Anyone remodeled their kitchen??

cflocco

So, DH and I are planning on remodeling our kitchen when we get our tax refund.  I have been dying to remodel our kitchen because I hate our cabinets and counters.  DH has been on the fence but finally seems on board.  I caught him looking at Kitchen remodel ideas on Home Depots's website!!

Has anyone remodeled thier kitchen?  By remodel, I mean that we would like to get new cabinets, new countertops, paint walls, and possibly get new floors.  If you don't mind me asking, if you have remodeled, can you tell me what the total cost was? 

JulsW

All we have done so far is paint. $150 for one coat paint in two different colors, and magnetic paint under one color.

cflocco

JulsW:

All we have done so far is paint. $150 for one coat paint in two different colors, and magnetic paint under one color.

 Magnetic paint??  Sounds very interesting!  I'll have to check that out. 

pennynjon

We removed wallpaper, took up the old flooring, put down ceramic tile, repainted walls and cabinets.  Our house was built in the 80's, and it was still 80's style when we moved in (complete with seashell wallpaper).  We did ourselves and it probably costed us less than $1200.

johnnys june

Ikea for the win  But only if you don't mind DIY!  DH completely remodeled our kitchen from counter tops, cabinets, floor, and paint!  All from Ikea.  They have so many options, you can mix and match or completely copy a sample!  We went from a very tourist style floridian home with weird reds, beige, turquoise, ect, to a very modern black, silver, wood floors.  LOVE IT!

 GL with remodeling! 

martinimomma

We just did a kitchen "facelift" with new appliances, countertop, backsplash, faucet, disposal and vented range hood (basically everything except cabinets and the floor).  We're in a totally different part of the country, so there may be some regional differences, but I am happy to tell you what I learned if any of the work we did is similar to what you are looking at.

A few questions to see where there may be commonalities -

Are you keeping your appliances? 

What type of countertops are you interested in?  Are you also getting a new sink with the countertops? (if your current sink is undermount this is probably a must)  New faucet? 

Do you want a backsplash?  If yes, made of tile or countertop material (depending on the material they may be able to run it up the back as a backsplash)?

What type of cabinets are you looking at?  "real" wood?  Just refacing what you have?  Color?  Custom sizes or standard size?

What floor covering do you want?  Tile?  Natural or ceramic?  Wood? 

Our "facelift" took almost 3 weeks.  But it looks awesome.

Good luck!

 

cflocco

sandyd:

We just did a kitchen "facelift" with new appliances, countertop, backsplash, faucet, disposal and vented range hood (basically everything except cabinets and the floor).  We're in a totally different part of the country, so there may be some regional differences, but I am happy to tell you what I learned if any of the work we did is similar to what you are looking at.

A few questions to see where there may be commonalities -

Are you keeping your appliances? Yes we are keeping our applicances for now.  We would eventually like to get all stainless steel but all of our applicanes are new.  The previous owners put all new applicances in before we moved in 3 years ago.

What type of countertops are you interested in?  Are you also getting a new sink with the countertops? (if your current sink is undermount this is probably a must)  New faucet?  I would like Corian.  i like granite but I think its too expensive.

Do you want a backsplash?  If yes, made of tile or countertop material (depending on the material they may be able to run it up the back as a backsplash)?  I would love a tile backsplash but its not a must

What type of cabinets are you looking at?  "real" wood?  Just refacing what you have?  Color?  Custom sizes or standard size?  i would like to get "real" wood cabinets.  I like white but not "white-white."  i like the antique looking white that looks somewhat distressed.

What floor covering do you want?  Tile?  Natural or ceramic?  Wood?  Not sure yet...probably tile.

Our "facelift" took almost 3 weeks.  But it looks awesome.

Good luck!

Do you have any before and after pics??  i would love to see the transformation!

shoefreak85

We painted our cabinets and changed the hardware, but rearranged them.  We replaced the countertops, floors, and painted.  We spent about $600.  If your heart is set on new cabinets, it will be a good deal more expensive.

Abby7

I did a total remodel in 2009. It came out beautiful but it was a HUGE, and I mean HUGE, PITA.

One thing I can recommend is to *not* go through a big box store like Home Depot or Lowe's. My friend did hers about 6 months before mine through Lowe's and regretted it - says she'd never do it again. They just made some basic engineering mistakes - like, for a pot and pan drawer-type cabinet, they installed the front for two regular cabinets - so she has a big board vertically in the middle and can't pull out the drawers. Also, the counter came in two pieces with the seam in a really awkward place. Stuff like that.

