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It seems like everyone in the world is renovating their kitchens today. so why should I be the exception? Here's the deal. We've recently purchased a new house. The house has already been extensively renovated and it has a pretty decent kitchen to start with. There are a few things I want to do to it though, and I could use some advice. First, here are the pics of the kitchen. I've had to do them in three shots, because the kitchen is huge. In the first shot, you can see the microwave/oven combination in the wall, and there is a small cooktop over by the fridge. Underneath the micro/oven thing are two pot drawers. Underneath the cooktop is a huge utensils drawer and two more pot drawers. The second pic shows a table and chairs which we won't have because that island/breakfast bar is huge. The third picture shows the built in bar fridge and wine fridge as well as the back area of the kitchen where a desk is. Here's what I do. Even though this kitchen is particularly large, 25'3 x 17'9, I have less cupboard space than I do now. In addition, this kitchen was recently renovated, so I don't want to rip it up completely. Keep in mind as we go through this that the basement ceiling below is finished which will make any wiring we want to do more complicated. 1. I need to get a second oven in here somewhere. 2. I'd like to build some sort of worksurface/island where the table and chairs are now 3. I'd like to replace the small 30 inch cooktop with a gas cooktop, preferably 36 inches. 1. Here's my thought's and resrictions on the oven. I could put it in under the cooktop, but that means losing the two pot drawers and large utensil drawer. I'm less concerned about losing the pot drawers becauase I could build more into the island in the middle of the room. Losing the utensil drawer would be worse as it's a perfect place to grab wooden spoons, spatulas etc as one cooks. I could remove the micro/oven combination and replace with a double wall oven, but then I need a place to build in the microwave. yes, I need the microwave built in, because I don't want it cluttering up my counterspace which will have enough stuff on it. I could, if I could get power to the new island put the new oven there, but I'd rather keep the second oven as close to the work triangle as I can. 2. The worksurface in the middle could either be butcher block on top, or more of the granite that already exists in the kitchen if I can find it. Ideally, if there's room, I'd have the top overhand on one side so extra people could hang out there. I'd like to have power at the island, but that may not be possible given the status of the basement ceiling. In the island I'd like to have , a place for cookbooks, pot drawers, and anything else I haven't thought of yet, but I will. Probably more drawer space since drawers are at a premium in this kitchen. 3. I'm pretty sure that gas is available right outside the kitchen as they currently have a gas connected bbq on the deck. So bringing gas in shouldn't be a problem. What do I lose in cupboard space underneath by bringing in a gas line? In addtion, I'd have to find a way to make the granite bigger to hold a bigger cooktop and of course, I'm going to lose the utensil drawer and possibly at least one pot drawer since gas cooktops are deeper than electric cooktops. So there you have it. I'll try to get a floorplan posted in a few days, but in the meantime, I figured I'd give you experts a few days to ponder this.

Hello everyone, and sorry that my debut post is a request for help. I found these forums while researching my kitchen remodelling project, and the creative energy here was irresistable. My wife and I have a tiny 1930's bungalo, and the kitchen isn't working for us. It's a galley sort of layout, and shares the same room as the only dining area in the house. The whole room is 19.5' long and just over 8' wide. The dining area consumes 7' at one end of the space, with the transition to "kitchen" indicated by a switch from hardwood flooring to vinyl and by two built-in, glass fronted cabinets that are about 4 1/2 feet tall, hiding the countertops from view. As it is, the kitchen is reasonably functional for one cook, but virtually impossible for two. The tall cabinets seperating kitchen from dining room make the adjacent countertops uncomfortable to use (no elbow room) and the lack of a dishwasher means that about a third of the counterspace is perennially occupied by a wilting plastic dish drying rack: a real eyesore. The good news is I'm very handy; I'm a custom furniture maker with a fully equipped woodshop on the other side of one of the kitchen walls. I'm not scared of building round cabinets, new doorways, moving windows or any other such mischief. There are, however, some challenges I'm unsure how to deal with. Principal among these is the budget; we've got $2-3k to play with, which I'm realizing isn't a huge amount, even with the expectation that I'll do all the work. Another is that my wife is short (5'2") and has a mild case of cerebral palsey, which means her balance isn't so hot; she can't reach high shelves and though she's requested a stepstool I can't imagine her using one without creating more excitement than one likes