What are the pros and cons of different layouts? How to pick the materials for cabinets and countertops? These are questions you should ask in the kitchen forum. You should make a post asking for layout help and give detailed information about the kitchen/family room or kitchen great room you are going to renovate. Dimensions of the room including ceiling height and where windows,doors,water,and gas are located. For Cabinets and countertops you need to establish an overall budget first.Then decide what you want to be your focal point. Flashy counterops with subdued cabinets or vice versa?There are plenty of theads on this topic in the Kitchen Forum. Or maybe subdued countertops and cabinets and a very prominent range and range hood. For selecting appliances you need to establish an appliance budget first. Decide whether you want to cook on gas or electric/induction. A range or seperate rangetop plus wall ovens. I think advice GW in general gives to everyone is select each appliance on its own merit and don't buy a suite of appliances from one manufature in order to "match." No single company makes the best appliance in each segment. Giving detailed answers to all your questions would be to summarize the entire Kitchen Forum and Appliance Forum in one post. I don't think anyone wants to do that. :)

joanie b, thanks for the link to the kitchen like ours. It really did look nice. After reading people's thoughts (THANK YOU SO MUCH), thinking about the work to be done (while taking care of mom,) and money to be saved for the *real* remodel, we think we will probably refinish the cabinets. I think striping them (Thanks for the info on soygel, mom2lilenj) will be easiest in some ways. It will be a bit of a challenge to find handles since the existing ones are 3 1/2 ctc. We tried to do it years ago before the internet but could only find 3" centers. I figure we can even get anything with holes 3 inches apart as long as it projects far enough to cover the hole. Didn't think of that years ago. If we remove the hinges and put on hidden ones, I guess we will just have to use wood filler as close as possible to the color. The exposed hinges in the link from joanie b looked good though, so maybe we will do that. Less holes to fill too. Anyone have a better idea? Does anyone have a non-toxic top coat to suggest? We will do a test door to see about the color change, but I am hoping to not have to strip the cabinet boxes in the house, if possible. They are in pretty good shape. Less work and time, unless there is too noticeable a difference. We aren't sure about the counter yet. It is in decent condition and I think I could stand it for another 2 years. I can't wait to take down the wallpaper border to update the room, but I will miss what it says...'In everything, give thanks.' I hadn't thought about getting rid of the rack for the dishes and cookbooks, but I will try. There is a heating register behind it, so I can't block it with a hutch. That may have to wait, but I can neaten up the rack a bit if it stays. The reason I got it was to make my cabinets more usable since I am just under 5' tall. I had to get a stool every time I needed baking things from the SECOND shelf. What my kitchen really needs is built in step stools... LOL. What really needs to go is the sink, so maybe we will put in an inexpensive ss one to try out a large single bowl. I've always had a double, so that way I would now which I like better. I want a silgranite when the time comes. Thanks again for your help! Terri

@Isaac It would be a consideration if I was ready to retire (or lost my job with no hope of finding another one), wasn't raising a child, didn't have pets, etc., or if I was basically ready to sit around idly waiting for the grim reaper to find me. I'm definitely not ready to downsize. I actually envision that someday in the far future, when my teen has launched herself into adult life and flown the coop, that if anything, I might end up renting a room out to a college student.... I'm close to a university and quiet lodgings for serious students is at a premium around here. But that's in the distant future. There are currently three humans in the house. We also have 2 dogs and five cats, plus frequent four-legged guests from the shelter and or my teenager's pet-sitting activities. In our current setup, my bf & I have one bedroom, my teen the 2nd bedroom, the 3rd is being turned into a guest room/office, the 4th is my boyfriend's office, and a 5th room is a combination dog area and exercise area... oh yeah, and a custom 2.5'x8' enclosure for a rabbit. We have a new dog she's sitting for - and he's a night time barker/howler, unfortunately, which we didn't know before the owner left him with us while she travels out-of-state. He's been fed, watered, walked, petted, taken out for potty, etc. - and he's still barking right this minute.... and it's midnight. Thankfully, there's enough space between our house and neighbors that his barking doesn't upset them. I can't imagine what would happen if we lived in an apartment / condo / townhouse... let's just say, neighbors would not like us. Many apartments/condos have rules that would prevent us from keeping our current menagerie, let alone having additional dogs/cats. And some restrict dogs by breed and/or weight. which is a concern for me. Our most recently adopted dog weighs about 70 pounds and is training to be a service dog for my teen. I especially selected the township I'm in because the real estate property taxes are relatively low while still having good schools (significantly above the state average in terms of academics). But, for the sake of argument.... I looked to see about any single-level properties in our township for sale. Most of the houses in my area are 2 or 3 stories. I found only one single-level property... listed for about $30,000 MORE than my house is valued at - probably because it can be zoned either residential or commercial and it's on a busy highway. Although it is about 1/3rd smaller too. So while "downsizing" - the cost would go up. We also are having another grandchild stay over periodically. There's enough of an age difference (10 years) between the one I'm already raising and this one that if she stays over often, they should each have their own room. I also need a separate room to use as an office - I work 90% from home and have client meetings using MS teams, webex, etc. Like I said.... maybe 10-15 years from now, downsizing might make sense - presuming I'm not raising anyone at that time, hopefully by then I'll be retired, etc. Just not ready to essentially prepare to roll over and wait for death just yet. :)

I did a gut remodel relatively recently of my condo which included a kitchen. You are in a high cost of living area so prices will be high for quality workers. That is the true variable since the cost of the actual materials are going to be the same for the most part in Podunkville versus your area. You should start taking the time to visit as many kitchen and bath stores as possible - a few hours every weekend so that you get a real sense of what the actual cabinets look like and an approximate cost. When I was first researching my remodel I had a very preliminary sketch and I was able to get pricing from various lines. It might not have been the most accurate but I think it enabled me to get some sense of the comparable price of each line The advantage of a relatively small space (like mine was) is that the cost of materials is not going to be the significant factor - the cost of labor is and for better or worse there is not that much difference in remodeling a small kitchen versus a medium size kitchen. This is even more true for bathrooms. Do not even think of doing this without a good kitchen designer and a really good GC. When you do your rounds of kitchen stores, you will also be talking with actual designers and can get a sense of who might be a good fit - both in terms of the lines they sell and your compatibility - compatability is important because the best kitchens are a true collaboration between the designer, the GC and the homeowner And ignore anyone who advises you to save money by not hiring the best GC you can. Whatever you think you will save you will lose on wasted money; wasted time; less than optimum results and horrible aggravation. When things go wrong - which they inevitably well - your GC and your designer will solve them instead of your having to deal with multple finger pointing and attempts to pass the buck. And if you are reasonable with your GC, they will go the extra mile and do stuff above and beyond what they are "legally" required to do. People will advise you to hire an independent kitchen designer. My experience is that this is almost impossible because for the most part the job is too small to make it worth their while to do. However there are very good designers at kitchen stores - much more likely than at HD or Loewes because a good kitchen designer with experience is going to leave HD for greener pastures. Because of the scope of my project, remodel plus redecorating I was able to hire an independent designer. My personal experience with a relatively small space is that IKEA wouldn't work because I wanted to get exactly what I wanted. I went with a local cabinet maker so everything was exactly as I wanted with no compromises or fillers. And of course the style of doors and cabinet finish was fully custom. The cost was actually less than a good quality semi-custom would have been when all of the "upgrades" would have been added.