How long did your custom kitchen take from start to finish?
Comments (14)
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How long did it take you to pack up your kitchen?
Comments (17)Too long!!! It seemed as though things came out of the woodwork. I would start packing ASAP. There is always the chance that the schedule will have to be modified and kitchen demo could come sooner than expected. About 2 weeks prior to having to demo the kitchen I went through and packed up what I didn't think I would need (food and all other kitchen items). MY DH thought I was packing too early. There is no such thing as packing too early. This allowed me to use and live with that I thought I would need and adjust what I packed if I had to. I probably didn't pack enough, but with 2 young kids I didn't want to be stuck without. I did pack all dishes and glasses and we are using plastic and paper. I am washing the plastic and recycling as much as I can. I didn't want to use "real" dishes and glasses b/c my temporary kitchen is in the basement and nothing will survive if it is dropped on the cement floor. I also have young children and wanted to eliminate as much breakage as possible. Don't forget under the sink (in my kitchen it was a black hole). I can't believe how much was back there. And most of that will have to be packed away (kept on-site in a plastic container), unless you are lucky enough to have a dishwasher in your temporary kitchen. I suggest you go to your temporary kitchen location and set up as much as possible before hand. In my case, I have placed food items in the playroom and my sink, range (the construction crew ran a dedicated electrical line so I could move the range to the basement) and fridge is in the unfinished part of the basement/laundry room. I have a large, deep 2-basin utility tub. I purchased 4 plastic tubs (using two as bases for the remaining two where I wash in one and place cleaned dishes in the other). I also have a drying rack with telescopic ends that also fits over the rinsing part of the utility sink for dishes to dry. I had my DH place a drafting table across from the sink to use as a work surface. He will be setting up another for me today. You will also need somewhere to store all your things. Since I have young children, it is a bit more of a challenge b/c they see the wooden spoon, colander, and the like as things to play with (I found a whisk in my bed). The items we are not using have been packed in moving boxes and we rented two storage containers and put them in there. They delivered the storage containers to the house, we packed them and they were removed to a climate-controlled facility. We also had to empty our master bedroom and bathroom, dining room,TV room and breakfast room. We couldn't put it in the basement, since the construction crew needs access to the basement to run pipes for the new kitchen and bath, and to deal with the furnace and the HVAC issues. We used these containers when we put our last house on the market to de-personalize the house and it worked great. What didn't I anticipate??? We are renovating above the unfinished basement/laundry room and we get dust and pieces of who-knows-what coming down through the exposed sub-flooring above. I have moved my work/prep area as far from where renovations are taking place above. I also keep everything covered. Also bear in mind how many things you plug into which outlets. Between the construction needs upstairs and the electrical needs in my temporary kitchen I have had circuit breakers trip. If you can, try to figure out which electrical socket is on which circuit breaker and don't overload it with too many appliances. Our basement is much cooler than the rest of the house so my DH went to Sears to purchase a ceramic heater (this led to the first circuit breaker tripping). Now I only have one freezer (I used to have an old fridge, but it was sent to the dump to make room for the fridge brought down form the kitchen) and this has had more of an impact than I would have thought. Though it is a rather nippy 30 degrees outside so I guess I could just put some things outside...... Other Issues: Do you have internet service and where is your router? We use wireless, however my router used to be connected to a wall that no longer exists. I had to have it relocated so I could continue to have internet service during renovation (the thought of being cut-off from GW was too much to bear...there also was that little issue of being able to pay bills). If it is located near where renovation is occurring, during construction the electrical to that router could have to be turned off and you will lose internet service. Make sure your fridge is not on the same circuit breaker as any of the kitchen electrical sockets. If they need to turn off the electrical you will end up with ice cream soup. I don't know what type of fridge you have but you might want to check on the electrical requirements just to be safe. Will you have adequate lighting in your temporary kitchen? I am sure there is more. All I can say is that so far this experience will make me appreciate my new kitchen even more. I am beginning to fantasize about the first meal I will cook in my new kitchen.... Good luck!...See Morehow long did it take you to get used to your new kitchen
Comments (6)I have several different answers: Getting used to needing some less used item and having it flash in my head where it was in the old kitchen probably took at least a year to get over, even though I had been out of the old kitchen for the better part of a whole year. Getting used to the new cooking appliances and how to get the most/best out of them took almost no time to start, but really a year or two to perfect. Getting used to the way more functional layout took the blink of an eye. I've done almost no rearranging since I settled in, and what I have done has been because of new items that the new kitchen enabled me to use. So no time for getting used to what's where, assuming I remembered (easy to remember where the knives are, but I lost my grill press when I was first putting things away (the drawers weren't lined yet, so I put it in a cupboard) and I still haven't found it four years later after looking absolutely everywhere three times.) Getting used to the way it looks so that I don't constantly go "oooh" every time I walk in took about half a year. I still sit back and admire sometimes, but that frisson does dissipate as familiarity grows. From crush to love. :) Getting used to cooking in general? I had trial by fire. Other than a few sandwiches and the like, the first thing I made in my new kitchen was Seder for more than 25 people. There's none of that worry about messing up the new things when that many people are coming for a dinner which has to be made completely from scratch. And once you've used every single part of the kitchen in one fell swoop, it becomes a real working kitchen. So that took about a week. :) All of it spent prepping and cooking and using everything....See MoreHow long did it take to move IN to your kitchen?
