Great discussion idea! Not using all of this yet in this slow remodel, done DIY in stages, but I'm listing all I will be using when done:

• A greatly improved layout that makes sense for separate work zones, traffic patterns, and visual aesthetics and fits Ice-Water-Stone-Fire
• Drawers, drawers, drawers!!!!!
• Large single clean-up sink and good-sized (24" wide) prep sink (with offset drains toward back of sinks)
• Moving DW out of prep zone to end of kitchen where it can remain open when working for easy filling
• Wider exhaust hood than cooktop with improved function (600 cfm) and quieter operation
• Baking Center
• Beverage/Snack Center outside of main kitchen area
• More, better, and layered lighting on dimmers
• Mise-en-place storage (storage at point of usage) even if this means splitting up items that seem to be traditionally grouped together in same storage area

I'm sure I'll think of more later. GW has been super helpful to me and I'm still learning.

Hinge switches for my pantry light, killing my corner instead using a lazy Susan, etc. Making stations, including a separate baking station. Nixing the upper cabinets in the baking station and putting a large piece of artwork there instead. So many other great ideas I wish I could do, but can't afford :)

We're just starting to plan out the kitchen but I've been learning here for awhile. I know we will go with a Silgranite sink and many drawers based on what I've learned. I have a small narrow area to work with so my layout will be a challenge, I will post soon to gather opinions. I must say the advice I received here on GW was instrumental in my bath remodel/addition, it is the best you can find on the internet. People just willing to help others and without snide comments regarding your choices, just honest opinions and people helping you see what you may refuse to see yourself :-)

Anyone have a link as to why the large single Silgranite trumps a 2/3-1/3 split bowl?

• Drawers
• Inset cabs
• Shiloh cabs
• Outlets not centered on BS
• Deep cab around fridge so it does not stick out & sides are hidden

Carrara marble for the island and the perimeter. Wanted it but stone yards introducing disclaimers etc worried me. Being able to search 'carrara marble' on here has really helped, more than I can say with positive real life experiences. ( and the gorgeous photos might have helped too!)

Pendants over island. We are using our large island to sit on one long length so it will be nice to turn off the flush ceiling lights to illuminate the island gently. I am going for lanterns with bulbs that point to the ceiling to avoid bright spots on the island.

Perrin and Rowe tap ( faucet, I'm in the uk!). Was going to use kohler but they are so expensive over here. Then I realised lots of you lived Perrin and Rowe but the cost over there was too high. Over here they are less than half the price you can get them for, while kohler were twice what you pay, so that was decision made.

Positive reveal on my sink. Had a 1000mm belfast in our last kitchen with a negative reveal but we had absolute black granite so it was bullet proof for prep. With having marble this time, it'll be nice to mount a chopping board on the lip of the sink for acidic prep times.

Very, very thankful for garden web. Also like waking up in the morning and seeing the flurry of activity that has happened while I've been asleep!

Oh, somersetlass, thanks for reminding me. Going with a positive reveal so I can mount chopping boards over my sinks, too. Learned about reveals here at GW.

• Single bowl sink
• Drawers
• Air switch
• Prep sink

Drawers (can never live without them now), Silgranit single bowl sink (can never live without it now), a very functional and organized pantry (can never live without it now) and GW peeps kept me from putting my fridge right up against a wall where it wouldn't fully open. I put in some open shelves instead that have cookbooks, baskets of napkins, straws, plastic utensils and cokes. I love it. Oh, and I also kept the microwave off the counter and built it into the wall instead. Thanks GW.

A good layout (we moved the kitchen to an entirely different room to get it), drawers, single bowl sink, prep sink, trash/recycling under sink(s), IKEA cabinetry, pulled forward fridge cabinet over full depth fridge (and recessed the fridge a bit as well), separate cooktop and ovens, larger cooktop, in-wall "pantry" (really, liquor/glassware shelving), mocking up pendants size/height/number with balloons, MW in an upper rather than on the counter. I'm sure there are more I'm just not thinking of right now...

-function over form

-GW gave me knowledge enough to know the granite seam color needed to be changed and courage to insist it be done. It made a world of difference.

-silgranite sink/ drain at back

-air switch

- larger hood vent (vented outside)

-induction electrolux range

-tray dividers

-lighting info such as 2700k is warm white led and also led under cabinet lights and dimable LEDs

-knowledge and courage that insisting on correct air switch installation is not being picky

-Drawers, drawers, and more drawers

I am not a forceful person so prior to this remodel I would live with something I am not really pleased with rather than cause conflict. GW people armed me with knowledge and courage to be able to quietly insist on what is right. Thank you!

You all are reminding me of more things my kitchen will have, thanks to GW.

Positive reveal on my sink (for the same reasons somersetlass and funkycamper noted)
Faucet with control turned forward

I shared that latter tip with my GC (he and his wife have the same faucet). He thought it a cool idea but he hasn't had time to change it yet. However, he told me today that this tip came in handy yesterday when his plumber called to say that Scott would need a different faucet on one of his jobs; there wasn't enough room to operate the lever (window sill in the way). Scott told him to turn it 90 deg to face forward; problem solved. He thanked me and I'm passing his thanks along to GW.