to be involved in when reaching for the flour tin. Also, since the only indoor area we have for dining shares a room with the kitchen, I'm hoping that whatever we come up with can be kept tidy-looking during meal prep; I don't want guests to see a lot of chaos in the kitchen and feel obligated to clean up after me. My thinking so far is based on normal household occupancy of only two, with occasional dinner parties for about four others. My best plans to date involve blowing away the tall cabinets and extending counters over that area. I've found an affordable 18" dishwasher that I like, which would get the dish rack out of the picture. I'm thinking concrete countertops, because I can make molds in my shop and cast them on the back patio next spring, and because they will facilitate an undermount sink (I hate the rim around our drop-in sink and Corian is out of the question). There's space for a pantry closet in the adjacent hallway. I'm also thinking of a bank of shallow cabinets along one wall of the dining area, with a built-in, U-shaped table extending from it. The table could be relatively small most of the time, but be extended with additional leaves when necessary. I'm open to rethinking any part of this plan. One particular problem I'd appreciate comments on is the sink. There don't seem to be a lot of functional small sinks available, particularly in the U.S. I've found a neat one made by Franke, with a large bowl that is just big enough for a half-sheet but with the large dimension front-to-back rather than side-to-side. It also has a smaller, oblong bowl next to it, and the whole thing is only about 21" wide, which would allow me about 28" to the left of the sink and 19" between sink and range. Unfortunately it's only available through U.K. distributors, so with transatlantic shipping I'm looking at ~$650. What do you think? --Jon

I have an opportunity to redesign a small (5x7) kitchen into something better and more functional. This is my first time undertaking such a task and I will have to live with the chosen components for a very long time. I will likely need to break down a wall and create a kitchen/dining/living greatroom. Not sure how anyone was ever able to cook in that kitchen with only 24 inches of uninterrupted counter space. In any event it's pretty much a gut job and I am in desperate need of guidance as far as choosing appliances and kitchen cabinets and I welcome your comments and alternate product suggestions to my preliminary product wish list. Appliances are most important, then the beauty/functionality of the cabinets. Here's the wish list: AGA 24" Dual Fuel Range (need 220 electric service, which may not be possible) Bosch 30" Gas Range Bosch Microwave w/ vent Viking 24" Gas Range Fisher & Paykel Refrigerator Fisher & Paykel double Dish Drawers Miele 18" Dishwasher Boffi Cabinets Bulthaup Cabinets (probably aluminum touch system w/frosted glass doors) Stainless Steel Countertops Boos Butcherblock Countertops Soapstone Countertops Granite Countertops Bamboo Floor Linoleum Floor Tile Floor Many Thanks for your guidance, Azlee

O.K.-Two weeks ago I was ready for my families big Fishing Adventure in Ontario and a couple of days in Winnipeg when I came home to water all over the tile floor of my kitchen. It would seem that my dishwasher blew a hose and then blew water all over my kitchen. Unfortunately the only way to get the dishwasher out was to remove some of the flooring. No big deal, the boys and my wife were out of town and I figured I could get it out and repaired in one day. Well, it turned out that there must have been a slow leak and that the subflooring was soaked. I was gonna have to tear out all of the tile. Well, that's ok, we had been talking about doing it for a while. Somehow, eight hours later, without asking anyone or thinking it through beyond the end of the tear out, I had removed two walls and torn out the laundry room. Leaving myself with no kitchen, no cabinets worth saving and nowhere to cook. So there you go. My wife, well she's kind of a trooper after twenty years of living with me, took it pretty well and said that it was about time. My kids, they don't care much as long as they get fed. So here we go. As you can see from the photos the place is a mess. But the good news is that it is a very big mess (13x30 rectangle plus the area where you can see the pots hanging and the floor still down-that is a very large island with a pot sink in it and it now houses a large griddle, a hot plate, a rice cooker, and a crock pot. I also have a nice bullet smoker, a cool brick pit, and a just purchased stainless steel BBQ Pit of undetermined brand from Sams which has two burners on the side of it as well-so we won't starve) The long boards that you see there (with the yellow paint on them are cypress and perfect and straight and you couldn't buy them for love or money these days) came from the interior of my plaster walls (the ones I hammered out) and they will be planed and become cabinet fronts. We have measured (or the cabinet guy did) and there is plenty for what I want to do. We are having new cabinets built, I am replacing the ice box (which has needed to be replaced for about five years ) and adding an ice machine. The laundry room will