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I wanted to share some pictures of the process of gutting my kitchen and installing my IKEA kitchen. I bought this townhome in 2008, and after a few weeks of trying to do a "lipstick" job of the kitchen (as you can see from the pictures), it became apparent I needed a whole makeover. The whole remodel cost around $4k, including cabinets, countertops, tile floors, labor, and accessories. The wall color may not show the right shade, but it's dark harvest orange--not bright as it may appear.
The official listing picture of the kitchen--this was before I even bought the place.
Beginning of the "lipstick" job...
Gutting...
Finally! A new kitchen comes together.
At this point, we began sanding and oiling the countertops and installing the doors.
My most FAVORITE addition...
If I had a bigger kitchen in a bigger house, I probably wouldn't go with IKEA. It's perfect for smaller places, but it's definitely not elegant or beautiful. I love the way it looks in my house, because I went a little bolder with colors, etc. My only regret is the countertops--I hate them! I wash them down constantly because I'm paranoid of the germs they harbor, and food gets SO stuck to them. I don't think I want to spend money on granite in such a small place, so I'm considering going to a high-quality laminate. At least it'll be easier to clean.
P.S. I hope all these pictures came through correctly. I can't see images from my work computer, so I had to blindly post some of them
My only regret is the countertops--I hate them! I wash them down constantly because I'm paranoid of the germs they harbor, and food gets SO stuck to them. I don't think I want to spend money on granite in such a small place, so I'm considering going to a high-quality laminate. At least it'll be easier to clean.
Interesting...
We're planning on remodeling our small kitchen with IKEA this spring using wood countertops as well. I have the Adel doors picked out but am torn between the birch and white. We're going to add on a new dining room in the next 5 to 10 years which will completely change the floorplan of the kitchen so I'm not terribly concerned with longevity of IKEA as we'll likely have custom cabinets/soapstone counters installed when the time comes.
I have been hesitant about the wood countertop. They look absolutely beautiful, but I have messy kids and a very messy husband who are likely to forget to wipe up spills. Maybe I should avoid your frustration and go with a textured, high quality laminate as well.
We're planning on remodeling our small kitchen with IKEA this spring using wood countertops as well. I have the Adel doors picked out but am torn between the birch and white. We're going to add on a new dining room in the next 5 to 10 years which will completely change the floorplan of the kitchen so I'm not terribly concerned with longevity of IKEA as we'll likely have custom cabinets/soapstone counters installed when the time comes.
I have been hesitant about the wood countertop. They look absolutely beautiful, but I have messy kids and a very messy husband who are likely to forget to wipe up spills. Maybe I should avoid your frustration and go with a textured, high quality laminate as well.
Great job on the install!
I also love the way the wood countertops look, but if you have kids and a messy husband--no way! It's just me in my townhome, so the spills don't frusturate me as much, but if I had multiple people using the kitchen I'd go completely nuts!
For the first month or so after oiling the countertops, food practically jumped off the surface. But after it wore off, things started sticking incredibly bad.
I love Ikea kitchens! We installed an Ikea kitchen in our last house with laminate counters, but I do use the stand alone Varde units (with wood tops) as islands both in the previous house and in our current home. They are a little harder to clean than laminate, but I've never found it to be something that makes me paranoid.
Of course, I don't actually put food onto the counter tops I use dishwasher safe cutting boards for all prep, and wipe up spills as they happen. I use 409 for cleaning. This goes for the laminate ones as well.
I also re-oil the wood as needed (whenever water stops beading when spilled). The only thing I do directly on the wood is handle dough for baking. That sometimes requires a plastic scraper to get up the sticky bits.
I love Ikea kitchens! We installed an Ikea kitchen in our last house with laminate counters, but I do use the stand alone Varde units (with wood tops) as islands both in the previous house and in our current home. They are a little harder to clean than laminate, but I've never found it to be something that makes me paranoid.
Of course, I don't actually put food onto the counter tops I use dishwasher safe cutting boards for all prep, and wipe up spills as they happen. I use 409 for cleaning. This goes for the laminate ones as well.
I also re-oil the wood as needed (whenever water stops beading when spilled). The only thing I do directly on the wood is handle dough for baking. That sometimes requires a plastic scraper to get up the sticky bits.
I think my biggest annoyance with the countertops is the fact that I can't use anti-bacterial wipes on it. I use them on everything...
Because of that, I won't put anything directly on the countertops. Dough is one of the reasons I want to replace them--if the counter isn't disinfected, then I'm not rolling my dough on it.
I cook a lot, and food spills, things splash, and concoctions drip. On any normal countertop you can wipe them up, but on these countertops it's almost an entire production.
Mary_Moon- If you don't do the wood counter tops highly recommend using the in stock Laminate counters from Lowe's or Home Depot. They are durable and look much better than they used to. They also cost $10.00 per foot so for a 10x10 kitchen the counter would cost $200.00. I can do a lot of counters for $200.00.
Why pay more if you know you will be re doing your kitchen again.
Clorox spray and 409 sprays are both capable of killing bacteria and viruses and I use them on my wood all the time. Not as handy as a wipe, but I have no worries about germs.
Yep, wood cutting boards are much safer if you're talking about bacteria than plastic ones. That article was from 1993. I believe there have been other, similar studies, with the same results, since.
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