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I “clearly meant to be insulting”? Huh? Damn lady. Chill the **** out.
... "the faux bronze/copper bar sink ..." No way the use of "faux" could be meant as an insult, I guess. (I tried to make a joke out of it by saying you hurt the sink's feelings.)
I also asked if it was just THAT sink or ANY sink that you wouldn't want in that area? I was curious as to your reasoning.
Added sinks are added drains are added leak spots. Being essentially in the same room as the kitchen sink, it’s just not necessary in my opinion.
That particular sink looks like one of those molded resin things and totally not my style. Kind of like the off center main sink. Obviously, we have different tastes. If you enjoy it, roll with it.
Added sinks are added drains are added leak spots. Being essentially in the same room as the kitchen sink, it’s just not necessary in my opinion.
Thanks for the comment, and you are absolutely right, it's in the same room, although in what USED to be the former dining room space. I figured another sink there could be useful, as it's away from the "main" cooking area in what USED to be a totally different room (before I took down the wall between them!). It could be an extra prep sink or a bar sink (since liquor will be stored in the "lower kitchen"), depending on needs.
Quote:
Originally Posted by RoamingTX
That particular sink looks like one of those molded resin things and totally not my style. Kind of like the off center main sink. Obviously, we have different tastes. If you enjoy it, roll with it.
Well, it's not molded resin at all, it's 98%+ copper -- which could work well, but could also work NOT well, so as I've said I will think about it some more. I love how it looks (I am a total sucker for anything botanical/similar) but I certainly want low-maintenance items -- and this might not be.
I also absolutely understand that people have different tastes, and I am sorry if you were simply trying to be helpful and I was perhaps overly-sensitive (which is definitely possible since I have been working on this remodel for more than 6 years!). You are certainly right that ALL sinks have the possibilities of leaks, which is a scary prospect.
But alas, the off-center main kitchen sink is simply not fixable -- i.e., in my current space, there simply is no way to center the sink on the current ~62" window if I want a workable dishwasher next to it. The previous owners centered the sink ONLY by making the dishwasher fit into a space that is not functional at all -- I mean, literally, you cannot OPEN the drawer perpendicular to the dishwasher at all! And there is no space at all to the right of the dishwasher to unload it. It's really awful, but is what I have been living with for 6-1/2 years.
Thank you so much for responding. I was so excited to see the hardwood flooring underneath the god-awful carpet ... I hope that turns out well!
Work has been crazy, the HD system was crazy, everything has been crazy ... but my cabinet orders are IN and delivery is Wednesday 11/21/18, the Wednesday before Thanksgiving!! So I will spend Thanksgiving break unpacking all the boxes, taking inventory and checking everything, and putting the cabinets as close to where they will be installed as I can. I have workers coming on Monday 11/26 and Tuesday 11/27 to install the cabinets -- may need a third or fourth day although I have a lot of tall cabinets and they go pretty quickly so who knows.
Some photos ... this first one shows you the lovely 1960-vintage cabinet style ... that's the cabinet above the old electric cooktop, which had the range vent (I bought a new one) and ductwork (it's still there but will have to be moved a few inches) ...
You can see there's a soffit there, which will be removed (it sounds hollow except for where a light fixture and the range vent ducting are, but they can be easily pushed up). Demo has started although I'm getting a worker (or two) in to do the heavy-duty stuff, hopefully this coming Friday 11/9. I've been taking the doors off the current cabinets and emptying them in anticipation ...
Not fun at all, especially because I am at the point of just sticking food, dishes, etc. in boxes and stacking them WHEREVER. Aaagggh. (Oh, you can also see the HORRIBLE position of the dishwasher in that photo -- the drawer perpendicular to it cannot open. It didn't make much of a difference because I couldn't use ANY of the base cabinets AT ALL because of the way they were made.)
I've also been cutting the old carpet and carpet pad ... it is just disgusting ...
You might be able to tell from the photo just above that there is indeed HARDWOOD under the carpet and 2 layers of vinyl tiles -- but it appears to be covered in glue from the tiles so I don't know if it's salvageable. I am just so horrified that the previous owners covered up the beautiful hardwood with vinyl tile, then another layer of vinyl tile, then CARPET!! Holy crap!! I am going to stop by a local flooring store to see if they have any suggestions, otherwise that's another $2,000 or so for the "upper kitchen."
