Kitchen Remodel

[sally]

I was hoping your kitchen was going to look like Donald Trump's by now.

[Cutz]

Yes it has. I'm supposed to be out looking at counters and cabinets but I've been a little busy fucking all over the flying country.

I'll probably wait and pick it back up after the holidays.

Sinner

[Maggot]

from my experience it takes forever to do a kitchen. On mine I put in the basic counters, floors even after 2 yrs I'm still tweaking the damn thing. I ended up painting 2 walls again and replacing the trim just because of the way the sun set in the evening.

[Donovan]

Wait til my GF gets rolling and I post pics of that. She pretended it was a joint venture for like half a visit to the contractor place, so long as I nodded and kept quiet. Now she just leaves me home. Sometime after the first.

[username]

Weird. I could have sworn I already posted the first of these pics. General color scheme for the kitchen. I'm leaning towards maple cabinets and dark (or somewhat dark) hardwood floors. The cabinetry around the fireplace would be different...darker. But I'm thinking about something like this (neither of these photos is near exactly what I have in mind...just a feel).

Thoughts?

For starters, I think the counter top on this one should be darker (picking up more of the dark in the multi-shaded wood)....



This one is pretty but I find the cabinets to be kind of boring.



The second floor looks a lot more "rich" to me than the first. I don't think I like the plank size or color mix in the first floor.

My brain is going to explode.

[Duchess]

Aside from death, a home remodel is one of the toughest things people go through. It's a very trying experience, not only financially but emotionally. Weird, but true.

[SIXFOOTERsez]

from my experience it takes forever to do a kitchen. On mine I put in the basic counters, floors even after 2 yrs I'm still tweaking the damn thing. I ended up painting 2 walls again and replacing the trim just because of the way the sun set in the evening.

Last one I did took 2 months of 5 days a week. Came out nice though

[blueberryhill]

Weird. I could have sworn I already posted the first of these pics. General color scheme for the kitchen. I'm leaning towards maple cabinets and dark (or somewhat dark) hardwood floors. The cabinetry around the fireplace would be different...darker. But I'm thinking about something like this (neither of these photos is near exactly what I have in mind...just a feel).

Thoughts?

For starters, I think the counter top on this one should be darker (picking up more of the dark in the multi-shaded wood)....



This one is pretty but I find the cabinets to be kind of boring.



The second floor looks a lot more "rich" to me than the first. I don't think I like the plank size or color mix in the first floor.

My brain is going to explode.

Decorating is my passion. Here is my opinion....I don't like the floors...they look like oak and I don't personally like oak (makes it look dated)....look on websites before you go to stores just to try to narrow choices....I picked a handscraped engineered wood, but it gives a rustic, different tones of dark wood (mine was teak), but their are beautiful woods out there. I just wouldn't use oak.

Cabinets....I have cherry cabinets here in Phoenix and white cabinets in house in Colorado....In my future house, I would choose alder or hickory cabinets......or go white, white, not antique white. Again, these cabinets look dated. If you choose white, look at those with vertical panels in the doors and a couple of cabinets with glass doors.

"They" say granite is on the way out and new countertops are quartz, wood, concrete, stainless, etc.....I would explore that and even consider tile countertops which were popular in 90's, but today can look even richer with glass tiles, and newer, more durable materials....I wouldn't want stainless or wood for my countertops....Concrete can be beautiful, but they are expensive.....you can even use granite tiles.....I mean, if money is no object, then I might consider concrete countertops. Amazing how they can blend colors into concrete for beautiful designs (on floors also)....popular here in warmer climates. If you have dark floors, and white cabinets, I would use dark countertops for contrast against cabinets, but blending with floor.....

[blueberryhill]

P.S. I should have said that I like floors in top photo, but don't like them on bottom photo (oak?).....i say again, i think, if you go light, go white, not the antique look which has been phased out (according to current designer talk). Use concrete or quartz for counter tops and use glass tiles for backsplash.....just my idea for you......

[Maggot]

If I said that I've never meet a woman that wasn't an interior decorator, would BH just shoot me? Like ole Yeller?

[SIXFOOTERsez]

I just realized those pics were possible designs.
I like the second one but I would make that island about double the size, sort of short of work space in there the way it is. The first one is OK, but I like the island better. The floor is great in #2.
Do you actually use your kitchen? Mine gets industrial use on occasion so I like a good work flow and lots or work space and stuff located so it makes sense. Where is the cook top in #2?

[username]

P.S. I should have said that I like floors in top photo, but don't like them on bottom photo (oak?).....i say again, i think, if you go light, go white, not the antique look which has been phased out (according to current designer talk). Use concrete or quartz for counter tops and use glass tiles for backsplash.....just my idea for you......

Thanks! I haven't looked at the types of wood floors (oak vs. all the other options out there). I'm surprised that they look like oak to you because I can't tell one bit based on the color. This house was built with so much golden oak throughout...I can't stand it. But my wood choice is going to be based on color, look and durability. I know oak is a fairly hard wood but I don't know enough about the other woods for floors out there to make a decision about that.

White kitchens are apparently all the rage today. I just can't see white kitchen counters given the colors and decor in the rest of the house. If my husband and I ever separate, I could see having a small home with a white kitchen and a mix of shabby chic and eclectic. But...I can't see white here and I think this white kitchen trend isn't going to last long. Everybody says white cabinets are a bitch insofar as clean up.

