must haves in the kitchen-

hey everyone

we are meeting with a kitchen layout person on tuesday, and since im new at this, i was hoping for some pointers-

anyone have any must haves, or any advice about what you wish you had, or had done, or what was a waste?

so far, im thinking about a wall oven, but then i hear theyre not deep and that you really *Need* 2, not a single one

and, instead of having a lazy susan to put pots and pans in, i was thinking of having a pull out drawer...

now im no 5 star chef, and we dont have a big kitchen... any advice is greatly appreciated- thanks!!

Message edited 1/16/2011 2:01:06 PM.

Re: must haves in the kitchen-

We have the trash and recyclable bins in the cabinet. We have 2 pull out drawers and I wish I had more. We have a small kitchen too.

Re: must haves in the kitchen-

If I had my dream kitchen, I'd have two wall ovens, a pull out drawer for pots and pans, recycle and trash bins, and an island. Unfortunately my kitchen isn't nearly big enough for all of those.

Re: must haves in the kitchen-

I had wanted the double wall oven when we renovated but when we did the design, i wasn't willing to give up the counter space, so I got a convection oven and then I have my stove which had a warming drawer.

I have the pot drawer with the pull out drawers and I love it. I have a lazy susan also which I keep my tupperware and baking stuff in. I love both but would not recommend the lazy susan for the pots because of the size of some of the pots.

Re: must haves in the kitchen-

in wall oven and microwave, I don't have this now, but I did and I miss it. It makes baking and cooking and warming so easy and the microwave easy to reach since I'm short and reaching high on the microwave was annoying. I also like my counters bare, so lots of space inside for things I need.

No need for double, if you have a the cash, get a convection microwave and a regular oven. And overall the look is much like what a double oven looks like.


I prefer pull outs to lazy susans, just because I feel like there is space behind there that collects dust that I can't easily reach

Place for the garbage/recylce stuff under the sink, if there is room.

Re: must haves in the kitchen-

I think a disposal (if you can).

A good layout. Make sure it makes sense that the dishes cabinet is close to the dishwasher.

OH, a hot shot. An instant water heater for tea. THAT is the best thing I have in my kitchen.

Re: must haves in the kitchen-

I just recently gutted and redid my kitchen. This is what we wanted....quality custom cabinets, drawer microwave built in cabinets/island, draw inserts, double wall oven(the one thing we left out and kinda regret), warming drawer in the stove or close by, sanitizing dishwasher, pot fill, quality faucet and deep sink(10in), deep drawer for big pots, pull out pantry shelves for my kitchenaid mixer/toaster, granite countertops, ss appliances(would have loved my fridge to be paneled), fridge with pullout that fits platters/cakes(love this), island with seating for at least 6, decorative mantle above stove.

Message edited 1/16/2011 8:07:40 PM.

Re: must haves in the kitchen-

flat top (glass) stove top

Re: must haves in the kitchen-

I added a pantry when I re-did my kitchen! I love it! Pull outs are great as well.

Re: must haves in the kitchen-

These were our must haves

Granite countertops

Built in refrigerator

Double wall oven

Deep sink (next time we may want to do a country sink)

Built in cabinet recyclables and garbage

All stainless appliances

Wood floors

An island with stools

Pantry with pull out drawers


The only thing we would do differently is radiant heat floors... Otherwise we are quite happy with our remodel

Message edited 1/16/2011 6:19:47 PM.

Re: must haves in the kitchen-

Plug mold strips instead of ugly electric outlets! You can place them high up under cabinets where they are hidden out of sight, and also along the edge of an island where the top will hide them. They come with plugs every six or twelve inches depending on what you think you need. I have put them in two kitchens and everyone who sees them wants them in their own kitchens.

Message edited 1/16/2011 7:33:21 PM.

Re: must haves in the kitchen-

We're gutting our entire kitchen as we speak
We're doing a double oven and warming drawer we're doing two huge drawers fro pots and pans pull out shelves in the pantry, garbage can pull out, and pull out spice rack! I cannot wait!!!

