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Becky Parker
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Our kitchen has needed to be remodeled since we bought this house 20 years ago. I am so thankful that we are finally going to remodel it!  I am so excited but so overwhelmed. I have been scouring the pinterest boards for ideas but I really need some down to earth advice.
What makes your kitchen functional for a homeschool family? (We have a school room but we always end up in the kitchen for at least part of the day.) What makes it functional when you have lots of kids underfoot? How about kids who want to cook/help in the kitchen?
One thing I am sure of is that I really need less counter space. I know that sounds wierd but I'm finding that much of my counterspace seems to be taken up with odds and ends that shouldn't be there. If the kids are picking up and find something for which they are not sure (or don't want to take the time) of it's proper place, they put it on the counter. Even my dh leaves mail there when it should be thrown away or filed. So I'm looking at less counter and maybe a large pantry closet instead.
I'm anxious to hear what works for you and what doesn't.
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Becky
Wife to Wes, Mom to 6 wonderful kids on Earth and 4 in Heaven!
Academy Of The Good Shepherd
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Angel
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We're hopefully going to be remodeling our kitchen, too... possibly in the next few months before the baby comes. It's falling apart (literally), so putting it off too long is just putting off the inevitable.
Our biggest problem (other than the disintegrating cabinets and breaking appliances) is the placement of the appliances. I've spent a lot of time thinking about where to put everything. Right now the oven opens into the traffic flow and the only person who can unload the dishwasher into the cabinets is my oldest ds, because he's tall enough to lean over the door. The dishwasher is in a corner and the glasses cabinet is directly above it. So when the door is open you can't get to the cabinets where you need to put glasses and dishes. And the cooktop is all the way across the room from the sink.
Anyway, my biggest goal is to move the dishwasher so you can unload it more easily and to get the cooking appliances out of the flow of traffic. Then I need pantry space (with shallow or rollout shelves so I'm not always losing stuff in the back). I'd also love to put in a desk so I have somewhere to keep the two laptops which is not in the middle of the food prep area. Right now we have a peninsula, but in order to move the dishwasher, I think we're going to have to rip that out and instead put in an island... which I want to be broad enough that the toddler can stand up there and help without also being able to reach over and stick his hand under the knife while I'm chopping. 
We also need somewhere to store fruit, which spills all over the counter and takes up an enormous amount of space, so I'm thinking I'd like some baskets in my island.
And everything has to be super durable to stand up to all these boys. So my first choice is quartzite countertops with maybe a butcher block island... but if we have to compromise on cost in order to get decent cabinets, we'll just put in laminate counters and maybe figure on replacing them somewhere down the line.
As far as counterspace goes... I don't really want *more* either... I just want everything to be a more efficient use of space. Like I need a place to have the Vitamix and the crockpot and the coffee maker and the mixer without them being crunched into the kitchen sink. I do *use* all these appliances -- maybe not all of them on a daily basis, but during the week I probably will use every single one at least once. So I think I would love an appliance garage!
Honestly, I think it doesn't matter how much counterspace there is, I'm always going to be clearing junk off it. I'd just like to figure out how to accommodate all the stuff that's supposed to be there. 
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Angela
Mom to 9, 7 boys and 2 girls
Three Plus Two
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CrunchyMom
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I recently made some big changes to our kitchen. I wasn't able to work in everything into the space we have, even if I'd had a big budget, but I have appreciated a few changes.
We were able to add a peninsula that moved one of the entrances to the othe side of the kitchen so that there was no bottleneck and you could go straight to the sliding doors leading out to the screened in porch and garden.
I also now have a broad space on the peninsula (which is done with an island in most modern kitchens) where there are stools in the dining room that fit under the counter, and the boys can help with prepping meals or watching me cook in the manner Angela describes. It has not become a place to serve meals as is often the image in shelter mags, but we've certainly used the space. Just this week I got a large three tiered basket for fruit, and I like that it also shields the dirty dishes that are now in line of sight from the foyer 
If I had my druthers, there would also be a wall of cabinets on the opposite wall in the dining room to act as pantry storage as well as housing and hiding school supplies. Perhaps this kind of floor to ceiling storage would be a nice addition to replace some of the counter space you don't need.
