Kitchen Remodel

[OCLittleFlower]

Nope -- no illegals or exterior work involved.  :p

A kitchen would be easy work. Seriously, at least on the painting end.

Do you have an unhealthy desire to break things?  Because we also need to demo the old kitchen.   :tongue:

[Bonaventure]

Haha. At my last job site, the owner lied and said guests would be coming in to see us "demo" the outside. Bosses always say that so and so is coming, but it never happens. "Guests are coming from Singapore." LOL

[OCLittleFlower]

Haha. At my last job site, the owner lied and said guests would be coming in to see us "demo" the outside. Bosses always say that so and so is coming, but it never happens. "Guests are coming from Singapore." LOL

LOL

I mean demolish.

[piabee]

No tips except don't use anything overly trendy (I love HGTV but every single remodel they do will look dated in ten years) and take lots of before and after pics!

[OCLittleFlower]

No tips except don't use anything overly trendy (I love HGTV but every single remodel they do will look dated in ten years) and take lots of before and after pics!

Other than white cabinets, pretty much every trend out there, I detest.  I even have it in for stainless steel appliances AND farmhouse sinks.   :tongue:

But yeah -- I'm a firm believer in going trendy (provided of course that you like the trend) on inexpensive, replaceable things that don't last.  Throw pillows, lampshades, even paint.  Maybe the clock on the kitchen wall, to keep it on topic.   :tongue: 

My personal rule of thumb, numbers subject to change:  If it costs more than say, fifty bucks, don't go trendy unless you're sure you'll love it for a good long time.  If it's more than fifty bucks, trendy, and you want it, see if you can DIY it.

And, speaking of slightly outdated trends...

[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0XM3vWJmpfo[/yt]

[Penelope]

"Put a bird on it" is my husband's and my motto. I'm not sure a person could count the number of birds on things in our apartment. But we both like actual, real birds, not just throw pillows with pictures of birds. My husband is totally going to end up as one of those bird-watching old men with binoculars and field guides.

[voxxpopulisuxx]

Are you doing the work yourself? How extensive? New flooring? Appliances? Are you tearing out walls? Painting?
My proffessional advice is do things in phases...paint your ceilng before getting new floors or cabinets.
demo the old cabinets ...remove....=demo.....
then do all the painting and floor work. Install new cabs last. The project sounds like your kitchen will be out of service for 5 days. Microwave and eating out...Your fridge can be running in another room. Paper plates and cups and plastic ware.
We did our kitchen this way. But I hired a carpenter to ibstall new cabinets properly...BTW MAKE SURE YOU MEASURE EXACTLY. 

[Penelope]

If your house is old and your kitchen has soffits, make sure the soffits are level. My parents found out the hard way that the people who built their house didn't take care to level the soffits. The cabinets original to the house hid this, but the new cabinets show just how uneven the soffits are.

[piabee]

I even have it in for stainless steel appliances AND farmhouse sinks.

I think farmhouse sinks look classic and simple enough to withstand the test of time. Unless they are stainless steel farmhouse sinks, which look like the back room of a cafeteria. Gross.

My aunt put glass mosaic wall tiles in every bathroom in their house and I already think it looks tired.

[OCLittleFlower]

I even have it in for stainless steel appliances AND farmhouse sinks.

I think farmhouse sinks look classic and simple enough to withstand the test of time. Unless they are stainless steel farmhouse sinks, which look like the back room of a cafeteria. Gross.

My aunt put glass mosaic wall tiles in every bathroom in their house and I already think it looks tired.

Oh yikes on those tiles!

Farmhouse sinks look too big for what they're installed into to me -- like they tried to force too large a sink into the kitchen and had to cut stuff wrong in order to make it work.  :tongue:

[OCLittleFlower]

Are you doing the work yourself? How extensive? New flooring? Appliances? Are you tearing out walls? Painting?

Yes floor.  Sort of on appliances (we bought the fridge and dishwasher when we moved in 2 years ago, so they are still basically new, but the stove is a 40-year-old piece of crap and the microwave hood only works as a microwave, which we never use, so we are replacing it with a regular hood).  No tearing out walls or dramatic changes of layout.  Yes painting and some retexturing of the ceiling where there's damage from where an old, broken light fixture was removed.

The hubby and I aren't doing much ourselves, but my dad will do the electrical.  Hubby might help with painting, not sure.

Eating out for five days doesn't sound half bad -- we often do anyway when my dad's visiting.  And I can always grill some meat and veggies outside.

[voxxpopulisuxx]

Make sure your contractor is reputable and well vetted.... make sure there's a clear written contract.... do not under any circumstances pay him more than 10 percent up front.... if he wants more its only for supplies and he has to show you the receipts... do not make final payment until the kitchen is satisfactory to your liking... I mean it it will keep him on track... most people pay their contractor too much money too soon

[voxxpopulisuxx]

So the proper procedure is thus... rip out in demo all cabinets and flooring and appliences..take care of all wiring and plumbing issues then.... then do all your painting and finishing work on the rest of the room.... then install flooring... finish with cabinetry installs.... touch up fine tune... make breakfast in your new kitchen

[Anastasia]

I'd check to see if the library has This Old House back issues. Or search their website. Besides lots of articles on kitchen options, they have tips on how to save money, reduce the hassle, etc.
The one thing (apart from farmhouse sinks) that I was going to highly recommend is cork flooring. It's terrific: looks nice, hides dirt, easy on the feet and things won't shatter if you drop them.

[OCLittleFlower]

Thanks all. 

Vox. I'm not paying my contractor anything.  I suppose we will have to take him out to dinner or something because he won't take money. (Its my dad lol)

Anastasia.  Does cork come in a wide variety of colors or just browns?  We're going with a cool rather than warm color scheme, so I don't think brown will work, as much as cush sounds nice on the feet.