Nidnay, is that cutting board impossible to lift? It is pretty much exactly what I will want in my new kitchen- 36" wide, two feet deep and four inches tall, weighing in at almost 100 pounds. I want this block in order to give me a raised counter area since I can't redo the kitchen with tall counters. I would like to be able to clean under the block easily. I could go down to 30 inches wide.

I love seeing your kitchen :-)

two things: my walk-in pantry and under cabinet outlets. Both keep my kitchen looking clean and uncluttered.

I had a large cutting board pictured as above in my first house. Because it was such a PIA to move it I only cleaned under it once a week. You would be surprised the stuff that gets under it. One day during the summer I went to clean under it and their was maggots. That board went out the door.
Unless you can move it everyday to clean under it I wouldn't get one.

@Zalco/bring back Sophie!.....Haha....I never weighed mine but it’s not something I lug around the kitchen! It stays put. When I occasionally clean crumbs underneath, I just tilt it up a bit, but I CAN lift it all the way if i choose. Mine’s only 1 1/2 inches thick so is not as heavy as yours might be.

I added a bunch of these stick-on thingys to raise it up off the counter for air circulation underneath. They increase the height 1/2 inch. They also prevent the board from sliding.

Ooh....don’t go down to 30”...stick with 36. I promise you, you won’t regret it! As a gift, I purchased a board for my daughters new house and got her a 42 incher....it’s awesome! You can never have too much cutting board space 😁

@functionthenlook....I would be willing to bet that you did NOT have legs on your board and it sat flat on the counter.....and you had flies in your house 😳 I can easily tilt the board up with one hand and wipe with the other....really not difficult.

No it didn't have legs. I had mine next to the sink. So there was moisture that also got under it. Of course in the summer a fly or two always manages to sneak in the house with the doors opening and closing from daily use. . It only takes 24 hours for a fly laying an egg to maggots.

My hubby put lights inside all my cabinets. So nice to see everything even in the dark.

My outlets in the pantry to plug in my electric broom and my rumba is so convenient.

@functionthenlook.....it’s even worse than you wrote. Just looked it up and it only takes 8-20 hours for the eggs to hatch! So creepy!

Small or large....cutting boards need legs for air circulation!

Since my small kitchen was originally quite dysfunctional, with horrible layout, worn out laminate counter, too-small sink, practically no lighting, 3 outlets, little storage (the list goes on and on...) it is hard to narrow "favorite" down to one item among the new layout and materials.

How about 3? 1) LED, 3000k 800 lumen disc lights (had to use disc because of ductwork in the ceiling) appropriately placed in the ceiling 2) lower cabinet drawers in every possible spot 3) okay now I am wavering between my 28" offset drain sink and the custom sized, locally made, frameless cabinets in new layout & very efficient use of space... okay, it is the sink. Although I would cry if I had to have standard sizes of framed cabinets again.

Other honorable mentions (sorry, limits can't apply): granite counter, countertop convection toaster oven (I use it so much!!) , pull down faucet, smooth 5"Hafele drawer/cabinet pulls (so easy to keep clean and comfortable for my arthritic fingers), my Nutribullet in its dedicated spot, pullouts under the sink for trash, recycling, and compost, all the items from Ikea that helped to organize and utilize the new cabinets (some of which are no longer available)

Thank you for the advice about the feet and the size, nidnay.

Nidnay. That was many years ago . I was 20 when we bought our first house and had that bucherblock board. Even if it did have legs on it, it still was a PIA moving to clean. I'm not saying it wasn't nice to have, just make sure you clean under it often.

Single bowl sink and pullout trash!

Shallow (12" deep) pantry cabinets with the larger part on top.

A pull out trash and receive bin like this - but ours is right next to the sink where it's most useful.

Trash Pull-Out in Kitchen Peninsula · More Info

There isn't much in my kitchen I absolutely love, but the pull-out trash & recycle bins are such a small luxury that I adore every single day! I do NOT miss a visible trash can. Also the pull-down faucet. Not sure how I lived without one for so long!

