Kitchen Remodel- Part 4 - Decisions, Decisions- Kitchen Cabinets

I had originally my dream kitchen with white cabinets but for some reason I couldn't picture it in my condo.  I have light oak hardwood floors that I didn't want to change and most of my living room furniture is dark.  My new more practical dream kitchen now had dark cabinets to contrast the light floor and granite counter-tops to pull it all together.  

Step 1- Kitchen Cabinets

I had previously decided to use Home Depot because it was convenient for both my dad and me while living in different areas of the country.  We also decided at this point that it was much easier to deal with an in store than online design consultant so that they do everything while you were sitting right there.  Based on the style and colors I had in mind I had to decide between Thomasville and Kraftmaid.   Luckily for me, my dad had just installed a Thomasville kitchen with dark cabinets and he wasn't that impressed with the quality or staining so it made my decision to go with Kraftmaid pretty easy.   I liked the Peppercorn the best on cherry wood (yes- the wood does make a difference!) and wanted a simple design.  Some of my favorites were the Hayward and Sonora.  

Hayward

Sonora

It also comes in Peppercorn but I thought this color better highlighted the differences.

Decision:  Hayward Cabinets in Cherry Peppercorn

Next up was actually ordering from Home Depot.  If you don't have a strict timeline to follow, I'd suggest waiting for a special.  They have them frequently and they can be bundled so I'start paying attention and hold out until you get a good one!

Also, I didn't have someone come out and measure after we made the changes (removing the wall/opening up the corner) so we made our own drawing.   This was pretty risky and actually a bit stressful so I'd recommend having Home Depot come out and re-measure.  

Dad worked with his guy at the HD in Ft. Myers, FL to come up with the cabinet list/new design.  They even came up with a genius idea to use medicine cabinets on the left wall (the one with the window) where the air duct sticks out.  Sounded a little weird, but in reality I have 2 custom spice cabinets and you can't even tell until you open them.  

I took that list to my local HD design consultant when I was ready to place my order. Unfortunately, it wasn't as easy as I had imagined and the clock to get the discounts I wanted was working against me.   Lessons Learned:

1. Make an appointment.  I tried to just walk in, apparently that's not how things work with the HD Design Dept.  Finding time around my work schedule and before the special ended was challenging. 
2. They wouldn't just take my cabinet list from the HD in Florida my dad gave me and order everything on it.  They had to actually re-design the kitchen in the system.  This also took time.  
3. Luckily Vivi (my amazing consultant) from HD Bethesda, MD was wonderful and was able to turn this around very quickly for me!  I also realized that ordering from a list without the checks built into the design software was risky (its a lot of money and you can't return) and was thankful that she made me go through the process.  

The money!

• Original cost: $6280.70
• Total savings was $999,50, $528.12, and $400!  Thanks again, Vivi for your magic!
• Grand total:  $4353.08
• And I did not have to get the HD credit card, so I also got to earn some points! 

Kitchen Remodel- Part 3

In February, my dad came up for a long weekend to start the project.  

Day 1- Demo!

I seriously couldn't believe how much bigger my place looked once that wall was opened up.   Talk about immediate gratification!   As you can see, we looked into opening up to the ceiling but we found some duct work we couldn't move so we left it slightly lower.  

Day 2- Adding a wall

We put a half wall between the washing machine and the HVAC stuff.  This way we could put a door in front of the HVAC/hot water heater and open up the space where we were going to move the refrigerator.  In case you were wondering, it had to be a half wall so air could circulate.  

Day 3- Lighting
The florescent light in the kitchen was beautiful.  Please note the sarcasm.  So the last major item on the agenda for the weekend was to remove that and install recessed lights!

It was 3 days of intense work but it finally allowed me to see my dream begin to come together.  I think this comparison shows the most progress!

  

I realized that I wasn't just remodeling my kitchen but changing my living room as well.  Instead of having a weird pass through both rooms now flow easily and I have created a much bigger space.  

  

Next steps:

1. Lots and lots of spackling 
2. Re-measure
3. Order cabinets, granite, and everything else! 

Kitchen Remodel- Part 2 Estimates/Design

November 2012- 
So after I finally got my ideas together my dad wanted me to get some estimates from the pros, mainly in order to get some drawings in place.  I played around with some free software but wasn't that happy with it and that very well could have been due to my technical (lack of) skills. 

The first quote was from a local kitchen design center that kept sending me postcards in the mail for a complete kitchen makeover for under $15000 with a free estimate.   Somehow my estimate came to $26,000 and they wouldn't even give me any drawings until I put a deposit down.   The way I look at it, if I'm spending that much money I need to at least be able to visualize what I'm buying!  So that was a no go.

