OK, so this is a public service message for all of you out there who foresee a kitchen remodeling in your future. Somehow, no matter how incredibly hard you pre-plan, there are all sorts of minor details and decisions to be made as everything comes to a head. So, to give you some food for thought, and perhaps allow you to think about a few of these things ahead of time, here is a list of all of the ridiculous nonsense we've had to endure so far over the past week. I cannot believe that this is even close to an exhaustive list of possible details and snafus, but hopefully some of these will help you out:
1 - Door knobs & pulls: which ones go on which cabinets and what position? Don't forget that extra wide drawers probably need double knobs/pulls.
2 - Backsplash: standard counter backsplash, full wall tile backsplash, or a combination?
3 - Edging Tile - if you use tile on the floor or wall, are there any places where the tile ends that need a tile with a rounded edge?
4 - Crown Molding: Don't forget that this stuff sticks out from the cabinet and takes up additional space. Position your cabinets on the wall accordingly!
5 - End panels: What do the cabinets look like without the optional end panels? Is it finished with hardwood or laminate? Do you want an end panel so that you can have the same door style on the sides of the base cabinets, for a more finished look? And don't forget that the end panels will take up additional room along the wall, too!
6 - Flooring: Hardwood is cheaper than you think, even when you change your mind at the last minute. :-)
7 - Under cabinet lighting: This type of lighting doesn't have to be expensive, but make sure that your cabinets can accommodate it. In some cases, you'll need to attach additional trim to the underside of the cabinet to "hide" the light fixtures, which will add to the overall height of the cabinet (and therefore how close the cabinets come to the ceiling). This is, of course, in addition to the height of the crown molding.
And most importantly:
When you order your cabinets, make sure you have a professional measure done and that you are working with a sales person who is thoroughly knowledgeable about his/her product. If I were to go back and do only 1 thing differently, I'd go to a specialty kitchen/bath place, instead of a "big box" home improvement store.
That being said, we're still making progress and things are looking good! I'll be incredibly glad when someday soon Marc comes home from work, we all sit down and eat dinner, put the dirty dishes in the dishwasher, and then sit around and *NOT* talk about kitchen remodeling decisions. :-)
P.S. As we make progress on the kitchen, I'm posting pictures here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bethie78/sets/72157619573784596/