Welcome,

I've been married the same amount of time, and like you, was also a child bride (really! :>). I'm not much of a cook either, but after enduring a poorly designed kitchen for 11 years, I knew the main thing I wanted was a functional design- the cabinet/counter/flooring details were secondary.

We are not finished, but it has been workable since Dec (just before Xmas), and both of us, love it! We tore down the dividing wall between the kitchen and DR and so probably just the open space is the biggest positive change. Improved lighting, recessed, undercabinet and bullets into the greenhouse windows make a huge difference. We replaced windows and a sliding glass door.

Changing the layout to accommodate prep/cooking/storage/beverage-bar/zones and having lots of drawers and pullout shelves (to eliminate having to lay on the floor to grab things from the bottom back of lower cabinets), and then luxuries like a gooseneck faucet with spray and soap dispenser in a large deep sink are lovely extras.

So, to summarize, to make it easier and more enjoyable to 'work in' has made us fall in love. Just think about your people relationships- even the most gorgeous person just becomes annoying if they are not easy to get along with! :>)

Agreed. Go for a functional design first. Think about what your annoyances are in the current kitchen and figure out how to fix them. Study the layouts and the suggestions here, come up with your own layout, post it and listen to the feedback.

The decorative details can always be changed provided you go with a good, basic setup.

Since we don't have a layout of your current space (kitchen and surrounding rooms) or your general decorating style (cottage, country, farm, formal, modern, etc), all we can make are general comments.

From your description of yourself, I suspect that a kitchen that would work for you would have to be made an integral part of the living spaces. I recommend...

* opening the kitchen up to your FR/LR and DR so the rooms all flow from one room to the next.

* use cabinets/counter/flooring that fit in with the rest of the rooms the kitchen will be open to. Most likely this will mean wood floors (even though I prefer tile w/2 dogs...but that's for me, not you!)

* since you like the "cozy" feel, I suspect a traditional (but not formal) or farm/country style will work best for you...warm woods or painted cabinets, soapstone or butcher block countertops (or some of the "softer" look granites), etc.

* appliances, I'm not sure about...stainless steel goes w/almost all, IMHO, but you may prefer colors (e.g., burgundy range) or black or white appliances.

* sinks and faucets, again, probably more traditional, but the materials and finishes would be driven by other choices such as countertop and cabinets.

But, as with what others have said, I think first and foremost you should go for functionality. A functional kitchen is so important for using a kitchen. If it's not functional, it either won't be used, or it will be used grudgingly. Style is separate from function in that any style can be applied to any functional kitchen. In general, functionality is driven primarily by placement of elements (e.g., arrangement of work spaces, appliances, sinks, pantry, etc) while style is what you use for those elements.

I strongly recommend reading the current "Read Me" thread, drawing up a to-scale layout of your current space along with what can/cannot be changed, etc. (see "Read Me" thread), and posting it here. We already know it's a budget remodel, but mention it in the layout thread as well...we won't try changing windows, etc. if we know up-front you cannot afford to do so right now. Don't be defensive about having to do a budget remodel...many people on the Forum have had to do the same and have come up with wonderful kitchens...better than many high-end ones I've seen elsewhere!

HTH!

Here is a link that might be useful: Read Me If You're New To GW Kitchens!

lilyj,
I completely understand the never loving your kitchen. In my home the layout is bad and the colors are yuck and I just don't feel at home. But when I'm in my Mom's kitchen everything clicks and I don't mind working and cooking in it because everything flows so well. She doesn't have anything fancy or expensive, it's just practical and the layout is WONDERFUL!! I do believe there is a way to get a great, cozy kitchen without spending tons of $$$.

Amy

raehelen, pbrisjar, and buehl, thank you so much for your quick responses. raehelen, I really was a child bride too. Dumb, but oh, well...it's worked. I had to smile while reading all of your comments because I've had three KDs come to my home and none of them have been able to get a feel for what I want the way you have - especially you, buehl. I think the last one left feeling totally defeated and I was embarrassed because I've been so all-over-the-board with my ideas. I'm not disparaging the KDs because each gave some good ideas. The first one immediately knew the solution to my feeling 'hemmed into' my 11x13 galley kitchen even though I'm actually not. He told me that I needed the pantry and the wall it stood next to removed to open up the kitchen into the dining room which has a lovely bay window that looks out over our back lawn. The green grass and blue sky really lift my spirits in the spring and summer and is one of my favorite features of our home. We went ahead and did that and I love it. raehelen, did you think it would make such a huge difference? The sad part is, I'd have never thought of that myself.