Comments (5)I had a deadline (Passover Seder) so even without a lot of details done, I had to get the boxes out of the living room and clean everything. I'm still backfilling shelf liners, while the last bits of the kitchen get finished. It took about a month of working at least a couple hours a day to get everything washed (by hand--DW problem) and in. I had everything pretty well planned out, so most things went in pretty well. I'm still rearranging the uppers because I got an extra shelf made and those were just installed. The pantry is doing pretty well, but now that I've been using it and have everything grouped right, it probably needs a going over. I bought some pots and stuff at a big sale so rearranged my bakeware and pot drawers. Those are minor things, really. The kitchen overall works the way I thought it would and better. Zone organization works extremely well except for one thing. I use table knives a lot in baking. Even without really baking anything yet, I had to get a knife from across the room. Then found a couple of nice ones on open stock sale. I'm the only one who knows where stuff goes, but it's great having a place to know where stuff goes! Congrats on getting to this point!...See MoreHow long did it take you to move back in to your kitchen?
Comments (10)When I did the kitchen in my previous home, I purged (I mean PURGED) before packing it up. Once the new kitchen was up and running, I had nothing in the kitchen that was not used. Now that we've moved and are doing another kitchen, the only difference is that some of what was previously in the kitchen will be in a hallway pantry this time (small apartment kitchen vs. house). Also, when I planned the new kitchen, every drawer and cabinet was specifically designed for something, so I know exactly where everything will go. I hope it won't take more than one or two days to unpack....See More
purpleplume
11 days agolast modified: 7 days ago@Miranda33 My apologies. I'm still finding my way around these forums. I thought I had answered you last weekend, but it appears my comment did not post. I also uploaded drawings per your request but they did not post either. I am trying again here.
We ordered Wolf SubZero appliances in February 2023 and were told the fridge/freezer would be the last to arrive and quoted an ETA of December 2023. Drawings were begun and we are still refining them.
INTERIOR DESIGNERI also have an interior designer in LA. We are in FL. She does not sign off on every kitchen detail, just materials and the overall look and feel so we may maintain color flow throughout the residence.
PROJECT SCOPEWe have no other construction going on during the kitchen and laundry room rebuild. No walls are being moved or added, but an existing bar stool-height wall that separated the kitchen from an open waterfront DR/LR is being shortened to counter height to open up a view to the water. A bank of floor-to-ceiling windows on the south side of the kitchen floods the kitchen with natural light showcasing deep covered 550 SF waterfront terraces for outdoor dining, entertainment and relaxation spaces.
FLOORING CONSTRAINTThe existing footprint of the U-shaped kitchen remains since we have existing Saturnia marble flooring flowing throughout the entire main floor where the kitchen is located. Unfortunately, we have no extra floor tiles from the prior owner. While the kitchen layout is changing, its footprint remains unchanged to allow use of existing marble flooring.
CABINETRYKitchen custom cabinetry is slab with Ben Moore Chantilly Lace used on all cabinetry for the 3 sides of the U-shaped layout; center island cabinetry color is Blissful Blue from SW. Cabinetry pulls are brushed silver tubular style like the Wolf Transitional style handles. Counters and backsplash are from Opustone in color Diamond Blue Polished Calcite, bookmatched behind induction cooktop and down one short side of the island.
