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Old 08-17-2011, 07:27 PM
 
Location: Pittsburgh area
9,912 posts, read 24,660,570 times
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Heh, now this is the Pittsburgh kitchen remodel (or not) thread.

I'm not sure anything is timeless completely. Almost everything goes through a non-timeless stage it seems like. I think now we believe some types of woodwork including flooring could be timeless, but there are still some who would not care for those looks and textures, and certainly 30 and 40 years ago that stuff was all considered outdated. Kitchens are almost by definition not timeless because they involve technology that changes. And I haven't seen one yet where the cabinets don't ultimately look dated, but maybe that won't happen in another 10-20 years looking at some of these 90s and 00s kitchens....

Personally my problem with a pretty ugly kitchen is making sure I get to enjoy any changes I decide to make before leaving. Which means I have to do something soon. But I can't be spending tons so going to have to try some DIY stuff in there. Refacing would be an appropriate sized project but the crap that's in here is in no way worthy of refacing and new counter. I don't think it would survive the counter being removed very well, just cheap crap. I figure maybe, just maybe I can do floor and cabinets if I work at it and can live for many weeks things torn up, and don't change the layout much (so no big changes in electrical/plumbing, just cabinets and floor). Then I can get someone else to do counter. And not granite, not in this place. I think it would fall through the floor, LOL. I'd probably be more inclined to do an engineered quartz but that actually costs more than some cheap granite. Probably be laminate, totally appropriate for this house I think. I really don't have a fondness for granite at all, but then I've never gone and seriously started considering kitchen options. So I won't say never....

Concrete doesn't interest me in this house but I definitely can see why it is interesting at times. Go for it Hopes. Outlaw Studios, don't know if that's the outfit you mean, but that's the one with the big rep around town AFAIK.

Last edited by greg42; 08-17-2011 at 07:35 PM..
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Old 08-18-2011, 06:18 AM
 
20,273 posts, read 33,022,351 times
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In our last house we redid the kitchen ourselves. We did nothing that required a lot of specialized work, although I did build a couple custom cabinets to fill in odd places. For example, we didn't change the laminate counter, but we did add a beadboard backsplash and oak edging stained to match the existing oak island top. We looked into stripping or replacing the existing painted cabinets, but ended up just repainting them and adding new hardware and task lighting. And so forth.

Anyway, once it was done we enjoyed it for several years. And although it was still viewed as a "dated kitchen" when we eventually marketed the place, I'm sure it eliminated a lot of negative value (the kitchen as we found it was not just "dated" but downright ugly). We also rented the place for a while at a decent enough price, and I suspect having a nice (albeit not super-contemporary) kitchen helped. And it didn't cost much (at least not including the price of my labor).
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Old 08-18-2011, 06:29 AM
 
Location: Pittsburgh, PA
1,519 posts, read 2,675,781 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by h_curtis View Post
I have restored homes since the 1990's. Guess what? The kitchens I have put in are all still there and the last three had granite. It is expected in the homes I do since... well they are higher end. I guess down in the city, Formica is king, but not out my way. Quality rules.

Enjoy.
My parents put a really high quality shag carpet in their house in the 70s. Didn't keep it from looking dated.
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Old 08-18-2011, 06:36 AM
 
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Originally Posted by Tinare View Post
My parents put a really high quality shag carpet in their house in the 70s. Didn't keep it from looking dated.
Great point! My parents had a quality shag rug in the family room in the 70s in a high end home in Fox Chapel of all places!
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Old 08-18-2011, 06:46 AM
 
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Quote:
Formica is king, but not out my way. Quality rules
Is there something inherently better about granite? The benefits seem minor to me, other than style.
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Old 08-18-2011, 06:50 AM
 
Location: Pittsburgh, PA
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Yeah, fads come and go, the best thing anyone can do, I think, is put into their home what they like and enjoy it. If you're looking at real estate only as an investment, then you're not going to agree with me, but I look at it as my home. Of course, I bought a house that any stager would have told the previous owners was "too taste specifc" and that they should paint over all of the color and make it beige before selling. But I also just slid in before two other offers and the house wasn't on the market a full month. So I don't think the "rules" always apply.
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Old 08-18-2011, 07:21 AM
 
43,011 posts, read 108,061,041 times
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Originally Posted by Tinare View Post
Yeah, fads come and go, the best thing anyone can do, I think, is put into their home what they like and enjoy it. If you're looking at real estate only as an investment, then you're not going to agree with me, but I look at it as my home.
It blows my mind when some people in this area talk about investment and resale value. Most Pittsburghers live in their homes for decades and their kitchens will be outdated by the time the house is on the market again. It makes more sense to install what you like so you can enjoy it while living there, unless you plan to relocate in a few years but then you have to be careful to not put too much money into short-term housing since real estate doesn't appreciate fast in this region.
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Old 08-18-2011, 08:09 AM
 
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What Hopes said. We're planning on living in our place for another 20 - 30 years so I'm not really worried about resale value. We're building a place for us to live in.
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Old 08-18-2011, 12:38 PM
 
13 posts, read 45,027 times
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I think West Seattle Gal might like Beech Ave and or Lincoln Ave. in Allegheny West. Both have none, if not very few, dilapidated buildings, and they are all beautifully restored. And in my opinion, they have a little bit of an edge on the Mexican War Streets- A lot of them have decent yards for the city, homes are larger, and I think the area in general is a little less "edgy" Not that the War Streets are dangerous, but I feel that Allegheny West, and these streets in particular, have less of a spill over. And I am pretty sure Beech avenue is very kid-friendly.
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Old 08-18-2011, 01:06 PM
 
43,011 posts, read 108,061,041 times
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Originally Posted by peter99 View Post
I think West Seattle Gal might like Beech Ave and or Lincoln Ave. in Allegheny West. Both have none, if not very few, dilapidated buildings, and they are all beautifully restored. And in my opinion, they have a little bit of an edge on the Mexican War Streets- A lot of them have decent yards for the city, homes are larger, and I think the area in general is a little less "edgy" Not that the War Streets are dangerous, but I feel that Allegheny West, and these streets in particular, have less of a spill over. And I am pretty sure Beech avenue is very kid-friendly.
I love, love, love that neighborhood! But I disagree with you about it feeling less edgy. Sure, the immediate streets have a less edgy feel, but the little neighborhood is right next to industrial area and Manchester. That's not something that I would mind but I think it would make the OP very uncomfortable. Plus, the yards are still small and the public school for that area isnt' very good. But I agree that those are beautiful streets.
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