be moved (actually that should be complete by Monday afternoon) and the kitchen will then be huge. There will be a sitting area by the fireplace that you see there and pretty much the rest will be cabinets (primarily drawers-big ones) in the base cabinets and open, glass fronted ones on top. All of this will be farmhouse style (for lack of a better term-I live in the country, but we don't decorate that way and in fact artwork display is a major consideration-my wife is an artist and a dealer and we have been collecting since long before we could afford it) cabinetry as that is what should be here given the age of this place (100 yrs) and the way that it is designed. It will all be wired for sound and there will be a cool built in desk for a computer and stuff (replacing the desk that you see the computer on now). As I said, I have done all of the tearout myself and I will do most of the electrical, plumbing, and rough in. Someone else is making and installing the cabinets. I will put down the floor (8 inch heart pine tongue in groove, just like the rest of the house) and finish out all of the walls. Here are my questions for today- My wife seems to think that a refrigerator freezer with a bottom, pull out freezer is the way to go. Is this the case? Yes or no and why not. I need a new ice machine. Ice is key to a good life here and we go through plenty of it. Any recomendations? My old whirlpool was prone to conking out, so I need some fresh ideas. I am keeping my OKeefe and Merrit Stove because I love it, but am thinking about putting in an electric oven. Convection or no? Why? Any suggestions? Incidentally-don't bother with telling me about commercial grade appliances. I'm not falling for that and am not interested. Top quality home appliances are where I am looking and any advice would be most welcome. I will update the photos as we go along for those of you that are interested. And no, this is not the first time I have done something like this. I once hooked a chain to my Ford F350 4WD and hooked the other end to the back support post in my old garage/barn/tool shed. It looked worse than the kitchen, but it was really fun and the neighborhood boys were VERY impressed (the adult neighbors seemed less so ) So that's what I did today. If I'm lucky the whole thing will be finished by the time it starts cooling off (mid October is what I am shooting for. Once I get the floor down (this week) I can kind of start living in it again, so it won't be that bad.

We live in NYC and are looking to completely renovate the kitchen (approx 8ft x 10ft) in our 2 bedroom apartment. This means destroying everything and starting all over. I've read through some of the previous threads on kitchen renovation but I hadn't seen any for NYC apartments. My wife and I don't cook that much but my mom does come over and cook chinese food sometimes (lots of grease). I think I read something on NYC apartments and the rules against venting? Not sure if I read this right. Anyway, we've just started seeing contractors and would look for any recommendations on how to proceed. Do we need a designer? Since we don't cook that much, I'd think that we wouldn't need any super high end appliances but wouldn't want to go cheap either (resale value). Also, everyone seems to say that it will take twice as long and cost twice as much. Where have the additional costs been in your experience? So: 1. Designer? Do I need one? 2. Contractor recommendations 3. Cabinet recommendations 4. Counter (I think we've decided on granite) 5. Refrigerator recommendations 6. Range recommendations (we like gas) 7. Hood/vent/fan? 8. Dishwasher recommendations 9. Hidden costs 10. Where to shop! Thanks for any help you can give me! Howard

Hell, I couldn't be satisfied with my story of buying a knew chef's knife -- now I'm about to start a kitchen renovation. Whereas the Perlows told their saga beginning with demolition, I'm still in the planning stages. First of all, my kitchen is a maze. It is utterly dysfunctional. Two people cannot pass by each other in parts of the kitchen unless both of them are anorexic or extremely friendly. The dishwasher resides under a marble slab that hangs nearly a foot over the door plane. I cannot open my lower wall oven unit if the dishwasher is slightly ajar. The ancient Jenn-Air cooktop with a non-functional downdraft vent sits 2 feet below a cupboard. The kitchen is lit with incandescent canister track lights (and some nasty recessed cans). Unless you see this kitchen in person, you could not believe it. I'll eventually get around to posting pictures. The house I live in was Mrs. Varmint's family residence -- we bought it from her parents 5 years ago. I agreed to buy the house on one condition: that we renovate the kitchen. Well, 5 years later, and the time has come. This will be a fairly simple renovation when you get right down to it. Most of it involves a single day of demolition and a couple of weeks of moving things around, a couple of appliance installations, and some carpentry and floor laying. The end result will be profound -- it will eliminate the maze, open the kitchen to the living and dining room areas, and give me some functional appliances. I initially wanted to go with a 6 burner gas cooktop and 