Refinishing vs new cabinets and other kitchen dilemias!
Hi All,
We are set to close on a big dinosaur of a house. I posted a few kitchen pics a few months ago.......I'll see if I can repost. The house is 4800sq/feet, built in 1980 and has never been updated ~ all original carpet and tile. The only thing new is the roof!
Anyway, the kitchen needs to be redone- all the appliances are original. Before we move in we are ripping out the tile in the foyer, carpet in the halls and my son's bedroom (he has bad allergies) and taking out the carpet (yikes) in 3 bathrooms to place tile and also tiling the laundry room. I will need about a year before I can think about the kitchen.
There is plenty of other things that need to be done but we have to pace ourselves.
Anyway, the kitchen is large (I don't have dimensions) and it has the dreaded cook top on the island. We had a contractor and a flooring guy over yesterday to look at a few things. They both said that I was crazy to rip out the cabinets........they both agreed that the cabinets, although dated in color, are of a quality that would be very difficult and expensive to replace.
The kitchen is built on a slab and it has multiple entry points making expensive to move things around and difficult to envision how to change things.
The kitchen cabinets are a med brown with a yellow to them. If we keep them and have them refinished we would go dark, influencing our wood floor choices......and we need to pick our wood color now~ since we are having the hallway/bedroom carpet removed before we move in.
If we rip out the cabinets and start fresh.......he have a much more expensive reno.......and we could choose any wood color now.......and eventually pick cabinets that would look good with the flooring choice.
So my questions are:
How important is getting a stove off the island......it is a huge island (if that makes any difference)
The cabinets really are in good shape, really good shape......can I justify the expense of ripping them out, especially when there are so many things that need to be updated in the house.
Should I just pick a wood color that goes with a dark brown cabinet (even though I really want a reddish color) and decide later what to do with the kitchen?
I have included a not to scale drawing of the floor plan ~ full disclosure......I am no artist! But I would love to hear ideas on how things might be changed around to get the cooktop off of the island....... I don't care if it is a range or cook top with wall oven.
Any help is greatly appreciated!
Comments (15)
Related Discussions
HELP! Please ADVISE...Refinishing brand new kitchen cabinets (tears)
Comments (20)I think you should try painting the walls a color first because I think that makes a huge impact. We are building a house in a subdivision so color choices are limited. I told our sales lady that I wanted white cabinets. She, and the other salesman, warned me that they had a blue cast to them. They kept trying to talk me into the cream but I want white. They had me go look at a house that had them with the builder’s Dover White walls. The cabinets looked blue! But I had no other options for white so decided to get them anyway hoping wall paint would help. When we went to the design center to officially pick them they didn’t look blue at all. They were the perfect white! I’ve been worried that the sample wasn’t actually the same color and they’d still be blue. Last week my sales lady got me a scrap of trim to take to pick out my granite. No blue! So, my point is, it’s the stupid wall paint that makes them look blue. So I will have to paint my walls so my cabinets look good. Here’s a kitchen we looked at (not our floor plan). The cabinets look like the color from a spray paint can. Their counters don’t help either....See Morefabuwood cabinets vs other cabinets
Comments (9)Just wanted to provide some first hand experience and input with regards to Fabuwood cabinets. We too had looked at alot of cabinetry lines when planning our kitchen remodel in our new house, as we had purchased a semi-custom line of Kraftmaid cabinets for a kitchen remodel in our previous home, which we loved, but were looking for something a bit more economical as we paid almost $12k for Kraftmaid back in 2004. We too had some reservations about Fabuwood, but after much research, online reviews, and seeing completed projects in person, we ultimately went with Fabuwood's Wellington Ivory. For the design, quality, style, construction, price, finish, etc. you really would be hard pressed to find another manufacturer that offers all that. They are also one of the few companies that offer a tall and wide pantry with pull outs, and this was a must for the design we wanted/needed. And yes, the hardware/hinges are Blum. My husband is a carpenter so we had planned