What I owe to GW:

Zero outlets on my backsplash (using plugmould and for the one that we just couldn't get installed without destroying (twice!) we went to a GW-discovered back-up: surface mounted electrical plugs on the bottoms of our upper cabinets).

The courage to be ABB for years ... many years.

Air switch for disposal (the switch for which hangs out in the undersink tip-out rather than being installed in the sink – my own idea).

DIY soapstone counters using a GW link to Ikeafans that showed how to use soapstone tiles and black epoxy to create an inexpensive, but near seamless, soapstone counter.

Walk-in pantry with wooden counter and shelves all around (DIY construction)

Charging station in pantry (along with phone).

-- Silgranit sink
-- Inset cabinets
-- Plenty of cabinets instead of drawers (I prefer the aesthetics) but each of them with a pull-out drawer.

-- Lee Valley drawer dividers (as soon as I order them).

I have to add one of the best GW ideas of all time: bayareafrancy's use of paper "tiles" to try out different backsplash options. It got me out of ABB purgatory! And it looked kind of cute while it was up.

plants, I'm reading your post and came across " changing station in the pantry" and thought, wow, that's different (like changing table). LOL, then I read it again. ;)

Also, would you mind explaining the whole air switch thing. I know from prior reading it's for the disposal, but never knew where this was supposed to be/how it works?

Plants 4 do you have pictures of your pantry? Mine is gutted waiting for a good layout :-)

beth09, that is funny! An air switch is just a long thin plastic hose that connects the piece of equipment with a button that turns it on. It's just using air to do the switching. The button is normally installed in a hole drilled into the sink or counter (or wall I believe). It's essentially flush with the surface so very attractive.

Well, I was a bit nervous about DIY drilling into our sink and so we just placed it gently into our undersink tipout thing and it has remained there ever since. We don't use it often anyway and it's just one less thing cluttering things up. But the real beauty of the air switch is that it is very flat and can blend in with almost any surface (they come with three or so color options).

Adja, I will try my hand at a photo. I'm not sure if it's a good layout since it violates the GW rules of moveable shelves, but it has worked well for us and it's attractive.

Ok, thank you for explaining. I like the idea of hiding it in the tip out, which is one of the few things I definitely know I want.

Well now I see why so many people post sideways photographs.

Lol thanks it works for me!!!

I love how organized your pantry is!!! Beautiful

Adja, sorry about the orientation of the pictures. I have to admit that it's not completely done yet but....it works well for us with the different fixed height shelves. The bottom ones are, obviously, deeper to accommodate the wooden counter, which is my favorite part. The side shelves are less deep and therefore good for smaller items. Nothing gets lost.

My pantry might be just as wide as yours is so this gives me a great starting point

I don't have an air switch, but instead I have a regular wall switch mounted inside my sink cab. It is one less hole in the counter and works well for me.

As with many others, Drawers!

Also, air switch, Wood Hollow inserts, and my #1, Super White!

plants4 - here you go...flipped (I wanted to take a peek, too). In my mind (and practice), GW rules are like the Pirate's Code -- to quote Barbossa: more what you'd call guidelines than actual rules. ;)

OK, I've been around here for awhile but have no idea what ABB is.

Haha funky, I don't know either. I do know it has something to do with not finishing the backsplash for a looooong time! I am ABB!

Well, you knew more than me! :)

All 'Bout Backsplashes? A Backsplash Buttinsky? At Backsplash Bottleneck?

That's it! I think it is...all 'bout backsplash! But I vote # 2. LOL!!!

ABB--All But the Backsplash, as in the last thing to be done in the kitchen. It's a sort of purgatory for GW kitchen hemmers and hawwers that have a difficult time deciding on tile.

Huruta, you're right, we're definitely not hurting with our appliance choices, which happened to be "scratch n dent" specials." ( I couldn't find any LaCanches with that designation-ha!) They're great cookers, but oh those LaCanches sure are good lookers.
; ) However, the function of separate units, (and the price,) made more sense for our needs. : ) I feel very blessed to have what we have, and hope they last a loooong time.

Drawers!!!

Air switch

Blue Star and Prestige vent hood

Silgranit

Possibly a Towel Pig if I can find the right one.

Besides the drawers, vertical storage, toe kick drawers, and soapstone countertops, the best thing I got from GW was confidence. I was not overwhelmed by choices because I had already made 95% of them before I started. I had seen too many threads of 'need to choose granite! going in next week!' where people had to rush decisions. We spent almost 18 months just looking at options before we started.

The one thing I really love is our Sonos Play 3 in our kitchen. There's an old thread about music in the kitchen and this was mentioned. We put a plug in the ceiling and mounted it with a bracket. We use it almost every night to listen to music while we're on the internet. The electrician had never put a plug in a ceiling and thought it was weird. Often things that are common on GW are very odd and unusual to a lot of tradespeople.

