What do love/hate about your kitchen/house?

[Todash]

Okay, we did it. My husband and I put a hold on a lot. We're going to build a house! :D ... :eek2:

So, if you built a house, or bought a house, or live in a house, or know about houses, tell me: what are some things you have in your house that you love/hate, and what are some things you wish you had? I'm specifically thinking about the kitchen right now, but I'll take anything you've got.

I know a few things about our kitchen: it's smallish by US standards (about 12x12), open to the breakfast/hearth area, and it will be L-shaped with an island. There is a walk-in pantry. I'm getting a gas cooktop for sure—I'm so psyched about that—and I really am going to try to fit in double ovens (both in the floorplan and in our budget).

[LadyPain]

I don't have enough storage by far...

Plus the cupboards still need to have doors built, so everything in the cupboards has to be dusted.

Ick.

[Kurt Rambis throwback]

love-teh familiarity(used to be my grandparents house)

hate-teh neighbors(young punks & crackheads)

[Jax]

My kitchen is to small, for all the baking and cooking I like to do (not enough counter space). Like Lady Pain, I need more storage space. I don't think you can ever have enough closets and cubbies.
How exciting Todash! Good luck.:smile2:

[JohnDalglish]

Hi,

Sounds great, Todash, keep us updated, won't you?

Good luck!

Long days and pleasant nights

[Moderator]

I really like the pot-filler faucet I had installed over the stove--great for when you're making pasta or need to add water to something you're cooking. My stove is a Jenn-Air dual fuel so has a gas cooktop and two electric ovens but is the same size as a normal range. It's just the two of us most of the time so I use the small upper oven for most of my broiling/cooking so it doesn't use a lot of energy to heat up like the big lower oven. It has a lot of other nice features, too. That way I got my two ovens but didn't have to use wall space to install a double oven.

[Consarnit]

No good organizational system in my cupboards, and not enough storage. I need more drawers, and less really deep cupboards where you have to crawl in to find the appropriate piece of cookware.

[Matticus]

<drool>

I love that oven!

<---does all the cooking

[Todash]

I'm going to have to check out that range, Ms. Mod. I love the idea of the pot-filler faucet too, although I may have to settle for orienting the sink and cooktop in convenient locations.

Keep it coming, people! We're going to live in this house for a long time; I don't want to make any mistakes. :D

[Dana]

I love having lots of cabinet space and an island in my kitchen! Oh and a closet for the cleaning stuff and trash can is a nice feature too. Above all, make room for a dishwasher! I don't think I could live without mine.

[interplanetjanet]

I love pull-out shelves for our cabinets. I also love the 2 little cabinets we have -1 for the cookie sheets and 1 for the zip-lock bags etc.

[Lizard slushie]

Yay Todash! How exciting!

Some of my cupboards have pullout shelves, which I love. I'm short and being able to pull out the shelf to reach stuff in the back without having to climb on a chair is really nice.

My husband's aunt and uncle are both over 6 feet tall, so when they built their house they built it for their height. All the countertops are set high, the steps are a little bit taller than standard. They're planning to stay there til they die so it's perfect for them.

[SusanNorton]

I love the floor in our kitchen - it's brick, with a stained polyurethane on it. Very pretty (but very cold in the winter, and if a tea cup falls to the floor it bursts into millions of sand-sized pieces).

I love that the window looks out onto the neighborhood.

I love the double ovens - a must have!

The laundry room is right off the kitchen, and next to the washer and dryer is a toilet. It's just nice that it's so close. :)

We have LOTS of storage: cabinets above and below, an island with cabinets and drawers, and a built-in 7-foot wide pantry with shelves hidden behind doors.

What I don't like (and we didn't build this house): There isn't a space for the microwave!! Our kitchen's pretty big, but whoever built it did not include a space for the mike other than the counter, which is awkward. Our last house had the microwave built in above the oven.

I don't like that the builder didn't run a gas line to the stove. My husband wants to get a gas Viking, but in order to do that we'll have to jackhammer the brick floor.

Our cabinets above the counter are too high. I'm only 5'3, and we have 9' ceilings, so the cabinets were placed higher than usual for balance, I suppose. But I can't reach the top shelf of the cabinets without getting a chair.

What I love most about my house - when it's windy, the wind whistles and howls, really screams around the house.

[Spideyman]

Love the stove, MsMod. That would be perfect.
I love my kitchen. It has an island too, but shaped like a "T". The top is the island and the rest is a small table for two. Big meals are served in dining room. Also extra counter space.:wink2:

Cabinets, lots of storage space. Now, pull out shelves would be a plus. :smile2:

[Kim L.]