2 electric wall ovens. Unfortunately, because this process will remove a bunch of existing wall space, I won't have enough remaining for any ovens. Thus, I need to go with a range. I've looked at 48" dual fuel ranges that have double ovens, but I can't stomach paying $8,000 for them. I want the dual fuel so the ovens will be self cleaning, which are generally not available with gas ovens (except for Viking). I may have to live with a 36" single oven range instead. I use both ovens simultaneously about 8 times a year, but I think I can manage with just one for now. Or can't I???Can I live with a non-self cleaning oven? I don't think so -- I despise maintenance. I'm leaning toward a DCS for its power, but is it really worth $1800 for a self cleaning feature between the gas and the dual fuel???? I've met with two contractors already and have appointments with 2 more. The first guy is really just a cabinet maker who does renovations in conjunction with a contractor. However, I've seen his work, I know people who have had him do their kitchens, and he's really talented. Also, he may be the cheapest. A couple of contractors told me that my project was too small for them. I'll add some of my thoughts over time. Oh, and my budget for this renovation is not to exceed $20,000, including the appliances. I think we can do it. I hope so. I'll need the contractor to run a hood through the roof and ceiling. Fortunately, the distance isn't too great.

It's funny--I started looking for a place to buy our first house by proximity to ethnic food and good supermarkets. But I fell in love with a place that has neither. Then I said I need to have a spacious kitchen and a dishwasher. My husband and I fell in love with a 1925 Craftsman-style bungalow that has neither. Hey, at least it has a gas stove. We intend to do some remodeling in a few years to get some extra space in the kitchen, so I don't want to do anything major right now, but I do want to preserve the original features while making the space more workable (and add a diswasher!). Prep space especially is very limited. The kitchen is 9x10 with a 5x5 attached pantry. There is beautiful built-in cabinetry in the pantry but just one original cabinet above the fridge in the kitchen itself. There is a standard Home Depot-type cabinet with sink that has been added. That's where we'd like to put the dishwasher--either carve out a space for it in the existing cabinet or get a new unit for that space. The main limiting factor is the built-in table that swings down from the wall. I love it, but allowing space to eat around it cuts down on the possibilities a lot. Here are some pictures, going clockwise around the kitchen starting from the living room entrance: Believe me, there will be more hanging from this area than 3 pans and a potholder. This area is too shallow for cabinets (the fridge, which the owners are taking, is sunken in) but I have lots of ideas in mind, such as using medicine cabinets for spices, etc. Here is a shot of the cabinet over the fridge, the pantry, and the built-in table: To the right of the table is the door to the outside/basement, then a radiator in just the wrong place: And we're back to the living room doorway: All comments & suggestions welcome!

I have to say designing the Alinea kitchen has been one of the most exciting experiences thus far in the opening of this restaurant. I have been fortunate to have been “raised” in some of the best kitchens in the country. When I arrived at the French Laundry in August 1996 the “new kitchen” had just been completed. Often times you would hear the man talk about the good old days of cooking on a residential range with only one refrigerator and warped out sauté pans with wiggly handles. When I started about 50% of the custom stainless steel was in place. The walls smooth with tile and carpet on the floors. I recall the feeling of anxiety when working for fear that I would dirty up the kitchen, not a common concern for most cooks in commercial kitchens. The French Laundry kitchen didn’t stop, it continued to evolve over the four years I was there. I vividly remember the addition of the custom fish/canapé stainless unit. Allowing the poissonier to keep his mise en place in beautiful 1/9 pan rails instead of the ice cube filled fish lugs. Each advancement in technology and ergonomics made the kitchen a more efficient and exacting machine. When I returned to the Laundry this past July for the 10th anniversary I was shocked that it had metomorphisized once again. The butcher room was now a sea of custom stainless steel low boys, the pot sink area was expanded, the walk-in moved, and an office added to the corner of the kitchen. The kitchen as I left it in June of 2001 was beautiful and extremely functional, of course it is even more so now. It is the relentless pursuit of detail and concise thought that allows the French Laundry kitchen to be one of the best for cooks to execute their craft…..16 hours a day. This was good motivation. When it came time to design my kitchen I drew on experiences at Trio, TFL and other kitchens I was familiar with to define the positives and negatives of those designs. We were faced with a 21x 44' rectangle. This space would not allow for my original kitchen design idea of four islands postioned throughout the kitchen, but ultimately gave way for the current design which I think is actually better than the original. But most the important aspect in shaping the final design was the cuisine. Due to the nature of food that we produce a typical layout with common equipment standards and dimensions do not work. Here is where the team drew on our experiences from Trio. By looking at the techniques we utilized we came to several conclusions. 