Most items were pretty good...but... Second sink Place it outside of the main cooking and cleanup zone so that a second chef can prep food, wash hands for dinner, or bartend during parties. Somewhat disagree: If you intend for the sink to be a prep sink, it should be in the Prep Zone and fairly close to the Cooking Zone. If you want it to be a sink for "outsiders" to use, then I agree. Bar-tending, etc. should be outside all three of the primary work zones (Prep, Cooking, Cleanup). The second chef can use the cleanup sink (ditto for someone wanting to wash hands). Allocating Project Costs Where's the 10% (at least) for "surprises"?! Keep your current layout. I agree with Rosie! It seems that most kitchens designed by builders or architects are not very functional, so when remodeling you want to fix the functional issues - first. (They even say this on a later slide!) Just replacing cabinets is a waste of money unless the layout is very good OR you don't cook! Blind Corners: Half-Moon Lazy Susan Blind Corners: Double Sliding Shelves Blind Corners: Pull-Out Shelves IMHO, avoid blind corners if at all possible. They are generally less useful than corner susans or drawers, waste more space, and generally the blind corner hardware is far less reliable/durable than susans or drawers. Drawers Versus Rollout Trays It's rare that ROTS are better than drawers - even for small items - use a shallow drawer. Drawer bases usually come in 3 and 4 drawer configurations - some manufacturers even have 2 and 5 drawers. I agree ROTS are easier for retrofitting, though. The Pros (and Cons) of a Pro-Grade Range [Con] Needs a 10-inch duct (versus the usual 7-inch) for a high-power vent hood to whisk away that extra heat. Most decent vent hoods these days require an 8" to 10" duct, gone are the days of 4" to 7" ducts. You've also got to match the hood to the range, both in terms of dimensions (a 30-inch range needs a 30-inch hood) Actually, 6" wider than the cooking surface and at least 24" deep is much better. If in an island or peninsula, then at least 6" wider and 27" deep is needed. Note that in most cases the power needed for venting is dependent more on how/what you cook than the cooking appliance you are using! Smoke/excessive steam/grease/fumes/etc. all require stronger cfms - regardless of gas (pro or not), induction, or regular electric.

That is a great article - thank you for sharing. We are on year 4 of a whole house remodel. We find that working really hard for a few months, followed by a few weeks "off" helps a lot. Of course, we're also working full-time jobs, traveling, spending time with friends and family. It's important not to let the remodel become the center of your life.

I just read that article this morning and other than having a comfy chair and TV in the kitchen (or open kitchen/FR plan), I think it's off-base. Yes, having the TV, comfy seating, and snacks nearby (without having to take eyes off the screen) does encourage mindless eating. Even if you don't buy snack food, I think some studies in the past have shown that eating dinner in front of the TV encourages you to eat more without realizing it. Something conversation doesn't? But I use my MW to reheat leftovers, not Hot Pockets, so I think it encourages healthier eating. As far as cereal, well, if you're eating whole grain cereals and oatmeal, I don't see that having them out makes you eat more - now maybe if you buy sugary chocolate-flavored cereals and the boxes or clear containers are out on the counter, the kids will snack on them. As far as clutter, I wish I could get rid of DD's school projects and hair ribbons and binders etc. that she leaves on the counter next to the fruit bowl (and coffeepot). I also have a bowl stuffed with my old digital camera and odds and ends I should empty out. I did clear a lot of her stuff away when I started filling the breakfast bar with bowls of ripe tomatoes that need to be processed - I did 7 quarts of tomatoes the other day but picked 23 gallons more of tomatoes yesterday (in the garage, but sorted through what I had out there and brought more in). Maybe in another month my counters won't be cluttered with tomatoes, canning jars and rings, and I won't have a 12 qt stockpot and a pressure canner permanently installed on my stove. Not to mention the 2 cases of canning jars (1 washed and ready for the next batch, 1 partially filled with full jars waiting to be carried to the basement) sitting in the DR! Oh, and the counter by the sink is always filled with colanders and DS's water bottles and aluminum cookware and plastic bowls that need to be handwashed, or the dish drainer is full of them drying. I run the DW twice a day on days that I'm canning and I still have stuff piling up in the dishpan and the counter. I think it's the white rice and pasta (have to have something to eat with all these tomatoes!) making me fat, not the design of my kitchen! Sometimes I think it's people with uncluttered kitchens who don't cook, they eat out or MW meals, maybe they're more overweight than people who do cook? Time to go make the salsa...(and we don't have any chips in the house, DH is going to have to buy some if he wants them, they are too tempting for me. I use the salsa as a chili starter along with whole canned tomatoes)