I love our gas stove and oven. Kitchen floor is hardwood, which is beautiful. We have tile countertops & someday I'm going to replace them with granite or something similar, so I don't have to think about grout. The faucet is a flexible hose (so you can wash your hair in the sink if you have to). Or have spray fights. And our kitchen opens right onto the family room so after Thanksgiving or some family gathering you can wash up & still be part of the conversation.

Good luck and have fun!

[mudpuppy]

Our kitchen is so small! We use a butchers block/cabinet type thingy for a table, but there isn't even room for that! I end up walking around this thing, making tiny laps around the room in order to go from sink to fridge to cabinet to stove.

One thing I like about our kitchen is that it has this great plastic tiling. I think its a 70's thing. the entire room, walls and ceiling too, is covered in plastic tile, GREEN tile. It makes it look like there should be a drain in the middle of the kitchen floor, like for when I do my wet work, muahahaha!

[aussiewonder]

If our home was completely leveled, and we started from ground up, it would be perfect!
In the meantime I would, love to have more closet space.

[Lizard slushie]

ROUNDED CORNERS! My countertop is all nice and round and not so darn painful on the corners when I bump into it.

[JRLauer]

I love my game room. I have a full size bar at one end, two Vegas sized slot machines at the other end and a pool table in the middle. This is completed with a 42 flat screen behind the bar to watch sporting events on. Sweet room.:y:

[arista]

More storage space in the kitchen would be an awesome thing..The stove sounds awesome Ms. Mod.

[bookworm101]

windows.... especially one big enough for shelves for a small herb garden.... love a bright sunny kitchen. Never enough storage or counter space.

[BlackEye]

I had my house built with a walk out basement so that I have full size windows and a 6 foot patio door with windows. So there is a lot of light. I had all utilities put in one corner. I had them put in a beam they call "better header". It has metal and wood in layers. This allowed me to not have lollicolumns. I did all this so I could finish my basement. I have sheet rocked walls, drop ceiling, and carpet. I have hot water baseboard heat. I finished the stairs and rail in oak. It is beautiful. I call it mantown. I have a bar, pool table, 57 inch hd tv, surround sound, and an office area to work from home. I have a patio area just outside the door with a hot tub. I spend most of my time down there. :biggrin2:

One thing I love in my kitchen is I have this cabinet that has a wine rack built into it, and above is shelves for liquor. It has slots under the shelving to hang wine glasses. It is nice to have that so that all the alcohol is on display and easy to get too. If you were at one of my parties you would understand why this is of importance. :D

The only thing I messed up on was my garage. I have an attached garage without living space above it. In hindsight, I should have had a 3 bay garage with another room above it. I would have made it into a reading/kids play room. I am currently getting consumed with kids toys and I refuse to give up the basement to make it a play room. Man town is man town. You need to be able to drink beer or something rugged to get in. :D I will trip over the endless sea of kid's toys before I let man town be tainted. :biggrin2:

[Sundrop]

Love.... It's warm and cozy

Hate: .....Don't get me started :)

[sueb84]

Todash very exciting!! We renovated the kitchen in our previous house 4 years ago and I loved that kitchen!! then we moved to a great neighbourhood and I will eventually have to do it again. I miss that kitchen I spent a lot of time planning it. :sad: And now with everything, I've had to put reno plans on hold. The kitchen I work in now does NOT have enough counterspace and my husband had to agree with that when I was doing all the baking and making Christmas dinner this year, but by far is the storage issue. I have the perfect amount of storage, BUT the cupboards are so deep I always have to use a stool for the stuff that gets shoved to the back. Good luck and enjoy it!

[Kim L.]

The only thing I messed up on was my garage. I have an attached garage without living space above it. In hindsight, I should have had a 3 bay garage with another room above it. I would have made it into a reading/kids play room. I am currently getting consumed with kids toys and I refuse to give up the basement to make it a play room. Man town is man town. You need to be able to drink beer or something rugged to get in. :D I will trip over the endless sea of kid's toys before I let man town be tainted. :biggrin2:

Our 2nd house had bedrooms over the garage, and I didn't particularly care for it. The garage was insulated but the bedrooms were still cold in the winter and the noise of the garage door opening was annoying.

Man town sounds wonderful. My husband and I each have our own "office;" his is not a town but it's definitely a guy's space. For some reason, he has 2 of everything in there: 2 wastebaskets, 2 pairs of shoes, 2 coats, 2 laptop computers...Only one TV though.

[Tery]

Congratulations! The best thing about building your own house is that you get to lay it out to your preferences.

I'm always after shelves, so I would build as many built-in units as possible. I also like the fact that the Master suite is on the opposite end of the house from the other bedrooms. ;)

[King Jacob]

There are four people living here and one bathroom. I'm here to say that one bathroom is not enough unless you're willing to stand in line and wait.

