My advice is:
1. start drinking heavily, or
2. 3 weeks in Hawaii.

Weedmeister - Superb advice. Wish I'd had it 3 weeks ago. Alcohol is still an option, though!

But seriously, OP, be prepared for it to take longer and cost more than expected. Be patient and try to relax....

The alcohol has already been moved to my bedroom! LOL

ok seriously, I keep hearing about expecting cost overruns. Can you give me an idea of how that happens? what kinds of unexpected things will cost more? (gulp... do I wanna know?)

Keep a positive attitude no matter what the situation. You can cook gourmet on a two ring portable burner.. For me dinner tongiht is crab cakes. Of course a bottle on wine at the end of the day definately sets the mood and puts everything in perspective:)

rope lighting for undercabinets

dont rely completely on electrician's advice

remind him to go out further if you have a wall cabinet the is deep for any canned lighting.

decide now if you want vertical or horizontal receptacles/outlets

specify the size of canned lighting.

remember to put in extra outlet inside cabinets if you are doing the rope undercabinets or a fold down DVD/radio

remember to have outlets out to accommodate tile or brick backsplash

And yes, drink heavily during the reno

For me, cost overruns came in the form of 'wow, your electrical is horrible, while we've got the walls open we mind as well replace all of it, oh, and you need a bigger electrical panel to accomodate all the new wiring (pot lights etc.)"

Same thing with plumbing. Much easier to fix it while the walls are open rather than later, so ended up cutting holes in other rooms in the house to run proper venting up to the roof etc.

I also ended up having to replace my wood floors rather than refinishing them as I had originally intended because they had been over sanded by PO's.

But, the upside of this is that I feel much much better about the state of the 'guts' of my house. I know it's done right now, rather than the spaghetti-state the PO's created by DIY'ing a bunch of things incorrectly.

Great advice - keep it coming!

donka, I already bult in an electrical upgrade into the cost - I knew that would be an issue.
Plumbing though - yeah, I'm holding my breath a bit, waiting for that shoe to drop.

You probably already did this, but...take photos of your old kitchen from different angles so when the new kitchen is complete you'll have "before" and "after" photos.

When the electrical work is finished, take pictures of the wiring before any drywall work begins. It may be helpful in the future. It was helpful to us because the drywalling crew accidentally covered up one of the outlets and the photos showed where it was located. It's also handy for knowing where the studs are when hanging heavy objects.

While you're at it, take photos of the plumbing too.

And...if your project goes on for several weeks or months and you need some encouragement, put a post on GW and we'll be here to cheer you on.

country smile, actually - I haven't taken the "before" shots yet! Thanks for the reminder. My sister and bil showed up yesterday to "help" and pulled everything apart. They took away my kitchen table too. So now, once I get everything cleared away (around midnight?) I'll take a few shots. It won't show the extent of the horror though, since it won't show how much stuff had to sit on my tiny counters due to lack of space!

Yes, take pictures!!! Then when you are two months into your remodel and wondering if this will ever be done or why am I doing this, you will know why!! It is funny how after a few months of an empty kitchen, your mind starts to forget how the old one looked.

Advice... Also keep chocolate on hand too! I would designate a spot for snail mail and a spot for takeout menus.

Good Luck!

annie - "once I get everything cleared away (around midnight?) I'll take a few shots" - been there, done that, lol That was me 8 months ago.

"it won't show how much stuff had to sit on my tiny counters" - true, but that might be something you WANT to forget. After your kitchen remodel is completed, and there is adequate storage for everything, old photos that show cluttered countertops would probably make you cringe.

during remodeling tell yourself, "this too will pass"

another thought - I kept a journal of what was completed each day and my feelings (both good and bad). It makes for some interesting reading after the remodeling is complete.

What is it with drywall guys and covering up outlets? We had exactly the same thing happen, and it took my photo of the open wall to prove it to them . . .

Good luck!

Not sure about the drywallers, but ours is a flake. The subs have been terrific - great flooring guy doing the HW, great electrician. Drywaller - a little goofy - we wanted all walls 'finished' even though new cabs / fridge would be in front. GC called drywaller on Fri. morning to tell him that. We came home Fri. eve. to find he didn't do it. DH called GC, who called drywaller, who said he "forgot". So now...he'll be here tomorrow dancing around the flooring guy....oh well.....wonder if he inhales too much drywall dust?