Wants...

Layered lighting! My kitchen lighting is lacking and it's very frustrating.

Drawers in bottom cabinets. My in-laws have these & they're awesome & so much better than practically crawling inside mine to reach stuff.

Outlet in the pantry.

Outlets hidden in drawers along my kitchen peninsula. Even with "pretty" outlet covers, mine are an eyesore (and invite my hubs to use every single plug for random electronics).

Under cabinet outlets! Clearly I have something against visible outlets. Lol

Single bowl sink with an offset drain.

Built-in refrigerator, or at least a cabinet/enclosure that encloses my refrigerator better. It's deep & looks too large & like a giant foreign object in the room (came with the house & we want to let it die a natural death since there's nothing technically wrong with it).

I really like my appliance garage. It's perfect for holding often-used appliances such as the toaster, the regular blender and the immersion blender without cluttering the countertop. A lot of people dislike island cooktops but I really like the one we have. Our previous home had a cooktop built into the wall with a decorative stone arch around it. Because of the arch, I didn't have a good landing spot next to the cooktop. The island cooktop is perfect because there's a small landing spot on either side and a large prep space behind the cooktop. I will often prep behind the cooktop and leave the mise en place out so that I can easily reach the items I need when cooking. It really streamlines prep and saves time. My mother-in-law, who is vegetarian lives with us part-time and cooks her own meals three times a day. Even though our previous kitchen was very large, it wasn't set up so that we could cook on the cooktop at the same time so dinnertime was difficult to manage when she visited. With this setup, we can easily use the cooktop at the same time. Finally, unlike the usual setup, I am facing the living room instead of a wall. I like feeling like I'm part of everything when I'm cooking. Smells and smoke aren't an issue even when my mother-in-law is cooking curry because the ceilings are very high and the room is very open. I very rarely need to use the fan that's integrated into the cooktop.

GE Monogram Speed/Convection/Microwave oven. Cooks ANYTHING in a fraction of the time of a regular oven.

Large single stainless steel sink (Franke Orca)

Beverage bar with sink out of the cooking area.

LOTS of windows!!! So nice to work in a naturally lighted area.

Subzero built-in fridge.

I love the pull up shelf for my kitchen aid mixer - just pull it up, plug it in and it’s ready to go - you know those suckers are heavy! I do a lot of baking and it’s so handy! Yes, it takes a cabinet, but my kitchen has enough storage, so it was well worth the space!

The pull up shelf for the mixer

Nice, Candace!

This discussion makes me realize that my raised countertops are one of my favorite things in my kitchen, which I will miss when I move.

My 36” wolf dual fuel range. I love everything about it and it was worth every penny.

drawers, drawers, drawers instead of doors/cabinets

the beverage fridge, which I fought my husband about but I now love it

What type of raised countertops, Zalco?

Air switch near my kitchen faucet, subzero with two bottom freeze drawers easy to keep items I use in one drawer and husbands meat item in another and walk in pantry with automatic lights.

I also love my air switches and hot water dispense. Lately I'm loving that my pantry light is on a motion sensor, I don't turn light on/off as I run around cooking.

Double ovens and single bowl sink.

Steph, I don't know how exactly the job was accomplished. We just specified counters at 39" high. I believe the height is added on top, not bottom, if that makes sense. We don't have a range, so that was not an issue.

Nobody who comes to our house notices, except for tall people who begin planning for raised counters as well.

I'll bet if someone was actually staying in your house and cooking there they'd notice the height differential! We rented an Air B&B that we said must have been designed for basketball players. As very average size people we noticed immediately that the height of all the counters would never work out for us if it would really be our home.

My last house had higher counters. The base cabinets and stove was placed on a frame of 2x4s. Then extra wide baseboards were used. Loved the extra height I wish we would of done the same to the bathroom vanities.