[Bluey Lunger]

small item, but you can order your sink so it has an extra hole for a built-in soap dispenser. if you get the dishwasher, I guess you could put liquid hand soap in the bottle underneath.
if you extend the soffit out two feet, instead of the standard one foot, you can have recessed lites installed in that space. the soffit is the dead-space directly above the wall cabinets. make sure your electrician installs ceiling boxes, center of room, to accommodate a ceiling fan.

[Gwenivere]

WOW!! Congratulations on building your dream house!!

I own a 17 acre horse farm in the middle of 900 acres of land. Big barn, big pool, big garage, big fields, big sky, big farm house, big work. When I bought the place I think a family of 10 must have lived here once. But it had everything I wanted double size.
Hint: Don’t build the pool too far from the house. :oo:

A 12X12 kitchen should be a nice size. Mine’s 24X30. Luckily it has an L shaped counter so I don’t have to walk a mile back and forth only about a half mile. Keep the necessities in close proximity to save yourself steps, cooking, putting dishes away etc. I’d also suggest watch the cabinet height. I’m pretty sure my kitchen was designed by a 7 ft man. The cabinets are hung right up to the top of the 9ft ceiling. I drag a stool around to reach anything that isn’t on the very bottom shelf. The dishwasher is on the opposite side of the L facing the table in the breakfast area. It looked good on paper as far as cleaning the table off but to unload the dishwasher and put the dishes away….not so good. :glare:

Big windows and lots of them are beautiful and bright but unless you are planning to have a professional window cleaner come you might want to think about that a bit. That’s where living in the middle of nowhere come is handy – less money spent on custom drapery.

A very cool idea, if you don’t have kids is to build the laundry room connecting to the master bedroom. Very convenient not having to truck laundry up the steps and all through the house, or as I am guilty of, store your clothes in the dryer.

I have a huge wood burning fireplace too, a must have in colder climates. If I was to build again I would have a fireplace open on opposite sides to the living room and the kitchen.

I know I post of grandeur castles and I do love them but only with a staff of about 100 to maintain it. Don’t get me wrong, I love my place and I'm not complaining but in reality I’d be very comfortable and content in a cabin with a loft, a fireplace, and an excellent restaurant nearby. :biggrin2:

[ecoll]

What would I love in my kitchen? A hanging pot rack and oodles of counter space. On counter tops, if saving money is an issue (which it can be when you're building a home) quartz is a cheaper alternative to granite and it looks just as fantastic. You can always change it later on. As for other things in the home I love, I'd have to say a huge bath tub. One you can get lost in. Interesting lighting too. Not just regular humdrum type fixtures but something off the beaten path a bit. Like a row of lamps hung upside down from the ceiling.

As for what I hate... corners. I absolutely hate corners because my children always seem to find something that needs tossed into them. I hate those tiny spaces under beds and couches as well. Platforms might be a good idea. :smile2:

[JayneH]

I have a lovely kitchen but I HATE my cupboard knobs - I had these tacky gold knobs when we moved in and I wanted brushed stainless to match my new oven and range. I wanted the nice modern silver door handles but Pete wanted to keep the knobs. So compromise was made - silver knobs. Wish I had stood my ground....

But on the flip side - I love my walk in Pantry. It is huge and is a great place to hide stuff when people are coming to visit. We store all of our bulk items on the bottom shelves as they are a bit bigger. If I were redesigining I would want one of those drawer systems instead of cupboards so it is easier to get things that make their way to the back.

[Deavlynn]

Congratulations!!!

My favorite things:

I really like having a bathroom on every floor.

I love having a coat closet right inside the front door, and an appropriate space for wet shoes.

I love having one whole side of a room for bookshelves so that my books don't have to be spread out all over the house.

In the kitchen - I love having a big pantry. I'll take a pantry over additional cabinet space any day. I also like having the dishwasher next to the sink. If I was going to do it again, I think I would put in two sinks. One by the dishwasher and one by the stove.

My least favorite things:

I wish I didn't have to carry groceries up a flight of stairs from the garage to the kitchen (especially with a cat who loves to escape into the garage while my hands are full)

I wish the laundry room was on the same floor as the bed rooms.