1. A conventional range was not our main heat source. We do need the flat tops and some open burners for applications such as braising and limited stock work. But our overall use of this piece of equipment is somewhat low. Given that we wanted four open burners and two flat tops with two ovens I began to source out a reliable unit. We settled on the Molteni G230. 2. Upon analyzing our other heat source needs we decided to place a large focus on induction. By utilizing portable induction burners we are allowed the flexibility to give as much power as needed to a specific station in the kitchen. Obviously induction’s radiant heat is very low, and this allows us to keep the temperature in the kitchen reasonable, yet the power is quite high. 31,000 BTU's of highly controlable heat. But the main reason for choosing this flexible source of heat is the fact that each chef typically employed at least four different cooking applications on a given night. This huge flux in technique and the realization that the menu would change entirely in 8 weeks time meant that we had to design a kitchen that could evolve on a nightly basis. And last, we are very specific with temperatures; induction makes it easier for us to hold a liquid at a predetermined temperature for long periods of time without fluctuation. They operate between 85 and 500 degrees farenheit. We did a great deal of research on the different producers of induction and favored Cooktek. The fact that they are the only U.S manufacturer of commercial induction cooking equipment and located in Chicago made the decision easier. Their innovative approach to induction may prove to be even more exciting as we are already talking about new product development in the future. 3. a. The complexity of the presentations and a la minute plate-ups of the food require a great deal of surface area devoted to plating. This was one of the most critical factors in determining the basic shape of the kitchen. The size of some of today's popular plates, the amount detail in each composition, coupled with the fact that producing tasting menus vs. ala carte means sometimes large waves of same dish pick ups made it necessary for us to have over 44' of linear plating surface. b. Virtually nothing goes vertical above the 36” counter top in the space. All food, plates, equipment, and dry good storage are contained by under counter units. There are a few exceptions such as the infrared salamanders, the three-door refrigerator, and the hood. This allows all the cooks a clear line of communication between each other and the front staff. It allows me an easy sight line to survey the entire kitchen’s progress with a quick glance. Given these two points it seemed obvious that we needed to combine the two and create custom pieces that would fulfill both needs. Large spans of plating surfaces with all food and equipment storage below. As you can see we ended up with two 22’ long units. Each function as a pass and under counter storage. The building is 21’ wide wall to wall. This allowed us just enough space to create two lines on each exterior wall with their passes forming a 60” corridor for the pick up of plates and finishing of dishes. 4. We decided to add a station to the kitchen. At Trio we had five including: a. pastry b. cold garde manger c. hot garde manger d. fish e. meat Now that we had more space, and the ability to give each station multiple heat sources regardless of their location in the kitchen, we could spread the workload even further. We also realized it doesn’t make much sense to identify each station by classic French Bragade terms. A saucier did not solely cook meat with classic techniques and prepare various traditional stocks and sauces…in fact quite the opposite. This holds true with most of the stations, with the exception of pastry, but even they will have very unconventional techniques, menu placement and involvement in the kitchen systems. We will add a station that will be responsible for a large majority of the one-bite courses both sweet and savory. 5.Given the size constraints of the building we realized a walk-in would not be possible in the kitchen. If we were to have one it would be in the basement. Having experienced this at Trio we decided to design the kitchen without a walk-in, making up for the space in various lowboy locations and a three-door reach-in. I experienced the walk-in less environment when I worked at Charlie Trotter’s. It is certainly different, but as with most things if done properly it provides a very efficient environment. It works best in situations where fresh products are brought in daily for that days use. And prevents ordering in large quantities. It also provides us with very specific units to house different items. We will utilize the 3-door refrigerator to store the majority of the vegetables and herbs along with some staple mise en place, and items that cannot be made in very small quantities like stocks. Raw meat will have it’s own lowboys as well as fish, dairy, and all frozen products. 