kitchen questions

[lmh2402]

anyone have a plumbed in miele coffee machine? like it, hate it? thoughts

also, thoughts on "necessity" of a beverage fridge in the kitchen?

we're also doing a basement reno, that will include adding a bar area downstairs, so there will definitely be a fridge down there

we could fit a 24" beverage fridge in the planned island, but we're also including a 24" sink and a second dishwasher drawer, that will use up almost all of our island space. i'm torn. i like the idea of having one, but i'm not sure I can articulate why. honestly, we don't drink much wine - rarely open on our own, but will always have with guests.

kitchen designer is saying that we're kind of "appliance heavy" and that maybe it's best to skip. but i don't know...i feel kind of like i might be missing something if i don't have it. which sounds silly, right?

thoughts? thanks

[AnnieW625]

TBH I would do whatever the norm is in your area based on the perceived value of your house. Visiting open houses is a great way to do this.

Coffee maker, I wouldn't spend $2k on a coffee maker unless I had a really bad Starbucks habit and I was spending $2k on coffee a year. Again though if this is normal in your area and you like good coffee then go ahead and put one in.

I would do a beverage fridge in the kitchen because wine takes up space in a regular kitchen fridge even a large built in Sub Zero you don't have a lot of tall shelves for wine. a nice middle range beverage fridge will also have dual temps which is great for red and white wine. Vinotemp is a great brand and is rec. by wine enthusiasts (my dad sells wine for a living), just make sure you get a dual zone one. You could always put in a larger wine/beverage cooler in your basement, but some of those hold a lot more than 28-32 bottles of wine and it might be overkill (although my dad stores beer and soda in his). If you are going to be bothered walking up and down each time you have a party to get wine/beer then I would put one in the kitchen, if not then one downstairs might just be fine.

If a second dishwasher is normal in your area then yes I would put one in, but if isn't normal and you don't entertain a lot then I wouldn't consider putting a full size second dishwasher in, I might consider a second 18" one (Miele, Bosch, and Kenmore Elite a make nice ones...ours is a hidden panel Kenmore Elite and it looks way more elite than it is, plus it is quiet....the full size gets great reviews too and it doesn't look like a Kenmore).

I would also consider a built in ice maker. If you aren't going to have a specific bar area I think this would be a nice addition to your kitchen and in a bar or kitchen area in a house in your area it might be standard. I love this brand and if finances/space allow I would live to put one in my kitchen remodel (still a year or two out), Scotsman Ice Maker.

[khalloc]

How big is your kitchen? It sounds like you might be adding appliances just because you can afford it. Will you have enough cabinet space leftover for everything else? I think a plumbed in coffee maker is overkill. Those are in in places where you don't have easy access to water, but I wouldn't make it a fixture in my kitchen.

Have you posted your design/layout in Gardenweb? Definitely do that if you haven't.

[HannaAddict]

We love, love, love having two dishwashers as a family of 5. Love having a wine fridge in kitchen (SZ). We also have beverage fridges in basement entertaining area and third floor deck butler's pantry. But I would do a nice looking dual zone wine fridge for kitchen if it is a high end remodel. I would
Skip the coffee maker. Better stand alone models are available and they get outdated pretty quickly.

[craftysierra]

Pre kids I worked for a service and repair plumber. The coffee maker has me thinking about what happens when it fails? (Does it have a drain etc) Will there be something to go back in its place and is there easy access to get filtered water to it? As far as Fridge space we do not drink, but I am always scrounging for space I dream of one refrigerator devoted to kid access things like snacks Agree with Annie's idea of what is expected of your price point and area though. My parents neighbor built their house less than 10 yrs ago without a dishwasher and for resale purposes it does make the house an oddity. I would love a 2nd dishwasher and dedicated ice maker our french door LG sucks at ice, well again there are 6 of us and the kids and I are always at home using it.

We have been in our house for about a year and previous owners remodeled the kitchen with full backsplash granite countertops, stainless appliances, and pull out trays in most cabinets U shaped kitchen. I was realizing where the cooktop is against the wall if they had pulled the cabinets out less than 2 inches and had more than an inch between the cooktop and the wall it would make using multiple burners when I have a bunch of things cooking so much more functional.

[123LuckyMom]

We're doing two dishwashers and keeping the beverage fridge that came with the house, but if we didn't already have it, I would skip it. We just don't drink that much wine. It's very nice to have if you entertain a lot, because you can stock it for your party, but for our day-to-day life it's not that useful. We're doing a large space that is an open concept kitchen/family room, and the beverage fridge is going in the family room section. It will probably hold more seltzer than anything else! If it were a choice between good storage in the island or the beverage fridge, I'd definitely choose storage!

I'd skip the plumbed coffee maker. Stand alones are more easily replaced if they break, and you'll want to upgrade as technology improves.

ETA: We're looking at the new Samsung 4 door fridge. That might be a good option for you! It's a French door with the freezer on the bottom, but the freezer is divided into two halves. One half is always a freezer, but the other half can be anything you want, freezer, or extra fridge space. You can set it to any temperature you wish. That could be your beverage fridge, but you'd have the option not to use it as such.

[Mopey]

It does seem like a beverage fridge could be great. I would also skip the Miele no matter how much I love coffee (yes, I am the girl who cried the morning after I took the pregnancy test when I walked into the kitchen and realized I couldn't make my super strong coffee!). The only other comment I can remember from a PP is about the tall shelf; from what I remember wine bottles (only) should be stored on their sides so the cork doesn't dry out and become compromised. Move them to chill as you will drink them.

Good luck planning!

[lmh2402]

thanks, guys. i think i'll skip the coffee maker - it sounds so lovely and easy, but I do wonder what happens when it inevitably goes on the fritz

our kitchen designer assures me we have adequate storage without having the island for storage, but she also feels we're appliance heavy. know idea what that means. have to ask her.

but i still think we'll go for a beverage fridge. just makes sense. we're doing almost all wolf and SZ appliances, so we could do the SZ beverage and have it qualify for a rebate, but it only has a white interior, right? HA, do you notice the interior through the door? I was looking at a marvel because it had darker interior, which seemed to disappear more. also, with all beverage fridges, i've read they're really loud. this is concerning for me - don't want this little fridge to be the loudest thing in my kitchen. we're not doing two full dishwashers. doing one "regular" and then doing a F+P drawer in the island. DH is already dead set on the fridge - claims it's the only appliance he cares about - so that means i can't look at the cool-sounding samsung fridge.

this whole kitchen thing is really stressing me out. i've been obsessively sitting here googling sinks for the past hour+

who does that? googles sinks for hours at a time? gah!

[smilequeen]

We're building, so I google kitchen stuff all the time too I'm skipping the coffee maker. It just doesn't make sense for us. I'm not doing a beverage fridge either. We have a big wine closet on our main level with the bar, so I don't need it for wine and it seems superfluous with a big fridge. The places I want one are, although I'm undecided on some of this...basement bar for sure, outdoor kitchen area by pool, master bathroom, kids' play area upstairs. We currently have a full dishwasher and a single drawer and the setup works great, but personally I think the F&P drawer sucks. Really sucks. I won't get one again. Maybe they've improved but that thing takes FOR-freaking-EVER to go through a cycle, and I constantly have to scrub it clean or it won't drain properly. We're doing 2 full size in the new house. I'd suggest putting a DW in your basement bar too if you'll use it frequently. I am really glad we did that, especially on holidays.

[niccig]

I would skip the coffee maker. We have a small wine fridge, I would put one in.