Hannah B's Profile

So many thoughts!

1. I had my counters raised an inch. I love it. I'm 5'8".
2. I have CaesarStone counters. Misty Carrera. They've held up very well, although some things can stain (pink post its that get wet, curry w/ turmeric), I have been able to get stains out by making a paste of whitening toothpaste and leaving overnight.
3. I would love to use the trick posted on this site recently about installing hidden drawers behind the toekick, underneath the base cabs.
4. I would never splurge on high end, or even mid range cabinets ever again. I don't think the surfaces have held up well. Ikea all the way if I ever do it again.
5. I have a tiny kitchen, so I did install wall cabinets up to the ceiling, but honestly it is a pain to access them. Try to plan your kitchen with as much as possible under the counter and see if that meets needs first, then consider open shelving partway up the wall. I am now using a hutch in the dining room to store a lot of spill over items that I don't frequently use. For that matter there are a lot of traditional kitchen cleaning supplies that I keep in the basement rather than under the sink.
6. Pegboard.
7. Get the right cabinet hinges for wall cabinets. I needed hinges that opened 180 degrees because of the location of the cabinet relative to the turn in the counter (my kitchen designer missed this).
8. I got a sink that wound up being custom with the drain offset to the rear right corner. This allowed me to have an unobstructed, full depth cabinet under half of the sink (no plumbing on that side).
9. Having no garbage disposal maximized space under the other half of the kitchen sink.
10. If you have awkward spaces you are trying fit with a cabinet, make a mock up out of cardboard boxes. I went back and forth with my kitchen designer who convinced me to get the bigger piece and it was visually overwhelming for the space. Just too much even though on paper it looked great. I redesigned a solution myself, mocked it up with cardboard and replaced it. If your gut is telling you it might not work, LISTEN or vet more thoroughly.
11. Wood floors are not a problem in the kitchen because of water, they are a problem because you drop things that tend to be pointy/sharp/heavy.
12. I also am a big fan of all my drawers. One thing I did not realize is the drawer contstruction - usually beyond a certain drawer depth the box is a different dimension than the face. So a 12 inch drawer has sides on the inside that come up 6 inches. Know what you will store and if you need that part of the structure for containment or need something else to help with containment.

Crate and Barrel used to sell what to me were the identical glasses and I bought them. However I recently went back to get more and while it looks like they carry the same style, the sizes are different. The small tumbler now has a wider diameter, and you'd have to have the hands of a giant to hold them comfortably. Not sure if this is a permanent change, or a stocking issue, but this was my experience about a month ago.

Gretchenalexis-I got my conserve about 4 years ago at Candy Hardware at Dupont Circle. I took over some tupperware containers, bowls, dishes to get a visual sense of what fit. Give them a call.