Here are a couple of photos of one of my favorite features of the new kitchen -- 2 between-stud cabinets in the 22" walls that are on either side of the new opening between the "upper kitchen" and "lower kitchen." (The cabinets face the "upper kitchen" side.) The stud framing in those 22"-wide walls is 2x6 so I have about 5.5" of depth, enough for 3 tiered rows of my "regular" spice bottles per shelf. I bought some EZStudRacks to screw onto the cabinet sides (then you slip a 1x6 cut to width wherever you want it) -- the shelf spacing is 1x4 but will work for 1x6's as well. The shelving will also be used for oils, soda bottles, and the like. The west-side wall cabinet could only be about 9" wide (the electrician added a 2-gang light switch on the lower kitchen side and an outlet on both sides), but the east-side is about 14-15" -- LOTS of space for LOTS of spices!
Oh, here's the west wall (the wall shared with the stairs) in the lower kitchen, where I tested paint colors ...
I like the green BUT 2 cabinets that will be on that wall are green so I don't think green paint will work. I THINK I'm going to go with the burnt orange. I know, "ORANGE??", but I really like it -- it's what I used at my previous kitchen with the same offwhite cabinets and it looked beautiful. This wall will actually have beadboard paneling, which I will paint the same color as the upper-kitchen cabinets, then the burnt orange will be in the top part of the wall. Well, this assumes it will look OK with the peppercorn cabinets that will be on the east wall of the lower kitchen -- I'm not going to do any painting until after those cabinets are in. (They will take up the entire east wall.)
Oh, I've ordered my appliances -- alas, many are on back-order. I ordered the double oven, the range hood, and 2 bar sinks (in case I decide to have one in the kitchen annex as well) from Lowe's; they'll be delivered on Thursday 11/29/18, then I'll have my plumber and electrician back.
Alas, I gave up the copper sink -- I took your warnings to heart, even though I loved it. Here's the bar sink I ended up choosing, which should go beautifully with the peppercorn cabinets:
I ordered the refrigerator and gas cooktop from Home Depot because they price-matched AJ Madison, which saved me several hundred dollars (got the counter-depth black refrigerator for $1,539 -- they are normally around $2,000!). They won't be here until Wednesday 12/26/18 (alas, they were back-ordered EVERYWHERE). It's not a big deal about the refrigerator since my current one works fine, but it means I'll have to keep using my 2-burner electric cooktop for 2 more months, which really sucks.
Oh, a question for everyone: the doors I've been removing from the current kitchen cabinets are all solid wood as far as I can tell. I think I am going to cut some down to size, add beadboard (painted to match the offwhite upper kitchen cabinets) and hinges, and use them as the doors for the between-stud spice cabinets. I'll have a bunch left. I plan to just give them away (lots of people seem to use them for crafts etc.) but can you think of any use for them?
So the upper kitchen got demo'd today ... of course I forgot to take a "before" photo just before the guys got here, but here are some "after" photos ...
^^^ Left corner of kitchen (exterior wall to the back yard)
^^^ Same exterior wall, right corner of kitchen -- that window is just over 5' wide and has a view of my wonderful back yard (one of the best features of my house)
^^^ Wide view of the demo'd room!
The workers were terrific -- this is the same company that took down the wall between the upper kitchen (original kitchen) and lower kitchen (former dining room) for a fantastic price (they charge time & materials so the savings so far have been HUGE over companies that charge by the job). They will be removing the refrigerator tomorrow -- I still have to empty the freezer. I will be using 2 small Haier refrigerator/freezers (bar size, but separate freezers, which is great) for the next couple of weeks until my new refrigerator is delivered.
Oh, it's this one ...
It's a counter-depth model very similar to the one I bought for my previous house during the 2009 kitchen remodel (alas, I had to leave it there!). It's due to be delivered on Thursday 11/29, 2 weeks from today. I got a surprise during today's demo -- there's a copper water line already there! I was going to have my plumber install one, but this one has been there all along. The refrigerator the sellers left didn't have an icemaker so I suspect they took a "better" refrigerator that was there and left the one I've been using for the past 6-1/2 years (although I can't complain too much as it's worked fine).
Anyway, the workers will be back tomorrow morning (assuming they can get through in the snow!) to do a new plywood subfloor, demo the kitchen annex (former laundry closet) wall cabinets, and demo a couple of walls there too so my handyman can put up fresh water-resistant drywall on Monday. Then that little alcove will be tiled (decided to go with that instead of hardwood).