APPLIANCESI'm excited about our appliances, especially the induction cooktop; the gorgeous cobalt interior and full-extension racks in the Wolf convection wall oven; a Wolf vacuum seal drawer used in conjunction with their convection steam oven for cooking sous vide; and a 32"or 33" or 36" workstation sink TBD (by Ruvati, Kohler or Create Good Sinks) over a 36" base U-shaped cabinet that functions and appears as a 3-drawer bank (the top one being a faux panel). Our existing Miele Futura Diamond DW remains and is slotted to the right of the sink (fronted to appear as a 3-drawer bank), while left of sink also appears as a 3-drawer bank with the bottom two opening as one and concealing a roll-out 2-bin trash receptacle. Top left drawer is for dish towels and hot pads.
DESIGN DILEMMAMy biggest design challenge is getting the existing Saturnian marble flooring throughout to play nicely with my preferred cool toned color palette throughout the residence. This is particularly tricky in the kitchen, which has some 3" x 3" bronze metal diamond-shaped accent tiles inserted between some 4-way intersections of the Saturnia.
I am not fond of brown family colors or warm palettes in general. This same flooring works fine in our adjacent LR/DR with custom millwork cabinetry painted in BenMoore Chantilly Lace and some bold cool accents on the fireplace wall (BenMoore Big City Blue and Cabana Green in a pair of LR niches flanking the fireplace).
It's the bronze diamonds that throw me for a loop in the kitchen flooring (see attached LR photo and one sample photo of the kitchen flooring with diamond inserts). Our interior designer has advised we handle it by bringing the eye upwards to view various features above floor level.
LAUNDRY ROOMAn adjacent Laundry Room is also being renovated to utilize the same slab white cabinetry style and features a custom raised-height washer/dryer wall that is flush-front and integrates dual tilt-out clothing hampers below dual roll-out platforms for ease of transferring laundry from washer to dryer. Moving to the right, two full-height columns containing multiple roll-outs provide storage for laundry products; and a third column comprises a tall pantry-style cabinet that conceals a waist-high locking roll-out platform to contain a vintage seamstress Elnapress for efficient hot-plate pressing of laundry, including heirloom bed linens.
Beneath the pantry pressing cabinet is a thee-drawer bank for cleaning supply storage. The top level of the laundry wall provides divided open cubbies for beach towel storage above the washer/dryer; adjustable open shelving above the two columns and also above the enclosed tall pantry cabinet concealing the Elnapress. The bottom levels of the columns have integrated drawer banks that store pet food and related supplies, while the far right drawer bank at the bottom level of the Elnapress cabinet stores household cleaning supplies.
This unusual layout solves several challenges for me as it is kind to my delicate spinal injuries by moving up the appliances and utilizing drawers instead of cabinets to eliminate the need to bend, reach, and lift that is required by what I regard as the trifecta of "cabinet diving." We are incorporating many Aging in Place features into this renovation project.
DELAYS
Some of the delays have been due to distance between us and our interior designer in LA. The kitchen design firm sent sample finishes to our interior designer in LA. Some took months to reach her, notably the cabinetry sample, which took a month for our kitchen design firm to receive from their cabinetry maker. Then more transit time to get that cabinetry sample to LA. It was ultimately not approved by our interior designer, so we had to go with another color option.Then the kitchen design firm changed us to a different cabinetry line as the design had become more complex than their entry-level custom brand could accommodate.
Our request for sending the interior designer a calcite stone material sample took months to go from local stone company to kitchen designer, then to interior designer due to a com-puter data hack at the stone company.
Some delays were on my end, too, notably due to two unexpected surgeries with combined recovery times of 8 weeks and pre-booked international travel of 5 weeks. Nothing progressed during those intervals.
KITCHEN DESIGN FIRMOur kitchen design firm does not handle construction. They sell the appliances, do the drawings, order the custom cabinetry, and install those items. We needed to arrange for our own architect (done), GC (done) and subs. They will be opening drywall to replace plumbing and update electrical since our building is 40 years old.