to do all installation ourselves, and he is pretty particular, but even he was satisfied overall with the quality and construction. We added quite a few "xtras" with decorative supports for island, fluted panels for pantry, trim for foot moldings, etc. but still all totaled was less than $12k. We worked with a kitchen design center/dealer, and cabinets were ordered and received (well most of them anyway) within about 4 weeks. While there were a few issues with a couple of the items (scratched, dinged, or cracked), all we had to do was take a pic with our phone, send it to our dealer, and a replacement was sent within less than 2 weeks time door to door. I would say that if we had a young, growing family, I may have chose a natural wood, which may be a little more durable, but since our kids are grown and out of the house, we went with a painted/glazed finish, and we absolutely love it. I have read that others have not had good experiences, but If I had to rate ours...I would say an 8.5 out of 10. There are always issues that arise during a major reno project, and we expected and accepted that. While it caused some delay, it was not a huge deal, to us at least. We have a log home so we had some limitations as to style, i.e so we were going for a french country look. Here are a few pics of the before, during and after reno....See MoreHelp with new kitchen table: Canadel vs Calligaris vs Saloom
Comments (6)Sorry, I didn't have complete information. You could get a rectangular or oval table to put flush against the windows but that you can pull when you want to seat more people. I love your light though I'd lower it by a foot to connect it to whatever table you choose. Get a white table with an oak top or an oak or other wood table and paint your oak chairs white to link with your kitchen. You can also mix up chairs--no reason they all have to be the same. Get some wonderful curtains for the window. Here are some inspiration photos to bring that space up a notch. This could be your space but with your lovely pendant hanging over it: Keep oak chairs, but add some white chairs:...See MoreKitchen Cabinet Remodel Design Help! Light vs Dark, Inset vs. Overlay
Comments (20)“That mix of grease and dust was the worst cleaning job I've ever had. I would never design a gap between cabinets and ceiling, unless I felt positive I would always have the money to pay a cleaning service.” @mcarroll16 - it sounds like there was no proper hood exhaust in your parents’ kitchen. I have 9’ ceilings, and on one wall the cabinets meet the ceiling, and on another wall I have 42” upper cabinets, 3” crown and a gap to the ceiling. I place wax paper up there (it’s the perfect width) to collect any dust or grease that might float up there, and twice a year, when I change smoke alarm batteries, I pick up the wax paper and put down new. Many times I just leave the wax paper there because it is so clean it does not need to be changed. I have a good hood exhaust. With a good hood exhaust, you would not have had such a cleaning chore in your parents’ home. It is quite expensive to take cabinets to meet a 9’ or 10” ceiling. Many people would rather invest in a good hood and correct ductwork for it. Indoor air quality is more important than ever these days....See More
Holly- Kay
10 years ago
gr8daygw
10 years agoI would not rip the cabinets out. I'd change the island though. You can put a new island in that is smaller, ditch the overhangs and corbel supports and maybe a different color such as a warm white, gray or taupe or any color you want if you do the cabinets dark. That would really make a difference in the dated look. The floor could be added in around it at the same time. There are islands sold as a standing piece of furniture that would look nice too. Then the only cabinets you would have to paint or stain are the perimeter. If you did a drop in freestanding range you could take out some cabinets and fit it in with adding some trim around it and maybe put the dishwasher in the island or some refrigerator drawers, microwave drawer etc. There are companies in our city that specialize in updating existing kitchens, doing the painting, adding trim and decorative finish work and changing out the hardware. They look like new cabinets! It's true that everything was pretty much better in the past when we knew what we were getting. Good luck.
[Traditional Kitchen[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/traditional-kitchen-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_709~s_2107) by Wellesley Kitchen & Bath Designers Divine Kitchens LLC
robo (z6a)
10 years agoUser
10 years agoUser
10 years ago
sena01
10 years agoMags438
10 years agonosoccermom
10 years agopeony4
10 years agoredroze
10 years agodetroit_burb
10 years agocoseyl
10 years ago
GauchoGordo1993