I'm sure some others will disagree, but I think the potfiller is an innovation whose time has come and gone. It requires considerable plumbing and expense just to install. A large pot on the stove can easily be filled from a pitcher or saucepan if too large to carry from the sink. How often do you cook soup for ten or a large quantity of pasta anyway? It seems that it is the emptying of a gallon of hot water after boiling that is the bigger problem, not the filling before it boils. The potfiller doesn't help with that at all. Now if only it was a pot filler/empty-er, that might be useful.

Thanks Mattman. We need to change out our under cabinet lighting so will be sure to do when the countertops are out and before we do the backsplash.

Thanks flopsycat1. I tend to agree. I just want to make sure we are seeing if others agree on some of the things we think. :)

Hire a couple of hours of professional design help. Yes there are electrical items to consider. And you want to make sure your materials don’t clash horribly, as had been posted on here more than once. You also need to understand that “painting” your cabinets will not be a cheap redo. 7-9K average to have them professionally coated by a cabinet finisher rather than some backyard hack with house paint.

Your list is big enough that you are at the tipping point between a complete redo. Your money might be better spent in a gut redo if you have layout or structural deficiencies. Poor quality cabinets do not get better just by putting 9K worth of white on them.

Paint first and be sure it holds up - maybe wait a year before putting in the counters. There is nothing worse in a kitchen then chippy cabinets with new counters on them. Be sure you have a good layout before making this kind of investment. Be sure your cabinets are strong enough to last another 12 years are so.

I also would not do a pot filler.

Do not do a small glass mosaic tile backsplash. It is the most commonly regretted and soon replaced backsplash. What looks pretty on a 12 x 12 square is optically busy and headache inducing in a large backsplash area.

If you are interested in a farm sink, Kohler makes two that come in a "sort apron" style and can be installed on a standard sink base - the Kohler Whitehaven (cast iron) and the Kohler Vault (stainless). They also come in "tall apron" styles, so make sure you use the short apron - view it in person first to see if you like it.

Do not do a kitchen that does not blend with the rest of the home. Do not get into trends and fads too much or your new kitchen will be dated in less than 10 years - so make sure you really like the choices you make and are not driven by trends or HGTV.

Definitely find a way to do some under cabinet lighting especially in the area between sink and range. This is a major prep area and needs good lighting. I started out with some DIY LED strips which eventually had wired in by an electrician.

Do not be afraid to post pics and ask questions:)

Hire a professional kitchen designer. They will not only make sure the design is cohesive, which will save you a trip back to this site in panic, but they'll likely save you money too. It will be the smartest choice you make in the whole process.

If you paint your cabinets yourselves, prep is the most important part.We degrease, sand, apply Willbond to soften the existing finish.Then use oil based cover stain, thinned for a smoother finish. Sand between coats of primer and finish coats. If you do not have access to a sprayer I would brush the finish with appropriate additives to help your choice of paint flow better.

Use oil base paint if you can get it, makes a world of difference. And it should not cost 9K, unless you have an ungodly amount of cabinets. We just had our new butler's pantry painted and it looks wonderful. Even painted the countertop, which I know isn't for everyone, but with all the power tools (still in reno) slapped on that counter, not a scratch yet.

Careful colonial you used the O word, you will be attacked by numerous people.B, S, an paint guy.

Hi,
Best wishes for a successful renovation! If your contractor does not cook, it may be smart and cost effective to use a kitchen planner, not cab salesperson. I left the electrical outlet decisions up to my kitchen planner and contractor (who cooks and worked his way through college as a restaurant chef). We have 7 outlets, with 3 about 3 ft apart on longest wall. They had good ideas about changing our layout. My 11 yr old glass backsplash has held up fine and I like the reflective quality. I wasn’t excited about a pot filler because you still need to carry pot with boiled water to sink to drain it. I am glad I added under cab lighting, and contractor was right that I only needed it in the corner. Before renovation, I had trash bin under sink, but it so convenient now having it and recycle bin in island pullout by the sink and fridge. Some islands are so big they jut into path of work triangle, adding steps from one appliance to another. We drink a lot of water, so our fridge has water and ice dispenser. We drink a lot of coffee, so having a dedicated area for coffee mugs, coffee maker, and coffee supplies is wonderful for us. Before renovation, the pantry was on opposite side of kitchen from fridge, and it is now so convenient when putting away groceries to have them near the door and next to each other and a nearby counter to set down grocery bags. I liked their suggestion to have 30” wide cab of 3 drawers unit under cooktop to store pot holders and cooking utensils and pots and pans- I like it better than putting them on shelves behind door. Now I use shelves behind door unit for our table linens. Take cabs to ceiling so the tops don’t collect dust. The way I bake and heat up leftovers, having a big convection microwave made more sense than a second wall oven. Some new double ovens come with a low height section for cookie pans and dinner rolls. Because we are tall, they suggested cab over wall oven have vertical slots to store baking and broiling pans, and I love that, too. Our 22 yr old granite counters will outlast us and I do not seal them and know no one here who does. We did not use knobs because we are trying to age in place, so we used “C” pulls on all cab doors and drawers, and have a single handle sink faucet. You will need to decide if you want a single or double sink. I hope this is useful.

