I would be blindly spending money on a kitchen remodel with less functionality and be clueless about crap that is pushed on me by incompetent KDs and contractors.

My kitchen would be without a Stages sink, touchless faucet, and the Blue Star range which I can't wait to use.

The education about kitchen cabinets is invaluable and I expect that it will help me get a fair deal for my money. I've been able to screen out high estimates from design build firms and taught me what to look for from dealers/KDs.

More Facebook probably. There are tons of tons of special interest groups. I have come and gone from here. I like it better now that Houzz took over. More diversity of people and ideas. The cliques no longer seem to have the power they once tried to hold over posters at some other forums on Ivillage owned GW. The whole thing seems a bit more "adult" now.

With four floors to unexpectedly rebuild from the studs up - probably meltdown.

And it's not just researching and asking questions now. I started on garden web 9 or 10 years ago halfway through our first kitchen remodel (the first real reno for both of us) and I've been hooked ever since. Not sure why, but I love reading about the problems and solutions even when they have nothing to do with anything I'm doing in my own home. It seemed like a bit of a guilty pleasure and waste of time because it wasn't knowledge I thought I would use. However, life throws you curve balls, and the things I've read about here have saved me time and again on the job site (once known as home) when dealing with all sorts of trades and issues that I never would have dreamed I'd have to deal with.

My DH is wonderful, but his knowledge of building issues begins and ends with how to screw in a light bulb, so I've been in charge of everything from day one. I've been in a puddle of tears once or twice, but overall, I think I'm doing pretty well and generally when the trades ask me questions I have the answers or know how to talk to them in order to make informed decisions. That is all thanks to Gardenweb.

debrak, I rarely use the 'like' button, but did for your post. Couldn't have done that on the old GW. ;)

Without GW I would have been lost during my kitchen remodel. I pestered my construction-savvy family members with a million questions, but none of them is a kitchen expert, and all are of the old-school-who-needs-more-than-one-sink mind set.

What would I be doing without GW? Finishing the paint on the trim in my master bathroom--it's much too easy to procrastinate when all you nice people are here to talk to.

ETA a hug for ((daisychain)).

Building an entire house, it's impossible to know what would have resulted if it were not for GW. I've learned so much over the last 8 years or so that I've been designing and building our house. The collective minds on Building a House and Smaller Homes are where my design came from, and countless other things related to building. Kitchens has been my inspiration for the most important room in our house, and, again, I can't imagine how many ideas I've seen there.

The entire internet is such an incredible resource! I'm keeping a list of all of the skills that I learned while building our house, and there are a lot of 'firsts'. Having so much information at my fingertips gives me the confidence to just go from one trade to another. At 62, I remember when you went to the library to learn, or bought books, or apprenticed yourself, or all of the above. It would have taken most of my life to learn what I've accumulated in the last few years, and GW is a major source to that end.

Besides have way more time for doing work around the house?

I would have had a dysfunctional kitchen that would have looked nice and would have ended up hating it in a short while!

Biggest four things I got from GW Kitchens:

1. My KD's design had an island with seating - and my kitchen definitely cannot support any island, let alone one with seating, b/c of it's size! But, like so many who come here, I just "had" to have an island; so my KD obliged. What she did not do, and she should have, was tell me "no" and explain to me why an island was not feasible in my kitchen - it took GW to show me the light!
2. I would not have had the clout to get my Project Manager's attention and to make her start listening to me!
3. I would not have had the knowledge and courage to question both my KD and my Contractor when they told me "it can't be done" (I proved to them it could be done with help from this and other GW forums - several times!) As a corollary, I would not have known about "The Talk" and when it was needed with both my KD and my Contractor!
4. I would not know anything about kitchen design and would not have had so much fun! :-)

Bottom line: I would not have had the wonderfully functional kitchen I have today that I love! I still do the happy dance occasionally and sometimes even pinch myself b/c I never realized how wonderfully well a kitchen can work!

Just to show you what I started with and what I ended up with:

First design (~~shudder~~):

Final Design :-D

I don't know for sure what layout I would have, but I would have pullouts instead of drawers, which would be OK, and propane instead of induction (which would also be OK, but I'd be cursing the cleaning for the rest of my life.)

Heavens knows what I'd have for appliances-- whatever the sales guy at Albert Lee was pushing that week, maybe. There's a 50/50 chance my dishwasher would be on the wrong side of my sink. I would have a stainless sink and still be cursing the water spots. I don't know what I'd have for counters, maybe laminate again because I had never heard of quartz when I started. Probably some random faucet because I would not have had much opinion about that. Lazy susans instead of Super susans. No toekick drawer for my awesome flat stepstool.

As for other rooms, I would not have a curbless shower or skirted Toto toilets. Or USB plugs. Or a landing zone to keep the junk drawer out of the kitchen. There's probably more, but that's all I can think of for now.

Oh, gosh, we would be slowly working to complete a kitchen with a poor layout and less aesthetically pleasing. We would have kept our DW in the same place it is now, in the dang prep space! Ugh. Can you imagine? I knew it was horrible placement but could not figure out a configuration that allowed me to move it without just putting it in another high-traffic, ill-advised location. For that solution alone, I'm eternally grateful. And there are so very many more to be grateful for. :)

Oh goodness, where do I start... Well, I just learned something a minute ago. I want to have low and horizontal outlets on the backsplash now thanks to carrieb's recent thread!

