Our New Kitchen

[Sue J]

Just lovely! I like the new look very much. If you don't mind telling.... what was your budget and then what was your final cost?

My biggest gripe in our kitchen is our refrigerator. I wanted a freezer on the bottom model but at the time they were all too tall for our cupboards so I had to get a top freezer model. My next one will be freezer on the bottom and I'll consider the french door ones like you have. The freezer on yours looks nice and large.

 

[FIREd]

Well done, Midpack! I have been collecting ideas for my own kitchen remodel and I really like the look you achieved here.

 

[Katsmeow]

Very nice. I've had granite countertops the last couple of houses that we've had and they are by far the easiest maintenance of any counters we've ever had.

 

[Live And Learn]

Very nice I have to say, I thought your "before" picture was the remodel, until I saw the photo underneath. If you think your kitchen was outdated, you need to see mine LOL. I love the new look - very sleek and neat.

I miss a gas stove SO much ! I've had electric for 16 years and I still mess up. I swear the food just doesn't taste as good with electric.

Happy cooking to you !!!

 

[H2ODude]

Looks great! Is that the midnight galaxy granite (copper flecks in black)? It's what we used, my only objection is that a wipe with a wet rag doesn't really cut it. If you want it to look nice you have to use a cleaner or windex to finish it off. I've sealed ours once in 11 years, not seeing any reason to do it again but I still have enough of the sealer to redo.
It's held up well, one guy said no problem putting a hot cast iron fry pan directly on it...have not cared to try that yet. (Hey, what was that loud CRACK I just heard??)

 

[katwillny]

Very nice. We recently did ours and loved it ;also went with granite.

 

[WhoDaresWins]

Your old kitchen was nice but the new one is really nice...looks like a model home.

 

[clifp]

Busted (you're good). We thought about an appliance garage, for about 3 nanoseconds, don't care for them.

The toaster oven, coffee maker and grinder are now on the countertop in the corner since we use them every day. But I promise everything else will stay put away. 6 (hanging) pans, 2 spice racks, microwave, utensil basket, knife block, cutting boards, salt & pepper, misc basket (various chargers, etc.), fridge magnet clutter (grrrrr), hot pan holders, splatter screen, chips/crackers, sponges & soap are all permanently off the countertops.

I do miss the pots & pan rack, but more cabinet space and rollout base cabinet shelves are a nice alternative that we did not have before.

I am in the process of starting a kitchen remodel, so this very helpful info.
My sister, who is super super anal, is also doing her remodel, so I am planning on learning a lot from her. I did notice the hanging pan rack is missing do you prefer that over rollout pan shelf.

I am also interested in the logistic did you hire a general to do everything. Did you purchase anything form HD or Loews. Are the cabinets custom?

 

[Texas Proud]

Thanks.

(Secretly, I was hoping that you'd found a handy new way to store these larger items that are used every day.)

omni

There is.... but you have to give up storage space below the counter top... my sister did her house and has some fancy (for lack of the real work) 'thing' that has her heavy mixer mounted.... it is on a spring loaded board and will swing up from the cabinet and hold to the counter top... when you are finished, you swing it back into the cabinet... I have only seen it once.... I think she has something else mounted this way, but have not seen it...

 

[Midpack]

See below...

I did notice the hanging pan rack is missing do you prefer that over rollout pan shelf. I really liked the pan rack, and it looked OK hanging from a soffit. We did not like the look of it hanging from an 8' ceiling (soffits removed) and it would have interfered with the pendant lighting (recessed lights before). Rollout shelves are pretty nifty, we did not have them before (when bending down low wasn't a big deal)...

I am also interested in the logistic did you hire a general to do everything. Got a quote for the whole job from HD, another from a local building supply house with a long history, and got separate sub-contractor quotes (acting as our own GC). Went with local building supply store even though they were $1500 higher in total.

Was tempted to act as GC, but inevitably the job would take longer (coordinating subs is not easy, a homeowner does not have the leverage GC's do since they throw more repeat business at them) and chance of some jobs falling between subs.

Didn't go with HD because after a lot of research I concluded that HD's work is highly store specific - some are actually pretty good, and some are awful. Local building supply house had better product at very competitive prices, only their demo/labor was higher. I hoped we'd have a better, more timely result with local building supply - and I think we did. Job came in right on budget, though I am [-]pretty anal[/-] very thorough with numbers and quotes. And in LBYM fashion, I did $4800 worth of work myself, mostly demo - all planned going in. Total out-of-pocket cost was just under $29K (or $34K had I not done some work myself). There is no right or normal, but FWIW...

$6.0K Cabinets
$259 Cabinet hardware
$3.4K Granite counters, installed and sealed
$3.3K Appliances
$502 Plumbing
$7.5K a painfully expensive "select & better" maple floor kitchen and family room installed (won't repeat that sob story)
$1.3K Tile kitchen backsplash and new laundry room floor installed (off kitchen)
$455 Lighting
$5.9K All other demo, labor, painting and incidental materials

Sounded expensive to me, but evidently lots of people drop $50-75K on kitchen remodels these days.

Did you purchase anything form HD or Loews. Nothing but shelf paper

Are the cabinets custom? Nope, all standard Kemper cabinets.

