Today is also my daughter's birthday, so today we are baking birthday cake, 2 pumpkin pies, 1 apple pie, and 1 frozen mince pie. Tomorrow we cook the turkey and take it to Mom's to share with the rest of the family.

I'm thankful that

1. I can get out the cake plate without moving the dining table and crawling on the floor
2. The cooling racks are in a space where they don't get tangled with a moving roll-out shelf
3. The pie stuff has it's own designated drawer
4. I can see the family on the other side of the peninsula now that the overhead cabs are gone
5. A sink large enough to hold and wash all the large and numerous platters, pans, pots, etc. !!!

I'm thankful that I get to actually use it. I was without a kitchen from June 30 until 2 weeks ago. Things are almost complete but I definitely have a working kitchen for Thanksgiving. I'm also thankful for my GC who made all of this possible. Also to this forum for giving me so many ideas. And finally my husband for putting up with me during all of this and letting me get whatever I wanted.

Even though we are eating out for Thanksgiving this year (as we do most) I am grateful that we have the space and function of our new kitchen, even though it is not "finished". We are still cooking on a single induction burner, our venthood does not vent, and our backsplash is not installed, but the rest is working.
Work on our renovation/extension started the Mon. before Thanksgiving last year, so we have come a long way, despite having a ways to go.
Our new kitchen is prettier and holds all our food and cooking utensils and appliances. No more running to the garage and basement for supplies. I have room to spread out and when it is cleaned it looks nice. It was depressing to cook in a small space that did not look good, even at its cleaned up best.
It is pouring rain right now and our skylights and new open plan/big windows make the rooms bright enough to not need lights on. I am sitting at our kitchen table on the laptop, which was impossible before because we had no dining part to the old kitchen.
When I get bummed that so much needs fixing and finishing, I remember just how awful the kitchen and house was before we did the work and that helps. It is easier to keep it nicer because when it is straightened up and cleaned, it actually looks pretty. Before, I could dress it up all I wanted and it was not anything to look at, so it stayed cluttered because it did not matter.
It also helps to have designated places for everything and not have building supplies, samples and boxes of fixtures stuffed anywhere we could. While we added on a reasonable amount, the functional increase seems like double.
I also love having the laundry room on the main level. Not only has it made doing laundry easier for me, but dh actually does some now. When it was in the far side of the bsmt, it was out of sight, out of mind for him. Now, one can walk by the laundry room and see there is a basket of clothes that need to go in, toss it in and keep moving. Since our layout is a ranch, there is no up and down on stairs with laundry baskets any more. I do not like being on stairs without seeing my feet and where I am stepping, so that is a big plus for me. Our laundry room is across from the family bathroom, so clothes make it into the baskets (one light, one dark) and are left on the bathroom floor less often.
Our master bedroom was part of the reno and got extended by 4 feet and the master bathroom redone. It is now pretty and spacious and the closet is effectively doubled. Our closet is almost twice as wide as before, but it is also taller inside with larger openings. I have 2 levels of hanging bars for most of the stuff, and the shelves above are deeper and easier to reach since it is has more depth and the opening is taller. I can put Rubbermaids up there easily. It is nice not having to guess where in the attic or bsmt the out of season clothes were put. Now they are in our room all year and even on my side or his. My new rotating shoe tree keeps my shoes organized and mostly off the floor. I don't have to crawl into the far reaches of a dark closet trying to find a shoe's mate any more. Yay! I'd organize them in the past, but they never stayed neat for long. Having things set up nicely keeps me honest and encourages me to hang things up quicker to keep it looking so nice. No more hanging things on the foot of the bed or closing the door when guests come over ;) I even make the bed most of the time now, lol!

I'm thankful for my new kitchen for so very many reasons! I'll offer to those in the process: As long as they're functional, the counters don't matter. A little stain, a little nick, it doesn't really matter. It doesn't matter about the cabinets, so long as they're functional: Glaze? Stain? Paint? Chips? Inset? Hand carved? It doesn't matter, so long as you can put things away where you need them and can find them easily. Wood floor? Tile floor? Vinyl or Marmoleum? Dog hair color or bright white? It doesn't matter, so long as you can clean it easily.

Great layout? Good appliances? Generous sink? Priceless.

Happy family? The question can't even touch it. If you're mid-remodel, hug your loved ones. Reassure them that no matter what tensions you have now, with things all over the place and no real kitchen, that you don't need fancy things to love each other, and that's all that's really important. Stay close, stay warm and celebrate that you're all together.

The number one thing I love about my new kitchen is that I don't have to question whether it's worth the mess to make something nice. I can just cook or bake whatever I want to, and it'll all be fine.

#1 - it looks SO much cleaner and brighter
#2 - stove, fridge, work table, sink, all within reaching
or couple steps worth distance of each other
#3 - I have counter space, albeit small, actually the
top of an old cupboard but it's a counter
#4 - just enough storage for most used items, remodel made
me purge lots of other stuff
#5 - keeping it clean is a joy, not drudgery when I knew
no matter how much I tried before it never looked
clean

It's all good! So much better than the old kitchen. All the burners on the range work. And the oven stays closed without a bungee cord. Its great rolling pie dough on the soapstone. Having a sink big enough for the largest pans.
Organized spice rack so I can find the right seasonings. Dishwasher that works effectively and quietly to get everything clean.