I'm grateful for this board, both before and after the Houzz takeover. Where else will people muster at almost any time of day to help you decide whether mixing finishes will work? :)

I've had help with my kitchen, bathroom and front door. Who knew there were so many possibilities for a door?

What stands out to me is the discovery (realization? acceptance?) of my style, or what passes as a style. It's so easy to follow trends because it's what we're bombarded with, and it's hard to look beyond it and stand our ground. Own what we like.

I would not be using my oven. When we needed to replace it, I checked here for good ovens and picked out a floor model at Abt. After a lot of rigmarole getting it installed, it was LOUD! I checked back here, and sure enough, found out why it was loud, and found the quiet one. Before GW I'd have been a wimp and accepted the salesman's assertion that "they all do that". GW also taught me to do this: we arranged to meet at the showroom at closing time, and when all the noise was gone (people, fountain, etc) we turned on the only operating Bosch in the store to listen to it. Finally we have a noise level we can tolerate. And we don't have to cook everything on the stove.

without GW, I'd also get more housework done.

This: "without GW, I'd also get more housework done."

But, without thinking it through, I'd likely have left the stove's position against the wall, and would not have purchased induction! Would not have installed a dishwasher, not a Bosch, and would have added a large shelf in the skylight opening. In fact I did that, then as it was being constructed, had it ripped out when I read the feedback! Also would not have my Kohler Tresham toilet that I heard of from a poster here. I'm sure there's much more if I think about it!

What would I have done. Wow.

Ironically, many of the ideas I had are things I later read about in mags and here on GW, er, Houzz. GW validated my ideas of layout (somethings from Ex- I can't change) and just plain stuff. I learned about cool details, such as Lee Valley drawer dividers. Those mat things under the sink. Corner treatments, etc. My kitchen still being in progress, I still have options to adopt things I didn't know, or wasn't aware of. But so far I'm settling in.

My gardens, OTOH. I'd be in a barren wasteland of plants I killed over 12 years. Between the JM (maple) and Mid-Atlantic boards, I live in a very beautiful, high-maintenance sometimes gardenland. In my construction site! LOL! I love the spring trades where we get together and share food/chocolate, plants and stories of the past year. The 1st trade was in 2004, and still going strong.

I, too, might get more housework done, but housework to me means building something. If we're referring to cleaning, Pshaw! Who needs that!?! (Ok, I do, but I'm playing tough.) Pinterest killed all my free time, but oh, more ideas!

I haven't told you I started finally, laying a kitchen floor this week? I debated between wide, wide oak planks I had (former shelving) or some incredible pine boards. Again, long and wide planks, all reclaimed. I hate cutting into long lumber, which is why my potting bench is 7' long by 6'8" tall, BTW. So, since I couldn't decide what to do with this inch-thick oak, I sold it on CL last week. I started laying out the pine and have a whole {drum roll] TWO BOARDS DOWN! Woot Woot! More on Tuesday. Oh, I'm sick of OSB kitchen floors, the holes where the mice come in and not being able to sweep very well.

How does this tie into the thread? Accomplishments. Making decisions. Implementing them at my own pace. And knowing from GW, that "done" might never happen, but moving forward does.

I, too, would travel...

So I'm back from my trip and it was wonderful and relaxing, but not nearly long enough!!!

While I was gone my wonderful hubby got the last of the tile out of the entry, finished patching and painting the ceiling AND pulled all the carpet and padding in the living room! (While watching 4 kids!!!) We have a few places where they glued down the carpet padding and we need to get the glue off and then it will be time for flooring!!!!

I'd probably get a lot more done! I'm usually on GW, when I'm stuck watching phones. That should change soon, so I'll be on less....but hopefully, get more done on my house and garden :)

This isn't kitchen related or even house related BUT it is an accomplishment, one that wouldn't have happened if it weren't for GW.

I started posting to my blog again!

Maybe on those days where I'm bored I can just post there instead of annoying everyone here on GW. Plus it is interesting to see what search terms people use to find my blog and which posts garner the most interest. Currently it is recipes so....that's kitchen related right? ;)

I'll be honest, because gosh.. what else could I be? lol

It was not the colors or the layout that benefited me the most (albeit we are not building the kitchen yet so I will go back to that stuff as we get closer)... it was the fact that the forum made me think outside the "box". So many of us get stuck in a 'rut' when it comes to buying a home or even building, in this world of cookie-cutter choices. Coming here and seeing what others have done made me go back to the "drawing board" and go, "okay.. this is a 'custom house' and I need to ask myself what I would do if I lived here for twenty years and it was time for a remodel"

To that end, I was able to start envisioning what the remodel would look like and so... make that remodel at the start. The kitchen has already taken on a totally new look and feel just in the design phase. THAT is my benefit. I would have liked the kitchen I got, but now I can love the kitchen I got, thanks to this place and all the people here.

Russ