Not sure how to PIP but I would if I could. I just got the red X when I tried.

martinimomma

OK, I can give you a few ideas based on our experiences:

cflocco:

sandyd:

We just did a kitchen "facelift" with new appliances, countertop, backsplash, faucet, disposal and vented range hood (basically everything except cabinets and the floor).  We're in a totally different part of the country, so there may be some regional differences, but I am happy to tell you what I learned if any of the work we did is similar to what you are looking at.

A few questions to see where there may be commonalities -

Are you keeping your appliances? Yes we are keeping our applicances for now.  We would eventually like to get all stainless steel but all of our applicanes are new.  The previous owners put all new applicances in before we moved in 3 years ago.

What type of countertops are you interested in?  Are you also getting a new sink with the countertops? (if your current sink is undermount this is probably a must)  New faucet?  I would like Corian.  i like granite but I think its too expensive.

You might be surprised about the price of granite v. Corian.  We looked at Silestone and Corian and found granite was actually cheaper than the Silestone and only incrementally more than the Corian.  Depending on your countertop square footage, you may also be able to use a larger remnant to have the countertop made.  The trick here is to go to a company that stocks, fabricates and installs its own counters.  They are cheaper than Home Depot!  (Check Angie's List or the BBB for ideas of companies).  Our granite was around 21.50 sq/ft, fabricated and installed.  It is 1.25" thick which I think is fairly standard.

Do you want a backsplash?  If yes, made of tile or countertop material (depending on the material they may be able to run it up the back as a backsplash)?  I would love a tile backsplash but its not a must

A backsplash is a great way to liven up a kitchen.  If you like the look of glass tile, which is pretty popular right now, you can get simple 12x12 tiles in interesting colors for about $15 per sq ft.  This product could be cheaper at Home Depot.  If you just want white ceramic (like "subway" tiles that are ery neutral) the price will be much less.

What type of cabinets are you looking at?  "real" wood?  Just refacing what you have?  Color?  Custom sizes or standard size?  i would like to get "real" wood cabinets.  I like white but not "white-white."  i like the antique looking white that looks somewhat distressed.

This is where your $$ will go then - we wanted to replace cabinets but could not afford to do so -- even refacing would have cost us $200 per door (and we have a LOT of doors).  If you need standard size cabinets in a typical smaller kitchen (are you in a condo?) you're probably looking at $5,000 or more.

What floor covering do you want?  Tile?  Natural or ceramic?  Wood?  Not sure yet...probably tile.

Tile ranges depending on whether it is a natural stone (like slate) or ceramic.  This is another Home Depot-reasonable purchase. 

Our "facelift" took almost 3 weeks.  But it looks awesome.

Good luck!

Do you have any before and after pics??  i would love to see the transformation!

I do but they are on my phone.  I'll try to figure out how to post them. 

Good Luck!!

Abby7

I'm going to try to PIP.

Before:

 

After:

 

martinimomma

Very nice, Abby!

Abby7

Thanks! I used:

Cardell cabinets (not really recommended - the door hinges are finicky and we've had to re-attach several of them). Go to a real kitchen store to buy these though - not HD or Lowe's or Ikea.

granite counters - went to a granite-only warehouse where you pick a slab and they cut it to order - this is the way to go

glass tiles - these were uber-expensive, but I love them. I didn't realize how expensive they'd be till I spent weeks picking them out and was at the register ready to pay. I just said, to heck with it, I'm not picking something new out after all that, and bit the bullet. I didn't put 2 and 2 together with the square footage I needed.

appliances - stainless steel GE and Whirlpool. You pay maybe $100 - $200 more per appliance but to me it's totally worth it. I especially like my stove - a slide-in rather than a separate range, but it looks nicer than the standard stove (see pics above). Purchased at Abt.

flooring - bamboo - this I don't recommend. It looks beautiful and isn't expensive but it is so soft. It was damaged by our painter's ladder falling on it when he was doing the finishing touches. Lumbar Liquidators.

sink and faucet - these were Home Depot, nothing fancy. Got the pull-out faucet, which is really nice

cabinet pulls - also Home Depot - good selection for cheap

lighting - by this time we were running out of money - so Home Depot . They and Lowe's don't have a great selection though.

cflocco

Abby7:

I'm going to try to PIP.

Before:

 

After:

 

Wow your remodel looks awesome!!  Absolutely love the backsplash!!!