The teeny double bowl sink.

...it's DIY and still unfinished 2 1/2 years later

Mauve laminate countertops (a lot of them,) light oak everywhere and a white tile floor with mauve grout...I can live with the light oak cabinets but the counter & floor has to go!

The site built not-really cabinets in butcherblock formica with the butcherblock formica countertops and the butcherblock formica light valences and the butcherblock formica backsplash. Did I mention I think there's too much butcherblock formica in my current kitchen?

That's it is not done. My refrigerator, I, cannot make up my mine. on a Samsung and or the 21.8 kitchen aid. sharaz

That it doesn't come with a self-cleaning floor. I really hate washing floors!!!!

It used to be a tie between the floors and my crummy 1989 Kenmore/GE DW that couldn't clean dishes. But I finally discovered long horizontal cracks in the plastic tub liner - amazingly there were no leaks - so I was able to justify the purchase of an expensive KA DW. Now I don't have to pre-wash dishes, and can actually put in pots & pans (which used to come out of the Kenmore with a greasy film inside).

We originally gutted and remodeled our cottage when we bought it in 1989. Now I look at it and think, "I would love to have cherry cabs (instead of laminate) and a snazzy Bluestar range (which wouldn't fit in my current layout without reworking the cabs)!" But there's no justification for spending more $$ on this kitchen since we'd never get it back on resale.

We have Swanstone instead of granite or solid surface, which were more expensive back when we updated the counters in 2003. So that's a little passe too, as is the pale beige color as opposed to the richer dark colors that I admire now.

But here's some encouraging words for others: having vastly improved the layout and storage of the original kitchen, I can say wholeheartedly that although I might like to tinker with the appearance of my kitchen, the 1989 remodeled layout is ideal. It works well for one cook or several, holds a ton of both foodstuffs and cookware, and is a joy to walk into every day! It's open, airy, full of light, and I'm so glad we did the whole house at once rather than piecemeal...and even then, it took over 18 months of financial agony, LOL.

So when y'all finally do your kitchens, even if the details (cab style or color, etc.) go out of fashion, the really important thing is to have a better working environment for the cook(s), along with better-organized and more plentiful storage. That's what really makes all the effort and angst worthwhile, IMHO.

Either the trash can sitting on a cardboard box in the middle of the floor because there's no other place for it OR the sandpaper-like Formica that's so abrasive that it's impossible to wipe either crumbs or water off from it.

LOL @ Writersblock. Do you not like butcherblock Formica? :>)

The smoothtop electric range...slow to heat and difficult to modulate heat

The crummy white-painted cabs and old white/gray vinyl floors never, ever, ever look clean!

Yuck.

It doesn't have one of these!!

How much time do you have LOL! Since I'm embarking on updating now, it's all fresh in my mind. Here's my list:

* built-in oven in the doorway. I have to yell "hot oven" when ever I open the door otherwise one of my kids could come running into it.

* speaking of that doorway, it's only 28" wide. Just confirms that the kitchen layout was a total afterthought.
* down draft electric cooktop - boil-overs galore and the darned thing is drafty. When the fan is not on, all the cold air comes in.

* almost no usable lower cabinet/drawer space. Some idiot builder put in several small (2-12", 2 15") lower cabinets. They are face frame, so actual drawer size is almost half that width. I can't really store anything in them.

* a wide shallow pantry with two full size interior hollow core doors. When the right door is opened, it competely blocks the 36" walkway between the wall and the end of the peninsula counter. Again, a real hazard, especially with small kids.

* that same pantry completely blocks off the kitchen from the rest of the family room. I admit this is a personal preference, I can't watch cooking shows on TV while in my kitchen; oh yeah, or see what the kids are up to.

*It's a colonial style house with traditional raised panel cabinets (in oak), but someone thought they would "update" the old wall paper by giving it a tuscan hand trowelled finish and a brown wash over off white paint. It just looks dirty.

I think that about covers it.

It does have a few redeeming qualities, the floors are neutral tile and just installed 2 years ago and the appliances, although not what I would have chosen, are working and fairly recently installed.

Kayak Jen!!!!!!!!!! I would LOVE to see your "mauve" countertops!!!I've always called mine "pink", but maybe mauve is a better word for it! And, my floor sounds a lot like yours too! You show me yours and I'll show you mine.LOL

Hate the pink countertops, floor, and waiting for that *magic* layout so these DIYers can get it on and be happy with it!

Like Kathec, the wall oven on the end run where the kids fly through, yelling "watch it!" every time the door is open.
And so MAD that the old posts are gone!
We were getting there with the layout! :(

That we have an ugly putty colored 1995 fridge in our white kitchen.

