Renovating a Kitchen. Looking for Advice.

[Buehler445]

Mrs. Buehler445 and I are buying a different house. It is really what we want in terms of size, layout, neighborhood, etc. The only drawback is there are no upper cabinets in the kitchen...WTF? Anyway, we made the decision to man up and put in a kitchen that we want.

Since I'm a home renovation n00b, I'd appreciate any advice, tips, or experiences the CP braintrust can provide.

In doing this, we are going to have to come up with,

Cabinets (obviously)

Countertop

Backsplash

Moving the sink I hate plumbing. But it shouldn't be too bad, the plumbing is in an unfinished portion of the basement

Flooring which I'm pretty comfortable with.

Most of the work will be hired, partially because I'm a noob. Partially because I'm busy as ****.

TIA

EDIT: Already have the antifreeze tap on order.

[Shag]

Don't cheap out on a kitchen - generally a lot of time is spent there, and has huge returns on resale. Get quality countertops, good cabinetry/hardware, lighting, sink/faucet, flooring. I'd suggest maximizing cabinetry height on the uppers, pullout trash/recycling, cookie sheet drawer, make sure you have ample food storage/accessibility (use pullout shelving, if needed), under cabinet lighting. If you really want to do it up, double oven, hood.

If you're doing it, do it right, or you'll regret it later.

[BucEyedPea]

Originally Posted by BigRedChief

We love it. The mirror is all one piece and makes the kitchen seem a lot bigger. We had popcorn ceilings in every room to get rid of. Talk about being out of date! And what a frigging mess to remove.

I am not talking about the wall, but that piece of counter that comes up about 4" onto the wall. That's no longer in style.

[BucEyedPea]

If you're not sure of what you like for a "look"—hire a designer—one that will work with you keeping your preferences and budget in mind. I think the extra money pays off.

[BucEyedPea]

I have never heard anyone say a backsplash is out of style. The best designers are still using them.

No they're not. I clarified what I meant by one.

Originally Posted by lewdog

So consider the source on that one.

Consider the source? Ahem, I am a designer though' not an interior one but I've worked with a LOT of them particularly when having accounts like real estate developers like Arthur Rutenberg homes , hotel/resort interior designers and architects, plus some of the trade shows I have to visit are big Home Shows with the very latest in kitchen design and technology. The little splash from the bottom of the counter that extends up about 4-5 inches are now gone. It's old. Out-of-date. It dates a kitchen.

I think the source to be considered is you. I could design your arse off, kiddo. Even if its a kitchen.

[BucEyedPea]

Also, pay to visit a good-size home show for ideas. You'll see all the very latest design and technologies and not just for a kitchen. There's even new surfaces that are faux-granite or stone that look real but have other advantages. The good ones have fabulous booth displays with consultants in them too. I've even been to ones where Amish wood craftsman have booths. But at least you'll get to see in the real world what YOU and your wife would like as opposed to what others will say they like.

[Perineum Ripper]

Just got done doing something similar to this in a family members home..only thing different is counter tops were a lighter color with quartz veins in it and it had a big farmhouse sink in it

[kepp]

Originally Posted by BigRedChief

We had a small, really small kitchen at our new place. See the pics for before and after.

Upper Cabinets were from IKEA. Open shelves are just bookshelf's. Custom installed by a professional that happens to live down the street. Went with Granite and the mirrored backsplash.

That's an amazing transformation. We're going to put our house on the market in 8 or 9 months so I've been doing some planning on what needs done. I've read that quality counter tops are #1 for ROI in a kitchen remodel. Do you like the granite? How easy is it to maintain?

[BucEyedPea]

Originally Posted by mac459

( IMAGE was Here)
Just got done doing something similar to this in a family members home..only thing different is counter tops were a lighter color with quartz veins in it and it had a big farmhouse sink in it

Very, very nice. Pendant lights are very much in style too.