I do have a large world map on the wall in the dining room that is pretty but useful when we need to reference it during meals
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Lindsay
Five Boys(6/04) (6/06) (9/08)(3/11),(7/13), and 1 girl (5/16)
My Symphony
[URL=http://mysymphonygarden.blogspot.com/]Lost in the Cosmos[/UR
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mom2mpr
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We just completed our kitchen and do like it. It is perfect for the household flow and homeschooling. We have a long, thin kitchen that is in the back of our house. The long part and the fact 5 hallways dump into it were our biggest challenges. Well, and the placement of the refrigerator in a major traffic pathway, but not near the cooking.
We started using our dining room on a daily basis many years ago because there is more room in there. It was supposed to be a family room and has a large entryway which leads into the kitchen.
We spent many an hour going to kitchen design places. Some expensive and over the top, some more reasonable. We had ideas, got other ideas, looked at different kitchen storage options and our planning stage took about 2 years. We were investing a lot of money and wanted it to be as right as we could get it. We found we couldn't afford to bust out walls so had to come up with good options. There are so many cool storage options with cabinets nowadays, just go shopping and you might find things that help. We decided against an appliance garage because it took up too much counter space and we could fit more (vitamix, food processor, crock pot, rice cooker, etc) in pull out drawers in a cabinet,
We found that there was no way a table would fit in our kitchen comfortably. So, we got a HUGE, long island. It serves as table for quick lunches, cooking for kids, hot spot for junk , place to do crafts, schoolwork, have meetings, just sit and enjoy the backyard view, etc. It is so big that there is room to "store" the fruit bowls on it and they are not in the way. It also serves another very important purpose and that is to replace the cabinets that went away when we moved the refrigerator to the cooking corner. The island is the centerpiece of the room and works well. and yes, everyone dumps stuff on it but it is easy to clean off.
We also changed the flooring for the foyer and dining room(which was carpeted) to the same laminate flooring we put in the kitchen. It gives a nice open feel and connects all the rooms in a nice way. So the dining room feels a part of the no kitchen table, kitchen  .
I spend a lot of my day in the kitchen and now it is just so much more pleasant and easy to keep picked up. I hope this helps some, it is hard work, but so rewarding. Enjoy!
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Anne, married to dh 16 years!, ds,(97), Little One (02), and dd (02).
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JodieLyn
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Some basics.. the stove, sink and fridge are generally in a triangle within somewhat easy reach of each other.. you don't want to be crossing the whole kitchen from one to get to one of the other two.
You'll want a functional area next to the stove (maybe two) that you can cook from.. somewhere to set the items you're working with. You'll want the pots and pans and utensils that you use when cooking near the stove and that work area.
You'll want your mixing/baking supplies and bowls and measurers and utensils near each other as well making up another station..
and you need a food prep area including sink (a small seperate sink in an island or the like can be nice for this.. creating more spaces for more people to work) and again you'll want your tools near that area.
You also want to consider how unloading a dishwasher will work with where things get put away. But you'll also want to consider that you may want someone to be able to set the table without getting under the feet of those preparing a meal.. so serving dishes, table dishes, flatware etc close to the conjunction of the kitchen and the table most often used for eating meals.
If you have high ceilings consider the racks for hanging things above your head for saving space.
knives hung on a wall behind teh stove or cabinet seem to keep them out of reach of littles better than a drawer.
We have a very small kitchen (it's amazing when we can get more than 2 people working in the space at once but we can do it) But some simple rules really help.. like if someone is using a knife "hands off the cutting board" (it's one of the pull out types), all of my toddlers have learned this rule easily because if they don't they have to get down.. when they follow the rule they can stand nearby to watch. It works. But the big kids have to follow the rule too or the littles won't
In my experience, things will be piled on some flat surface regardless and the only real way to deal with it would be to have it cleaned off periodically all day every day. So some sort of basket or something on that space so you can dump stuff left into it and when it's full someone has to put stuff away from it (maybe a seperate one for bills/paperwork). But less counter will only mean things will STILL be piled up but it'll be more in the way.
