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You can use google to hit the sites from This Old House, House Beautiful,Better Homes and Gardens , DIY, and HGTV, all the major cabinet companies (like kraftmaid, plain and fancy, starmark, merillat, Thomasville)...
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mt-7
OP, can I jump in here and say I am in the same place as you...
Any good site that show before and afters for the imagination impaired like me?
You already have three of the five best people on the House thread giving you excellent advice, so I will just reinforce some things they said and give you -- and the other hesitant people here -- some prep advice.
1. Before starting ANY remodel, get at least one appraisal on your home from an experienced local Realtor who can tell you what your house is currently worth and what typical comps are for your neighborhood. That will give you an idea of what you should spend to remodel your kitchen or any other room. It doesn't matter what YOU can afford. It matters what the HOUSE can afford in terms of its potential value. Even if you are planning to live in your house for the rest of your life, it's not financially sensible to turn it into the highest value house in the neighborhood. By the same token, it makes no sense to live with something horrible when you could be enjoying improvements that you would have to make anyway if circumstances dictate the sale of your home. (Yes, it can happen.)
2. Chet's question about your desire to tear out a "bar" is a good one. Maybe that is actually a fine idea, but galley kitchens are not the prevailing style and remodeling to something that could already be passe is not a good investment. A qualified kitchen designer will be able to meld your personal taste with what would make your house valued by others.
3. I've remodeled three kitchens in my life -- all on very low budgets. I concur with the people who are telling you to avoid the big box stores. They are fine for incidentals like faucets and they sometimes do have deals on appliances. But never, never, are you going to get your best price there for the big tickets like cabinets, countertops, or even window treatments. Also, if you buy the eye-candy things like light fixtures or backsplash material at your neighborhood emporium, you are only going to get what everybody else in your area has.
4. Making a scrapbook of things that appeal to you is an excellent idea. It will save you tons of time in decision-making and in communicating with potential designers and contractors. If you have no thoughts whatsoever in your head, every magazine stand in America has tons of "kitchen ideas" publications that you can pour over. You definitely will find things you like and things you don't. Clip the things you like and put them in your scrapbook. There are lots of books on kitchen design and style at your public library. And watch HGTV and the DIY TV network for good kitchen shows. My current favorite is I Hate My Kitchen on DIY -- they show kitchens in a variety of budgets. The HGTV show Sweat Equity is educational on the topic of not over-spending for improvements.
5. My experience is that any extra money you spend on professional design and project management pays for itself in error avoidance and value added. The very first kitchen I remodeled had as its major design feature something I would have never thought of. In addition to being something that never ceased to give me pleasure and increase my efficiency, it turned out to be a key selling feature when I left the house 13 years later.
6. Before you make one beautification move in a kitchen of any age, make sure the electricity and plumbing are in top condition and adequate to meet your needs. You don't want to deal with shorts or leaks AFTER you've installed your new dishwasher. And make sure you have enough outlets at counter level and appropriate lighting. Good lighting is another key area where a professional designer is worth their weight in gold and what they charge you pays for itself.
7. But don't hire a contractor or a designer unless you really feel they are listening to you, you have a clear budget established that they MUST understand, and you like their style. When you find someone you click with, make your plans -- then don't change your mind about what you want AFTER the work starts.
8. No matter how strongly you believe you will live out your days in the home you are in, life has a way of throwing you curves. Take it from someone who designed their dream house ... then before the paint was even dry experienced totally unforeseeable life changes that dictated a move 2,000 miles away. Design something you love, but make it something other people will love, too. If you planned your kitchen remodel wisely (i.e., consulting a Realtor), you will almost always recoup the money in a sale.
Good luck to the OP and anyone who's contemplating a re-do. It CAN be fun and a good investment if you plan well and have good, reliable help.
Last edited by Jukesgrrl; 07-16-2011 at 10:06 PM..
You already have three of the five best people on the House thread giving you excellent advice, so I will just reinforce some things they said and give you -- and the other hesitant people here -- some prep advice.
1. Before starting ANY remodel, get at least one appraisal on your home from an experienced local Realtor who can tell you what your house is currently worth and what typical comps are for your neighborhood. That will give you an idea of what you should spend to remodel your kitchen or any other room. It doesn't matter what YOU can afford. It matters what the HOUSE can afford in terms of its potential value. Even if you are planning to live in your house for the rest of your life, it's not financially sensible to turn it into the highest value house in the neighborhood. By the same token, it makes no sense to live with something horrible when you could be enjoying improvements that you would have to make anyway if circumstances dictate the sale of your home. (Yes, it can happen.)
2. Chet's question about your desire to tear out a "bar" is a good one. Maybe that is actually a fine idea, but galley kitchens are not the prevailing style and remodeling to something that could already be passe is not a good investment. A qualified kitchen designer will be able to meld your personal taste with what would make your house valued by others.