[kepp]

Originally Posted by mac459

Just got done doing something similar to this in a family members home..only thing different is counter tops were a lighter color with quartz veins in it and it had a big farmhouse sink in it

How much does a remodel like that cost?

[Rain Man]

Originally Posted by kepp

How much does a remodel like that cost?

I did a major kitchen remodel about 8 years ago, but I can't parse out the cost of the kitchen because it was part of a larger project. It kind of annoys me that I don't know the cost of the kitchen.

We had plans to do a nice set of french doors going out from the kitchen to our back deck. it would have been really cool. There was an existing door with a window right next to it, so it would have been easy to do structurally. However, the contractor discovered a water pipe running between the door and the window, and said that it would be expensive to move it due to some layout issues. (It went up to the second floor.) We didn't do it and kept the window. Several years later, we figured out that the water pipe was an orphaned pipe that's not even used. Sigh.

[Perineum Ripper]

Originally Posted by kepp

How much does a remodel like that cost?

I'm not sure how much they spent exactly..I know it was a little cheaper than normal because he has friends in construction that helped him get good deals on cabinets and the counters..he also did a lot of work himself and I helped a lot so he saved a lot on labor costs..it was a complete tear out and start from scratch remodel

I will call him and see if he can give me the price

[Oxford]

Are you planning to make this your forever home? What ever you do it will probably not increase the resale value of your home that much (unless its a total wreck right now) so it has to fit what you want. Make a list of the things that you must have (pantry and storage for small appliances are high on my list) and start there, don't be afraid to have a wall moved if you need to get the floor space you need. If you get squeezed on the budget then countertops can be a place to skimp. You can always come back later and put in the granite/solid surface when the money gets better. Same thing for appliances, maybe you can reuse and spread the cost. Shop around the new houses and look for cabinets you like, customs may be the better route (especially if business is weak for the cabinet makers). Another place to look for deals is HomeDepot/Lowes/Sears etc in the repaired appliance section.

[stevieray]

I can paint a John Deere tractor busting through your wall... your wife will love it!

John Deere..."it's whats for breakfast"

seriously, if you need a cabinet refinish, I can do that too.

[Valiant]

I helped pour two cement countertops. One went with sanded natural look, the other with stained marbling effect acid. Both look great. And way cheaper than granite. Just have to practice making sure there are no bubbles.

[Rain Man]

Things I like about my kitchen remodel:


We built roll-out shelves in the pantry. Super cool and adds to storage capacity.

We built a really low shelf in the pantry specifically for flat stuff like plastic wrap and aluminum foil. It takes very little room and stores stuff that's hard to find a place for.

We built lazy susans into the corner cabinets so we don't have to dig around to find the pans and stuff that we don't use often.

We built a couple of very narrow cabinets for cutting boards and cookie sheets. Works great.

We put in tons of lighting. You can never have too much lighting. Undercounter, ceiling, a spotlight over the sink, etc.

We built a decorative top row above the cabinets. Glass doors and can lighting, and we put decorative stuff up there that we seldom need - e.g., soup tureens, vases, teapots, etc.

We bought a very decorative granite that we really like, but that's a matter of taste.

We bought mid-range appliances and were happy that we didn't pay more for the premium models.

We built a cabinet specifically for the trash can.

Things I don't like about my kitchen remodel:


We should've put heating under the floor tiles. Someone on CP does that, and you should ask.

Our dishwasher is in the wrong place. It's on the inside of a corner, and you can't put stuff away in a couple of cabinets without a two-phase process.

Our refrigerator opens into the pull-out shelves in our pantry. We accidentally scratched the front of the fridge because we opened it into the little metal rail when a pantry shelf was open.

There are some layout issues that are kind of annoying, but our kitchen is small so maybe there were inevitable.

We bought a fancy faucet that has the built-in sprayer and built-in soap dispenser. The sprayer is great, but the soap dispenser was a total bust. Never worked right, the faucet company can't seem to fix it, and even if it worked it would've required crawling underneath the sink to fill it up.