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Jodie, wife to Dave
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Angel
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mom2mpr wrote:
We decided against an appliance garage because it took up too much counter space and we could fit more (vitamix, food processor, crock pot, rice cooker, etc) in pull out drawers in a cabinet,
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So are those the kind of drawers that roll out and then you have to lift the appliance onto the cabinet, or the kind with the pull out extension of counter space thingie (I have no idea what you really call it! ) that allows the appliance to sit on it and be used, then folded down and away when you're done? I've seen that for mixers in cabinet catalogs, but I wasn't sure how sturdy it was.
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Angela
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Tami
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Oh, kitchen remodels are so much fun!
The only thing that strikes me is the counter issue - I've found that as my children grew, I really needed more space because of the amount of food I was prepping, in comparison to when everyone was smaller. Lots of adult size bodies (and young adults, too!) here in the house = need more room for multiple helpers.
I'm with Jodie re: a basket to collect things. A friend has something that resembles a hollowed-out log, ~ 2 feet long. It sits on her island, and when she has house guests it is full, mostly food items. I could see something like that working for other items as well.
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God bless,
Tami
When we are crushed like grapes, we cannot think of the wine we will become. (Nouwen)
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Becky Parker
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Angel, your situation sounds like mine with 5 boys!
Lindsay, the wall of cabinets you describe is exactly what I was thinking of.
Right now we have lots of counter space with cabinets hung above. But because my cabinets are in such bad shape I only use about half the actual storage space. So, I would like to just get rid of some of them, (since I'm doing fine without the storage space) which would open up the kitchen more so there is more room to move.
We currently have a penninsula that seperates the kitchen from the eating area (it's not a formal dining room). I want to bust out the wall, changing the peninusla to an island so I can get around it on both sides. I also want to get rid of the cabinets above the peninusula since they are hard to get to anyway. That way I will have more light ... I hope.
My dh's aunt has a beautiful island with a cook top inserted. That's what I am dreaming of. My only problem is the little people. Right now my 1yo sometimes uses the stools to climb on top of the counter. I always pull him down, but I worry that he might do that when the cook top is hot.
Tami, you mention the counter space issue. I know I need counter space so I'm thinking the island will provide that. I will still have some along the wall as well. The previous owners of this house had several "desks" put in along one wall that really just collect junk around here. I would love to exchange them for floor to ceiling cupboards like Lindsay describes if we can afford it. I could even use one to house the paper clutter - kind of a desk behind doors.
What sort of wood are your cabinets made of? My mom has cherry, which is absolutely beautiful and something I always thought I wanted. But I've noticed over the years that it's getting a bit dinged up, and she lives by herself. I'm afraid, with this gang, they would be a mess shortly after we installed them!
What about flooring? Right now we have Pergo, which I like. It's a light oak color that reflects the light and brightens the kitchen. I don't think we could afford real wood, but that is what I would choose if we could. My husband wants to consider tile.
And what about lighting? We have ceiling fans right now since we didn't have air conditioning when we installed them. It's nice to have the air moving on those warm days. But ... they get really really dirty and they are hard to clean well. So I'm hoping to change the lights too.
All this takes money and my dh is not a handyman so we have to hire the work done. It might be a while til we actually get the project complete, but it will be such a blessing, I'm sure.
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Becky
Wife to Wes, Mom to 6 wonderful kids on Earth and 4 in Heaven!
Academy Of The Good Shepherd
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CrunchyMom
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Becky, the problem with littles is why I would not put a cooktop in an island. I also like having a good vent over a cooktop, and from all I have read, down draft vents do not work as well. It can be tricky to ventilate over an island, though some people claim a strong ceiling vent (like in a bathroom) is sufficient.