My new gas cooktop also got delivered today, although my "delivery window" was 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and they came at 3:40 p.m. The gas guys will be here next Tuesday to install a gas heater upstairs, remove the old dryer from the laundry closet (soon to be kitchen annex!), and add a gas line for the cooktop -- they'll have easy access since the cabinets are now out.
My electrician will be back on Saturday morning at 7:30. Actually these days I am virtually always up by 4 a.m. (so is he!) so it's not too bad.
Then Monday 11/19, I'll work in the morning and get home around 1 p.m. (officially on Thanksgiving break as of then!), then my handyman will be here to drywall the kitchen annex wall(s). I'm hoping he'll be able to start on the tiles as well.
Tuesday 11/20, the gas guys will be here.
Wednesday 11/21, the guys from today will be back to install the hardwood flooring in the upper kitchen plus a "transition piece" in the middle. AND all my cabinets will be delivered!!
We did a full gut and build out on our kitchen in 2012 and it was the BEST decision we ever made! Six years later and we still love everything about it.
Explain one more time, please, what the plastic brackets are which are screwed to the inside of the 2x6 studs. I took away that they are, in effect, adjustable shelf brackets, but the studs are not finished, Help out the challenged among us, please.
Explain one more time, please, what the plastic brackets are which are screwed to the inside of the 2x6 studs. I took away that they are, in effect, adjustable shelf brackets, but the studs are not finished, Help out the challenged among us, please.
Sorry! Here's a collage from ezstudrack.com:
In the left-side and right-side photos you can see the racks -- the white vertical items with brackets. They were originally made for 1x4's (which are actually .75" x 3.5") to be placed between studs in garages, so the brackets are about 3.5" deep. The photos above show how they're used with deeper shelves (probably 1x8s) -- the installer simply screwed in the EZStudRacks to the sides of the cabinet, then added 1x8s (or whatever) as shelves wherever he/she wanted them.
In my case, my shelves will be 1x6's cut to the width of each cabinet because I had the 22" side walls (between the header beam that replaced the wall between my former kitchen and former dining room) made with 2x6's (I wanted 5.5" depth for my shelves instead of 3.5"). They are a cinch to install, then you just pile on whatever you want (in my case, spices, oils, etc.). You can change the shelf positions whenever you want simply by pulling out the shelf and sliding it into its new position.
Oh, I didn't finish the insides (although I will likely paint the studs at some point) because I will be adding doors to both cabinets (may not be until after winter break, but it WILL happen!).
Of course, you can always build between-stud shelving yourself, either fixed (easiest) or adjustable (so you'd have to drill holes for the shelf pins). These racks just make it easier for people like me who are, um, not very handy.
==========
Workers were back today! They put in the new subfloor and did a beautiful job ...
They also demo'd the former laundry closet (soon-to-be kitchen annex) INCLUDING getting the dryer out -- that little alcove next to the kitchen (it's actually in my TV room but literally a couple of steps away from the "new" kitchen) is nice and dry and ready to be re-sheetrocked with water-resistant sheetrock (there was a leak at some point, which I didn't realize until I got a new washing machine ). My handyman is coming on Monday to do the drywall, so I talked to today's workers just before they left for the day and they think they'll be able to do the tiling in there on Wednesday -- that's when they're coming to do the hardwood flooring (couldn't do that today, unfortunately, because it had to acclimate a few more days).
Anyway, it's starting to feel like this is actually going to get DONE before New Year's! That will be a nice birthday present to myself.
When I wanted to 'do something' with a utility closet and its two (two!) full depth fixed shelves, I used these: https://woodworker.com/24-zinc-stand...su-853-056.asp. Since each shelf was made from two boards, I got four 1/2 depth shelves. I then had enough room to install ClosetMaid shelves, storage, on both walls and the door.
I'm really impressed with your thoughtful use of space. I don't mind the sink and dishwasher placement in front of the window. The two pieces visually fit. Looking at the cabinet placement left and right, I'm not sure what else you could have done. I once lived in a house with a kitchen sink about 5" off center under a 5' window. I drove me crazy for a while.
How did you end up with the wine shelves? Cabinet sizes?
I think that your new choice for a bar sink looks more useful, but how will it look with the counter? Will the kitchen and dining area have the same counter material?
I wouldn't feel sad about the wood kitchen floor. It's a cheaper grade of wood and was never meant to be seen.
I can hardly wait to hear and see more.
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early November update!!
I ordered the double oven, the range hood, and 2 bar sinks (in case I decide to have one in the kitchen annex as well) from Lowe's; they'll be delivered on Thursday 11/29/18, then I'll have my plumber and electrician back.