[SKfan2006]

here's for the kitchen, we have an island but because of the size of the kitchen there is no need for one. pretty much if you open the oven you have to stand to the side in order to put the food in. then for the washer you also have to stand to the side and if its open for putting everything away after the wash you have to walk around the island numourous times from sink to cabinet to drawer. then theres the spot for the fridge. its okay for the freezer side but for the fridge part you can only open it halfway since there is a stinking wall there. then we have a electric stove so during a black-out all that's going to be served is cereal and chips. there are ceramic tiles on the floor and they crack easily. the pantry is more a shelf with a door attached to it.
then theres the garage area. originally it was at the end of the hall between a small bathroom and washing room but when my grandma wanted to live with us we built a new double garage next to it so that we could turn the garage into living space for her. but when she died construction stopped and its still not finished and the house can't be sold until that place is done.

[fredo]

Consider energy efficiency. Insulate, insulate, insulate. You cannot have too much storage, be it cabinets or closets. And no matter how much you love the plans, there will be changes during construction. These almost always add to the cost. And when it's finished, you'll look around and say, "Sure wish we would have..." Fill in the blank.
But it's home, build it with love and fill it with love. You can always cram something under the bed if you run out of storage space.

[BlackEye]

Crap, I forgot to mention my porch. I don't think I could live without it now. It is called a "farmer's porch". One of my favorite thing to do in the summer is sit in my rocker in a thunderstorm with a cold beer and some smokes. I'm not sure why I find it peaceful, maybe it is the irony of it. Definitely recommend a porch. The other thing I love is the hummingbird feeders near my rocker. These little guys will nearly fly into my face to get the juice. I love watching them fight over it too. I can watch a good hummingbird rumble for hours. Last summer I count 5 hummingbirds at once fighting over the juice in the feeded. :D

[SusanNorton]

A friend of mine who just completed her house did something pretty neat. The master bedroom is upstairs, and in the closet they built a laundry shoot so they can drop their dirty clothes straight down into a hamper in the laundry room.

[Kim L.]

A friend of mine who just completed her house did something pretty neat. The master bedroom is upstairs, and in the closet they built a laundry shoot so they can drop their dirty clothes straight down into a hamper in the laundry room.

We had that in my house when I was a kid; great idea. The chute was in the kitchen for some reason but it was useful if you needed to yell down that dinner was ready.

[Joann]

I love my house,hate my kitchen. I don't have a dining room so I have to have a small round kitchen table that one side is against the fridge and one side is against the wall.
If you pull the table out so four people can sit then you can't move around the kitchen.
I would put an addition on,but my daughter is getting married this year and I need the money for that.

[Todash]

Hey, all, we finally signed our contract! Within a week, the builder will break ground. I want to thank you for your answers to this thread because it's really helped us. Here are some of the things we'll have, some of which we would never have thought about except for your input. Many of the best things didn't add much cost at all.

Extra insulation
First floor master next to the formal living areas (means it will generally be quiet)
Soundproofing between the master bedroom and main area of the house and also between the upstairs bedrooms
Combination laundry room/pantry right off the kitchen
As many drawers in the kitchen as I can get (rather than deep cabinets)
Kitchen island
Gas cooktop
Double ovens
Pot filler faucet (thanks, Ms. Mod!)

As time goes on and we have to make even more decisions, I'll be returning to this thread for ideas. So I guess it will sort of be the house the SKMB built. :)

[Autumnlyn]

Okay, first, the thing I love most about my house is the fact I have a Living Room with NO TV!!! Just couches, a fireplace and good light for reading. The TV and stuff is upstairs in the family room.

Second, onto kitchens. The question first is what type of person are you? Comfy/Cozy kitchen person or HiTech/Modern kitchen person? Then design from there. Just be smart about how you operate in the kitchen and base your choices of cabinetry gadgetry off that. Its hard not to get dazzled by the great displays, but, 7 times out of 10 its not something your gonna use daily. #1 thing if your thinking Stainless Steel pay the extra money for the "no fingerprint" finish. Nothing is worse than a Steel fridge with smudges. Also, invest in a chest freezer. They come in smaller sizes too. Not expensive and will save you money in the long run if you can stock up on sales or divide your Costco Meat purchases. (I have mine in the laundry room and it makes a great folding table in there too).

Good luck to you and your hubby. Building your own home is an adventure, sometimes fun, sometimes tiresome but always worth the journey.

[LadyHitchhiker]

I hate the cabinets in my kitchen. They are falling apart, and most every time I try to put something away, it falls out the back of my cabinets. Bleh... Hope the landlord comes and fixes it soon!

[pandora]

Congrats on your purchase!!!
I love my house. It's almost 90 years old and beautiful. One of my favorite features is the mud room. If you go in my front door, it's a small room where I can hang my coat, take off my shoes and store things like my dog leash, plants etc. Sometimes I'll leave it open when I go to work for my dog. (who thinks it's her personal condo, with her dog bed and water) She can go in there when it rains or is too hot and that room just leads to my actual front door, so my house is still locked up. I love it.