I do however ke having a built in cooktop and then a double oven in the wall as opposed to a range. I like that there is less space for crud to collect. I'm a messy cook in addition to having messy helpers, and it was always so awful when I pulled the stove out from the wall to clean. I also like having the majority of my baking happening out of reach of a baby so that it is easier to maneuver hot dishes or leaving door open briefly without fear of the baby etting close.
Regarding flooring, we had industrial grade porcelain tile in our old kitchen, and it was beautiful and durable, but no dish ever survived a fall. Ever. And I think that ceramic tile would have been cracked. It is also hard on the feet if you like to work barefoot for extended periods. Just some things to consider.
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Lindsay
Five Boys(6/04) (6/06) (9/08)(3/11),(7/13), and 1 girl (5/16)
My Symphony
[URL=http://mysymphonygarden.blogspot.com/]Lost in the Cosmos[/UR
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mom2mpr
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Angel wrote:
mom2mpr wrote:
We decided against an appliance garage because it took up too much counter space and we could fit more (vitamix, food processor, crock pot, rice cooker, etc) in pull out drawers in a cabinet,
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So are those the kind of drawers that roll out and then you have to lift the appliance onto the cabinet, or the kind with the pull out extension of counter space thingie (I have no idea what you really call it! ) that allows the appliance to sit on it and be used, then folded down and away when you're done? I've seen that for mixers in cabinet catalogs, but I wasn't sure how sturdy it was.
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They look like cabinets but when you open the doors you can pull out shelves. The cabinet sales guy said the shelves can hold up to 150 lbs. I am not sure I believe that, but I do have a lot of weight on them-Cusinart, vitamix, crock pot, popcorn maker, rice cooker, Foreman grill,,etc. I saw the cabinets with the lift thing for heavy appliances like the big KitchenAid mixer or bread maker, it was cool but I don't have one and I thought it took up too much space.
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Anne, married to dh 16 years!, ds,(97), Little One (02), and dd (02).
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CrunchyMom
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On my new cabinets I added, I did all drawers on the bottom and love it. We modified a narrow cabinet to hold our small microwave and moved the drawer to the bottom, using the door to make a drawer front to fit. There is a shelf to hold the electric griddle, and the drawer holds my food processor and parts. I still have my mixer and blender on the counter, but find drawers make things much more accessible than cabinets. I've always hated searching the back of lower cabinets!
I also have our everyday plates and bowls in a big drawer under the silverware drawer which makes it easier for the little ones to help load/unload the dishwasher and set the table without assistance from me.
I do like the European style cabinets and hardware from Ikea, and if you don't like their door/fronts options, there are other companies that make compatible ones. You might visit a variety of kitchen showrooms including Ikea for ideas and to explore all the options. I like the look of more traditional cabinets, but I find the frameless European style to be more efficient. Also, even if you don't go with Ikea, their designers are amazing, so you might find some ideas for creative storage you would want to incorporate with whatever style you choose.
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Lindsay
Five Boys(6/04) (6/06) (9/08)(3/11),(7/13), and 1 girl (5/16)
My Symphony
[URL=http://mysymphonygarden.blogspot.com/]Lost in the Cosmos[/UR
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mom2mpr
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Becky Parker wrote:
Right now we have lots of counter space with cabinets hung above. But because my cabinets are in such bad shape I only use about half the actual storage space. So, I would like to just get rid of some of them, (since I'm doing fine without the storage space) which would open up the kitchen more so there is more room to move. |
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----We got rid of soffits and replaced them with cabinets to the ceiling, since we were losing some, and it really brightened up the kitchen and made it seem more roomy. Amazing that you can have the same footprint but do neat things to make if feel bigger.
Becky Parker wrote:
| My dh's aunt has a beautiful island with a cook top inserted. That's what I am dreaming of. My only problem is the little people. Right now my 1yo sometimes uses the stools to climb on top of the counter. I always pull him down, but I worry that he might do that when the cook top is hot. |
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---My kids are older and I still didn't want a cooktop in the island. We have lots of friends with little kids and it just makes me nervous. Now that it is reality it was a good decision as this island is the congregating place in the house for everyone. I agree with others that the venting isn't as good as with a wall vent. I also didn't want a 2 level island because I thought one level surface would give me more flexibility to use it for different tasks and projects. Anyone who sews would LOVE it.
