5 Kitchen Must-Haves That I’m Excited About

Full transparency, of the kitchen remodel, I’m most excited about decorating. I know I should probably say I’m looking forward to cooking on my new pretty ILVE range, but I haven’t even turned it on.

While I have started playing around with ideas, it’s still too early to actually add decor since work crews are still going in and out and there’s dust everywhere. Although if you follow me on Instagram, you might have seen my poll about the vintage portrait I was considering. It turns out you all have some strong opinions about that portrait! Lol!

My previous kitchen was built in the late ’80s and had no special features. In fact, while it had a lot of storage space, it really lacked organized storage space.

So when planning out this kitchen, I tried to keep in mind how we use the space, how I wanted it to be organized, and how I wanted it to look. (Who am I kidding! I don’t cook so how I wanted it to look was probably at the top of the list!)

My cabinets are a mix of semi-custom and custom from Schrock. You can read more about them and my planned layout in this previous post.

So, today I’m telling you all about 5 small features that I’m excited about in the kitchen! So here they are, in no particular order.

Hidden Outlets

The original plan was to have solid quartzite for the backsplashes. There was an unfortunate incident that meant some areas will now be tile now instead of quartzite. But since the original plan was to use solid stone, I didn’t want the beautiful quartzite interrupted by outlets!

Where I live, outlets are required every 4 feet of countertop and within 2 feet of each side of the sink. Can you spot my outlets??

In the areas where I have short upper cabinets, we installed a GFCI power strip underneath the cabinets!

I didn’t have a lot of options near the sink since there aren’t any cabinets, so I instead opted for these pop-out outlets that look a little cleaner when not in use. Eventually, the plan is to tile around these outlets so they’ll be flush with the tile and less noticeable than they are now.

Toekick Drawer

You might have seen toekick drawers before in other kitchens. Many people use them to store baking sheets or large platters. I could do the same, but I’m using mine to store…drumroll please…a step stool! (This is a short girl’s best friend!)

I’m on the shorter side and having a step stool accessible in the kitchen will be so handy! Even more so because the toe kick drawer is located underneath the appliance cabinet.

Appliance Cabinet & Drawers

Schrock offered a traditional appliance garage where the lower part of the cabinet door lifts up. My ceiling is so short, though, that I didn’t want to split my full-length cabinets into two parts.

Instead, I opted for full-length doors using bi-fold hardware. My appliance cabinet holds my microwave, but will also hold everyday appliances like the toaster and electric kettle.

The cabinet below has pullout shelves to hold more small appliances that can be brought up and plugged in on the countertop.

Outlet Drawer

Schrock offered a drawer outlet accessory and I was quick to purchase one! I use the kitchen as my office, so the idea of being able to charge my laptop or my phone while stored away sounded like a great idea to me. The outlet includes two three-prong outlets and two USB ports.

Paper Towel Holder

I will never be convinced that paper towels on the counter look nice. Practical? Absolutely! But not pretty.

Schrock offered a full-height, double garbage pullout that had a shelf above for paper towels. I loved the idea but didn’t like the wasted space on the shelf behind the paper towels. I really wanted to use that space for more paper towel storage!

My cabinet designer encouraged me to look on Etsy for a pullout shelf. I think this shelf is meant for a closet, but it looked like it would work perfectly!

The Etsy shop owner very kindly answered all of my questions and made my shelf to my exact measurements. The thing was packaged 1000x better than my actual cabinets when it arrived! I chose Maple so that it would match the interior of my cabinets.

Now that it’s installed, it’s absolutely perfect and allows me to hold a total of 3 rolls of paper towels. This was an easy solution that added more functionality!

I actually have a few more things for the list, but they aren’t quite camera-ready yet. I’m hoping I can share the full list sooner rather than later, though!

And if you want to see these things in action, you can watch the video below!