I forgot to say that I live in what others have referred to as a Victorian farmhouse which we built in 1989. We wanted to keep it simpler than some of the other Victorians that were built around that time, so we didn't use any ornate woodwork. I'd like to play up the simple farmhouse look with an equally simple kitchen. We've installed a white pine tongue-in-groove plank ceiling which will be painted white or ivory. It also has new recessed lights and is wired for pendant lights over the sink and the island. I just hope I can put the island under the light. We got ahead of ourselves there, but it's done now...

Our home has lots of windows but for reasons I can't remember we put one regular-sized window over the sink and left it at that. I'd love to have a taller, wider, or double window installed but since it's a two-storey house there's always that pesky business about headers which my husband says is too much work, so...I did insist on a new window that can be tilted to clean because we have a permanent family of spiders that live on the outside of that window. They can spin dirty webs much faster than I can haul the ladder over to the window to clean them off, so a tilt window should help solve that problem. (pbrisjar - The dirty window was one of the first things I put on the list of things I don't like about my kitchen so I decided a tilt window would be money well spent.)

Buehl, your powers of perception are amazing. I do want white or ivory painted cabinets. I want soapstone or butcher block counters with ORB cabinet handles and other fixtures. I very much want a blue range but that's not going to happen this year. It's not totally out of the question for later though, so I feel that I'd like to leave room for a small Aga or Lacanche (sp?) How I wish I lived near a Domain Furniture right now. I'd be the first person in line for an Aga. Hmm...I'm wondering if anyone within a hundred miles of this area has an Aga or Lacanche. Oh, well, I volunteer to be the first! I'm giving up something important, like new clothes? to get a farmhouse sink. I'm in love with them.

I'll take your advice and read the "Read Me" thread. I started to read it once but wanted to get to the 'good stuff' and stopped half-way through. I'd love to post a sketch and will do so if I ever recover from that nasty Windows crash of '07. Note to others: Don't ever store your family's addresses and phone numbers on your computer so that you can throw away those little bits of paper that are cluttering your desk!

My 2 cents... & I've also been married a long time,29 years. :0) Have your stove,fridg,oven & sink close to each other. It saves running around time in your kitchen. I don't have a pot filler, but I have a long faucet pullout that almost reaches the stove. A trash bin rollout that is only feet away and seperate work areas(a 3'counter, then a fridge, a 3' counter then double ovens. It's broken up into work areas). I don't like pantries that are located in another room or you have to walk around the corner to get to them. The pantry should be a part of the kitchens space. Then like another poster said, the kitchen should be open to the rest of the house. Those are my kitchen priorities. :0) Hope that helps...

Amy, I believe you're right in that there's a way to get a great kitchen without spending tons of money. I've been researching cabinets and appliances online every night because we live about three hours from the nearest large city and it's just not practical with gas prices being what they are these days to drive into the city to find the best price until I know just what I want. On the other hand, I need to see some of the appliances before I know if I want to pursue them. I drop in to the big box stores in my area but I always seem to leave unsatisfied. How I wish moderately priced lines of appliances came in colors. White, which is the color of my fridge and dishwasher, black, and stainless steel don't hold any fascination for me at all. As both you and Nicole mentioned (thanks, Nicole), I'm trying to think of function. I've thought about moving my sink from under the window, but it and the dishwasher which is just to its right are probably the two things in the kitchen that are in exactly the right spot. I don't like where my refrigerator sets, but I can't change the fact that we have a galley kitchen with only seven feet between the two runs of cabinets, so I guess the fridge has to stay where it is at the far end of the kitchen, next to the wall. At least it's in the most unobtrusive spot possible. It won't be difficult to move the range farther away from the refrigerator which is only about 21 inches away now, so my plan is to do just that. I'll have more counter space between the range and the refrigerator but that will take away from the five feet of countertop I have on the left side of the range.

I can already tell that removing the one center fluorescent light in the middle of the room and installing recessed lighting is going to improve my comfort level in the kitchen at night.

I think one of the things that I dislike so much about my kitchen is that there's no music, no television, no computer(!) in there to amuse me while I wait for things to boil, etc. Does anyone depend on things like that to make the room seem less isolated or do you enjoy any quiet time you find there? I don't have small children running in and out to occupy me. As I write this I'm beginning to wonder if I'm a mature adult who still needs to be entertained at all times...

I'd love for my kitchen to be the kind of place where I want to be, to sometimes sit on a comfortable bar stool (are there any?) and read the newspaper while I drink a cup of coffee. As it is now, I gravitate toward the living room or the sitting area in my bedroom to relax. What I don't want when this reno is finished is to walk through it and think I did a nice job of choosing all the elements but still have no desire to be in there.

I'm trying not to be Negative Nellie but I'm afraid I'm sounding that way. I will go read some more posts on the forum now!