Becky Parker wrote:
| Tami, you mention the counter space issue. I know I need counter space so I'm thinking the island will provide that. I will still have some along the wall as well. The previous owners of this house had several "desks" put in along one wall that really just collect junk around here. I would love to exchange them for floor to ceiling cupboards like Lindsay describes if we can afford it. I could even use one to house the paper clutter - kind of a desk behind doors. |
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----I made a drawer in the island my junk and paper drawer. It works pretty well but a junk cabinet? heaven!! I do find this monster island providing most of the counter space now. The wall counters just hold dirty dishes and bread maker, coffee maker and toaster oven. There isn't a lot of room to work on the since the fridge moved over there. It works though since I got electricity in the island--highly recommended to have an outlet or two at the ends.
Becky Parker wrote:
| What sort of wood are your cabinets made of? My mom has cherry, which is absolutely beautiful and something I always thought I wanted. But I've noticed over the years that it's getting a bit dinged up, and she lives by herself. I'm afraid, with this gang, they would be a mess shortly after we installed them! |
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----Hickory, if you like the ruggedness of it. Hey, they make baseball bats from hickory, right? We have hickory and love them, light color, some character, and they don't show dust like a dark cabinet would.
Becky Parker wrote:
| What about flooring? Right now we have Pergo, which I like. It's a light oak color that reflects the light and brightens the kitchen. I don't think we could afford real wood, but that is what I would choose if we could. My husband wants to consider tile. |
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----I love our pergo. We couldn't afford hardwood. For me, it was between linoleum( they really have some nice looking fake woods/tiles and it wears like cement) and laminate. Tile is cold and hard. We have it in our laundry room and I don't care for it.
Becky Parker wrote:
| And what about lighting? We have ceiling fans right now since we didn't have air conditioning when we installed them. It's nice to have the air moving on those warm days. But ... they get really really dirty and they are hard to clean well. So I'm hoping to change the lights too. |
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----We threw all the lights in cans in the ceiling, ditched our ceiling fan because of the 8 foot ceilings and the size/shape of the room. See above about small unrelated things changing the feel of the room Honestly, positioning the lights was the most work for us with the electrician and builder. It took days. But we have lights in all areas for all projects. The island has its own switch, as do the cooking "L"' and the hallway into kitchen from laundry/garage. Under cabinet lights, while I wasn't sold on them when visiting one of the high end kitchen design places and the designer kept saying I HAD to have them, I love them now. We call the kitchen the OR but because we like light and the area of the country we live-always cloudy, we need them. We splurged for LED because my hubs worked making light bulbs back then they never need to be replaced and produce a lot of light for less energy. You might consider LED if you have somewhere that is hard to change bulbs.
Becky Parker wrote:
| All this takes money and my dh is not a handyman so we have to hire the work done. It might be a while til we actually get the project complete, but it will be such a blessing, I'm sure. |
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-----It will. We had to hire out also, but during the planning work we just saved money. It was inspiring and easy when you were at a kitchen store once a month and dreaming of what to do we also considered taking a home equity loan but we did save most of it and were able to avoid that. Some of the kitchen stores do offer loans. We got our cabinets at a local lumberyard that had a relationship with our contractor and they put things on his account and gave us his discount and we just paid the contractor. Watch for sales on cabinets in the new year. We had been planning and shopping for 2 years and went into the local lumberyard, last January, connected with our friendly kitchen design guy, again, and he mentioned a HUGE sale the cabinet company was having and it made us jump, finally.
[/QUOTE]
It really is worth all the work and planning. Be ready for the chaos in your house, too. It was hard being home and having guys in my house and trying to get schoolwork done. We also had about a week of tough kitchen days-no water, no electric, MESS, etc. but really worth it!!
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Anne, married to dh 16 years!, ds,(97), Little One (02), and dd (02).
