The DH and I are going to have a fine new kitchen soon. It will be almost twice the size of the present kitchen. We are having fun, have read books, made plans. But now I am down to the nitty-gritty. How do I make sure that the new cupboards will accommodate the things I personally need to cook with?

We know what cupboards go where, but now what? Books and articles have a lot of organizers: things that roll out, double-deck, hang up, nest. Trouble is there are so many handy gadgets, I don't know what to do. And I also don't know what to put where.

We hired a kitchen designer, but she was a total bust. She whipped out a generic plan in blurry pencil and asked for $265. I had prepared a list of things the kitchen needed, and she ignored it.

Have you ever gone through this process? Any suggestions?

I do enjoy the advantage that I have been cooking a long time and know exactly what I need.