10 Kitchen Remodel Ideas: My Must-Haves!

1. Open Kitchen Shelving

Open shelving in a kitchen… do you love it or hate it? I never had open shelving before trying it out in our last kitchen so I wasn’t sure what I would think. I ended up loving it!

I love the aesthetics of open shelving because it breaks up wall to wall cabinets so you’re not looking at a sea of doors. And if you choose wood shelves like the floating corner shelves that I added, it adds warmth to the space. As a bonus, shelving is a great place to add some personality to your kitchen with accessories and beautiful serving pieces:

One reason some people don’t like open shelving is because of the dust factor but I really didn’t find that to be an issue. Several of the things I kept on my shelves (salt & pepper grinders, oil & vinegar bottles, etc.) were items I used daily so dust really didn’t have a chance to settle on them. For other items like my large salad bowls that didn’t get used as much, I just did a simple, quick rinse and wipe-out before using them.

Another thing some people don’t like about open shelving is that you can’t hide your uglies like plastic cups since everything is essentially on display. But I still had plenty of cabinet space to hide anything I didn’t want displayed and actually enjoyed rotating the pretty pieces/accessories that I have instead of keeping them hidden away.

2. Integrated Paper Towel Storage

Having a designated spot for our paper towels where they were off the countertop but easy to grab was one of the kitchen remodel ideas from our previous kitchen that I loved the most! It was great having a storage spot for a few extra rolls behind the hanging roll too:

I liked that there was a full shelf underneath the paper towel roll that created a division between them and the trash/recycling cans.

I’ve also seen a version with a paper towel holder that’s part of a kitchen island drawer that pulls out to reveal extra paper towel storage.

3. Drawers & More Drawers

One piece of advice that many of you gave me before remodeling our last kitchen was to add LOTS of drawers. Such great advice! We did all drawers in our kitchen island:

Sources: Lantern pendants over island  |  Drawer pulls (12″)  |  Rattan counter stools in Fog  |  Round marble + wood cutting board

They held everything from our pots & pans to our food storage containers, baking dishes, colanders, and more. I also loved having a roll-out drawer at the top of two of our island drawers. One held baggies, aluminum foil, etc. and the other we used for desk supplies:

We also had a bank of drawers to the right of our dishwasher that held most of our glassware:

I thought that having glasses in a drawer might be awkward but it was so easy to pull open and grab the glass we were looking for instead of having to find it buried at the back of a cabinet.

4. Hidden Outlet & USB Charger

While we’re talking drawers, another feature I’d love to add to our NC kitchen is a hidden charger within a drawer like this one we had in our previous kitchen:

I loved being able to store a tablet (which I often use for recipes) out of sight while keeping it charged. It was also a great spot to charge my phone when I was listening to music or a podcast while cooking or cleaning the kitchen.

We also had a hidden outlet on the back of our kitchen island where the counter stools were that I used all of the time for plugging in my laptop (our island often did double duty as my “desk”).

5. Corner Drawers

If you have the opportunity to add corner drawers to your kitchen when you remodel, do it! It’s a kitchen remodel idea you won’t regret – I LOVED mine! Instead of having a lazy Susan with an awkward hinged door and turntables, the corner drawers were easy to use, awesome for storing long items (in our top drawer) that were hard to fit in standard depth drawers, and full of functional, deep space in the bottom two drawers:

In our current kitchen, the sink is in the corner so if we keep it in that spot (still undecided on that!) we won’t need a corner storage solution but if we move the sink to the island, I’d love to have corner drawers again.

6. A Large Single Sink

Are you team single basin sink or divided sink. I am single basin sink all the way! All four houses we’ve owned had a divided kitchen sink when we moved in and swapping it out to a single basin sink was always high on my priority list! I love having a sink that’s big enough to lay baking dishes flat for soaking. And being able to use it as a dog washing station was a plus too 🙂

7. Smart Kitchen Storage & Organization

There are so many awesome additions that you can make to your kitchen drawers and cabinets to increase storage space and keep things organized. One of my favorites from our previous kitchen was the double tier rollback silverware drawer that essentially doubled the amount of storage space:

I also loved the hidden toe kick drawer in our kitchen island – it made use of what’s normally wasted space and was the perfect spot for storing large platters and trays:

Check out my post on kitchen cabinet storage ideas to see other favorites from our last kitchen remodel.

8. Microwave Drawer

We chose to have a microwave drawer in our island in our last kitchen and it’s a kitchen remodel idea I’d love to add again:

It opened and closed with a single push of a button, was easier for lifting heavy dishes in and out, and was a nice large size. I was worried about it being difficult to clean but felt that it wasn’t any easier or harder than a standard microwave. The top of the microwave drawer was a little harder to get at for cleaning but the bottom and sides of it were super easy to clean off.

9. A Large Gas Range With Double Oven

The star of the show in our old kitchen was our 48″ Monogram range that had six gas burners and a griddle along with a full size oven and a second smaller oven. It was exactly what I wanted in terms of features and functionality and it was pretty darn beautiful too:

The small oven was great because it was large enough for many meals we cooked and heated up quickly – I didn’t miss having two full sized ovens a bit. And did I mention how pretty is is?! The only thing I’d change is electing to have a dual fuel range with gas burners and an electric oven instead of a gas oven (I found the gas didn’t bake as evenly as electric).

Check out my post on choosing our kitchen appliances for more details on our Monogram range and the other appliances we chose. And for details on keeping your appliances looking like new, see my post on how to clean stainless steel appliances.

10. Kitchen Pantry with Pullout Shelves

While I’d LOVE a walk-in pantry, our current kitchen doesn’t have space for one so I’ll likely put the kitchen pantry choice from our previous kitchen on repeat! We had this deep pantry cabinet with four pull-out shelves that held a ton of food and made it easy to access too:

A few other kitchen remodel ideas on my wish list are a cabinet with an outlet for my cordless Dyson and a few other long cleaning tools anda countertop push button for our garbage disposal.

So now that you guys have seen my favorite kitchen remodel ideas I’d love your input! What am I missing?! I’d love to know the things that you have in your kitchen that you couldn’t live without or things that are on your kitchen wish list!

If you’re looking for sources on anything in our previous kitchen, check out my post on our before and after kitchen remodel. For details on our kitchen floor, check out my review of our Hallmark wood floors. And if you’re looking for other posts with ideas and inspiration for a kitchen remodel, these might be helpful:

10 Kitchen Cabinet Organization Ideas

10 Best Kitchen Drawer Organizers

Kitchen Counter Stools 101

Kitchen Remodel Ideas on a Budget