Regarding the wood floors...

If you read through this form you'll see plenty of people that have wood floors in their kitchen. A major leak is a major leak and any floor will be compromised.

Am going to try attaching some photos.

Current cabinet - want to keep and coordinate the others to match as closely as possible.

Yes. Re hardwoods...I had read this forum and many others and was going to get them. Until I mentioned this to my sister who is a real estate appraiser and she recounted many, many problems/horror stories. Not wanting to be daunted, I told my book group and two of them had leaks!! (That's 25% of them.) That's why I began to change my mind...not that I hadn't done the research. Thanks.

http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j49/andi956/IMG_4384.jpg

lowe's mock up from the front door.

http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j49/andi956/image-1.jpg

I think my friend takes the record. It took her DH (who does gorgeous work, admittedly) 17 years to finish her kitchen! Which looks gorgeous except now they're going to sell and move....

Anyway. Floorplan drawings would be much more helpful, drawn to scale. We can't really help you with arranging the cabs you bought when we really don't know what the measurements are.

Be advised when dealing with a small kitchen - our cottage is 884 sq. ft. on our main floor, so I understand your situation - you seriously need to measure everything the classic "three points on each wall," which means high, middle and low. Your cabs and layout will long outlast your appliances, and you do not want to be in my position, which is being stuck with exactly 29-7/8" for a range when what I desperately want, 10 yrs later, is a true 30" pro-style range! Or finding myself limited to certain refrig models, because I can only buy what fits into the surrounding cabs/wall.

This is why filler strips can be useful, in moderation!

Frameless cabs will give you more storage space, but IKEA cabs only space out in 3" increments, which is not always versatile enough for everyone. Scherr's can do custom in 1/2" increments, but they do cost more - not as much as assembled cabs, but still 2x IKEA.

I like Lowe's layout, if it works for you, but I will say that I hope you don't intend to leave a messy stove in full view of the LR? At least, in my kitchen the stove area is always a mess after cooking, so I made sure to hide it from both the LR and DR sightlines, even though our living spaces are otherwise open - we changed the layout when we remodeled and have a more contemporary open plan to the main level.

Keep posting, and people here will be glad to help. Good luck!

Jkom - Thanks for your reply. I *will* have a handyman help with my measurements--as I really don't want to mess up my counters. The stove is 30" now and I'll keep her until she dies (although I hate that black cooktop!)

Your reminder is a good one. Thanks!

As for the layout, yes...I have *some* reservations about seeing the stove but without closing up my window, also, there's no place to put it and it is really problematic now as you can't fully open it where it is.

I *hate* seeing stuff out. In fact, I currently store the blender and toaster except when using it. So, the stove generally stays clean.

I've resigned myself to just keeping it neat and living with the fact that I use my kitchen. (giggle).

(This is partly the reason I thought about keeping the *upper* space next to the stove open--to keep my print there and distract from the stove.

As for cabinets, I have only bought one base run that is 60" long and 24" deep. I also have uppers that look to be 12"-13" deep (I'm not sure if you measure from the back or inside!). There are 2 18" ones and 2 12" ones.

Again, I'm in an iffy neighborhood where a fancy remodel won't pay off in resale so I am trying to create a workable kitchen for not much money.

That said, as a teacher I don't make much money so am trying to also do something once and do it right...and just *maximize* what I can do.

Any thoughts on the laminate? Flooring?

Anything else very much appreciated. I have been slow and steady in part because I'm afraid to mess up but really can't take it any more. ;-/

We're in the same boat. Except your house is 100 sq. ft. bigger and I have a galley kitchen. One Ikea store we went to has a miniature, gridded metal "kitchen" and a basket of magnetic blocks to scale of their cabinets and appliances. I had a lot of fun playing with it. It helped me visualize the space. We're doing all the work ourselves, like we always do.

Suz16- Yea--I wish Ikea was closer than 4 hours away!! I may just go for it. Everyone seems to agree that they are great cabs.

What did you end up doing? Any ideas for me?

Just my opinion but I would not try to match closely the wood floor you have unless you can exactly match it. Otherwise in my experience it looks better to coordinate with the floor not "almost" match which looks like you couldn't quite get it. I have wood floors and they have been in this kitchen since...about the early 80's or there abouts. They are still perfect. Never a leak. I don't know anyone who has ever had a dw leak. So if you can match exactly I would since it does give continuity. As to cabinets I love love the white set with the glass doors and the sink in it. I would sure keep those. I don't have any other suggestions. Great good luck to you. c

Trailrunner - Thanks. Yea...the kitchen is small so sometimes I think I could just go for it and hope for the best.

I am def. keeping the glass cabs. I'm trying to build around those.

Thoughts on doing a "pass through" or not? You'd only see past the dining table and look at a closet door! Not a great view, but would feel more open and give us a "bar" for people to sit at.

Keep those ideas coming! Thanks!

I love HW, but I'm biased because I don't love it in the kitchen. Just a personal preference; I like a cushy floor that doesn't show ANY dirt, so we went with slate-look solid vinyl tile from Metroflor. Great contrast to our oak flooring in the other rooms.

If you're on a budget, then certainly a DIY floating laminate floor would be the easiest to do. A contractor friend of mine who has a few investment properties, loves to use laminate in the kitchen. Looks good and is easier than anything else, he says.

I like pass-throughs myself. What the heck, hang a nice poster on the closet door and give yourself something pretty to look at (besides your friends, LOL)!

Jkom - Thanks. Yea...I'd love something *soft* because I have bad ankles. I was looking something to generally match to give "flow."

I have red oak...can I ask what color you have?

Sadly, the closet door is a bi fold so no poster for me, but I think I want the pass through anyway so people can sit there while I cook. (Not that I've had anyone over...it's a bear to cook here--for now!)

