Well I've moved into this house a year ago & it's time to re-do the kitchen 
Does anyone have tips on where to start 
I do not bake for a living just for hobby & the odd order for friends... However I do spend quite a bit5 of time in my kitchen & it's usually the spot to be when there is a gathering at my place 
I've taken measurements of floors, windows & cabinets as I would like to change both floors & cabinets....
I'm not a architect & I really can't draw... however I would like to have these details o my computer & draw a plan so when I go to do my research they will have a better idea of what i'm talking about...
Any help would be GREATLY appreciated.
TIA
CONGRATULATIONS! Sounds like you are in for a real treat!
I have never redone a kitchen personally but, my tip would be to DO LOTS OF REASEARCH! Especially, for the right contractors and people who are redoing your place. I have heard stories about getting the wrong people to do things. Make sure you check into past business they have had with other customers or see if they have referrals from other companies. Those are the people that can tell you how they do the job!
If I were to be redoing a kitchen I would say...cabinets! You always need cabinets! So, if you don't have enough now, get more! And if you kitchen is big enough add in an island! My kitchen has an island with the stove in it! I kind of like that but, takes up a lot of room. Just a counter top helps a lot!
Good luck with your future renovations!!
StephyG
Ooh good luck! I am in the same boat - would LOVE to hear what anyone thinks about Stainless Steel counters vs Granite (just don't LOVE the granite) - I saw Copper Countertops I LOVED, but I think they will be too soft 
Have you seen the kitchen cabinet that is for a mixer that has a shelf that raises the mixer up out of the cabinet? ooooooo!
I agree with all the above. Do your research first. Search online for kitchen design or kitchen makeover's. Find out what type of kitchen design or style you love. Walk around your kitchen you have now and compile a list 0f thing's you love about it, and things you hate aboout it.
What will your kitchen be used most for? Cooking/Baking/Entertaining? How about room for homework/computer/desk? What about a prep area? What are your need's? More storage space/ countertop space/ better lighting? Do you need a larger oven/refridgerator? What kind of flooring would be easy on your feet and leg's while your in the kitchen doing what you love hour after hour/how easy is the maintenance on the floor's? What about sink/fixtures etc..
You mention a lot of people congregate to your kitchen when you have company,. Make sure their is plenty of seating area's/room for everyone. Also is the kitchen gonna be mostly a single cook kitchen or will it be shared by more then one person? Start doing your homework and also dont be afraid to to ask people question's about what they love or dont love about their kitchen's. Get ideas, cut pic's out of mag's etc.. write everything down and keep a folder with everything in it. Keep your budget in mind also. Enjoy!
Oh by the way, After writing all that I forgot to mention if their was one thing I could add to my Kitchen, it would be a pantry ! 
Oh by the way, After writing all that I forgot to mention if their was one thing I could add to my Kitchen, it would be a pantry !
I really want that under counter cabinet that has the shelf that comes out and raises up, and locks in place, that you put your kitchenaid on. You can just pop it up, mix, clean and return it to its cabinet without lifting, pushing and moving it 
Yeah! I'd like to have that (wishful thinking)!
We did a kitchen reno last fall, complete gut job, nothing left in it. We designed the kitchen by ourselves. It's an L shape, old farmhouse, so the table is in the middle.
We got a planning sheet from our local lumber place. Any place that sells cabinetry, Rona, Home Depot etc. will have a planning sheet. We didn't go for the "high end" kitchen remodel you see on t.v. all the time, where a kitchen costs $25,000. We did our entire kitchen, new flooring, paint, cabinets, for about $3,000.
We bought cabinets from our Home improvement centre, they came pre-assambled, we installed them. We got a laminate counter top for now ... until we can save up for something more spectacular. Everyone that comes over thinks we spent way more than we did. I think it all comes down to the finishing.
Have fun, we had a great time planning, and especially the tearing out part!! Hope it all turns out well for you. It's not hard to get a great look on a budget.
Ooh good luck! I am in the same boat - would LOVE to hear what anyone thinks about Stainless Steel counters vs Granite (just don't LOVE the granite) - I saw Copper Countertops I LOVED, but I think they will be too soft
Have you seen the kitchen cabinet that is for a mixer that has a shelf that raises the mixer up out of the cabinet? ooooooo!
OMG I want that in my dream kitchen.
We did ours a couple of years ago. We started at home depot they do (or at least did) the set up on the computer so you get the line drawing of what the kitchen will look like. It really helped me to visualize what we were doing.
What i did was what was already suggested. Figure out what you like about what you have. What you really hate and need changed. Then work from there.
Set a budget and work from that, as was said you can do it for less then you might think, but unforturnately i'm not one of those people. We did a total gut and all new applainces and new light fixtures, reinforced the kitchen floor, cause the flooring i picked out needed a sub flooring that didn't have any give.
Fired the contractor 1/2 way through the job, he just messed up so bad that i couldn't believe it took my husband as long as it did before he canned him. Took us awhile to get another contractor in, had a team of two that took pity on us and came to work nights just to get it done.
Anyway my kitchen cost in the neighborhood of $30,000 thats including all my applainces and what we paid to have everything installed. I do have a fairly high end kitchen, and will have it until i die, cause i don't think i'll ever pull it apart again unless i have too.