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Becky Parker
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CrunchyMom wrote:
I do however ke having a built in cooktop and then a double oven in the wall as opposed to a range. I like that there is less space for crud to collect. I'm a messy cook in addition to having messy helpers, and it was always so awful when I pulled the stove out from the wall to clean.
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Yes, the crud factor. That is what I am looking to eliminate! I love that my 19yo ds likes to cook, but when he makes pizza or pasta flour is everywhere, Especially falling between the oven and counter. Very yucky to clean up!
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Becky
Wife to Wes, Mom to 6 wonderful kids on Earth and 4 in Heaven!
Academy Of The Good Shepherd
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Becky Parker
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mom2mpr wrote:
----We got rid of soffits and replaced them with cabinets to the ceiling, since we were losing some, and it really brightened up the kitchen and made it seem more roomy. Amazing that you can have the same footprint but do neat things to make if feel bigger. |
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>Yes, soffits seem to be a waste of space. We would like to get rid of ours and replace with cabinets to the ceiling.
mom2mpr wrote:
| ---My kids are older and I still didn't want a cooktop in the island. We have lots of friends with little kids and it just makes me nervous. Now that it is reality it was a good decision as this island is the congregating place in the house for everyone. I agree with others that the venting isn't as good as with a wall vent. I also didn't want a 2 level island because I thought one level surface would give me more flexibility to use it for different tasks and projects. Anyone who sews would LOVE it. |
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>Good point about the 2 level island. I've been considering that.
mom2mpr wrote:
| It works though since I got electricity in the island--highly recommended to have an outlet or two at the ends. |
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>Another important consideration!
mom2mpr wrote:
| ----Hickory, if you like the ruggedness of it. Hey, they make baseball bats from hickory, right? We have hickory and love them, light color, some character, and they don't show dust like a dark cabinet would. |
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mom2mpr wrote:
----We threw all the lights in cans in the ceiling, ditched our ceiling fan because of the 8 foot ceilings and the size/shape of the room. See above about small unrelated things changing the feel of the room
> My husband was saying we should go with cans in the ceiling as well.
>Definitely considering these!
[QUOTE=mom2mpr] It really is worth all the work and planning. Be ready for the chaos in your house, too. |
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> Yes, I am actually hoping to go camping or something while they are doing the bulk of the work. The dust is going to drive a couple of my kids crazy, I'm sure.
Thanks for all the important tips Anne! I quoted within your "quote within a quote" so I hope it worked!
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Becky
Wife to Wes, Mom to 6 wonderful kids on Earth and 4 in Heaven!
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Angel
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Becky Parker wrote:
We currently have a penninsula that seperates the kitchen from the eating area (it's not a formal dining room). I want to bust out the wall, changing the peninusla to an island so I can get around it on both sides. I also want to get rid of the cabinets above the peninusula since they are hard to get to anyway. That way I will have more light ... I hope.
My dh's aunt has a beautiful island with a cook top inserted. That's what I am dreaming of. My only problem is the little people. Right now my 1yo sometimes uses the stools to climb on top of the counter. I always pull him down, but I worry that he might do that when the cook top is hot.
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I agree with Lindsay. I won't have a cooktop in an island either because my little ones are always up there. I'd rather have a nice big place to work with them. All my younger boys like to help in the kitchen, too, and it's really tough for all five to cram around our narrow peninsula right now, especially as portions of it are taken up with fruit and electronics.
Becky, it sounds as if your kitchen's basic layout is sort of like ours. A previous owner took down the cabinets that hung over the peninsula (which divides our eating area from the rest of the kitchen, too) and put up track lighting instead. I hate the track lighting (which has purple filters) but there's no way I would rehang cabinets in that space. It does let a lot more light in and makes it feel much less closed off. My parents' kitchen has those peninsula upper cabinets, too, and I was always hitting my head on them when I was a kid.
