Some of you know much of this story. We moved into our house in 1998, telling ourselves that we needed to get right into a major remodeling project (which I started talking about on this forum sometime shortly thereafter). The kitchen, in particular, was a mess. One light fixture on the ceiling, so there were shadows everywhere. The range was a '70's vintage GE electric with a non-functioning burner. No range hood, so the whole house fan became our range hood. The dishwasher was the kind you wheel over to the sink and connect to the faucet. Counter space was limited, cabinets were warped and doors didn't close, etc. We quickly replaced the range with a LaCanche version with gas burners and an all-convection-all-the-time oven, and we still have that. We quit using the dishwasher, though, after I noticed that if I was wearing shorts and brushed up against it, I could feel a distinct electrical current. And then things stalled. We hired a designer. And didn't like their design. We hired another designer. And didn't like their design. And this went on for a long time. We'd hire a designer, not like the design, and then a few years later, try again. Other things got in the way as well. Finally, in 2022, we hired a designer who was recommended by a friend and crucially, we didn't try and make major changes to the kitchen footprint. The ensuing remodel involved much more than the kitchen, started in April of 2024, and still has elements that are unfinished. (Our contractor is a great builder and a godawful project manager) What remains are details, though, and we've been using the kitchen now for five or six months. What an amazing thing to be rocketed from the seventies to now!! We have lots of lights all over the place, so you can see what you're mixing, slicing, etc. We have a wall oven with all sort of crazy programs and such. It has a steam function which I've been using for making sandwich rolls - they come out great! It also isn't all-convection-all-the-time, which makes my wife happy when she bakes stuff. We have a range hood!! I can sear meat on a hot cast iron skillet and not set off the smoke detector! I'm absolutely amazed at how well the dishwasher works. I had no idea our glassware could come out looking so perfectly clean! And even though we didn't really change the footprint, we managed to get more counter space out of it. Nothing's started breaking yet (other then the temp display on the fridge, which was quickly fixed), so we'll see how these things end up working out in the long term, but right now they're pretty cool.
I know most of you have been working in kitchens like this for years now, but for me, this is like having been transported into the future!