Wow! Thank you for all your input 
As I mentioned before I moved a year ago from a pretty tiny kitchen to a much bigger kitchen. It's not as wide as I would like, however it's pretty long. It has a pantry (fairly big), something I made sure to have this time, also their is a closet right beside it, which we were thinking to gut it out & extend the pantry or put shelves in it to store my baking stuff as it's in the basement right now. The existing cabinets I'm pretty sure are enough as I still haven't filled them, I just want to change them as they are old & not our style. Their is also another smaller closet with shelving for pots & small appliances which I love as they are no longer mumbo jumboed under the sink
I really wish I knew how to make pic smaller so I could upload it on this thread so you could see what i'm talking about...
I've never heard of the cabinet for the KA I will have to look into that, even thou I love how it looks on the counter Does anyone know where I can look this up on the web? I would really like to see it
I've heard a lot of horror stories as well with contrators & I think that is why I've waited this long to do this project as my DH is not the handiest when it comes to renovations.. It makes me ill just thinking of finding someone we can trust with our home & hard earned money 
Thank you all for listening
It's called a mixer lift and I found one on cabinetparts.com. It's under misc. products. They are really awesome, but I know what you mean about the way they look on the counter. My red Artisen is my pride and joy, after my kids
Thank you soo much I will look it up right now
Wow I can;t believe I was able to upload the pics, not the best but it worked
Ok, pic number 2, the desk is no longer there, we were thinking of putting an open shelf for my plates (easy access) on the one side & on the other side it would be a wine rack & the top would be used as extra counter space or work area if needed...
All the plants are gone & the curtains as well... I would love to change the flooring, right now it's a white/grayish ceramic, I'm thinking the ceramic tiles that look like hardwood.... I love tile, just not white...
Countertops are going as they are starting to chip as they are laminate, hoping for granite & or a good all purpose countertop
& cabinets are all going as well as they are old and not very sturdy...
& if I win the lottery I would love to get new appliances... I really miss my gas stove, I still cant get use to the glass top 
What would you do to my kitchen???
My suggestion is to get cabinets that go all the way up to the ceiling. That way you get more storage for infrequently used items. That is what I did when I renovated my kitchen a couple of years ago.
we were thinking of putting an open shelf for my plates (easy access) on the one side & on the other side it would be a wine rack & the top would be used as extra counter space or work area if needed...
Looking more at the pic, I think now I will build the the open shelf for my plates & instead of doing the wine rack on the other side I will put platters there instead & and build the wine rack abouve it on the wall???
Any thoughts on this?
You all rock!
We are on the tail end of a full-scale kitchen renovation as we speak. We totally gutted it. The first thing I did was to set a budget! Then look around at syles of things that I liked at flooring stores. I got 2 or 3 estimates on flooring (we did kitchen & masterbath). I then went to lowes & Home Depot for cabinet estimates. I was flabergasted at the price! $9500, the installation itself was around $4000! Almost more than the cabinets themselves. I then sought out custom cabinet makers. I did a complete kitchen and bath with Maple for $4,200 instalation and all. I was pleasantly surprised that the customs were cheaper than the MDF from Kraftmaid. I then went onto cabinets and small details. Once we diecided who and what we wanted to use, we got started. What was supposed to be a 2 week project (per the contractor) turned into a 6 week project and it still has some loose ends that need tying up. I went with granite countertops but the options are open. I did like the stainless countertops mentioned above but I thought it a little to "industrial" for the style I was going for. It s beautiful and makes me want to spend even more time in my kichen! Best of luck to you!
Elle
I didn't read the whole thread so forgive me if I repeat something. My husband and I redid our kitchen ourselves - saved a ton of money but took a ton of time.... I was actually painting the kitchen at 11:50pm on Dec 31... Happy New Year. Anyway, I used the Ikea kitchen planner to layout the kitchen. It was easy to use and the kitchen looks great (except for the cover panels I have yet to put up ) Everyone always comments on how nice the kitchen looks. Your kitchen looks like a palace compared to what mine looked like. We ended up spending like $4500 for the entire kitchen. We had four cabinets before and now have 19 
cabinets. Most of the kitchen is 12'x18'. I'll have to dig up some before and almost after photos.
We did a complete kitchen renovation about 6 years ago. We enlarged our kitchen 14 feet out and 10 feet wider than it was. It was a nightmare trying to live here and having no kitchen but well worth it. We installed an island with our stove and one thing that I love is that I had drawers put on both sides of my stove. I have utensils in one drawer but the others are used for spices, flavorings,etc. The contractor didn't want to do this but I insisted and now he has brought several clients back to see what we did. (I designed this kitchen so the contractor and I didn't always agree LOL) I also had one cabinet built with dividers so that I can stand up baking pans and find them easily. It is so much better than them being stacked on top of each other. I had two of those divider sections made larger so that cake pans would stand in them. We also added lots and lots of recessed lights. The areas are on seperate switches so that I can only use the portion of lighting I need. But if I need more light, I can get that also. These are just some things I have found to be very useful and hope it will help you make your choices. Good luck in your remodel!!
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