Essential Home Building Ideas: Kitchens

We're continuing on our series of Essential Home Building Ideas.  We've already covered Electrical and Design/Build ideas. Today we're tackling the hub of the home, the kitchen. 

1.  Recess the refrigerator.
2.  Place cabinets or drawers on both sides of wide islands for extra storage space. 
3.  Incorporate a paper towel holder in your cabinetry.
4.  Customize your drawers for optimal organization.
5.  Put a warming drawer in your dining room (technically not the kitchen but related.)
6.  Place pantry for easy access from both kitchen and garage.
7.  Incorporate both gas and electric hook-ups for appliances in case you change your mind down the road.
8.  For corner pantries, incorporate lazy susan's in the corners on every shelf for easy access.
9.  Place a light in your pantry and have it on a motion sensor, or put a switch in the door frame so that the light goes on when the door is open and off when the door closes.  This only works if you're diligent in closing your pantry door.
10.  Use copper tubing for your ice maker from the freezer until it's out of the kitchen wall.
11.  Consider installing a drawer microwave.
12.  Incorporate a dedicated knife drawer.
13.  Have separate pull-out cabinets for garbage, recycling, composting and dirty laundry (dishtowels, rags, etc.)
14.  Consider replacing lower cabinets with drawers - more efficient use of space and easier to get to items stored in them.
15.  Install two pumps at the sink, one for dishsoap and one for handsoap.
16.  Be sure to plan a space to hang dishtowels to dry at a convenient location to the sink.  It's amazing how often this gets overlooked.
17.  Incorporate an appliance garage for frequently used small appliances that you don't want sitting out for view.  This includes a standing mixer, food processor, toaster, coffee maker, juicer, etc.
18.  Plumb for water to the stove for a future pot-filler and to the island for a future prep station.  It will make updating your kitchen easier in the future.
19.  Never forget undercabinet lighting!
20.  Incorporate a pull-out drawer that is lined with plastic under your sink base to hold hard-to-get-to cleaning supplies.
21.  Keep your backsplash free of outlets by placing outlets under the bottom-side of the upper cabinets or under the lip of the countertop.
22.  If you have pets, incorporate a feeding area and possibly even a sleeping area for your pets in the kitchen.

We'd love to hear your ideas, too.  Let us know of any great ideas you had when you built your house.