Cook on it before you buy

Re “The Kitchen, Revisited” [June 19]: I have one recommendation for anyone planning to put in new kitchen appliances, particularly a cooktop and oven: Find someone who has the exact models you are considering and actually cook with them. I put in expensive Viking products and curse them daily for their poor design, exasperating and unnecessary features, and poorly written instruction book. It’s not enough to go to the demonstration showroom; there are too many surprises that only become apparent when you’re in the midst of preparing a meal. Oh, how I wish I had my old appliances back!

Mary Miller Los Angeles

WE BOUGHT our small ranch-style beach house in Leucadia in 1992. It came with the original kitchen, which had knotty pine cabinets in pretty good condition.

We liked the flow of the kitchen and the cabinets, so we began the odyssey of replacing appliances as they wore out.

Then we realized why everyone rips out their entire kitchen: The new appliances are so much larger than the originals.

Luckily, my husband is a carpenter and a saint, and we have been able to keep our cabinets and make everything work.

Rachelle Collier Leucadia

Why are you glorifying a picture of open shelves with glassware in earthquake country?

Whether open shelves are a good thing or a bad thing in other parts of the country may be arguable, but here it’s a no-brainer.

Please, have some sense in selecting pictures that don’t show hazards.

R.L. Miller Oak Park