PALETTE CHALLENGEMy biggest design challenge is getting the existing Saturnia marble flooring to play nicely with my preferred cool toned color palette throughout the residence. This is particularly tricky in the kitchen, which has some 3" x 3" bronze metal diamond-shaped tiles inserted between some 4-way intersections of Saturnia. I am not fond of brown family colors or warm palettes in general.
This same flooring works fine in the adjacent LR/DR with custom millwork cabinetry painted in BenMoore Chantilly Lace and some bold cool accents on the fireplace wall (in BenMoore Big City Blue and Cabana Green for a pair of LR niches flanking the fireplace). It's the bronze diamonds that throw me for a loop in the kitchen flooring (see attached LR photo and one sample photo of the kitchen flooring with diamond inserts). Our interior designer has advised we handle it by bringing the eye upwards to view various features above floor level.
TIMELINE
Our community does not allow any workers on property between Thanksgiving and New Year's. We are now approaching that blackout period for 2024. We entertain during those dates and don't want to be in the midst of this messy project then, as caterers need a functional kitchen. So we either need all installations complete before Thanksgiving or we will have to delay demo until next January, which no one wants to do.SWITCH OF CABINETRY LINE
The kitchen designer represents multiple cabinetry lines. Late in the design plan process, they upscaled our job from one cabinetry line to another as our design had become more complex and required more customized features.We have yet to finalize the drawings. Every time there is a tweak, we seem to go to the back of the CAD line and weeks pass with no progress.
Last week the kitchen design firm informed me that most all of the drawer accessories/ insert organizers we had specified in earlier rounds of drawings are now not available because they changed us to the higher custom cabinetry line that does not offer many white interior options. I had requested white interiors from the start and I am just now :hearing many of these long-ago agreed upon interior storage features are now not available in the white interiors in the new cabinetry line they switched us to.
DISHWASHER
I also asked to be invoiced for the Miele cabinetry-ready panel that would be used on our existing Miele DW to replace the existing S/S front with a matching cabinetry front. We communicated this upfront too, but the panel for our model was not ordered and now it appears to be sunsetted. The kitchen design firm just told me that our Miele DW is too old and they can no longer get us a panel-ready door to swap with our original stainless steel door. If the DW needs to remain in s/s that will ruin the beauty of the consistent finish of the island cabinetry they had designed for us. This is my latest disappointment since they had originally confirmed the door front could be swapped out to allow us to keep a DW we enjoySTUCK
We have yet to sign the cabinetry order as it's stuck in this design phase. I am mindful that once the cabinetry order goes in any subsequent changes will entail change order fees, so I'm striving to have it as well flushed out as possible before we sign and they submit it to be built.A couple weeks ago we needed to add another $9k in a second appliance order from the kitchen design firm to provide for new features in the design plan. We've now paid up to $40k in appliances. That did not quicken the pace.
It seems we were so close to agreeing on drawings and signing a cabinetry order but now it's 1 step forward, many steps backwards with respect to the cabinetry design process. The long-awaited cabinetry samples we and our interior designer were provided earlier are no longer relevant so our interior designer has now only seen and approved the calcite.
SPOUSE
This is where my spouse is losing it. The kitchen design firm has known all along we have to complete the install by Thanksgiving because no workers are allowed in our community between then and New Year's. With all these recent delays and no-can-do surprises, an hour-long CAD tweak is taking a week or more. And I'm quite disappointed about them stating basic features like my spice drawer, pot lid organizer, pan organizer, cutlery and cooking tool organizers, etc., as these severely decrease the ergonomic storage features I need.We hired an architect long ago, paid in full, gave him original blueprints. He made a site visit, and the kitchen design firm recently sent him the drawing iteration du jour as of then.
We have a GC waiting in the wings, a stone fabricator, too. And we still must allow architect time to stamp plans and GC time to obtain city permits. Kitchen Design firm says if we place cabinetry order next week (late April) they will arrive late June/early July. Appliances and stone will be here before then, but who knows what GC may find once drywall is demoed to update plumbing and electrical.
I did the Houzz forum survey to see if these time delays are to be expected or are unreasonable. I'm attaching some layouts although a few tweaks are yet to come.
- PRO
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9 days ago purpleplume
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9 days agolast modified: 7 days agochispa
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