I am on the shorter end of the height spectrum to give me a comfortable work space if mixing, chopping or rolling out dough we dropped down one section of counter. The space has a higher backsplash and no upper cabinets, it is a nice landing area when grabbing items from the refrigerator.

Nidnay, one last question about your gorgeous chopping board. What kind of wood is it? I was thinking cherry would look nice, but apparently maple is much harder, and incidentally what my current boards are made of. I love how yours looks.

@Zalco/bring back Sophie!.....Maple.

My two ovens. I have a 120cm wide Smeg gas range/ oven and a Siemens MW/ oven. We use them frequently

We're coming up on 4 years in our remodeled kitchen and I'm still telling my partner that I can't believe I have this kitchen and how much I appreciate him for making it happen. I love how easy our kitchen is to work in and credit goes to this forum.

Induction cooktop. It's flush with the countertop and it's easy peasy to clean. I love that we were able to use the top drawer below the cooktop for utensils.

Wolf Combi-steam oven - talk about a workhorse! We use this daily.

Trash and recycling bins in cabinet with a Utrusta push opener from Ikea. Not expensive, but it needs to have an outlet for power. It's the best thing evah!

Drawers and more drawers.

Refrigerator drawers - what a luxury, but wow, they really help. We use them for beverages, which keeps our counter depth refrigerator from becoming too full.

Prep island with sink. Luv it!

Dimmable canned LED lights.

Zalco, I love my dropped counter tops! It’s the perfect height for rolling dough, mixing, and food prep. Just like Diane, it works for me!

Agree with @Diana Bier Interiors, LLC.....not functional in the strictest sense, but windows, windows, WINDOWS!

Love my big lower corner cabinet Lazy Susan. It has a good sized door, is easily accessible and holds all the small appliances I don’t want on the countertop, plus a lot more. It was expensive and I was a bit skeptical, but our KD was right when she said I would love it. We also have low cabinets/bench in front of the windows on one wall and I love the one that has a pull out drawer for liquor. We drink wine and not that much liquor, but I use many items in the drawer for cooking as well as mixing drinks and it is very convenient for both.

My favorite things are the cutting board holder on the inside of my sink cabinet door and the knife drawer mounted under my upper corner cabinet. I really like having the knives separate from all the other utensils.

Large single bowl sink and a cabinet with a pullout dedicated to the dog for food, treats and extra bowls. Two Solatubes with lighting units for when the sun goes down.

Drawer base cabinets (NOT roll-out shelves)

Shiloh inset cabinets

Single bowl sink

Faucet (AKA kitchen art/sculpture)

Drawer bases - love, love, love having my dishes in a drawer; appliance garage built tall enough to house my Vitamix blender

I'm getting lots of great ideas from this thread! I just started my new project and this house had a u-shaped kitchen, which blocked the flow from the dining and back door. So I ripped out the peninsula and turned it into an island. Found a few more cabinets to make it longer. Just temporary fixes until I decide on everything but it is so much better even unfinished. Absolutely love the open feel and workspace. I hate corners for some reason.

Corners trap energy.

Love ( in no particular order)

Extra deep counters with a full row of appliance garages and lots of outlets and plug mold so I have plenty of room for my toys without having to put them away every day or haul them out, so they are always on hand.
An extra deep appliance drawer for those appliances I don’t use every day.
My skylights and extra windows bringing in extra light.
My Aga induction Elise ( boils a cup of water in 30 seconds).
My double height ceilings with stunning ceiling height tile behind my Aga creating a focal point.
Lots of drawers.
Lots of storage space.
My pantry with lots of space for mason jars and vacuum sealable containers.
So much counter space and workspace for multiple cooks and helpers ( should we ever get back to having extra people over )
Great combination of aesthetics and function.
Convection steam oven.
Lots of refrigeration space.
A great extraction hood.
Orienting my work space to my view.
My Koehler ombré sensation faucet (my cat gives it a thumbs up too. It provides hours of entertainment for her ).
My unique cedar( with inlaid glass )countertops.
Some glass fronted upper cabinets for interest and display.
Ceiling fans.
Places for my cats to sit and access to windows for them.
My monogram 48 in refrigerator/ freezer ( on close out). Didn’t think I’d love it as much as subzero.
The appliances I got on close out, saving a ton of money.
1 and Half hp garbage disposers.
My instant hot water and filtered water dispenser.