Thanks everyone for all of the insight. Just trying to prevent any mistakes or need for do-overs. :) @marylut I wish I could do so many of the things you suggest. Our kitchen layout isn't ideal. The fridge is on the opposite side of the sink and island. But, there is really nowhere else for the fridge to go. So, we are just trying to make as functional as we can by re-evaluating the shape of the island, etc. and doing a lot of cosmetic changes just to bring the kitchen up to date.

Read this first....

https://www.houzz.com/discussions/new-to-kitchens-read-me-first-dsvw-vd~4306041

then read this....

https://www.houzz.com/discussions/things-you-added-or-removed-that-you-love-regret-in-your-kitchen-renov-dsvw-vd~4273188?n=74

Please, please, please spend a bit of money now on a certified kitchen designer and avoid having to come back here with HELP ME PLEASE. The money you spend on a kitchen designer will save you thousands in mistakes.

80sgirl - will you be posting your layout?

Please excuse the mess.

No way would I invest time and money in that existing kitchen. Especially with that weird dysfunctional island. Just the shorty cabinets and lack of drawer space alone means it’s not worth it. I’d bet those are the cheap plastic epoxy drawer glides in the drawers that you do have. And a wall oven shoved in a wall? Nope.

Start over completely.

My excellent handyman contractor made sure to upgrade my apartment's main electrical panel, which is located at the entrance to my kitchen, when we redid the kitchen. The apartment is 39 years old and he simply said that a newer one with more power was needed. Not something my KD thought of.

I made sure to put 4 outlets in every cabinet that has electricity, e.g., the appliance garage and the cabinet where my network router now lives.

My breakfast bar is where my phone is charged. I put one of these under it, on the outside of the pony wall. It has one USB outlet and one USB-C outlet, the new standard. Eliminates the need for something to plug the phone into.
https://www.amazon.com/Top-Greener-TU21548AC-Receptacle-Interchangeable/dp/B01FREZ8VE

When I bought my apartment 38 years ago, the kitchen had a clean lined white cabinets with black slate floors. People couldn't understand why I replaced it, because it still looked good. My new kitchen? Custom clean lined white cabinets with a grey printed black porcelain floor.

Avoid trendy colors, like all the grey, beige neutrals around.

Think about solutions that have become cliches - like subway tile. Yes, it is clean and inexpensive. But... waaay overdone. Be brave - get something simple in a shape or that is dimensional! When I was looking for handles I saw variations of the same modern handle everywhere, in every country. So I bought something different.

Think about what might lock you into expensive solutions forever, like a counter depth refrigerator. Buy appliances in standard, common sizes so you can always find good quality replacements.

Good luck!

Why are you replacing the counters? Are they granite? Are they in bad shape? Your brown cabs and brown floor and brown kitchen table and chairs make your kitchen look and feel dark. Can you replace your table with island seating ? Do you need to move fridge closer on that wall toward the door?

Glass backsplashes won't chip any more than tile backsplashes do......unless you routinely pound them with heavy, edged tools. The vertical installation means the backsplash can never have a brick dropped on it. You can demonstrate the strength of glass against chipping in this application with some simple experimentation. And glass backsplashes, well done with proper attention to the backing, which will be visible, are very attractive. It's a look of quiet glamour, and IMO will date slowly due to its simplicity.

Be aware that all clear glass has a strong green tint (unless you pay for the truly clear and colorless variety), and the tint will affect the appearance.

I like your kitchen, other than the odd placement of your fridge. If I were you, I would either only paint the cabinets white to lighten, brighten, and modernize it a bit and leave everything else or do a complete gut job so you can change the layout completely.

What do you like and what do you not like in your kitchen? Start with that and improve the things you don't like.

And it looks to me like, if you were to gut the kitchen, you could move the refrigerator to the end of either of the existing legs.

@kariyava and @auntthelma-- While the fridge is oddly placed, I have gotten used to it. It is actually convenient to plop groceries on the island and then put in fridge or pantry (right by the fridge). Believe it or not, there are lots of kitchens that I see on houzz that have the islands on the opposite side of the island. In our case, I don't think we can change the placement of the fridge without relocating applicances, etc. The stove would probably have to go on the island. The fridge on either end of of the legs would have fridge doors open our hearth room or into our walkway from the garage and laundry room.

We have a kitchen designer coming out to consult with us but I think that we are only going to paint the cabs since I don't like the color and change out the granite since it is too dark for my taste. Will probably put a new backsplash in too. Gutting the kitchen would make it such that I can't do anything else to my house and I have a list of things to do! :) I guess a redesign of the shape of the island is another possibility.

Glad you have a kitchen designer. Good idea. Be careful of doing something trendy that will date your remodel in a few years, like maybe one color cabs on cab bases and another color on wall cabs. If you think the granite is too dark, see if if you like it with lighter cabs and backsplash. You may like the contrast for visual interest.

can you put the pic of your kitchen here? Everything won't look weird if go with the shape and style of your kitchen!