 

[kyounge1956]

There is.... but you have to give up storage space below the counter top... my sister did her house and has some fancy (for lack of the real work) 'thing' that has her heavy mixer mounted.... it is on a spring loaded board and will swing up from the cabinet and hold to the counter top... when you are finished, you swing it back into the cabinet... I have only seen it once.... I think she has something else mounted this way, but have not seen it...

My mom also has one of those swing-out shelves for her big electric mixer. If you're planning to get one, find one set up in the kitchen showroom and make sure you can both open and close it easily. The springs in my mom's shelf are pretty stiff. It's very easy to bring the shelf up, but considerably more difficult to stow it away again.

 

[samclem]

The remodel looks great. You saved a TON of money by resisting any urge to move the big stuff around (sink, DW, etc). Sticking with stock cabinet sizes helps, too. Roll-aways in the lower cabinets? We went with drawers down there (everywhere but under the sink) and it has worked well for us.

Congrats on getting that out of the way!

 

[ohyes]

Very nice I have to say, I thought your "before" picture was the remodel, until I saw the photo underneath. If you think your kitchen was outdated, you need to see mine LOL. I love the new look - very sleek and neat.

I miss a gas stove SO much ! I've had electric for 16 years and I still mess up. I swear the food just doesn't taste as good with electric.

Happy cooking to you !!!

Totally agree with above.

Very nice kitchen.

 

[Dreamer]

Love your new kitchen. Your old kitchen would be an improvement over our kitchen. We were thinking about doing some remodeling, when our DD's family moves out, but we needed to help them with buying their house. Oh well, it will get done one of these days. Enjoy your new kitchen.

 

[donheff]

Looks nice Midpack and the investment will probably pay at sales time.

On this need to reseal bit, I have nice granite counter tops that I don't cut on (I use cutting boards). I haven't resealed in the fifteen or so years they have been in and haven't seen any problems. In resealing still a big deal in such cases? I can certainly do it if it makes a big difference.

 

[HFWR]

No expert on granite care, but it's worth remembering that it's a rock, and though the surface looks/feels "smooth", there are plenty of microscopic cracks, crevices, etc.

Nice kitchen, Midpack!

 

[Midpack]

On this need to reseal bit, I have nice granite counter tops that I don't cut on (I use cutting boards). I haven't resealed in the fifteen or so years they have been in and haven't seen any problems. In resealing still a big deal in such cases? I can certainly do it if it makes a big difference.

Ours is new, so I can't answer from experience, hopefully others will. FWIW, our countertop supplier offered 3 levels of sealer.

• Standard, no extra charge, had to be resealed by homeowner, not sure if there was any warranty
• +$192, limited 15 yr warranty - not transferable, had to be resealed by homeowner, and warranty had specific instructions on cleaning up messes promptly (which sounded like a warranty loophole to me)
• +$323, lifetime warranty & transferable, Granite Shield, no resealing required and no stipulation on quick cleanup (this is what we went for)

Probably just sales hype, but I fell for it...

 

[eytonxav]

Looks awesome Midpack! Now your challenge will be to find a comparable kitchen in the new house

 

[omni550]

Looks awesome Midpack! Now your challenge will be to find a comparable kitchen in the new house

And if that's not possible, we know that Midpack already has the experience, knowledge, and skill set to recreate this kitchen elsewhere.

omni

 

[check6]

Interesting choice on cabinet and countertop color selection. Ours redone a few years ago:

 

[Cessna5354]

Wonderfully done !!!

Makes me remember a older nieghbor who had his MIL as a live in. He did a high end renovation like yours, and when MIL saw the results, she quiped,

"Bernie, why didn't you just install a new phone, You only make reservations !!"

 

[easysurfer]

Very nice new kitchen!

 

[bltkmt]

Beautiful...very nice job. We re-did ours a few years ago...no regrets.

 

[Midpack]

Interesting choice on cabinet and countertop color selection. Ours redone a few years ago:

Beautifully done!

 

[MBAustin]

I am in the process of starting a kitchen remodel, so this very helpful info.
My sister, who is super super anal, is also doing her remodel, so I am planning on learning a lot from her. I did notice the hanging pan rack is missing do you prefer that over rollout pan shelf.

I am also interested in the logistic did you hire a general to do everything. Did you purchase anything form HD or Loews. Are the cabinets custom?

Having done 2 kitchen remodels in the past 8 years (1 at previous house and 1 at new house), here are a few ideas:
- Both times I bought Kraft-Maid cabinets at HD and had their designer do the cabinet layout BUT I had my own contractor do the installation. I really like the Kraftmaid features and construction.
- I did lower drawers in most cabinets on the 2nd remodel, wishing I had done it the first time. One big cabinet has the china in one drawer and serving pieces below, the other large one (under cooktop) houses all the pots & pans. I did do pullouts in a couple of cabinets, including one for small appliances.
- MRDirect is a Toledo-based sink manufacturer that has great stainless steel sinks for far less than name brand (<50% in 2009). I see no difference after 3 years.
- I think under cabinet lighting is definitely worth the expense.

Good luck with your project!