Our Kitchen Remodel: Your Feedback and Suggestions

When I asked for your feedback on our kitchen remodel on Stories, I received such great feedback from you guys. Many of you also asked me to share the best responses. Rather than compile a list on Stories and have it disappear, I’m sharing a dedicated blog post on all the answers.

In case you missed it, we’re re-doing our kitchen. We’re not doing any structural changes, but simply giving what we have a facelift. We’re painting the cabinets white, getting new countertops, backsplash, light fixtures, and hardware, painting the island, and getting new appliances. So, yeah it’s a lot, but we’re not moving the kitchen around if that makes sense. When we moved in, we thought we’d leave the kitchen as is because we don’t see us in this house for that long. During shelter in place we thought more about the kitchen and how vital it could be to expanding our business. While we’ll only be in this house for 1-2 more years, I know how big of an asset the kitchen can be for us (with in the way we want it). We also got a little nudge when our neighbors got their kitchen cabinets painted white… we we’re like, “okay we need to do it.”

Once we decide on exact paint colors, fixtures, etc. I’ll be sure to share exactly what we use. For now, here are the best recommendations.

Top Recommendations From You

Reader Feedback from Personal Experiences

• Don’t go too trendy
• Farm sink chips
• Emergency funds – an extra  20% of your budget
• Open shelves are pointless, acquire dust
• Be specific – mark with tape where you want disposal or filtered water spout
• Cover everything, the amount of dust is crazy
• Under cabinet lighting is super handy
• Go larger on the island
• Definitely use a sealer on the paint especially on the lower cabinets
• Have your air ducts professionally cleaned after construction
• Don’t get your soap dispenser installed
• Soft close drawers
• Don’t’ forget about pull out cabinet for trash
• Add more outlets if you can
• Make sure your space is measured accurately
• Patience, it takes longer than expected
• Check the tile work as the work is being done. Major pain to have to rip it out once it’s done
• If changing layout, figure out your triangle. 
• Don’t cheap out on the paint
• Hard to match faucet with gold hardware
• Don’t live at home during reno
• Go for 16” instead of 12” overhang on island
• Grout color is important 
• Get cabinets done by just a cabinet person
• Put outlets at the bottom of backsplash so they’re easily hidden by things on the counter
• Pot filler
• Pull out shelves in the lower cabinets
• White sinks stain
• If you don’t have a pantry, build one.