That nobody will love it as much as I do. We are putting the house up for sale tomorrow and downsizing. The cabinets are all custom and I spent so many hours searching for just the right granite, making sure it was templated just like I wanted, so I could sit at the island and look at all the colors and history of the stone. I hate that the new owners won't even have heard of most of the extra goodies I learned about from this forum, and won't appreciate it, like the Never MT...

I dislike my almond Formica countertops with seams. I liked them when I first bought my home 12.5 years ago but now I am tired of that yellow look and wanting counters without seams that look nicer with my new stainless steel appliances.

I hate my kitchen because it's old, worn, and dated. And it makes me feel that way too!

It's 20'x23' and contains nothing but a sink. (and the PO actually prefered this)
{{!gwi}}

The appliances are out on the back porch...
{{!gwi}}

Oh ya and that hood is set at 8' high...fairly useless given that we don't have any 8' tall cooks to turn it on!

I hate that I have a 95% completed gorgeous kitchen with miles and miles of beautiful custom carpentry and trim molding. . .

And the last 5% is the painting of all that carpentry and molding, which is one of MY jobs.

HATE painting trim. Hate it, HATE it. . .

(1) Sink not in same room with range and refrigerator. Unlike Igloochic, My refrigerator and range are in the "big" room (at 12'x13') and the sink is in the 6x6 scullery.

(2) Kitchen triangle has 6 sides. 'Nuff said

I could go on, but those are the big two. I could live with the damaged 50-year-old linoleum, the faux-wood 1980's cabinets with their faux-wood laminate countertops; and all the other issues.

1. the weird textured wood "tile" backsplash behind the counters and range. Impossible to clean. Impossible!

2. the crummy Jenn Air range, with 3 semi-working electric burners, also impossible to clean.

3. the faux-cork vinyl sheet flooring. So ugly

4. the cabinets, which were hastily painted white with no prep or primer (I think by a real estate agent). They look awful, the paint is peeling, the hardware wasn't even removed before painting.

I could go on and on. Demolition starts this week!!!!!

1.) That I've had my kitchen cabinets installed since last June and I still don't have a working sink. Reason: entirely my fault thanks to my DIY countertop procrastination.

2.) That my very first dishwasher *ever* is about to have the warranty expire and it's never been turned on ( see reason #1 above)

Dawn

that it isn't... oh, I have a 5' run w/ sink (that includes the 2'corner) with about a 1.5' on the turn...then the fridge. that's it. 1' to the left of sink. 2' to the right into the corner and turn part - that holds my counter oven. the corner area holds my hotplate... the sink leaks (I use a plastic tub in it - that I have to scoop the water out into a bucket and flush away (that means carrying that bucket of water into the bathroom). no usable cabs (a few with doors that hang open, not usable for anything like dishes or food tho). I think they're covered with wood contact paper... I bought 2 whlte laminate 'pantry' type cabs at kmart yrs ago. 1 is for dishes/pans (all 3 pans) and 1 is for food stuff.

the floor was avocado green tile sqs. i got some berber carpet pieces from where men were putting new carpet into an office for my bf -they were tossing good sized pieces outside by the dumpster. i cut and pieced it into the 'not a kitchen' and hallway. it was new 12 yrs ago tho. and i don't have to see green avocado floors.

hosta - that dog looks almost exactly like my girl! i sent that pic to my sister and told her my girl had taken up cooking for us. now that i think about it, she didn't question the kitchen that dog is cooking in... sure isn't mine. no wonder she didn't believe me!

First and foremost: that it's such a big room in such a big house and yet the counter/appliance part of it is small, cheap, poorly laid out, and almost entirely gray laminate. With oak trim and black plastic pulls, of course ;-) Fashion-tastic - it's all 80s all the time at *my* house.

The vintage 80s wall oven - that's so small that you have to mount the half-sheet pans on the rungs and push *really* hard in order to get them in. (Cooking at an even or consistent temperature was apparently not an option back then.)

Southern facing solarium windows that will melt chocolate on my counter if the sun comes out. In January. In *Seattle*.

The patio door that is the only route to the backyard that doesn't require a sidewalk - just a trip over some inconveniently placed bar stools.

The oak backsplash - what kind of fool puts in a wood backsplash - especially in some place as damp and moldy as Seattle? Oh, wait - that'd be the same fool who made all my windows West and South facing . . .

And the grand prize winner? The awesomely 80s black Jenn-Air gas cooktop. Tap temp to boiling water in only thirty-minutes! Warped burners guaranteed to tip any pan at any angle! And the special impossible-to-clean-part-open-part-sealed burner design - wrapped in stylin' oak trim, of course! I didn't know whether to laugh or cry when the control panel burst into flames this winter.

But thanks to that electrical fire, we decided to push ahead with a remodel after only ten years in the house (roll eyes). And I keep saying to myself - no matter how bad my design ends up being, at least I'll finally get some frickin' drawers ;-)

Ummmm....I love my kitchen....but it's my new kitchen.