Our house is all warm earth tones. Hope to continue that in to the kitchen but looking at the light to medium maples to (hopefully) keep the kitchen warm but not dark (if that makes sense).

[blueberryhill]

P.S. I should have said that I like floors in top photo, but don't like them on bottom photo (oak?).....i say again, i think, if you go light, go white, not the antique look which has been phased out (according to current designer talk). Use concrete or quartz for counter tops and use glass tiles for backsplash.....just my idea for you......

Thanks! I haven't looked at the types of wood floors (oak vs. all the other options out there). I'm surprised that they look like oak to you because I can't tell one bit based on the color. This house was built with so much golden oak throughout...I can't stand it. But my wood choice is going to be based on color, look and durability. I know oak is a fairly hard wood but I don't know enough about the other woods for floors out there to make a decision about that.

White kitchens are apparently all the rage today. I just can't see white kitchen counters given the colors and decor in the rest of the house. If my husband and I ever separate, I could see having a small home with a white kitchen and a mix of shabby chic and eclectic. But...I can't see white here and I think this white kitchen trend isn't going to last long. Everybody says white cabinets are a bitch insofar as clean up.

Our house is all warm earth tones. Hope to continue that in to the kitchen but looking at the light to medium maples to (hopefully) keep the kitchen warm but not dark (if that makes sense).

You can do some research online about wood floors and they will give you hardness of a particular wood and what wears well, over time, etc.

I picked white cabinets back in 2000 when i was building house in Colorado. I don't think they will ever go out of style, but don't think you would want white countertops either. You would want some contrast.

I can tell oak from the grain. Back in 80's, oak was in every home and I had beautiful oak dining set and then it was no longer popular with people as new woods started to appear on market.....look for hickory or alder (think it is called) and see if you like grain/color....you can get ideas on computer, then go to store and look at it....if you like maple, think you will like these woods for cabinets.....the grain and variation in color is what makes these cabinets look so classy. Good Luck!

[username]

I just realized those pics were possible designs.
I like the second one but I would make that island about double the size, sort of short of work space in there the way it is. The first one is OK, but I like the island better. The floor is great in #2.
Do you actually use your kitchen? Mine gets industrial use on occasion so I like a good work flow and lots or work space and stuff located so it makes sense. Where is the cook top in #2?

Nope, not actual designs (but thank you for the feedback). We're still tinkering a bit but I have a close enough plan that I'll take a picture of it and post it--maybe tomorrow. We're pushing in to our family room and creating more of a great room. I'd say I'm picking up at least 3-4 feet of cooking area given the new design (the actual working area remains U shaped). As I said, I think from the counter on the left to the counter on the right, I'm not only gaining about 3 feet (at least), the layout is wayyyy more functional and work friendly plus I'm gaining a bar counter top where two or three guests can sit and annoy me while I'm working. I'm excited!

[blueberryhill]

If I said that I've never meet a woman that wasn't an interior decorator, would BH just shoot me? Like ole Yeller?

No, I wouldn't need reason to shoot you......

but I think some women are better than others in decorating. Many professional designers today, will fix you up with white, beige, black, grey, and/ or brown colors which makes for a very boring home IMO.
Our world is full of beautiful colors and I would use pops of color as much as possible....no neutral colors for this decorator......Right now, I like the subtle purples, teals, pale yellows, peacock blues, etc.....

[Duchess]

You have a very good eye, BH!

I love a dark floor, they are my favorite but you have to stay on top of them, they show every speck of dust and dirt, at least that's been my experience. I have light colored hardwood in my great room and almost every time I look at it I yearn for something darker. I loved it at one time.

[Maggot]

Stay away from the Chinese laminates though.

[Donovan]

Stay away from the Chinese laminates though.

This is what killed our progress. Directly after "finally" selecting the perfect floor, the damn laminate shows up on 60 minutes. Back it goes, the money gets fritters away, here we are two years later still walking on shitty half finished seventies linoleum. It's frustrating but now that she finally got back into a decent job situation we can proceed. Of course, the latest from laminate world is that the stuff is at least 3x as toxic as originally reported.

[Maggot]

There was a time when "made in China" meant cheap. Not "nowhere else to get it".

[username]

I'm actually having fun with this. Construction (the majority of it) is scheduled to start in May.

My job (I have to finish by the end of the weekend) is to pick out appliances. I've learned more about appliances that I ever cared to know. One thing that has been really sort of defining..."kitchen suites". Buying all same-brand appliances. If you want the best (or very good) in everything, you can't do it (and it's a shame because sometimes you get good discounts buying all one brand AND it's aesthetically nice/easier to go with one brand. But a brand that makes great refrigerators might have shitty ovens and on and on. Right now I'm looking at matching (hopefully) 2 of 4 major appliances (maybe the double oven and gas cook top) but the fridge and the d/w may be a different brand (matching one another or not).

My question is, are you an appliance snob? I'm just surprised that one line I looked at (kind of by accident) is Kitchen Aid (not a snobby brand).

The oven I liked by Kitchen Aid: $3499
Bosch: $3299-$3999
Thermador: $3999-5999 (unlikely to go with the $5999 model because I just don't like it as much...I think. Still looking).

Anyway, the prices across product lines aren't terribly far apart but having a KitchenAid vs. a Thermadore--meh, Thermador is still considered a luxury line. I haven't looked closely at them but I don't think I'm interested in going Wolf/Sub-Zero...some of the even more la-te-da brands.

Would you go for brands (Maggot---no need to answer).

Miss you assholes.