Kitchen Remodel

[felkey72]

I am a proud owner of my very first house; it’s an older home with a lot of outdated/problems. The first project we are tackling is the kitchen. We have the kitchen demoed and need to redo all the plumbing in the house, but now my gf and I are unsure of what to do with the kitchen. She would like white cabinets with dark countertops and I would like cherry cabinets and medium countertops with bamboo. I will include a picture of the layout, any advice and or pictures would be helpful.

 

[drayer54]

You can paint them white.... It's hard to paint them Cherry...

 

[D-BOE34]

DO NOT tile the counter. I flipped my first house and went with that. Was a beautiful kitchen but the grout clean was a beetch! I also learned that the hardware on the cabinets make the kitchen. Do it wrong and all is lost.

Side Note: Anything you think you can do yourself is worth the time. i spent many weekends at Home Depot getting a quick lesson. Saved me tons of money! You will be surprised at the end on the savings. Always get quotes to make yourself feel better. This is NOT a time when the cheapest is the best option!

Good Luck

 

[felkey72]

DO NOT tile the counter. I flipped my first house and went with that. Was a beautiful kitchen but the grout clean was a beetch! I also learned that the hardware on the cabinets make the kitchen. Do it wrong and all is lost.

Side Note: Anything you think you can do yourself is worth the time. i spent many weekends at Home Depot getting a quick lesson. Saved me tons of money! You will be surprised at the end on the savings. Always get quotes to make yourself feel better. This is NOT a time when the cheapest is the best option!

Good Luck

Most the work is being done by myself and her dad. It helps that during college my summer job was working for a company that flipped houses.

 

[BobD]

What is the year and style of the home?

Do you tend to like things more modern or more classic?

 

[pkt77242]

What is the year and style of the home?

Do you tend to like things more modern or more classic?

^This. How are you planning on doing the rest of the house? Are the appliances going to be stainless steel or black (Hell, or white or bisque, etc)? What kind of flooring and what color?

 

[Wild Bill]

Congrats on the house and good luck with the rehab. I'm putting the finishing touches on a house I'm rehabbing. Picking material for the kitchen is tough. So many options and it can turn into a real money pit.

Price shop before you make your decision. I bought my cabinets online and saved about 20%. I'm not taking sides here, but you'll pay about 10% more for white cabinets (manufacturer's cost to paint them). Maybe that'll help you convince her.

 

[felkey72]

What is the year and style of the home?

Do you tend to like things more modern or more classic?

The house is an 1890's Victorian. I believe that we are a moisture of modern and classic, more on the classic side i believe. We are stripping all the original floors and woodwork to restore them back the way they should be. Amazing what people do to beautiful woodwork.

^This. How are you planning on doing the rest of the house? Are the appliances going to be stainless steel or black (Hell, or white or bisque, etc)? What kind of flooring and what color?

She wants stainless which is fine by me. I want a dark bamboo and she wants a dark gray tile. Only room in the house without original hardwood. When we bought the house the kitchen was raised 3 full inches, we finally now have it to the subfloor and have it level. It was lots of fun getting rid of that much concrete and plywood. i have come to the conclusion the previous owners were idiots. My gfs parents owned the home for twenty years until she was 8. They said that they didnt leave the house the way it is now, also nice seeing pictures and knowing what it could look like

Congrats on the house and good luck with the rehab. I'm putting the finishing touches on a house I'm rehabbing. Picking material for the kitchen is tough. So many options and it can turn into a real money

This whole house is a money pit lol and thank you

Price shop before you make your decision. I bought my cabinets online and saved about 20%. I'm not taking sides here, but you'll pay about 10% more for white cabinets (manufacturer's cost to paint them). Maybe that'll help you convince her.

We have quotes from about 5 different locations. I never would have guess you could buy nice cherry cabinets for the seem as painted maple and try 15% for them to paint them.

 

[greyhammer90]

If this is anything like house hunters you'll "both" decide what she wants is more "realistic".

 

[Rhode Irish]

Don't use black granite for the countertops. Looks great, until anyone or anything touches it. It will only be "clean" for about 10 minutes after you put it in. After that it will always be dirty. Ours is a earthy brown/taupe.

 

[felkey72]

Don't use black granite for the countertops. Looks great, until anyone or anything touches it. It will only be "clean" for about 10 minutes after you put it in. After that it will always be dirty. Ours is a earthy brown/taupe.

Would the same apply for quartz

 

[rocket66]

If you can afford it, Quartz counters are the way to go. A little more expensive than granite but much much easier to maintain (no sealing).

 

[rocket66]

Would the same apply for quartz

For sure. Quartz and granite have very similar finishes and both would be difficult to keep clean in the darker colors. I also have brown/earthy counters and love them.

 

[BobD]

Good countertop info:

Choose the Right Countertop Material

 

[BobD]

Discount and quality cabinet supplier:

Discount Wood Cabinets for your dream home! | Cabinets To Go

 

[BobD]

When you're ready to choose appliances, let me know. Thats my speciality.

 

[BobD]

Restoration Hardware Homepage

 

[cody1smith]

Would the same apply for quartz

Check out corian, it cheaper than granite or quartz and way eaiser to clean and take care of. Plus you will have no seems in it.

