It was in my first "freshen up" of my kitchen 34 years ago and it was the huge bay window over my sink. I have NEVER regretted that decision, and it is still serving me quite well in my new kitchen.

I typically don't "splurge" in a kitchen. Oh, I did when I bought my pot rack in the kitchen in our first house in 1969 - it was probably $100 and we really couldn't afford it. Of course, I'm still using it so I think I have gotten my money's worth out of it!

For me, I want a kitchen to be pleasant and attractive, but no more than that. But I also don't have an open concept kitchen with it sitting at the end of my LR. I'm far more likely to splurge on a gorgeous fabric for curtains or upholstery, a fabulous antique, yet more wonderful dishes, a piece of silver, or my favorite splurge, jewelry! I just wouldn't splurge in a kitchen on countertops or an outrageously expensive stove. And yes, while I no longer cook much, at one time I did a LOT of cooking and was an outstanding cook.

Seltzer water tap. I don't NEED it, but having ice cold sparkling water (and still water) off a tap at the sink is something we will use every day. Total cost is $3500.

Some older thread on just this topic! (Taken from "FAQ: Other Items of Interest" in the "New to Kitchens? Read Me First!" thread.)

Tips for saving the budget...

• Scrimp on this, Splurge on that....: http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/kitchbath/msg101324514831.html
• Where to splurge and where to save??: http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/kitchbath/msg080040367553.html
• Scrimp and Splurge - Where'd you hold back, where'd you go nuts?: http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/kitchbath/msg0507102221365.html
• Now that I have [X], I think I could have lived without it: http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/kitchbath/msg0719430319398.html

Love your kitchen, cpartist! I'm trying to decide if I want to splurge on a sub zero fridge. I feel like I only have one chance to get one and this is it lol

My countertops.

We live in a small ranch and our splurge was the cabinets. We really should have gone with a lower end cabinet but since this is our forever home we decided we wanted what we wanted. We ended up getting Shiloh cabinets with several custom sized pieces. We went a bit over budget to get them but it was the one thing I was admit about doing.

1) Doing a full redesign of the layout - and going big with a blank slate.

2) My backsplash accent tile. I could have done it for <10% of the cost, but I found a painted tile I loved and justified spending four figures on just that one strip of accent.

The $160K addition and renovation; without that there would be no new kitchen! In comparison, all the appliances and kitchen bling were a drop in the bucket. Honestly, the entire kitchen was a splurge since our old small kitchen was functional. But we have something now that has transformed our house and we get much pleasure from it.

The backsplash. Hand-made artisanal tiles, special order. Worth it. Needed very skilled tile installer due to the irregularities of the tiles, and how much eyeballing needed to get it just right, which only comes with an installer with years of experience, so he too was $$$. Worth it.

Everything! The biggest splurge, at this point in my life, was not having to set a budget for the kitchen and being able to design and install what I liked/wanted.

Mine was a fairly small budget for replacing everything and rearranging nearly everything, in the same footprint, and I think very little if anything was really a splurge!

Well, I didn't really have to restore a previously removed window, so that would count wouldn't it? And doing so made the kitchen seem 30% larger! So very worth it.

And I didn't really have to replace all the appliances just then (only the dishwasher really needed to be replaced) but the new (basic) stainless appliances really look so much nicer that I am happy that I did.

Oh, I could have gotten laminate or solid surface instead of granite, but it was not expensive granite -- less than the Corian that I really liked. And the durability will pay off, I think.

Having the cabinets made in a custom color, fitted to my room? Much more functional, more bang for the buck than the typical budget cabinets, so I wouldn't really call that a splurge, would you?

I had 2 big splurges, bringing the window down to counter depth and changing it to a bay, and my backpainted glass black splash. They both added $$$ to my budget, but I’m glad I splurged.