As far as the cabinets themselves go... we're looking at maple with dove-tailed joints and no particle board. My dh isn't going to be doing much of the kitchen work either, because we need to get it done on a schedule. We shopped around town and found a kitchen design firm which seems pretty good, but we haven't gotten all the particulars yet... I know it is going to be pretty pricey, so we've agreed on some ways that maybe we can do things in stages, with outside help doing the bulk of the work and my dh doing some things that aren't as important... like the flooring. Right now we have cheap laminate. We scratched these floors about fifteen minutes after moving in two years ago, and now they look terrible. I think we're going to go with Pergo. Distressed or reclaimed wood was our first choice (to hide scratches and dirt), but I think it's just going to be too expensive.
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Angela
Mom to 9, 7 boys and 2 girls
Three Plus Two
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Becky Parker
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| Posted: Dec 11 2012 at 7:52am | IP Logged
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CrunchyMom wrote:
I also have our everyday plates and bowls in a big drawer under the silverware drawer which makes it easier for the little ones to help load/unload the dishwasher and set the table without assistance from me.
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What an excellent idea! I would have never thought of that!
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Becky
Wife to Wes, Mom to 6 wonderful kids on Earth and 4 in Heaven!
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CrunchyMom
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| Posted: Dec 11 2012 at 9:12am | IP Logged
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Another thing to consider, Becky, is saving some money by using the cabinets you already have, perhaps moving some of the extra bottom cabinets to fill in the sections where you want to make a built in cooktop. Then, you can get new door fronts and custom inserts for pull-out shelves and such and perhaps save enough money to get the big pantry space you want and some custom storage for a new island.
Sometimes, the cabinets are just too far gone, but often, the frame is fine and can be refaced to match new doors for less than cabinets from scratch might cost.
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Lindsay
Five Boys(6/04) (6/06) (9/08)(3/11),(7/13), and 1 girl (5/16)
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[URL=http://mysymphonygarden.blogspot.com/]Lost in the Cosmos[/UR
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CrunchyMom
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| Posted: Dec 11 2012 at 9:20am | IP Logged
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One of my favorite places to browse (though, I don't have the space for many of these ideas) is the kitchen organization hardware at Rockler. If you decide your current cabinet frames are worth saving, there are lots of fancy do-dads you can use to make 'em fancy
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Lindsay
Five Boys(6/04) (6/06) (9/08)(3/11),(7/13), and 1 girl (5/16)
My Symphony
[URL=http://mysymphonygarden.blogspot.com/]Lost in the Cosmos[/UR
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stacykay
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Hi Becky,
I am just seconding some thoughts here, and throwing in what I wish we had (since you have so many boys, too!)
I absolutely hate my soffits! And we were the ones who added them!  The option or suggestion of tall cabinets never came up when we remodeled before we moved in (16 years ago.) All I knew is I didn't want open space that could collect dust. Oh well...
Our kitchen work area is u-shaped. Way too small for the six boys (four of whom are now man-size,) me, and dh. I feel like I'm herding cattle or something when all of them are in the kitchen trying to get a cup/food/etc. or to "help" me! I wish we had an overhang on the backside of my counter that faces the kitchen table. Even though we have the table, I can't tell you how many times I've wished for a counter-seating area, where the boys could sit and do work, or friends could sit and chat, while I putz around getting food ready.
Where do you set out food for holidays? I use our counters (so wish our dining room was large enough for a sideboard!) and always wish we had longer or more counter space to set everything out, so people can serve themselves with ease. This is mostly when we have huge numbers over, but for even just Christmas or T'Giving with our immediate family and maybe 3 or 4 more, when all the food is on the table, the extra space would be great for serving hors d'oeuvres and drinks.
This sounds like soooo much fun, and you will just love it when it's completed!!!! Yea!!!
In Christ,
Stacy in MI
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Tami
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I agree about the cooktop on the island. I wouldn't want to take the chance - all of my kids were counter climbers, in general.
But I love the idea of the island and I agree Becky it will allow more 'body space' for when having multiple helpers. Much better than a peninsula.
Looking forward to hearing how it progresses, and of course, photos!!
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God bless,
Tami
When we are crushed like grapes, we cannot think of the wine we will become. (Nouwen)
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4Real Forums : Our Lady's Loom, Larder, and Laundry
Topic: Help with kitchen remodel
