One: Go through what you have now and give away or throw out the stuff you never use. How many coffee mugs do you have that you never use? How many cheapo spatulas that you'd only use if pigs flew? How many freebie koozies in the back of the drawer? How many mismatched plastic cups and plates you'd never use? How much lidless Tupperware? How many grody pots & pans leftover from your college days or Hubby's bachelor pad? Get that junk out of your soon-to-be-beautiful space! Use the 'Would I buy it at a garage sale?" test if you're not sure.

Two: Once you've thrown out the junk, inventory the stuff you have, and classify it by function and frequency of use. For example:
- One 36" drawer of daily use pots & pans,
- One 36" drawer of weekly/monthly use cookware,
- Two 24" shelves of every day china dishes,
- One 24" shelf of every day glassware,
- Two 36" shelves of fancy (Holiday) china and glassware.

Having this inventory is invaluable for planning your new space. Without it, you just won't know how much of what type of space you need, and you could end up with too little storage, or else sacrificing something you'd really like for storage space you didn't need. The security of knowing that 40% of your storage could actually go into a back room pantry (turkey roaster, lobster pot, espresso maker...) with hardly any loss of functionality gives you a huge amount of design flexibility.

Three: Prioritize lifestyle choices and preferences. Things like:
- One seat near the prep area so I can help Sonny with his homework while I cook dinner,
- Buffet zone for casual entertaining,
- Cozy seating area for two for morning coffee with Hubby,
- Open sight lines to the TV-watching area or PC so I can supervise the kids,
- Closed sight lines to the dining area so I don't have to see the mess while I eat!

This may sound crazy, but make a list of how your ideal kitchen will function, then rate the items on that list for how important they are to you. Which are deal-killers and which are 'nice to haves'? Also include what activities are daily and what are annual. There's an old adage in real estate: "Don't build the church for Easter Sunday." Apply that to your kitchen plan; plan for your maximum regular use, not for your maximum ever use.

You may not be able to get everything on your list (who can?), but at least you'll be able to choose wisely. By having my inventory and lifestyle choices, I was able to confidently choose the design that met 95% of my lifestyle wants and all of my storage needs over a design that offered much more storage and counter-top space but only 80% of my lifestyle list. Knowing that I didn't need more storage space got me a much better kitchen!