Let’s talk about kitchens, shall we? Perhaps you don’t think about them a lot, but I do. The kitchen is my favorite place to be (outside of a beach or a screened porch on a spring day). I will say this first – we have a nice kitchen. We have custom maple cabinets, working appliances, and a decent amount of room to maneuver in. I also love a galley style kitchen – in fact, I prefer it above other layouts. When I used to design a lot more residential work, the best kitchens were always long and linear – it was the squarish rooms with lots of openings that were tough to work in. In the early stages of thinking about adding a new kitchen onto the rear of the house, I was still laying out a linear kitchen. Now I wonder why I ever thought it necessary to reinvent (or copy) the wheel.
But… there are so many things that I would do differently now than we did 14 years ago in this very room. And now that we actually cook and bake in here, and because we are outgrowing our eat-in kitchen table crammed into this narrow room (the long legs are only getting longer), the thought of building a sun filled room for dining and entertaining on the back of the house, thereby freeing up the kitchen to just be a kitchen, makes me completely giddy.
Today’s post will be on appliances and fixtures that we have now, and those that I would love in my dream kitchen, as well as things that are swell but I could honestly live without. My main objective in this renovation would be to really hone in on the workhorses of the kitchen, and spend the dough there. Would a kitchen with marble stretched end to end be gorgeous? Why yes it would. But would I cheap out on the range in order to swing the swag? No way.
What we’ve got:
Here’s the story of the kitchen so far. You’ll notice that we have decent appliances in there, and they’ve been good to us for the past fourteen years. The gas range was a floor model we snagged at a great price, and the refrigerator was a bit of a splurge for us at the time. The stainless steel / curved front, freezer on the bottom felt so very avant garde to us at the time, and I still really like the freezer in that location. The sink is a basic Kohler two-bowl, and the microwave was a gift from M’s parents – it’s a really nice one, and had some features that were pretty unique back in 2000. The dishwasher is probably the swankiest piece in the kitchen – a Bosch that is nearly silent and heats to a level that sanitizes, a real bonus when the girls were babies.
What I would like (listed in order of priority below):
A 48″ duel fuel range – either a Wolf or a Blue Star. I like the size for the added options on the gas cooktop (and more cooking power), and the multiple ovens with consistent electric heating elements. (4.)
A real deal ventilation hood (power, exterior exhaust) – which would be required by code for the range anyway. (3.)
A really large, really fantastic sink. This Kallista is currently one of my favorites. It’s enormous – almost twice the width of a standard kitchen sink, and it has integrated accessories that make this a food prep station dream. (1.)
Beyond this point, we could certainly reuse what we have. But if I could extend the wish list a little bit further I’d get a larger refrigerator and freezer. (Ice cream storage, right?) While I love, love, love a refrigerator with a glass door like this one, I would lean towards an integrated one that completely disappears in the cabinetry. (You’ll see why when I show you what I’m thinking for the kitchen layout.) I’d love a 48″ wide unit like the center one shown, but disappearing like the one shown in the gray cabinets. (2.)
Like I mentioned before, the dishwasher could be reused for certain. If we needed to replace it though, I love these dishwasher drawers. A lot. (6.)
And a pot filler is one of those features I put into lots of kitchens I designed, and always thought they were pretty cool. Far down on the priority list, but an idea to tuck away just in case. (5.)
What’s on your kitchen wish list these days?
Hmmm…hubs just nixed the pot filler but I’ve been rethinking that. We’d have to customize the Wolf 20″ shelf in order to accommodate the plumbing, but I think it might be worth it. Construction starts in two weeks!!! Pray for me. 🙂
I just read a funny article about them on Remodelista. The article was pro-pot filler, the comments were decidedly anti. Most people argued that you still have to carry the heavy pot over to the sink to empty the water, but I still think it’s nice to save one trip. A lot of condo buildings don’t allow them because if they were to leak there’s no sink below them – and likely a very expensive stove to ruin! So I’m on the fence (plus the cost), but love the concept. We fill pots of water almost every meal – making french press coffee, oatmeal in the morning, pastas or grains, steaming vegetables, etc. It would certainly get some use.
My dream kitchen would have a private chef that lives in it! I like to read about your plans-it’s nice when you see someone who actually loves to cook spec out beautiful, useful appliances–I have a feeling many of those gorgeous kitchens we see online are unused!
It does feel pretty indulgent to even talk about some of these appliances because they are spendy. But I would happily design a kitchen with really simple materials and spend the money on the workhorses. And as weird as it seems, I care as much about the sink (and prep space) as the appliances.
That sink is my BF’s dream sink! So large! So perfect for prep work 🙂 Personally I’m digging the idea of a drawer dishwasher – it’s just the two of us so something that size would be perfect. Of course, owning a home to put these fab things in is probably first on the agenda 😉
I am enjoying your thought processes about a new kitchen + extension!
Hey Kerri – great to hear from you!
“It was the squarish rooms with lots of openings that were tough to work in”. That’s what we’ve got and it’s a challenge to even think about how to change it. So instead I drool over the ideas other people have to share. Love seeing your thought process at work here!
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As someone whose kitchen is precisely a boxy room with lots of openings, I totally agree it’s the worst layout for a kitchen! At our old house, the kitchen was the size of a postage stamp but it was so freaking efficient and actually a better work/prep space in so many ways. I don’t even know how to begin reconfiguring our weird space. We thought that bigger would automatically be better (and it’s true that two people really didn’t fit in the old kitchen) but I now see the shortcomings of our choppy layout that I couldn’t have envisioned before.
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