Re: must haves in the kitchen-

Re: must haves in the kitchen-

2 things i hate about my kitchen (here when we moved it & cant wait to change them):

1- double sink...get one huge deep sink
2- microwave over the stove (also a hood/vent)...i personally do not like this, if you can you should add a 'pot-filler behind/above your stovetop

i love my island (we added this). makes prep, cooking & entertaining much easier HTH

Re: must haves in the kitchen-

I wish i had pull out drawers... it would make things so much easier not to have to dig through the backs of cabinets

oh and a freakin built in spice rack! all my spices are on a shelf in a cabinet and it makes it so hard to organize and find what im looking for

my pots are hung on a rack above my sink ... very accessible... everyone loves it and i really just did it for space reasons!

i have a lazy susan that i keep all our breakfast/junk food in... holds a ton... love mine and im glad i have it

Re: must haves in the kitchen-

Our musts:
-Deep/large sink.
-Two tier island
-Microwave on island, not above stove
-pull out draw for pots and pans

Re: must haves in the kitchen-

The single most important "must have" is a good design, especially if you have a strict budget. You will get more value within that budget working with a professional designer. Look for a CKD (certified kitchen designer) You will get a higher quality product, a better design, and more options and features.


Here is a great article that might help

Re: must haves in the kitchen-

don't have a new kitchen but my parents renovated and this is what i would of done differently.

pull out draws but also do have standard cabinets for some larger pots.

microwave either on a shelf in the cabinet or mounted anywhere but over the stove.

(if you bake) stand mixer pull out.

no empty blank space - either make a cabinet longer or make a slim pull out spice rack.

Re: must haves in the kitchen-

Re: must haves in the kitchen-

i have pot drawers and love them

A floor to ceiling panrty- its great for those platters you dont use everyday u store them up high but they are still in your kitchen.

garbage in the cabinet

Re: must haves in the kitchen-

Our kitchen is about 7 years old, but it seriously has every single thing I could ever want in it.

1-trash disposal--I never realized how important this is in not having a stank kitchen. We never throw food away in the garbage anymore and it minimizes the garbage you have to take out and more importantly, the smell

2-radiant floors-never realized how i hate tile without it.

3-double oven-we just hosted our first holiday and yes, you do need two ovens

4-5 burners-yes, you sometimes will need to cook 5 things at once on a range

5-hidden garbage and recycling (in a cabinet)

6-tons of cabinets

Re: must haves in the kitchen-

Deep drawers

Don't do a micro in island if you have small kids

Re: must haves in the kitchen-

these are things i have in my current kitchen that i never had before and love:

a deep double sink with garbage disposal - the deep sink is awesome

all of my bottom cabinets have pull out drawers - great for for pots and pans and my baking stuff

convection oven

these are things i'd want in my next kitchen:

wall oven/wall microwave

an island

Re: must haves in the kitchen-

We have these two deep corner cabinets. Complete waste of space. Everything gets lost in them. Either have lazy susan in these to allow access or skip them all together. Wish I had pull out drawers for pots and pans. And microwave over stove for extra usable upper cabinets.

Re: must haves in the kitchen-

Looking over I am glad I am doing (or have already done) just about everything in this thread.

Only thing I am doing different is I am skipping the double wall ovens. Going to install a huge tall pantry instead (where the wall ovens would have went). I am getting a 48" Wolf Range with double ovens.

Here are some of the things I am doing that were important:

Two ovens (again going with a 48" Wolf so they will be freestanding)
Getting a charbroiler on the Wolf so I can grill inside on crappy days
Installing an oven hood capable of venting out a significant amount of air (needed for the smoke from the charbroiler)
Large deep single basin sink (we skipped the double basin)
Garbage disposal
Large Kitchen Island with seating on two sides
Microwave in the island
Kitchen TV mounted high on the wall to watch TV while sitting at the island or working in kitchen
All base cabinets will be pull out drawers
We might do instant hot, not sure yet.

Oh and best of all, no gas on my block so I am an oil/electric cooking household. I am having a propane tank installed so I can cook with gas. Also doing all the plumbing for my two laundry room dryers to run on gas as well as an outdoor grill. So when gas comes to the neighborhood, will be an easy switch.