Hate
Not having ( some of) my appliances panel ready. ( what I’m used to ). The stainless steel always shows everything and I’m always cleaning them.
Hate my copper sinks. Also never look clean and don’t drain well. And a break down in communication resulted in them not being under mount.
That the lighting designer never got here so instead of a centralized Lutron panel, light switches are in different areas.

Don’t miss
My microwave.

This is a fun thread with lots of excellent ideas. I'm on the same page as Cheryl Hewitt: 4 years in, we still say how nice everything is, and all credit to this forum. I don't want to repeat all of the foregoing, but I'll second (and third and fourth) Cheryl's love of the little electric servo that pops the trash drawer open when you bump it with your knee. Ours is under the sink and it's so nice to open it with no hands. The hands-free faucet is excellent too.

If you have pets, it's nice to plan space for bowls, leash, food, treats, etc. Ours is right by the back door, and, while "life changing" is a step too far, I haven't had to swear after kicking over the water bowl in years! I'm also very happy with our batch feed disposal so there's no air switch on the counter, along with no hot water dispenser, soap dispenser, dishwasher air gap, or bridge faucet: one hole in the countertop with a smooth faucet makes it so quick to clean. And putting "drawers" in the deep cabinet above the fridge makes them far more useful than cavelike cabinets where you can't get to the back.

Mostly though, my favorite thing is planning. Storage where it's needed, drawers everywhere and the right size for what goes in them, and the ease of use and every day enjoyment that comes from all of that. It still pleases me (no doubt more than is healthy) that the silverware and dish drawers open right up the the dishwasher. The downside to all this is that it's making it a challenge to find an AirBnB for a pandemic getaway--if we can't go to restaurants, I'd almost rather stay home where I don't have to fumble around for a knife that's sharp or a pan that's the one I want. (first world problems . . .)

@waverly6 I would love to see a picture of your cedar countertops, your Aga and your cats!

I agree that it's great to have a place where the pet food bowls can be next to the pet food yet out of the way of traffic. I have a two-tier island and the pet food bowls and decorative dry food canister fit perfectly out of the way under the bar top. Cans of wet food and dental chews are tucked into a cabinet next to the bar top. This set-up has worked out really well.

Large EIK with multiple work zones and 4.5' walk space all around (no traffic jams!). Huge island, two sink locations (one is a larger, double bowl that I couldn't live without). Soft close larger doors/drawers, roll out shelving, 42", custom depth, painted cabinetry, wood floor for comfort when standing long hours to cook/bake. Super quiet European dishwasher, upscale faucets, double electric wall ovens (I'm an avid baker) , 5 burner gas cooktop, pewter accent pulls, great lighting, and not in an open floor plan! Skylights, large patio door, large window over sink to enjoy garden views. The only way it could be better is if it were 30' × 30' !

Deep double stainless steel sink with faucet with arc and a sprayer plus a wide side/slide window above it (over looking a shaded deck) and 2' of clear countertop space on both sides of it.

1. this style of under sink water filter. it was super easy to install, and now we don't need our brita pitcher anymore! (ours is just connected to the cold water line, it doesn't have a separate tap).

2. Moen Edwyn faucet. the spot resistant finish on this is amazing! also, the faucet is really easy to operate, even with my left hand. it's little things like that that make a big difference.

3. Skylights. our kitchen would be pretty dark without them and I prefer natural light.

what we wish we had is upper cabinets above the dishwasher, or at least big dish drawers within easy reach. because we have neither, unloading the dishwasher is a major pain. in fact, our kitchen only has two little upper cabinets, so organization in general is really annoying.

Deep, wide drawers.