Still not finished packing... I've discovered all kinds of weird stuff I didn't know I had - and a dozen bottles of salad dressing. I'm out of boxes and newspaper and I still have a large glass vase, a dozen coffee cups, a half dozen mugs, and a few glass pie plates. Time to get creative....

And then I have to clean! I know it sounds ridiculous, but I can't have everything so dirty when they come tomorrow. I think I must be losing it.

And my DS16, who is never sick, is in bed with a 100.4 fever.

Still not finished packing... I've discovered all kinds of weird stuff I didn't know I had - and a dozen bottles of salad dressing. I'm out of boxes and newspaper and I still have a large glass vase, a dozen coffee cups, a half dozen mugs, and a few glass pie plates. Time to get creative....

And then I have to clean! I know it sounds ridiculous, but I can't have everything so dirty when they come tomorrow. I think I must be losing it.

And my DS16, who is never sick, is in bed with a 100.4 fever.

I used old wrapping paper when I ran out of newspaper :-)

Yes, get those "before" pics taken and think about it in relation to the new kitchen. (sigh, I wish I had a pic of my 70s wet bar with mirrored back and red tile, lol...how did I forget that?)

Oh, when we did our demo, they put up floor to ceiling heavy plastic (they stapled it then put blue painter's tape over the edges, then taped it to the floor). AMAZING. No dust on the other side at all!

Hope DS feels better quickly!! Make sure you have some hand sanitizer and antibacterial wipes and be OBSSESIVE about it! Everything he touches! My DS17 was sick this past week and so far so good. I think it really helps. You can't afford to get sick!!

We'll be sending good GW vibes to you tomorrow!

I totally agree with Julie above--Try to have the GC plastic off as much as possible. Get used to dust..it seeps in everywhere. Put down floor protective sheeting/towels too. Sounds like you need to take the Crock Pot into another room and make lots of chicken soup!! We're all done now, and just tonight we had our staff party here. I was so curious to see if the traffic flow through the kitchen (25 people) would work, now that we have an island and a much more open feel. It was great!! Our autumn was lost to us while we ate upstairs, using the MW and Crock Pot and one little hotplate. It started in early Sept., and we've been in our new kitchen for three weeks. It will be worth it! You'll have a lovely spring in your new kitchen. Good luck, and keep us informed!

The need to contain the mess can't be overemphasized!!!!! You cannot imagine how careless contractors can destroy a home....ours was so bad, we felt like it was cleaner outdoors and it cost us over a thousand dollars to get it under control. It was the worst part of a nightmare remodel.

Best of luck with your remodel! Mine is in week six and heading into the homestretch! Things I hadn't thought of ahead of time that I wished I had - the lighting plan. Go to an lighting store with your layout and have them give you a recommendation on overhead and undercabinet lighting. There are so many options available today than just 6" cans. Also the color, location and orientation of the outlets, especially on the backsplash area. Paint color - took me 3 weeks to find a paint color I liked. Make sure you have extra trim - my contractor needed to use some extra trim molding so I had to order more which held things up. Also pick out your cabinet hardware and decide where you want to place them on the cabinets. As everyone said, take lots of pictures and get some earplugs! It can be very noisy at times!
Good luck!

Well, so far so good!

I'm amazed how much they got done in one day! I was really worried about what they'd find when they opened everything up, but it was okay - a little rot on the window sill that they will fix tomorrow.

The dust is a big PIA, even with all the tarps and tape.

Make peace with the dirt!

Hope Day 1 gives you HOPE for the next few months of remodel....I get my optimistic hope from all the rest of GWers! All their finished kitchens make me smiley and keep me on task!

Today I got windows! Hooray for windows....

Great advice. I was hoping to start our demo in January but got delayed. Since we live in the 2010 Winter Olympic City, we will have to wait until after that because they recommend no extra traffic.....It is going to be very busy here!

So now that I have a few more weeks, I started thinking about minimizing the dust through out the house. Other than large sheets of plastic, did anyone discover anything else useful? I heard damp (old) sheets worked well around doorways to the other rooms.
TIA