Builder Basic to My Dream Kitchen (before & after)
Carrie H
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My dream kitchen is crumbling down around my head.
Comments (19)Thank you all so much! The handholding helps more than I can say. Herbflavor: MA will certainly make the hood a custom size and in fact I am going to tell them to make it 16" high. mtnredux: I decided to leave it at 24" deep. There's a pic on the MA site where a huge hood of the same type I'm ordering is partially under a 24" soffit and it looks kind of neat. So I'm going with the "it will look interesting" idea, not because I don't want to make the GC redo it, but because as you suggested, I slept on it and decided in the am that it would be okay. April_Lorraine, mastiffmom and sioushi: I decided to go with the solid floor for the reasons that 1) once the island is in, we actually won't have a lot of floor space showing, and 2) the range and hood and island will have such big visual impact that I want to give them a nice pale surface to stand out against. I think I have to give up my beloved F&B Pavilion Blue as well (don't think it will go with the hood so much), so I decided that when I have some money again (HAH!) I will redo my foyer with Pavilion Blue and a checkerboard floor. Plus, although he wouldn't have fought me over it, DH slightly preferred the solid floor. willtv: Thank you! It is very helpful to hear from someone taller with even less space between the hood and cooktop that you don't bang your head. And I'm ordinarily not much of a drinker but I'm having a glass of wine right now and boy, is that some good stuff. V. relaxing. Sayde: I know 31" is within the normal range but it just seems so low to me that it bothers me! I'm sure it will be fine. blfenton: Hahaha! One of our cats does behave that way. The other one always has this slight startled deer-in-the-headlights expression. I guess I looked more like her at the time. rosieo: I know, I know...and I really do count my blessings every day and try to keep this in perspective (like, there are people with nothing to eat and I'm worried about this stupid sofft depth?!?). Normally I'm pretty unflappable but this was kind of a cumulative effect thing that got to me. I've compromised on lots of little details and over time it has a way of building up such that I feel that what I had planned and designed won't be anything like what I end up with. But truthfully you're right: It is, after all, just a kitchen. muskokascp: I think I was just exhausted. You're right...one thing at a time. It's tough, though, when you consider changing one major element and you have to think carefully through how that change would effect everything else. It's tiring. johnliu: No, I really haven't made that many changes. This was after we were waffling on the sink being next to the wall, decided to switch it with the DW, and I was so miserable over the thought of it all night that I switched it back in the morning. This GC has remodeled two baths for me plus installed a completely new one and painted my house, and for all those jobs combined, I made exactly ONE change (to replace a window molding that didn't match others in the adjacent rooms). This was just bad timing. SusieQusie60: Hmmm...I don't seem to be able to make decisions piecemeal. I am compelled to consider the whole package. Not sure if it's because I'm a graphic designer and tend to think in terms of "overall packaging" but I have to visualize the entire kitchen and how everything works together. Which unfortunately makes me terribly indecisive! I'm probably my GC's worst nightmare, and here I think I'm so easy to work with. *g* katkatf: Thank you! That helped a lot. I've decided this is like childbirth: It sucks while you're going through it but there's no other way to get there. Although hmmmm...I didn't have any drugs when I had a homebirth. I wonder if I could get my epidural now. aliris: Thank you, that was a great post! It's good to know I can both feel incredibly blessed and lucky and at the same time occasionally pull my spoiled princess act (as long as I don't do it too often). desertsteph: No, not really. I had meant to tell him earlier and just didn't. Lesson learned. I must say that he is a GREAT GC in terms of quality and competence and reliability. His crew has been with him for a long time and they're great too. It's just that most of the kitchens he does--and he's built some very high-end homes--are the same generic thing over and over. So he thinks I'm a whackjob when I propose some new thing he's never done before. Like I told him 15 years ago in another house that I wanted a wood floor in my kitchen and he said that NO ONE does wood floors. I also told him about radiant underfloor heating and he looked at me like I was from another planet. Fast-forward a few years and he's telling me that wood floors are wonderful in kitchens, or if I do tile, I should consider radiant underfloor heating. :-) He doesn't know about my secret weapon, the GW Kitchen Forum! I told him that while he thinks I'm crazy and always wanting to do something he's never done before, look at how much he's learning. (Currently he's telling me that NO ONE does marble countertops. Heh.) So thank you so much, everyone. All the electrical went in today and we're moving along. I'll just keep taking deep breaths and repeating "It's just a kitchen. IT'S JUST A KITCHEN."...See MoreFive things that date a kitchen or make it look builder basic:
Comments (150)A guy I knew in high school - a normal, honor roll, good kid - said he went to Woodstock with his older brother. I'm pretty sure he was telling the truth. Woodstock was 1969, so this guy had to have been about 14. My DS is now 14. I have to ask myself two(rhetorical)questions: how cool is it that he was at Woodstock, and what were his parents thinking? Although melaska and linelle seeing the Beatles, that may beat out even Woodstock! And less muddy. Oh, and DS explained to me that Jethro Tull isn't "hard rock" it's "classic rock." I explained to her that they weren't "classic" yet when I saw them. Reminded me of the line from the hilarious song "1985," "When did Moltey Crue become classic rock?" which segue allows me to go sort of back on topic. Debby just hit the wall She never had it all She wanted stainless steel Just couldn't make the deal She wanted Shaker doors And Brazilian cherry floors 1200 cfm fan What happened to her plan? She was gonna get some marble, Backsplash of subway tile, She was gonna put in drawers, Pull outs with lots of style. Her UCL LED Is just a fantasy She looks at her fluorescent lights And nothing is all right It's still Coil stove, tile counters and over-the-range Microwave, Oak cabinets, partial overlay And double sink with separate spray. The kitchen design rules, They tell her that she's uncool, Cause her kitchen still looks like... 1985....See Moreideas needed for builders basic stark white kitchen
Comments (32)For sure I would BEG BEG BEG for a solid color back splash. It's a lie if they tell you all white would be more expensive. Don't fret the color of the cabinets. Chances are the wear patterns on them will be so striking soon enough you will be repainting every few years....See MoreBlank slate- help me plan my dream kitchen!