I do have one big regret & I suppose it would fit in the "What I hate" camp...the fact that the trash pullout is next to the main/cleanup sink in the Cleanup Zone...6'6" across from the Prep & Cooking Zones. I find that I generate far more trash & recyclables in the Prep & Cooking Zones than the Cleanup Zone. It's a pain in the *** to have to constantly carry often dripping trash & recyclables from one side to the other.

If I had it to do over...I'd combine the two 6" pullouts and reduce the MW drawer from 30" to 24"...to give me the 18" I would need for a trash pullout in my Prep & Cooking Zones. (I would probably put a 12" single-bin trash in the Cleanup Zone and take the extra 6" and add 3" to the 33" drawer base & 3" to the 27" drawer base.)

Bibliomom, can't tell you how many homes we looked at with those South facing solarium windows in them. So nice in theory...but it actually *doesn't* rain nine months of the year in Seattle.

That it's in my living room right now as the actual space is being remodeled. Boy, do I miss having a sink!

It's 7'x8', plus the fridge against the wall, in a room that is 14'x20'.

It has no drawers. No, not one.

I have one 1' stretch out counter, 2 6" stretches of counter, and one 2.5' stretch of counter for cooking on.

I have a single-bowl, 30" sink.

I have no drawers. No, not one.

I have two corner base cabinets--with L-shaped doors (each L is 10"). And they did that by making my one 18" non-corner cabinet shallower--so that the ONE base cab I might not have had to crouch to see under is now under a 4"+ overhang, so that I can't see anything without stooping.

The cabinets are 1960s laminate. One door fell off and hit me on the head on my birthday.

Yay.

That I can't make a decision on a backsplash!!!!

That it's non-existent right now.

kitchen carpet...nuff said!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

the flooring -- it needs to be replaced

florantha,

I had the same problem with my DH's huge collection of vitamins, supplements, herbal stuff, etc. I got Kraftmaid's Base Drawer Buffet just for this reason (see link below, although it's hard to see from their picture how the cabinet really looks), and it works great!

The top drawer that they show on the right as a bread drawer is deep and can take anything up to 8" high if you take out the bread drawer liner. I got 2 rollouts for each side of the the cabinet underneath the 2 deep drawers. DH has all of his side completely filled with all sizes of bottles to remedy various conditions, sinus wash, etc.

This cabinet is 36" wide (also comes 30" wide) and part of my 3' x 4' island. I thought about who was in the kitchen doing what, when, and then decided where I could put his setup so he wouldn't be in my way when he is most likely to be accessing his cache. He loves it, and I love not having him or his stuff in my way!

I put medium sized waste baskets under both sinks for trash, and have a 21" wide double basket recycling pullout between my cleanup sink and the cooktop, which works fine for us.

Anne

Here is a link that might be useful: Kraftmaid Base Drawer Buffet

It's a long-ish list. My ''hate most'' choice probably revolves between storage, heat, organization, traffic, and the upper cabinet that would have fallen down by now if not for the piece of lumber propping it up, great worksmanship there.

Tonight it is ''heat''. I was frying some noodles, doing a chicken-almonds stirfry, and frying some egg rolls at once, to have them all come out hot and crisp at the same time. Except, I wasn't. The noodles had to be fried first, then set aside to get droopy while the chicken was stirfried, and the egg rolls got baked and were awful. Reason: silly range without enough big burners.

Prep sink is so convenient that everyone puts their dirty dishes in it rather than in the cleanup sink. Yes, we have guidelines about what goes where, but....

No dishwasher

60-year old grout that will never ever come clean

Counters that are topped with 60-year old tile. With 60-year old grout

Not enough counter space

Not enough storage space

But the thing I hate MOST in the kitchen, without a doubt is:

The banging and clattering and falling of pans and trays as I haul them out of the lower cabinets

Every. single. day. For twenty years, I've done this and hated it with a passion

Every time I read anyone yearning for a 'vintage' kitchen, I think darkly: you want a vintage kitchen, come on over and enjoy my original 1950 model.

I dare you!

LOL RunningInPlace! I agree with you. Every time I cook in my mother's kitchen I also have to wonder if people really understand what it means to have a "vintage" kitchen. My parents' house was built in 1960 and still has the:
Original cabinets - same fixed shelves and wood drawer glides (that are difficult to use, btw). The cabinets have been painted a few times, but nothing else.
Original countertop - Formica, in this case...stained & scratched, but still usable (my mom's assessment!)
Original Layout...with kitchen table a "barrier" b/w the refrigerator and the rest of the kitchen, range next to wall (no room for emergency landing or handles of pans), and range with no vent hood (and lots of grease/dirt/dust build up on the cabinet above & the walls next to it...periodic cleaning didn't prevent it from eventually building up)
DW across the kitchen from the sink next to the refrigerator b/c DWs were either not available back then or not routinely installed in homes so no place to put it next to sink (or anywhere along the counters b/c the cabinets were built in-place, each sharing a wall w/the one next to it)
Poor lighting...small one over sink, large one over rest of kitchen

Seattle Rain - glad you missed the South facing solariums - my kitchen spends most of the summer in the upper 90s. Of course it seemed like a great idea when we saw in the house on a sunny February day, but then so many things do . . .

