remodeling kitchen-what to include?

Sleep

Sun, Nov 07 2010, 7:58 pm

Another idea no one mentioned yet-is a warming drawer. My parents have one and it is by far one of the most useful things in their kitchen. It looks like a pull-out drawer and only warms-does not cook.
It is great for suppers-especially when you serve in shifts. It keeps the food warm without that microwave-reheating taste. She puts the fresh food inside and keeps it there till everyone finished eating. She also uses it Friday night-putting in the food erev shabbos and it stays warm till the main course! It is metal inside and she kashers it for Pesach too-she just can't be without it! Keeps it on all Yom Tov-so no need for extra flames. Basically...when I put in a new kitchen a warming drawer is definately on my wish list!

Sun, Nov 07 2010, 7:59 pm

mommyfrombrooklyn wrote:

I moved into my apt. with a ready kitchen and there is one thing that really bothers me my cabinets that are double doors have a peice of wood going down in between the 2 doors so it is hard to manuver large items into and out of them, also make sure the drawers are deep enough I cant keep my soup ladle or potato masher in the cutlery drawer since its to shallow good luck

the wood posts are called stiles and the cabinets without them have butted doors.

I am getting some cabinets with two set of silverware drawers one above the other and a shorter cabinet underneath.

chocolate moose

Sun, Nov 07 2010, 8:08 pm

Make sure your microwaves are heat safe so they can be mounted above the stove. Make sure your fridge is big enough for several days of cooking for yomtov. A pantry for cereal and canned goods is very helpful.

Enough cubby space to store things like coffee maker, can opener, food proc etc is also great and means your counters can say clear and uncluttered.

Built in additions like an instant hot in the sink or the soap dispenser in the sink is also nice, but the Hot thing is pretty expensive to buy and maintain.

I have a separate drawer with Shabbos silverware and a large cabinet with Shabbos dishes and Shabobs Tuperware; but you do what suits you. If they can be on the fleishig side, more is the better !

If you can have a separate area for anything for Pesach, do it.

chatz

Sun, Nov 07 2010, 9:28 pm

Lots of light and counter space!

mmmm.. a girl can always dream Very Happy

ETA: but don't get fancy/specialized fixtures where the specialty bulbs are uber expensive and extremely difficult to change.

JollyMommy

Sun, Nov 07 2010, 9:49 pm

I did this and totally blew it!!

please make sure you are clear with your contractor on what sizes your cabinets will be, actually take out the dishes, pots and pans you use most to make sure you have enough room. we have some deep cabinets that make it impossible to find anything and some really shallow ones that are useless.

also, drawers, especially very big ones are more useful than cabinets.

a pantry for snacks and food- ours is tall and skinny, if I would've thought it through would've done double the size.

a very skinny tall drawer for foil and spices

somewhere to put the broom unless you already have a good place in another part of the house.

good luck- my problem was we wanted to whip together a whole house in 6 weeks, we didn't plan it well. be more patient and take the time to research what will be the most functional instead of cutting corners on the planning to speed up the process.

lubmommy

Mon, Nov 08 2010, 12:37 am

JC wrote:

yummymummy wrote:

JC wrote:

-when we were thinking of having the stove top in the island we were going to put the sink right nearby so we could use the sprayer to fill pots, but we changed our mind on stovetop in the island so now its by a wall.

You could install a pot filler faucet above your stove

yes, but pot fillers are very expensive, making sure the sink sprayer could reach the stove would have saved sooo much money.

Danze makes a pot filler that is not so expensive. It was my one splurge (a consolation prize of sorts for an unrepairable mistake) and sooo worth it!!

grace413

Mon, Nov 08 2010, 12:41 am

If you have the possibility I'd put the sinks on opposite sides of the kitchen as opposed to next to each other.

I'd put cabinets all the up to the ceiling; there's always stuff you don't use often that can be stored there.

What about a table/counter for eating? While lots of people like the high counter/barstool approach, remember that this can be difficult for older people or people with limited mobility. I strongly suggest some table/counter space where you can work sitting down. Good if you're pregnant or old or just too tired to stand on your feet.

Enjoy!

ABC

Mon, Nov 08 2010, 3:53 am

Pull out shelves near the stovetop for bottles of oil etc.

Sinks not next to each other.

Computer area in or close to kitchen.

Telephone point in kitchen and lots of electricity outlets.

Cupboards to the ceiling.

Enjoy!

tsiggelle

Mon, Nov 08 2010, 5:45 am

make sure that the kitchen will be easy to clean. think after cooking marathon/after shabbos/ before pesach

and I dont know if its been said before, but a normal place for the garbage bin.

saw50st8

Mon, Nov 08 2010, 6:34 am

I prefer drawers to pullouts. If you need to open a door and then roll out the shelf you need two motions so when you are constantly opening and closing things, it adds up. JMO though. Its a personal thing.

If your kitchen is small, I recommend going up to the ceiling to gain space.

merelyme

Mon, Nov 08 2010, 8:31 am

180 degree hinges on cabinet doors.
Space (under the oven?) for blech and large oven-size trays.
Upper cabinets for Pesach.
Everything should be washable and practical!
Countertops that can be kashered for Pesach.
Self-cleaning ovens that kasher themselves for Pesach.

hatzlacha and enjoy!

ed248

Mon, Nov 08 2010, 10:18 am

Ultimate dream kitchen where space and money is no object:

Tea / coffee counter/cabinet.

Lots of drawers
4 ovens, milchig, fleishig, pareve, pesach
Pesach closet with oven, sink and cabinets.
office / phone / calendar / Paper organization command central
Baking center with oven and custom pull out for mixers (maybe sink and oven) pareve area

a good pantry

no less then 2 dishwashers (full size)
2 or 3 sinks

I have seen smaller fridges /drawer fridges to keep milchigs in...

work with someone who can design the work flow. I was able to redo one kitchen... it was a small room 12x13 or something like that and I had tons of counter space and could easily have 3 or 4 people working without issue. Obviously it was small so not everything I wanted was there.. but it was beautiful...

Enjoy!

amother

Tue, Nov 09 2010, 9:51 pm

wow ! I walk away for 3 days and I come back to MILLIONS of replies! I literally created a file on my computer with everyone's ideas ....

for all those dreamers out there -- dont get too jealous - the kitchen is pretty small - and we decided not to extend it and just update the within the frame that's already there.

I am hoping hoping that we'll have room for the 2 sinks and 2 ovens (or one large oven and a smaller one) my brother is a contractor and he'll be helping a lot with figuring this out thank G-d !!!

thank you so much everyone for your ideas.... I really do appreciate it !!