I am thankful that my dh insisted on a mega powerful garbage disposal. SO easy to swipe everything off the soapstone counter straight into the huge single bowl sink, push the air switch, and not have a care in the world that it will jam! Clean up is a huge breeze with induction, even the cranberry sugar splatters came right off and that means I am very thankful that everything takes much less time when clean up is easy.

Oh, so many things!! But here are just a few things off the top of my head:

I am thankful that I don't have to run down to the basement for everything, because my new kitchen has tons of storage.

I am thankful that I have the prep sink, enabling me to prep vegetables and things while my kids use the clean up sink to clean up. And I'm thankful that it's big enough to hold that turkey, so I can keep the clean up sink clean.

I am grateful that things are so much easier to clean up now that I have a place to put things away.

Call me shallow, but I LOVE MY TAPMASTER. I give thanks everytime my hands are full of something yukky.

I am grateful for the Miele induction cooktop that works like a dream, and all 5 burners that provide space for everything I'm cooking.

I am very grateful for my double ovens. My son is making his signature Chex Mix and my daughter is making her famous Pumpkin Pies, at the same time. Tomorrow there will be room for the turkey and everything else.

I am grateful for all of the windows, where I can see into the yard and the trees, and for the windows at the top of the ceiling that give me a view of the sky everytime I look up.

Most of all, I'm grateful for all of the people I love who will be here tomorrow, that I can finally have them all here comfortably.

I feel so fortunate and so blessed every time I go into my kitchen to cook, it just works so well for us.

And, I'm thankful for all of my friends at Gardenweb who helped me with the layout and the selections and everything else. You're wonderful.

Cj

Counter tops and toast. Prettiness is ok too, but I enjoy having workspace with my most needed tools right there and access to the toaster without having to go into another room.

Mid-remodel here.

I'm thankful...

- that it's happening even though it feels slow
- that my DH had the vision to make it happen
- that DH trusted my vision on certain design elements
- that our contractors have been so good
- that I have a non-construction place to go for Thanksgiving and Christmas (if needed)
- to have found GW
- for what my kitchen will be like next Thanksgiving!
- ...and for so much more!

Ditto the comments about sufficient work surfaces. Also am grateful for two sinks.

I appreciate the ability to keep visitors outside the work area without banning them entirely.

Am glad I've got so many different kinds of ingredients and pans so close at hand--don't have to head to basement for things this time.

Workspace is sufficient, so interruptions are not disastrous. Pull-out wooden surfaces give me flexibility. (Our neighbor has had a sudden downturn in health, so in the midst of our Thanksgiving food planning and early assembly, I was able to construct a large lasagne for the neighbor's relatives this afternoon without getting testy or feeling that I was setting behind my own holiday meal.)

We now have a coat closet, a front step, welcoming exterior lighting, a shovel-able driveway--all great for guests.

Am thrilled to have table leaves, table cloths, china, vases, silver flatware, stemware, trays, and vacuum cleaner close at hand to the dining room. Am glad I got out the checkbook and paid for repair & reupholstery of dining chairs two months ago--no last minute probs.

The lower drawers are working out well. Nice to not have those open lower cab doors in my way and don't have to bend over as much. I can see my baking ingredients easier.

Having leftovers processing station is already paying off--wraps, containers, plastic bags, etc.

Gel mats keep me from quitting too early because of sore feet and legs; I keep going.

Quiet insulated niche for our dishwasher has proved to be good--allows me to listen to radio or people even when dishwasher is working. Similarly, am loving the low setting on my range hood--allows me to hear radio or telephone.

DH decided to fill our two dehydrators with apple slices yesterday--AARGH! Why couldn't he wait a couple days? But at least the units are in closet and apples aren't in my way. There are sufficient closet shelf space and outlets to allow this and we put vented door on the closet so the closet doesn't overheat. If he comes home with gamebirds tonight, finishing that cleanup won't set me behind either. (But now I have fewer excuses for not being ready when guests come tomorrow.)

Love the good lighting. Enjoying the decor.

Am thankful that our home equity loan is at abt 3.5 percent still, so we're maximizing our available cash.

While I love the new space, the appliances, the work space, all the physical aspects, what I love best is that we kept the old gumwood cabinets and figured out how to restore and re-make them. We were close at one point to doing a gut remodel but I just was not at peace with removing the 80 year old cabinets -- even though, at the time, I could not imagine how we could make them work.

This morning my DH and I sat on our stools in the new kitchen with our coffee and looked around and just enjoyed that we had made the new kitchen together and that we had kept the kitchen "whole" with the house.

I love so much about my kitchen but this thanksgiving I am most thankful for my huge single bowl sink. (well, most thankful for kitchen related, obviously not my most thankful thing in general :). I cooked tons this year. The dishwasher is running and second load is waiting in the sink so I could clean up everything else while I waited on DW. Love my big sink!