What are common kitchen design + construction mistakes?

I'm working on an article for my site and have about 10 items for my list but would love to hear what you all have as design mistakes as well. If you have an image to share I'll include it on my blog and give you credit for it. I plan to do a series of videos on these as well.


  4 answers
  • Fiddledd224 Fiddledd224 on Dec 09, 2019

    Cabinets over refrigerators: DON'T! My newest fridge did not fit under it! I had to remove the cabinet to put it on there and then had an unfinished space to deal with.

    • SawHorse Design Build SawHorse Design Build on Dec 09, 2019

      That is a good point. Cabinets should be designed so appliances can be upgraded. Most cabinet depth fridges are taller and the higher end ones have the compressor on top to make space for your food in the prime spaces in the fridge/ freezer. I'm adding this to my list!

  • Cynthia H Cynthia H on Dec 09, 2019

    I have never understood why people wedge in narrow or shallow storage that really doesn't hold much of anything, instead of rethinking the space to use it best by changing the footprint into a workable one. Cupboard doors that bounce off a sheetrock wall aggravates me, too. A recent complaint about my beautiful new kitchen (I didn't design it or put it in) was the filler piece that fell out, because it wasn't put in correctly (although it gives me several inches to us for storage if I choose to go that route). It's beautiful to look at, but, I will be redoing parts of it at some point. What do I like? The gorgeous marble countertops, the appliances, and the color.

    • SawHorse Design Build SawHorse Design Build on Dec 09, 2019

      I see so many kitchen and bathroom cabinet designs fail because they don't consider hardware or how the cabinet integrates with trim. My favorite is seeing a cabinet with drawers next to a door and when the casing is installed the drawer cannot fully extend...


      I blame the designers and the installers for not thinking about this.


      Thanks for your comment- this is getting added to my list.

  • Vimarhonor Vimarhonor on Dec 09, 2019

    Our designer sadly had several misses

    Forgetting about a tiled backsplash and having granite short backsplash glued to wall and actual cabinetry.


    Forgetting about dedicated kitchen cabinet pantry va top and bottom cabinets


    Have wall oven and microwave be separate units for service issues/failure


    Pull out shelving inside cabinet


    • SawHorse Design Build SawHorse Design Build on Dec 10, 2019

      These are all good items. The 4" back-splash versus tile made my previous list. Good point about the separate appliances.


      The list and videos that I am making will be for homeowners and my design to follow so we can avoid these bad design situations.

  • Cabinets that are too deep. For me, it is ok, as I am tall, but my tiny 5'1" mom had issues. Luckily my dad was a contractor so they gutted the kitchen and started over, but not everyone has that option.


    Dead corners - both my uppers and lower cabinets have "dead space" that is a pain to utilize. Granted in my small home they did try to use every square inch, but it certainly could have been designed better.

    • SawHorse Design Build SawHorse Design Build on Dec 10, 2019

      I hate wasted space anywhere in the house. Pull outs for cabinets are a must to fully utilize all of the space inside the cabinets.