If you have remodeled your kitchen what did you get rid of and what did you add?

[essnce629]

I meant keep the window but make it shorter so there’s room under for a cabinet. I have one above counter and it gives plenty of light still. You just have no counter space and very few lower cabinets, and that’s a turn off for many people buying a house. Where do you prep? Getting a cabinet run under that window gives more cabinets/counters. But yes cost could be an issue. I’d get a quote though as if it makes kitchen more functional, it will be more appealing to buyers. So may be worth it, and you might be able to cut back somewhere else to fit it in the budget.


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Yes, to this! We have a big window in our galley kitchen that goes lower than the counters and has about 5 feet of wasted space under it. I bought a stand alone chop block with 8 drawers to go in front of it, which we keep our toaster oven and coffee maket in, but if I was remodeling our kitchen I would definitely shorten the window and expand the counter 5 more feet.

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[legaleagle]

I have a possibly unhealthy love for my breville air oven

I’ve seen a lot of wall oven layouts that don’t have an immediately adjacent counter/stovetop to put the pans on which I hate. Having to take multiple steps to be able to put something down is a safety issue, at least if you have kids or pets underfoot. We have a range so I put the pans either on the stove top or on one of the counters on either side.

[niccig]

This is our window Image1550623969.107383.jpg, counter and cabinets underneath, backsplash goes to the window sill


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[hwin708]

I agree with previous posters that finding a way to wrap your counter around that back wall by the window would give you a lot more counter space, which you need. Shortening the window would be ideal, but it is not necessary if it is too much additional expense. We have a historic home that we are not allowed to change exterior things on, like windows. So our counter runs right in front of the window. It's not uncommon here at all. The counter is just notched out a bit and sealed to the corners with caulk. It can make opening the window difficult (impossible in some cases, but not ours and doubtfully yours given your window sill height is not much below your counter). But we don't open our windows, so it is a non-issue.

If you don't get that extra counter on the back wall, then I would recommend exploring deeper cabinets on your refrigerator wall. You appear to have enough space in the walkway between the two sides. Cabinets are typically 24" deep, but many people (myself included) go deeper to around 30". This gains you 6 extra inches of counter space along the whole run. The main (only?) disadvantage is for very short people, as it can be hard to reach things in the back of your (also deeper) upper cabinets. But again, I prefer to maximize lower storage. Custom cabinets - which might be worth looking into, as they can often be very affordable - can make use of that extra 6" of depth. Standard Ikea and other stock cabinets will just be pulled forward (exactly how they mount the cabinets will depend on the cabinet line and your contractor). Which still gives you the extra counter space. The only additional cost is the extra counter square footage (usually not an issue at all, if buying a slab), and any additional labor charges the contractor has for mounting forward (depends on how difficult they view this, some find it is easier to level the surface and it is no additional expense at all, others find it involves much more work).
You seem to like to keep things on your counter, so I think more space at the back would be ideal for you. It would also have the bonus of making your refrigerator look more built-in without paying for counter depth.

Here's a pic showing how you gain counter space, but not cabinet space (unless you go custom)
images.jpg

Also, if going custom, consider higher counters. I am short and still love mine. And again - more storage space.

If you don't get that counter at the back wall, I would definitely do a tower cabinet where the microwave is now. That can be your pantry storage. Or you can make a counter top in the middle of it (but keep it behind doors!) and you can put all your appliances and gadgets there. Toaster oven, coffee maker, instant pot, etc. It keeps everything hidden but easily accessible.

[AnnieW625]

The window in question faces west and is the side window.

The photos below are from a house in my neighborhood that has the exact same floor plan as mine where they got rid of the side window, removed walls, and moved appliances. If this was our forever home we would definitely do something like this.

(Photo shows cabinets and stove where my window is)


(Photo looking directly at stove and wall that was taken out)


(Photo of dining room area w/out wall)


(Copy if pricing history on Zillow....I bet this was a flip and the last owner didn’t make a lot of money on it based on the sales dates and how long it was on the market for.....since it is a clone of my house it makes my house look good though and was most likely a property that got me a $600k drive by appraisal for my heloc)





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[WatchingThemGrow]

Wow!!! Have you priced having that wall taken out? It seems like an amazing transformation!


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[AnnieW625]

Wow!!! Have you priced having that wall taken out? It seems like an amazing transformation!


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I don’t even want to investigate it as we would have to move gas lines, board up the window, and what not. We have to replace our roof and potentially part of our porch due to a small leak in the roof so I don’t want to go too fancy in case we don’t have enough in the budget.


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[georgiegirl]

Okay, after seeing all the pics and the neighbors kitchen, I don’t think you should do anything since you are leaving in 18 mo. A small, slightly nicer kitchen doesn’t seem that exciting compared to the neighbors place. The next buyers might prefer to pay less and then totally remodel themselves. And I’ve heard that the real estate market is likely to crash later in 2019 (especially in areas like yours), so investing more money right now might be risky.


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[khalloc]

We've remodeled 2 kitchens. Definitely get cabinets that go all the way to the ceiling. even if you cant reach the top shelves, you can store things you dont use as much up there!

We added:
~ Cabinets to the Ceiling
~ quartz countertops
~ 6 burner 36" gas range
~ dedicated hood above range for ventilation
~ 2 windows on either side of the range (our kitchen was dark before)
~ set our 36" fridge into the wall a bit to make it more counter depth without losing fridge space
~ undercabinet lighting
~ all drawers on the lowers except corner cabinets
~ prep sink in the island

We got rid of:
~ desk in kitchen
~ electric cooktop
~ built in microwave (we have an upper cabinet now where you just slide in a countertop microwave)