The 2nd quote was with home depot...for $50 they came out and did 2 measurements and did the complete design.  It was well with the money, plus you aren't tied to using them if you change your mind later.  They do try to sell the home depot contractors.  They also try and sell you the entire package at once TIP #1- Don't do it.   You don't get a discount and you may not want to buy everything at home depot.    We'll here's the drawing:

I had decided initially that I would work with a home depot design consultant online since that way my dad (in Florida) and I (in Virginia) could give input together and would both be copied on emails. TIP 2- work with an in store design consultant.  Will explain later.   The home depot consultants use this drawing to make up their fancy 3D versions of your new kitchen.

Now that we had a great idea of what we thought it would look like the next step was demolition.  Open the pass through/bar area and drill into the soffits to see how much space we can save. 

Kitchen Remodel- Part 1

When I was "condo hunting" and toured this unit I knew I would have to make some major updates to the kitchen (and a long list of other areas as well).  Not only was it just not my style but it was also completely outdated and barely functional.  The oven even had to sit at an angle to the counter tops so that the dishwasher could open!  The few existing cabinets had were awkward and didn't make the best use of space.  The positives were that it was an end unit with an incredible amount of natural light, hardwood floors, and the previous owners just put in brand new appliances.  As a single female, living in the city this was both exciting but scary at the same time.  I grew up having extremely handy relatives around me but no one lived close to where I was moving.  It would take a lot drive (or fly!) a few hours just to work on my 1 br condo. Luckily, my super handy dad was with me during the showing and saw the incredible potential of such a small space!  He of course promised he would make the voyage up from Florida within the next few years to do it for me.  How could I turn that down?

So here it is:

Odd cabinet placement- lots of empty unused space in the corner between the dishwasher and range.  Just in general I felt like the appliances were all jammed together with no real counter space.   

Extra small pass through hole.  

Positives-I didn't have an enclosed galley kitchen

Negatives- view from the living room looked like an awkward hole.  

Here's the entrance where the refrigerator narrows the doorway.  

I had a love hate relationship with the large window for a while.  I loved the light the size made that entire wall almost unusable and it went down low enough that I couldn't put anything under it.  

After living in it for a year I started brainstorming of how to fix the layout to create more space and modernize it!

Wish list:

• Open the opening between the kitchen and living room all the way (but still not lose all of my cabinet space).  
• Move dishwasher to left side of sink so that I could put a lazy susan in the corner and gain all of that extra storage space.
• Somehow utilize the wall that was pretty much non-functioning due to the air duct and large window. 

I knew it was a lot to ask but I also knew if I was going to spend the time and money to re-do it I wanted it to really think through all of my options.  

One day Dad came up with the perfect solution!  It was so perfect e that I of course told him it wouldn't work multiple times! Once he drew it out and explained in language that I could understand and visualize I knew we had found our plan!  

Incredible Solution: Move the refrigerator to the space on the back wall, in the opening that holds the washer and dryer.   Move washer/dryer elsewhere.

It was an incredibly perfect solution but it also brought along a new problem...what to do with the washer and dryer and in a 700 square feet condo the options are definitively limited?  My genius solution was to move it to the bathroom.  After all, I'd prefer to do laundry in the bathroom over the kitchen any day and I had an unnecessarily large linen closet that I could learn to live without in exchange for having my perfect kitchen. And since it was the bathroom, plumbing was readily available.  If only it were that easy...

As I started to get quotes from different contractors and review things with my condo association I ran into a few problems.  I was told that I would have to run the dryer vent from the existing location to the bathroom which would involve opening up the entire ceiling in between (a fairly large distance) and that it would be a major plumbing operation since the pipes differ in size.  Ugh, the saga of where to put the washer and dryer continued...

Final solution: the hall coat closet!  In the picture above if you turn the washer/dryer 90 degrees that's basically the back wall to the hall closet.  It was a relatively simple move construction and plumbing wise and luckily it fit!  As much as I want to be 100 % ok with this, I'm still not.  I agree that it was worth it to open up the kitchen but I'm still bitter about losing my largest storage area and not having anywhere to put my coats.   Dad promised he would build me a new coat closet by splitting the giant linen closet in half sometime before I start needing all of my winter coats again :)

Stay tuned for the first steps to renovation....

Sorry for the unexpected hiatus!

We've been very busy over the last few months and have a lot of exciting news and projects to post!  Stay tuned!

To hold you over, I'll share my find from the J. Crew in store sale today.   I got the Merino Tippi School of Fish Sweater for $17.99!  Since the Tippi is my favorite sweater, I jump on any opportunity to buy one for less than $30.  Has anyone else stopped by extra 40 percent off in store sale?

MERINO TIPPI SWEATER IN SCHOOL-OF-FISH PRINT