitchen now and think, "I did that!"

annkh you're too cute! I've professed my love for many-a contractor and sales rep! DH just rolls his eyes.

My favorite moment was first seeing/test driving the Blue Star range and having a total "this is the one" moment. Prior to that we had been trying to decide between a Thermador model and a Jenn Air model, both of which were fine, but neither of which I LOVED. And for that price point, I wanted to love it.

I also really liked the stone fabricator we worked with, and while I went back and forth between soapstone and honed granite for months, I found every element of working with them to be absolutely top notch.

When we showed up at the glass store to see their showroom and make decisions, it turned out they had an office kitten.

Also, my husband has been doing a fair amount of this remodeling work shirtless. I like that too.

Edit: Oh, and if I could nominate someone to be my new grandfather, I'd pick our plumber. We get along so well, and he shows me how to do all these things like soldering. I love him so much.

This post was edited by Jillius on Wed, Oct 22, 14 at 17:06

My favorite part was preparing Thanksgiving dinner for a couple dozen family members in my new kitchen. Getting them to not all congregate in the kitchen at the same time I was getting dinner ready was another issue.

My favorite part was looking at the amazing kitchen design books that I kept checking out from the library. I'd find maybe *1* thing from each book that was remotely worth considering for our house, but it was still fun looking at the books and using them as inspiration. Most of the ideas were horribly impractical and/or expensive, but they got my brain juices going...I did that with the entire house that we built...now the house is built, but there are still a few minor tweaks to do, so I'm still brainstorming a little.

I haven't had a favorite part so far. Maybe my expectations were too high but I've found the selection process and planning stressful- mostly because we are doing a large reno and I'm worried about coming in at budget.

I have a feeling that while the construction part is going to be difficult to live through, the progress made each day (hopefully!) will be my favorite part. And, of course the final product ;)

Tearing out the old one. Seriously ;)

Two things for me for our former house kitchen...Sourcing all the little things that I wanted to make the space special and going through two camera shoots for area magazines. Guess that is technically three.

In our new house, working with a tile designer to come up with the perfect backsplash.

Definitely counter hunting. Several places let me wander alone, and it was great! And I did have a bit of a crush on my tile guy... even more so after he finished, he did beautiful work! And he handled my control issues seemlessly, without making me feel like I was crazy, lol!

Everything! I am completely obsessed and have enjoyed practically every step of the way. Sure, we have hit some road bumps, but mostly I am just thrilled to be able to do a renovation at all. I have especially enjoyed working with our KD and architect. Every time I think I am getting too obsessed with insignificant details, they respond in a way that makes me feel like they really get it and are just as, if not more, detail-oriented as I am. And I love love love seeing progress. Just today, my GC told me that he loves it when I smile about a job well done.

Yes, destruction is everything. Nothing proceeds without destruction. Nothing is created without destruction. Applied Impact Engineering reaches its spiritual pinnacle with destruction. Everything improves after destruction. Bwahahahahaha!

Just sayin'....

The start of the demo was my favorite thing. We DIYed it. The exhilaration of cutting back the first wall to enlarge one entry into the kitchen was awesome. We didn't go much further for a bit waiting for the weather to warm, but there was no turning back after.

Yeah, I didn't get a lot of pleasure from the decision making process either, really, because I was afraid of making the wrong decision. Which was why I put seeing the BlueStar for the first time as my favorite - I KNEW it was the right choice.

But I loved seeing it all come together. We didn't work with a KD or architect, just a contractor and other specific vendors, so had no preliminary mock ups or anything. The biggest change overall was turning an existing peninsula into an island, which I had wanted to do from the second we first saw the house. It was really cool to see that I was actually right about that being the best use of space in the room.

I also have wound up being surprised by how much I love certain things that I didn't put a ton of thought and research into at all, like the Kraus 10" sink. I basically came across it on Amazon, asked here if anyone had it and liked it, and went with it. Turns out it's one of my favorite things about the whole project.

Starting afresh! We are still in the middle of it but even the subfloors came up and were replaced. Fixed a saggy joist, got rid of the dregs of the prior mouse infestation that was hidden behind the cabinets, walls were filled sanded to get rid of imperfections, new windows that I can actually open and close without a heave ho. Last night the freshly painted walls looked so nice that I emptied out my closet pantry and painted that myself. Didn't want to be seeing old worn and dirty walls when I opened that pantry.

Surprisingly, I have really enjoyed moving the kitchen down to our basement kitchenette that was created 5 years ago in anticipation of the much delayed main kitchen remodel. It is so cozy down there and I feel creative turning out food with mostly countertop appliances. Those are appliances that may have previously been used once in 20 years but now are doing heavy duty. Feeling very blessed.

- maxmillion: I'm with you, I like it all!

- annh: And every time we met, he said "I just want you to be happy!"

oh, how I WISH I had your contractor! He sounds fabulous!

Seeing it all come together finally! We started the planning process in January & went through a lot of revisions and meetings with our contractor. Our mission was to bring our blah 1980s kitchen into the 21st century and make it more accessible for me - I have MS and use a power chair full time. And my goal was to make an accessible kitchen non handicapped looking. We're in the 11th week of construction with maybe a couple of weeks to go. It has turned out beautifully and so much more functional for me.

The side opening Bosch oven is being installed tomorrow. Part of our delay starting was waiting for this new oven to become available. I can't wait to be able to access it without a big door getting in my way! One of the best things was deciding to go with all drawers below the counter. And an air switch - something I had never heard of before reading about it here.

Oh and I totally agree that the planning process for me was stressful. I second guessed everything! It drove my husband crazy. I visited my granite slabs several times before they were installed - thankfully, I love it!

Looking through the stoneyards. Amazingly, DH and I both liked the same thing. I thought it would be a long drawn out decision, but we found what we wanted fairly quickly. The hard part was actually finding slabs that we liked, so I searched through at least 10 stoneyards till I found the ones we bought. However, enjoying the look and feel of all those different slabs never gets old. They're just so beautiful.

I think improvising and making do with circumstances was fun. As a DIY, and the cook, I was able to keep things up and running pretty much throughout the project.
Here was my old cooktop set up makeshift, just before I installed the new range.
Yes, not one night with out a stove ;)

I haven't started the kitchen yet, but like others my favorite part will be demolition. I am so looking forward to the day when I take that first swing at the room that is called our kitchen. My next favorite part will be doing all the finish work. Everything in between is like running a marathon, just one seemingly endless step after another.

Making pies, cooking and eating while sanding/refinishing the floor. It do get a bit dusty.

I asked my DH yesterday, after the big fat dud of countertop installation, and he was all, "nothing, not a damn thing, the whole project has been awful."

When he calmed down, he confessed that he missed most the site meetings with the architect and GC, when everyone was enthusiastic and cooperative, and trouble-shooting and improving things in creative ways. He also liked seeing the progress from week to week.

My favorite part hasn't happened yet,--it will be when the entire project is DONE!!!!

I enjoyed shopping for the finishes -- the counters, the hardware, the lighting, the fabrics, and yes, even the backsplash.

One of my favorite things was coming to gardenweb to ask for advice and getting suggestions that were wildly different - opposites, and with good explanations. Kind of made me realize that there were lots of "right way to do things".
Next to that - running my hands over the cabinet doors that I had scrubbed, sanded and primed twice and sanded again. and painted twice. They were so clean and smooth and ooohhhhh. And the best part: cutting new shelf paper for my drawers (using my quilting supplies) that fit so perfectly. I didn't want to mess them up by putting the utensils back in them!! lol