 

[cody1smith]

Discount and quality cabinet supplier:

http:// http://www.cabinetstogo.com/

May be a little cheaper to buy cabinets like these or from one of the big box stores. However if you have not gotten bids from a custom cabinet maker i would really consider it. The one that i use is actually a little cheaper than say home depot or Lowes.

 

[cody1smith]

The house is an 1890's Victorian. I believe that we are a moisture of modern and classic, more on the classic side i believe. We are stripping all the original floors and woodwork to restore them back the way they should be. Amazing what people do to beautiful woodwork.



She wants stainless which is fine by me. I want a dark bamboo and she wants a dark gray tile. Only room in the house without original hardwood. When we bought the house the kitchen was raised 3 full inches, we finally now have it to the subfloor and have it level. It was lots of fun getting rid of that much concrete and plywood. i have come to the conclusion the previous owners were idiots. My gfs parents owned the home for twenty years until she was 8. They said that they didnt leave the house the way it is now, also nice seeing pictures and knowing what it could look like



We have quotes from about 5 different locations. I never would have guess you could buy nice cherry cabinets for the seem as painted maple and try 15% for them to paint them.

Also I am also a fan of the deep cherry look. If you are getting bids from custom builders have them bid alder. I have put alder in my last couple of houses and love it. They can stain it to look very similar to cherry. I will try and post some pics of my current kitchen later on today so you can check it out.

 

[irish1958]

After 49 years of marriage, I assure you the correct choice is always what she wants. It will save you a ton of money in the long run, because you will eventually end up with her choice anyway.
Save your battles for something really important such as the brand of coffee you buy.

 

[cody1smith]

After 49 years of marriage, I assure you the correct choice is always what she wants. It will save you a ton of money in the long run, because you will eventually end up with her choice anyway.
Save your battles for something really important such as the brand of coffee you buy.

Lol. That is about right. I told my wife when we got married that she could make all the minor decisions in our life/marriage. But ANYTHING that was major to let me know and i will decide. And up until this point there has never been "major" decision to be made.

 

[Irish#1]

After 49 years of marriage, I assure you the correct choice is always what she wants. It will save you a ton of money in the long run, because you will eventually end up with her choice anyway.
Save your battles for something really important such as the brand of coffee you buy.

LMAO.......I've been married for 40 years and my wife and I are in our 4th year of rehabbing an 1883 Victorian. I let her pick all the colors and design changes unless it has a major impact on how it gets built or installed. While Victorians were known for some unusual colors that don't work today, you can stay with some of them by getting the color in a pastel or toning it down some.

Plumbing should be real easy if you use PEX. It also allows you to put in more shut-offs so you can shut the water off in select areas instead of the entire house.

Before we bought this house, I could never get my wife near the tool department at Home Depot, Lowes, Menards, etc.. Now she's asking me if we should by this saw or that tool. How many 59 year old female accountants do you know own their own nail gun? lol

Good Luck.

 

[felkey72]

LMAO.......I've been married for 40 years and my wife and I are in our 4th year of rehabbing an 1883 Victorian. I let her pick all the colors and design changes unless it has a major impact on how it gets built or installed. While Victorians were known for some unusual colors that don't work today, you can stay with some of them by getting the color in a pastel or toning it down some.

Plumbing should be real easy if you use PEX. It also allows you to put in more shut-offs so you can shut the water off in select areas instead of the entire house.
.

We are using PEX just started installing this week. Basiclly a breaker box for water really nice stuff especially for an older home.

Before we bought this house, I could never get my wife near the tool department at Home Depot, Lowes, Menards, etc.. Now she's asking me if we should by this saw or that tool. How many 59 year old female accountants do you know own their own nail gun? lol

Good Luck.

Funny same thing with my gf, i would need to pick something up and she wouldn't even go in she would always stay in the car. Now she loves going in and looking at everything. Only problem is she likes picking out the things that don't matter right now lighting backslash hardware, but the important things like a new door takes three weeks to choose even though we needed it two weeks ago.

 

[cody1smith]

We are using PEX just started installing this week. Basiclly a breaker box for water really nice stuff especially for an older home.



Funny same thing with my gf, i would need to pick something up and she wouldn't even go in she would always stay in the car. Now she loves going in and looking at everything. Only problem is she likes picking out the things that don't matter right now lighting backslash hardware, but the important things like a new door takes three weeks to choose even though we needed it two weeks ago.

Most people around here are kinda getting away from the "block system" with pex. Unless something new has came out in the last year or so that "shut off" thing is only 3/8 inch diameter inside of it. And restricting water that needs to go 100 foot with say 55 pounds of pressure (or less in most cases) is never a good idea. Even hearing that parts of st louis are only a few years from taking it off of the "new construction code" Not saying that you will have any trouble with it because 100's of 1000's of homes have the same thing you have. With little to no trouble.

 

[AdmiralBackhand]

Great thread.. just subscribing. Carry on.

 

[Irishman77]

We are just starting a complete renovation of our kitchen and two baths.

We have bamboo floors and are going with expresso finished cabinets. We haven't picked our granite slabs yet , but want lighter color to offset the dar cabinets.

Aiming for this with lighter granite. (Scroll down and look to right) pic with expresso and bamboo

Kitchen Ideas | Remodeling Gallery | Kitchen & Bath Depot MD, DC, VA

 

[felkey72]

Does anyone have a kitchen with white cabinets that would be willing to show some pictures