6. At Trio we found ourselves using the salamander a great deal. It is very useful for melting sugar, bringing on transparent qualities in things like fat and cheese, cooking items intensely on only one side, and it is a highly controllable non-direct heat source. Due to the air gap between the foodstuff and the heat elements the cook can control the degree of heat applied to the dish based on the technique he is using. It becomes a very versatile tool in the modern kitchen, so much so that we will install three Sodir infrared salamanders. Again, this is to insure that all the cooks have access to all of the techniques in the kitchen. As I said before it is important for our cooks to be able to sauté, simmer, poach, fry, grill, salamander, and freeze at the same time and sometimes for the same dish. We have a few unusual pieces of equipment in the kitchen; the most is probably a centrifuge. A few months ago Nick and I were driving home from a design meeting and ended up talking about signature dishes and menu repetition. Of course the black truffle explosion came up and he asked if I would have it on the menu at Alinea. I replied a firm no, but shortly thereafter said I would enjoy updating it. We threw around some tongue and cheek ideas like White Truffle Implosion, and Truffle Explosion 2005….I said it was a goal of mine to make a frozen ball with a liquid center….but then dismissed it as nearly impossible. Within a few minutes he said …”I got it…we need a centrifuge” His explanation was simple, place the desired liquid in a spherical mold and place on the centrifuge…place the whole thing in the freezer. Within days he had one in the test kitchen. I guess this is better suited for the kitchen lab topic that we will be starting in a few weeks… We are working on a upload of the kitchen blueprints. When those post I plan on going into more detail about certian aspects of the design. Doing so now would be pointless as the viewer does not have a reference point.

Just shy of three weeks into a kitchen remodel, I thought I'd share some of the highlights: 1. The job started 6 weeks after it was originally scheduled. Every week they said they would come, so every week we kept bare-bones essential foods only, and ate out a lot. 2. When they tore out the old kitchen, they didn't bring a dumpster, so they piled all the cabinets, drywall, appliances, and trash in the driveway and on the back porch. They took some away in a truck, but the rest is still there. 3. The plumber put in the pipes for the sink in the wrong place, because he was too lazy to drill through an extra floor joist. He subsequently suggested that we change the plans so that the sink would be where he put the pipes. If we didn't like that, he said we could run the pipes from one cabinet to the next and loose some storage space. 4. If I don't call the contractor each and every morning, nobody comes to the house. If I work at home, they are forced to stay, but it I leave the house for any reason, they take off right after me, leaving no trace but a pile of trash. 5. When they disconnected the old refrigerator, they did not turn off the water supply to the ice maker. They frantically tried to turn off the spraying water, and in doing so, broke the valve. So they just crimped the line and hoped that it would hold. 6. When the cabinet guy made his final measurements, he discovered that a wall the plans claimed was 88-1/2" long was only 80-1/2" long. Another was off by 4". The designer had been to the house and measured twice before he finalized the plans. Now the cabinets won't fit. Initially, they said I still had to pay for the cabinet that wouldn't fit, since that's what the plan said, and I had approved it. They only backed down when I pointed out that according to the plan I was getting a kitchen with an 88-1/2" long wall, and it was their problem to figure out how to deliver it. 7. When the designer's boss came to investigate #6, he accidently kicked the crimped copper water pipe (see #5) and it started spraying all over the kitchen again. We had to shut off water to the whole house until a plumber could come out to fix it.

Tomorrow we are having our kitchen demolished, in a remodeling project that will take 2 months. Here are the before shots -- Rachel will provide the ongoing narrative and we'll document its construction over the next few weeks. The Perlow Kitchen, prior to remodelling (click)

Finally on Monday they will begin the total destruction of my kitchen in order to build my dream kitchen. As I've been packing up this week, it occurs to me wonder, short of eating out every night. what I'll be able to cook for the next 6 weeks or so. i will have a fridge, convection microwave (i've never used the convection part), a toaster oven and a Hamilton Beach combination deep skillet, griddle. No stove, oven or dishwasher. And a husband who won't eat leftovers. I'll be operating mostly out of my dining room for prep, so won't have a lot of room. Any ideas on things to make?