You make a good argument.

I think a lot of people just try to squeeze in as much cabinetry as possible, regardless of whether it's a good choice or not. Counter space is what's usually mentioned, but uppers fall into the same concept.

Agree here. I even have a small kitchen and yet am choosing to double the size of our window in our renovation. It will be 7-8 feet long. As a consequence I will have next to no upper cabinet storage, but to me the openness and light is completely worth it.

You touched on why we didn't increase the size of our window. The exterior of our house is sandstone and my DH was completely averse to cutting into the stone. Ours was a mostly DIY reno and he was not at all comfortable doing it. It is still a good size window and we did bring it down a few inches, which actually made a huge difference to me, being only 5'1"!! I would have gladly, gleefully gave up those upper cabinets for more windows but I conceded this one to DH. It would have given us about 6 foot of window wall across the back of our house...I would have loved it...but I love him more so I'm fine with it.

Enlarging the window was number one on my "want" list in the kitchen, and we chose the largest window that space and symmetry would allow. We have a stucco exterior and that portion of the job was DIY for us, but well worth the effort involved. My kitchen is on the small side, but like threpinktrees, the openness and light trumped additional storage.

Sometimes there are good architectural or structural reasons.
Things I see:
-Many folks do need better storage but simply don't realize how a little more done well can matter a lot so they overcompensate. Too many KDS let them ( course if least resistance)
- we're a nation of hoarders
- resistance to fixed window using alternate air flow.
- too much houzz and hgtv, make a pretty photo with little thought to the overall space
-strong urge to own the Sistine Chapel

Now if it's a choice between window for the sink or for dining; I'll take dining. I have both though:)

One of the things I didn't get that I really wanted with my remodel was more uppers. I LOVE uppers. Much more than lowers, even though those are drawers. Everyone convinced me that I had to move and enlarge my sink window, and I did, and I'm not sorry about that, but by the time I added a proper hood, the bigger window, and adequate cooler and oven space, I only got a couple extra uppers, and most in the corners. :( So sad. I would have been happy with my little window and friendly sunbeam, but there are enough compensations that I don't dwell on it. I wouldn't give up good light and a good window--I have two 4' windows and a slider--but the last thing I want in the kitchen is a view. I'd far rather have uppers.

I would give up uppers for a larger window but DH is also totally averse to cutting into brick. Oh well, not a huge issue but I sure would like it.

I am working on a floor plan with few uppers and more window, partly because I want the light and partly because an aging in place home works better with lowers. Amazed at how difficult it was with designers to get them out of the habit of uppers. Only major issue I had was where to put oils/vinegars in lowers but not next to rangetop.

The problem with installing new or enlarging windows in traditional wood-framed houses, stone exteriors notwithstanding, is not the cutting the hole and sticking the window in but it is the matching of the window style and trim to the rest of the house and matching the siding. If this is even possible, which it often is not, it is time-consuming and requires meticulous cutting and fitting, which makes installing or resizing windows particularly expensive and easy to not get right and will forever look like a hack job. I think most people do not feel it is worth it, especially in light of the high cost of kitchens already.

I love love my 18 feet of windows!!!
They totally change my kitchen.

But I am lucky to have 2 large pantries at the edge of the kitchen. If I didn't have them, I'm not sure if I could have given up all that wall real estate, even though I am very short. Even though my kitchen is not small , there is really not a lot of cabinets (8base cabinets/5uppers), so those pantries are vital.

Because I am so short, I hardly use/can reach beyond the bottom level of upper cabinets. So why pay (in terms of cabinet costs and giving up windows) for storage that I can hardly use?

edit to add:
We were lucky that we had a wall of siding on the back of the garage. So GC removed them and put the old siding to fill in the new windows siding, and put the brand new siding on the back of the garage.
You can't even tell we did any construction on the back of the house.
No one goes to the back of the garage.

Highly recommend more windows!

Amanda

This post was edited by huango on Fri, Sep 19, 14 at 21:11

Top wants on my remodel list

1. Natural light!! I had NO windows and referred to my kitchen as the dungeon because that's what it felt like.

2. Improve flow/remove main path that cut through kitchen to get to garage.

3. Walk in pantry. I had a closet pantry which may be enough for some, but certainly not enough for my family of 6.

4. Double ovens because I bake a lot and host all the family get togethers and trying to play the "guess how long I should bake it" game with 4 different dishes that need 4 different temps so everything is ready at once on a standard 30" range is a nightmare.