Comments (59)Thoughts on this drawing: - Is that half-bath 4 1/2 x 4 1/2? If so, it's too small. I strongly suggest you drop a tape measure in your purse, and every time you use a bathroom -- at the dentist's office, in your friend's house, where ever -- measure it. Develop a sense of "just right". I promise you, it won't be 4 1/2 x 4 1/2. Consider grandma using this space with a walker. If you go with a pedestal sink, it'll be a space-saver (and you don't need to store much in a half bath), but it'll still be too small. - Still on the half-bath ... go with an in-swing here. This door, as shown, can block your hall traffic. - While we're talking about doors, the pantry door will stay open most of the time, so I suggest a pocket door here ... if you're able to "park it" in the wall by the fridge. Why? Same reason as the half-bath: as shown, it's a traffic blocker, and with only a 3' walkway into the pantry, you don't really have room to comfortably "park the door" in that pantry entry. - I'd like to see a pass-through door between the pantry and the kitchen. Imagine how convenient it'd be to walk into the pantry, pick out your cans and "set them through" to the kitchen countertop rather than carrying them. - Beware of placing the freezer against a wall. Be sure you'll be able to open the door all the way. - Will you have a cabinet near the fridge in which you can store glassware? You know you want these things close together. - You have 4' between your island and your cabinet runs. I know this is what most people consider "just right", but I find it a little wide (then, again, I am small). Go down to Lowes with the aforementioned tape measure, and you'll see that most of their stuff is 3 1/2' apart. Decide for yourself whether you find this comfortable. - What's the cabinet between the sink and the dishwasher? - Your "serious cooking zone" seems to be angled towards the crook of the "L" ... as such, I'd be tempted to bump the dishwasher to the other side of the sink ... or to flip-flop the dishwasher and the sink. This would give you more storage /drawers in the spot where you'll cook most. - In a dream kitchen, in a kitchen this big, I'd want a bigger sink. Seriously, it's the most used appliance. Go big. - Where's your microwave? coffee pot? trash can? - I see you have a second reach-in pantry. Unless you have some very unusual needs, I don't see the point in BOTH large pantries. - I'd extend the mudroom wall so it "touches" the refrigerator space. This would hide the exterior door, and it would place the half bath and pantry door IN the mudroom. Can you swap the mudroom and the pantry? A mudroom would benefit from windows - and maybe you could even put a door to the back yard in there. Of course without seeing the rest of the plan, I have no idea if that would make sense. Yes! Mudroom on the corner would be nicer ... and windows in a pantry are a negative (light is the enemy of food storage). I spend A LOT of time in the kitchen ... So this is going to be a huge upgrade to me in terms of space. Since I do spend so much time there, I’d love to bring some beauty to the space too....namely the windows. Red flags ... a bigger kitchen is not automatically a better kitchen. What you want is an efficient, well-designed space. Who says this? A person with a very large but poorly laid-out kitchen. No one ever says, "This room has too much natural light." Love big windows in a kitchen. As far as appliances, I’ve never cooked with gas ... but I was leaning towards an induction range, 30 inches. I have only limited experience with gas, but I'm not overly impressed. I would also consider a cooktop with separate double wall ovens (we host large family dinners so an extra oven would be appreciated). I also considered a regular range with a separate wall oven on the wall with the reach-in-pantry. Just don’t know if that would look weird. I’ve never considered two dishwashers but I don’t hate the idea. Before you start adding in extra this and oversized that, consider that all these extra appliances drive up your space requirements ... especially since you've already said you want the large windows /thus will be giving up some upper cabinets. How often will these things really be used? Will they "earn their keep"? I doubt it. but maybe a 5 ft window is still good enough? A 5' window is nice, but it isn't going to give you the sweeping views /light that I think you were pining for earlier. Are all meals at the island? No love for your island seating. Take the family down to Waffle House for a meal and sit at the bar. Did you interact much? Did you enjoy this seating pattern? An island is a great place to sit while you work, and it's a great place for a child to sit ... but it's NOT a great place for family meals. I like this pantry /half bath layout better than the OP's original. I'd put a pegboard for storing cast iron pans and utensils on that blank pantry wall....See Morecupofkindnessgw
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