That the dishwasher is set into the corner is my biggest gripe. There is a 12" wide cabinet door to the right of it that opens up the blind corner. I have to use a flashlight to see what's back there.

I can't stand the "Colorado Slate" Formica countertops. I detest that the tops of the cabinets are open (they are filthy and impossible to clean). I despise the OTR microhood that does nothing well but tell the time. It bothers me that there is barely any light in my prep area to the right of the stove (the only light there is from a lamp).

These pics need some updating, as we've been replacing things piece-meal lately, but you can get an idea of my plight ;D

{{!gwi}}

{{!gwi}}

{{!gwi}}

It has a curse. There's probably an ancient Native American tomb under the foundation or something.

Its small - 11 x 8 with 3 doorways.

The layout. I like the wall oven but it is such a huge waste of the small space available. The sink and cooktop butt up to the corner. Two feet of usable counter to the right of the sink, 15" to the left of the cooktop. Thats it.

Very little storage. I have a laundry basket under the sink in the hole that used to house a radiator. That holds all cleaning supplies. The blind corner is so hard to reach into that I use it only for paper towel rolls. One 12" drawer for all kitchen utensils. Food storage is divided into 3 small lower cabinets. Once a year I go through the cabinets and throw out expired dry and canned food that I forgot about because I couldn't see it.

Its an interior room so it always seems dark.

The 60 year old cabinets and formica counter are actually in fairly decent condition. I've had to replace all the appliances over the years, but none will be kept when the layout changes.

I feel your pain everyone. My kitchen is in serious need of updating; including the appliances that are 50+ years old

#1: The total lack of water pressure at the sink, and that it has to run for several minutes before you can get any hot water. The lack of a sprayer -- but that would also require better water pressure.

#2: The chipped, stained, enameled cast iron, 46-year-old double sink. Impossible to clean completely, not big enough to wash the roasting pan or the stove burners (enameled cast iron that would come clean if I could soak them, impossible otherwise).

#3: The inadequate lighting.

#4: The beat-up lower cabinets, whose veneer has delaminated from the plywood along the bottom.

#5: A wall oven in the corner with wall cabinets nearby that prevent anyone from standing in front of the oven. We've been removing hot, heavy casseroles and roasts from the side for 46 years now. Think it's too soon to change?

The good news is we can work on problems 1-3 without a huge, extensive remodel, and will be doing so this summer. The beat-up cabs will be easier to live with when sink work goes faster...

The colour of my biscuit sink!!! It's the only thing in the kitchen with a yellow undertone and it bugs the heck out of me.

One day the new silk grey silgranit sink will be mine..."She will be mine"...LOL

Thanks to the people here sharing their experience, there are only two things I hate:

We positioned the upper cabinets based on distance from the lower ones without thinking that it would leave a ~1.5in gap between the tops of the cabinets and the ceiling. Since they're Ikea, there's no space for a crown.

White Blanco Silgranit sink. It's stained on the bottom and no amount of scrubbing or bleach will get it clean. And since it's an undermount, I can't replace it.

This dent.
: (

But hate is a strong word. Maybe just really really despise!

{{!gwi}}

So I am doing this for now.

~boxer

Buehl's post about the wooden drawer slides reminded me...we have some original cabinets with wooden slides. The pie tins in the drawer underneath always have to be washed before using because they are full of sawdust. On the plus side, though, I did not have to childproof them when my daughter hit the exploring and unpacking phase. At 3 feet wide with two pulls, there was no way she was strong or coordinated enough to get the even pull on both handles to get the drawer open.

Also:

No rangehood (and consequesntly a thin layer of grease on every horizontal surface (and on the wall above the range).

No built-in cabinets in the "big" room (unfitted is overrated).

The "big" room is 12x13 with four doors on three walls.

Hey Mondragon,

I don't know if this will work, but its never failed me. Clean sink. Fill half way with really hot water and a stiff dose of oxyclean - like two or three laundry dozes. Stir until it looks dissolved. Let stand overnight.

Good luck.

BMO - done that with chlorine bleach, will try with oxyclean. Or maybe a paste, so I don't have to worry about keeping it from draining during the night. Thanks!

That it is still not finished...