3. I've remodeled three kitchens in my life -- all on very low budgets. I concur with the people who are telling you to avoid the big box stores. They are fine for incidentals like faucets and they sometimes do have deals on appliances. But never, never, are you going to get your best price there for the big tickets like cabinets, countertops, or even window treatments. Also, if you buy the eye-candy things like light fixtures or backsplash material at your neighborhood emporium, you are only going to get what everybody else in your area has.
4. Making a scrapbook of things that appeal to you is an excellent idea. It will save you tons of time in decision-making and in communicating with potential designers and contractors. If you have no thoughts whatsoever in your head, every magazine stand in America has tons of "kitchen ideas" publications that you can pour over. You definitely will find things you like and things you don't. Clip the things you like and put them in your scrapbook. There are lots of books on kitchen design and style at your public library. And watch HGTV and the DIY TV network for good kitchen shows. My current favorite is I Hate My Kitchen on DIY -- they show kitchens in a variety of budgets. The HGTV show Sweat Equity is educational on the topic of not over-spending for improvements.
5. My experience is that any extra money you spend on professional design and project management pays for itself in error avoidance and value added. The very first kitchen I remodeled had as its major design feature something I would have never thought of. In addition to being something that never ceased to give me pleasure and increase my efficiency, it turned out to be a key selling feature when I left the house 13 years later.
6. Before you make one beautification move in a kitchen of any age, make sure the electricity and plumbing are in top condition and adequate to meet your needs. You don't want to deal with shorts or leaks AFTER you've installed your new dishwasher. And make sure you have enough outlets at counter level and appropriate lighting. Good lighting is another key area where a professional designer is worth their weight in gold and what they charge you pays for itself.
7. But don't hire a contractor or a designer unless you really feel they are listening to you, you have a clear budget established that they MUST understand, and you like their style. When you find someone you click with, make your plans -- then don't change your mind about what you want AFTER the work starts.
8. No matter how strongly you believe you will live out your days in the home you are in, life has a way of throwing you curves. Take it from someone who designed their dream house ... then before the paint was even dry experienced totally unforeseeable life changes that dictated a move 2,000 miles away. Design something you love, but make it something other people will love, too. If you planned your kitchen remodel wisely (i.e., consulting a Realtor), you will almost always recoup the money in a sale.
Good luck to the OP and anyone who's contemplating a re-do. It CAN be fun and a good investment if you plan well and have good, reliable help.
I always, always, always have clients sit down with a pile of design mags and have them make 2 piles, one of stuff they love, and the other of stuff they hate.
That gets me in their minds better than any conversations could ever do.
Thanks for all of the great advice. I think I will keep the peninsula. Right now it is hard to open the fridge with it but I think I could just move the fridge down a couple of feet. I think I have found my contractor. I have talked to him over the phone and called a couple of people he has worked for. One of my neighbors used him to do their kitchen. He is coming here the beginning of the week to see what needs done and start on some lay outs. I will try to post some before pics sometime this week.
Sometimes you can be so afraid of making a mistake that you make no decisions at all and nothing ever gets done.
OMG, that's me! I'm mortally afraid of bad workmanship and being ripped off, yet continue to live with a kitchen that ticks me off every time I walk into it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jukesgrrl
2. Chet's question about your desire to tear out a "bar" is a good one. Maybe that is actually a fine idea, but galley kitchens are not the prevailing style and remodeling to something that could already be passe is not a good investment.
I must disagree with this for several reasons, the most important being the preference of the homeowner.
Secondly, who says galley kitchens won't be popular the next time the house goes on the market?
OMG, that's me! I'm mortally afraid of bad workmanship and being ripped off, yet continue to live with a kitchen that ticks me off every time I walk into it.
That's the way I am too. I would love to get my bathroom and kitchen done over, money isn't the problem.
The problem is trying to find a contractor that will do good work and not automatically look at a woman alone as a "perfect target".
Secondly, who says galley kitchens won't be popular the next time the house goes on the market?
From a cooks point of view, I have to say I much prefer a galley style kitchen, as they are much more efficient if they are designed with the work triangle in mind.
Nothing worse than having to gallop around the kitchen.
From a cooks point of view, I have to say I much prefer a galley style kitchen, as they are much more efficient if they are designed with the work triangle in mind.
Nothing worse than having to gallop around the kitchen.
Totally agree. Can a home kitchen ever be too big? Yes. Hell yes. Adding a superfluous island doesn't really help.
My architect and his kitchen designer partner tried to give me a true galley kitchen, but I balked. I'm a bit of a claustrophobe.
What we came up with (along with the GC and a custom cabinet maker) is sort of a modified galley. Not something one could ever buy at a big box.
LOVE cooking here. I can open ALL doors (range, fridge, dw, etc) but I don't need a pot-filler since my range is a half-step (think pivot point) from the big farm-house sink with a commercial pull-down mixer. Win!
Now though, I can totally relate with the OP. I'm "stuck" on hiring a contractor to do all of the "outside" work (landscaping/hardscaping) that needs to be done. I'm "not a plant person" (unless we are talking kitchen herbs) and am worried I'll get taken for a ride.
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