I'm feeling pretty good right now as we are just finishing up the minor upgrades of a kitchen we did 20 years ago. Our house is an urban, 1916, primarily prairie style in an upscale neighborhood. My goal all along has been "timeless", and I think I have achieved it. Twenty years ago we put an addition off the back of our then-small kitchen, and we added a first floor powder room. Despite the fact that we (now) have a lovely vintage home, when we moved in our kitchen had dropped acoustic ceiling with brown grids, one major appliance in each of the "Current" colors--bronze, avocado and gold, cabinets that were so cheap the shelves sagged when used, one cabinet that wasn't even attached to the wall, and cheap vinyl flooring. When we put the addition on 20 years ago, we could afford the work to have the addition added, but we couldn't afford to have a contractor do the inside. So, we hired floorers to install thin board maple floors (as are found in many houses in our area), a plumber to do some of the major work, and a cabinet maker to make some replica cabinets for us and to hang the cabinetry. Everything else we did ourselves. We started out doing all of the demo before the addition was put on. The kitchen was sooooo awful that I really enjoyed using that sledge hammer. The change in layout also entailed moving the stairs to the basement, so to cook we spent three months literally swinging down between the rafters to access the fridge and old stove that we'd moved to the basement to be used as a kitchen along with the laundry tub. Because of layout and lot constraints, we ended up with a long and narrow--10' by 30'--kitchen with an eating area at the end furthest from the dining room. I found a kitchen full of 1920s cabinets with the inset drawers and original glass knobs and exterior ball top hinges that were being ripped out from a very large old home whose kitchen was being modernized. $500 for the entire kitchen full of birch cabinets, and there were a lot of cabinets. I designed the kitchen around the various pieces of cabinetry and hired a cabinetmaker to make some additional pieces. I stripped all of the original cabinets of their light gold glaze painted finish and stained both them and the new matching ones a honey color meant to mimic the color those old varnished cabinets so often take on. I also found vintage lights to hang over my sink and down the middle of the room. As a concession to need, we installed a lighted ceiling fan over the kitchen table. Counters were do-it-yourself tiled. 4" squares with contrasting full bullnose edging. Backsplash was white subway which, believe it or not, was not easy to find 20 years ago. I think we got it right because, several years after the kitchen was completed, an out-of-town guest who owned a similar vintage house came in and told me she so regretted doing her kitchen in the all white look that shouted 1980s, whereas mine just felt as though ti belonged. Now fast forward 20 years. Some things about the kitchen are looking a bit tired and need a refresh, but the basics are still very good. I wanted new counters because they'd chipped in places. The old Jenn-air downdraft (top of the line and the latest thing when we did the kitchen) was old and tired. We just finished our minor upgrades (other than still waiting to get the floors refinished), and in my eye the kitchen still fits in perfectly with our old house. We have no island and never did. The workhorse counters are unoiled, matte, charcoal soapstone. The opposite wall, which is more a buffet-type serving or pastry area, is Carrera counters. I found a replacement for the white, cast iron drop in sink with a drainboard that we'd originally installed and had cabinetry built for. So, we put that in despite the fact that everyone uses undermount sinks today. We replaced the old Jenn-air downdraft with a classic open burner SS Wolf we found on closeout as a new model was coming in. It has a 10" riser on the back which tends to mimic those old ranges with high backs. We did need to install a hood for ventilation (and modern codes) and went with a very flattened chimney style Zephyr so as to minimize the visual effect. Even though we hadn't planned to, we needed to replace all of our backsplash. For this I put in a creamy, crazed subway tile with grout that matches. Now our only thought is what to do with some of the appliances that we will slowly replace. When we did the addition remodel we'd gone with white because that color was appropriate to the era of our kitchen, and stainless wasn't yet a thing. As appliances needed replacing, we stuck with white because I hate (or thought I did) stainless. But, something funny has happened now that we have the new stainless range and the new countertops. Our old white appliances now visually seem to be out of place. Perhaps it is because we no longer have the tile countertops edged in white. Despite the fact that I thought I really didn't like stainless, I am now considering putting in stainless as we need to replace other appliances. Or, perhaps keeping a white fridge, getting a dishwasher whose front I could panel and putting in a replacement wall oven/ micro combo in stainless. After having been though this, and having lived with my kitchen for 20 years, my advice to owners of older houses is to shy away from the latest trendy kitchen. Instead install something that is not a true period replica but something that includes modern features and is period appropriate to the era of your house. You'll be able to happily live with it for as long as you live in the house (we've been here 30 years and have no current intentions of moving) and to just do some minor upgrades as necessary without having to face the expense and mess of a major remodel every time the trends change.