Carpenters live by the adage, Measure twice. Cut once. The same advice can apply to ordering appliances and equipment for a kitchen remodel, says one New Jersey homeowner who recently undertook a top-to-bottom makeover of the 300-square-foot kitchen at her 1960s Cape Cod house.

Because Helaine W.’s new kitchen includes a bank of windows on the exterior wall, the plans called for an island vent hood—a wall-mounted hood with through-the-wall venting wouldn’t fit the design. What’s more, the hood had to be 24 inches deep or less so it wouldn’t overhang the counter.

To find the right-size hood, Helaine, her kitchen designer, and a salesperson from a local appliance store searched the Web sites of several major manufacturers and found the Franke FDF 367 1XS 36-inch-wide island hood. The Franke site indicated a depth of a little more than 19 inches, ideal for the application. An order was placed for the unit.

When the hood arrived four weeks later, the contractor notified Helaine that the Franke [...]

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This REALLY spoke to me because I have thought about this issue a LOT. The issue is if one should substitute refrigerator drawers in place of a traditional tall refrigerator in a small kitchen.

This is a personal issue for me as well as being a basic kitchen design issue that I am interested in.

We own our own little piece of New York City. At the moment, our apartment is used full time, as our son, attending college, is living here for perhaps one more year. He and his girlfriend cook up a storm most nights a week. The tall, old, 33″ refrigerator is packed.

As my husband and I talk about the future, we’d love to be in this apartment [...]

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The next big step in the kitchen planning process is deciding what shape the kitchen will be, and determining who will use the kitchen and how often.

Although deciding on the shape seems restrictive, it actually narrows down the possibilities and makes the planning easier. The goal on deciding on a shape it to make your kitchen as efficient as possible, with the food preparation, sink and cooking areas close together. A good rule of thumb is to keep a piece of countertop between the sink and cooktop on which to prepare food.

Another good idea is to place the fridge between the main doorway into the kitchen and the main cooking area so that the other people in the house can have easy access to the fridge (without having to walk through the cooking area). The fridge shouldn’t be located next to the oven/range or cooktop, however, due to the temperature differences.

There are four main shapes a kitchen can have: Single Galley kitchens, Two-way Galley kitchens, L-shaped kitchens and U-shaped kitchens. There are also variations on each with the addition of an island. Each has its advantages and disadvantages.

Single Galley kitchens

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