In my new kitchen due to GW exposure: as many drawers as I could fit it (full extension and soft close), Culinarian range, marble counters, Never MT, warming drawer, deep sinks. Plus zone planning (prep, cook, cleanup) as opposed to the old 'work triangle' concept of kitchen layout. And function, function, function over form.

Has anyone mentioned drawers? (j/k). I'm not sure if GW inspired it or not, but we love having a prep sink.

Recessed refrigerator.

Toe-kick drawers, which recover 3-1/2" of depth in the bottom drawers. Also- drawer-within-a-drawer for more storage density. We have no upper cabs, but 33 drawers.

I also have a roll-out bin on the back side of a corner to recover that lost space. Not sure where I learned that one.

Wealth of information on what works and WHY it works with pictures.
The ever popular drawers answer but it's true!
Trash pull out
Air switch
Blanco single sink
Wood hollow drawer inserts
Proper granite support and comfortable overhang
Proper aisle sizing - makes such a difference
Base cabinets pulled forward for a built in 'look' for the std size fridge

Great thread! For me-

Induction Cooktop

Never MT

Woodhollow Inserts

Sillites on island.

Turning the faucet handle to the front so drippy hands stay in sink.

Induction.

Those saints who reminded me that bottomline is it is a kitchen...not a life or death decision.

Drawers, microwave drawer, Silgranite big bowl sink, pull out spice rack, Superwhite countertops, Never MT, Garbage Disposal air switch, Beveled Arabesque backsplash, 2 tone kitchen (white cabinets/black island), pull out garbage cabinets, automatic dustpan under the kitchen sink cabinet, IKEA cabinets, plugmolds, undercabinet lighting, no canned lighting in kitchen, cookie sheet storage above fridge cabinet, baking center. I'm sure there's more. Before GW, we were going to end up with a stock HD kitchen, after GW we were able to have my dream custom kitchen! Sadly we just sold our home and moved, so now we have to start over and do it again. I'll be using almost all of the above in my new kitchen. Right now I'm dying in my itty bitty outdated kitchen without my big bowl sink, and pull out garbage.

I nearly forgot the most important thing! Steel supports for my overhang. GC and fabricator both insisted I didn't need it as it was only 12". I insisted on having them.

Somehow was directed to "Kitchen Design with Cooking in Mind" which led me to insist on 30" deep cabs and counters - and then Scherrs, which could build my cabs with 27" Blum soft-close rails (all pullouts - thanks to GW) and custom-height wall micro-convection combo - and just about everything about my zone layout was from the book and/or this forum's feedback - drop zone, trash placement, etc. However, my appliances were chosen from a now-defunct forum on America's Test Kitchen.

Air switch and induction cooktop!

I'm still in progress, so I'm sure there will be more... but here's my list so far:

Kohler Stages Sink 45 (I actually found the sink before I found GW, but in the process of researching the sink I found this forum, and haven't looked back) and my first post was to ask about whether to get the 45 or 33.

Same with the Karbon faucet. Have it, but not installed yet.

Instant Hot Water - have it, not installed yet... should there be an abbreviation for that? HINIY?

An informed choice when getting the Wolf Dual Fuel.

Picking 2700 for the LED lights.

Just the other day learned what the HUSH was and asked the installer if they were planning to use it.

I think I read about those outlets with the integrated USB port here and nearly stumped the electrician with that, but he found them and is excited to put one in.

And just countless amounts of great information to help me define what I really want and what is important to me.

Confidence and knowledge to make decisions

NeverMT even though OCD DH manages to MT it

Waterstone faucet

Silgranit sink

I found GW after I ordered my cabs but fortunately I knew about drawers

Great thread!

I entered the remodel process with two goals -- to upgrade to induction and quartz. But oh, the things I learned here! Just a few:

Silights! Most amazing things ever.

Air switch.

Rixi tile.

Drawers and more drawers.

Drawer insert knife organizers.

Shallow drawer under cooktop.

Breville ovens.

Roll-up dish drainers.

Every day I look at my kitchen and am grateful for the wisdom and generosity of this board.

I put in integrated USB ports/outlets when we did an extension, they are used everyday. Our electrician was stumped too but we figured it out together, more or less. He did the hard part. I also put two in the master closet so we can charge iPads etc out of sight. Plan to put more USBs in the kitchen area. I will have to live without a towel pig because I just don't have the time to search endlessly for one. Maybe I'll find a towel rabbit since I'm a year of the Rabbit. What is HUSH?

This is a great thread. I don't know what Silights are. Can some please one explain that one to me.

Carol

HUSH = Hercules Universal Sink Harness Kit. If you search GW you'll find a couple threads about it, and here is a link to it.

I have no idea what Silights are... but I have the feeling that I'm going to want them.

Ah, found this link: Sillites or Mocketts - anyone use them?

Here is one of two sillights I was required to have by code and did not want. The island one I actually use now, to my surprise. This one by the china cab was just a waste. But with the cover on, you don't notice it. Thank heaven for the folks here. Because of window framing behind the drywall, there was not space enough in this spot for a regular outlet. The inspectors were going to make me cut a hole in the side of my beautiful china cab!

So they are like the outlets in floors for a lamp? I like it. I now need it.