5. Two dishwashers- see above. Family of 6 + hosting everything equals dishes galore!

I'm happy to say that I got all my wants and I love them all but the one I appreciate most is walking into my kitchen every morning with the sunlight streaming in. Sometimes I will just go stand in my kitchen and look around and smile.

Second would be the dishwashers. I LOVE having 2 dishwashers!!

We also added a window during our kitchen reno and it was so worth it. The morning sun that comes through that window is worth every penny.

My kitchen, when the house was built, had a rather large window that came down below counter level but it had been covered up at some point. I put a new window in the approximate location, but not as low and only 20" wide, because I was after a lot of storage and more counter space.

I have mentioned here before that one of the few things that I would do differently now is to reduce the upper cabinet run width in order to make that window larger. I didn't need as much storage as I thought -- having had so little before, I was greedy for it!

We kept the same width of window (which isn't large) over the sink but added a patio door.

Motivation for keeping the small window is largely what rmtdoug touched upon - it would have completely carved up the front of our house and the additional siding bill would have been untenable.

Also the patio door looks out onto a much more private area: the window looks out on the street.

Our kitchen isn't tiny but is moderate in size and we certainly filled up all the storage. However we do have two quite unusable blind corners, my bad for letting the KD at the cabinet place talk me into them, so we didn't gain more than 12" linear space with two 18" uppers to either side of the window.

We also have two skylights in the kitchen adding light.

Finally our window faces SW and we don't have air conditioning, so the kitchen gets hot enough as it is on summer evenings!

We are actually planning to reduce our window size during the remodel. Of course, with 49sq' (14' of counter run) of existing windows, losing 3.5 sq' isn't such a big deal. ;)

I have lived with quite a few kitchens with small or lacking windows; having two large ones is much nicer IMO. I remember one expensive 1980's housing development when we were house shopping--the kitchens were 8'x8' boxes, with the only opening being the 30" door access from the dark foyer. Horrible.

now that's a window!

[Contemporary Spaces[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/contemporary-home-design-ideas-phbr1-bp~s_2103) by Other Metro Windows Pella Windows and Doors

Golfergirl no reason you can't put oil, vinegar or spices next to any decent range or range top. I do it all the time. They have sufficient insulation. I've taken the temp of mine with self clean running, no noticeable difference.

One reason is that for people who live in expensive cities with homes close together there are permit regulations that dictate how much of each home's side facing can be window vs. brick or stone or similar. Rationale is to prevent potential fires from jumping from home to home.

So if one is lucky enough or rich enough to have a home with lots of property or a country home or a mansion in a gated community, etc. you can have large windows without giving anything else up. Unfortunately for those of us in smaller city lots however, enlarging kitchen windows means making smaller windows elsewhere. :-(

In our case we didn't want to give up our larger bedroom windows or a big loft window seat in the hallway above the kitchen so we stayed with what we had which was no window along the side of our kitchen but a decent sized bow window in our kitchen table area. Tradeoffs ...

The broken seals on my kitchen window needed to be addressed and I broached the idea of putting in a new, larger window to the first KD I consulted. My kitchen is on our second floor and faces East onto an acre of wooded property we own - a nice view & no privacy issues. She seemed closed to the idea citing the expense of installing a header, replacing clapboard siding, etc. The plan she presented me was almost identical to what I had in my old kitchen, except that all the cabinets were new.

I've had communication issues and delays with my current KD, but I must give credit where due. She was a strong proponent for using that space for a window instead of steering me to buy more boxes. She came up with a plan that gave me more usable space with fewer uppers.

It is a big expense to do a big window - not just the cost of the window, but all the contractor's extra work. I think many KD's know that most clients have a budget, or at least an idea of how much they will spend on a remodel. It's less complicated and more lucrative for them to replace boxes with boxes. And it's likely most people feel they are getting more for their dollar if they see cabinetry as opposed to a "feeling" of more space and light.

I agree that if you're remodeling, you might not be willing to cut into the brick to enlarge windows . . . but that doesn't address the issue of new builds.

I'm putting my new kitchen in an addition so it is sort of new construction.

It will be tucked into the windowless back corner of a greatroom type room so I don't know if that means it does or doesn't have windows.

I am adding windows to my garage though.