Basically, I'm trying to go step by step and take my time because I have a low tolerance for renovation stress. I loved my old kitchen but it was getting worn and I was down to 2 working burners on the stove.

I tried to assess what I liked about the old kitchen. At one time it was very trendy. I realized that I loved the brightness and the contrast between the all white counters, walls, vinyl floor, and cabinets and the black appliances and navy blue sink and navy blue cabinet handles. I liked that it was efficient because I didn't have to walk too far. I liked that the surfaces were easy to clean. We decided to get new countertop and bottom cabinets and sink and keep the old top ones but get new, matching handles on both to tie them in. We got the Ikea farmhouse sink and had it moved over 2 feet so that I could have a little more counter space next to the stove, and had it placed under the window which seems to make a better visual impact. A new dishwasher was switched with the sink so the plumber's cost was minimized. The new stainless dishwasher has wonderful features but isn't easy to clean.

I don't know whether I want to add a pass-through either. I have oak parquet tiles in the rest of the downstairs so I'm not sure if it's better to coordinate the floors or enlarge the visual space of the kitchen itself with white floors. And I still have the old stove due to indecision. Ruthlessly cleaning out a lot of useless stuff that's been hiding has made a difference too.

A guy who works at Home Depot said that the cabinets made by American Woodmark offer the best value for the money. He may be right but we really wanted to buy something off the shelf. Exchangeable if any problems arose.

I think it's white oak, installed when the house was built in 1940. This photo is not color-accurate but I include it just to show how we transitioned the oak to the vinyl tile.

The oak is oil-poly finished and has a golden tone. The tiles are a more olive and tan color, not the jade-tone in the photo.

Thanks, jcom.

Sadly, I don't think vinyl/slate is going to work for me. I just think with my view into three rooms I should try to have it flow.

I saw some gunstock the other day and it's close. Not pefect, but close. The older part of my house has dark,nearly black veining that the gunstock doesn't.

Anyone know of something else good? Or, am I a fool for trying. It won't match, but just for visual...ah...there's a generally same colored wooden floor kind of vibe?

Anyone see cabinet issues that I don't?

I am looking at the Ikea AKURUM Wall cab (e.g., horizontal w glass door) in Abstract Finish White which I understand from the forums is really glossy and white. I realize I can't get a perfect match, but am going to try to find a paint that I can use on my other cabs to match. Again, since you won't look left/right/left in the kitchen, I think anything reasonably close (e.g., white with common silver handles) will bring enough cohesion.

My sister says tear out the old ones but they seem perfectly good. Mom says a mix is fine. I'm bleary-minded. Thoughts?

thanks, ya'll!

While I was paying my check, I asked the restaurant owner, who is renovating, what kind of flooring they have in the kitchen. She told me unglazed tile, but that her daughter-in-law has wood laminate floors in her kitchen and she is able to wet mop them all the time. She just happened to have some samples behind the counter and, as luck would have it, the customer standing next to me said he's a kitchen contractor and he recommends Pergo wood laminate floors. I think I'll check that out, maybe one will blend with my other floors.

yes, well, we are at 1.5 years and still going. some walls were involved...so what? i think it will work out well even if it takes a while. about your cabinets, we removed our old cabinets and they were racked together with nails and screws. we had to take them out as a group...they were not separable. believe me we tried, because we had to fit them in the van to take them to the donation place. anyway, you may not be able to separate yours. we have old oak floors in the rest of our house. our kitchen has new prefinished oak which doesn't match exactly. it's ok and when the older floors are finished, we will try to match the newer ones. different lighting in the different spaces makes it less noticeable (it appears to be lighter in the kitchen because of the windows. in reality it just IS lighter). i did want to let you know though, that the POs had "matching" pergo in the kitchen and it did not match at all. although the color was a decent match, the surface was completely different and the nearby real wood floor just made the pergo look even more fake. now the vinyl tiles and planks can look good, i have seen those around.
as far as laminate i don't have suggestions, but i think it's a good idea. kren

Kren, thanks for the heads up about fake looking Pergo. I thought it was brand name of laminate flooring.

Andi, I got Ikea Akurum cabinets with Stat doors. I wanted the Abstrakt at first but my kitchen is so sunny that I thought they might create too much glare. Seeing the cabinets in person was way different from seeing pictures.
Some styles had rounded edges, some weren't the right shade of white, some weren't glossy enough. At first I thought I might just replace my worst bottom cabinet with
a Kraftmaid cabinet in glossy grey, and then make a small glass front cabinet painted to match it and place it over the window to tie it in.
I've had a couple of issues with my new Ikea cabinets, and will have to bring a couple of things back.

suz - Thanks for the comments re the cabs. I am actually going to be near an Ikea soon and will look at them there so I'll know what to order. Can you tell me what problems you've had? (Was putting them together a bear??)

Kren - Just want to be sure I hear you (after a 15 hour day I'm a bit out of it). You have *wood* and it looks good because you think it's the light that makes them look differently. Do you think laminate is a better option? I was thinking about real wood. All the choices!!

thanks.

Now if I can just decide on countertops! Thought I had it (did but now I'm not so sure. Have seen a lot of white cabs and black counters that look good. Have begun to think butcherblock with wood floors might be too much. Argh! Back to look at my inspiration photos).

:-)

Hi Andi,

I have 3 Ikeas within 2 hrs. of me and I've been to all 3. There are slight differences in their displays, I guess due to different demographics.

I would suggest going on a weekday, if at all possible.
Eat something beforehand, have some caffeine and a Tylenol.
I can't stress that enough!

The kitchen designers and sales staff were very helpful.

You'll get a lot more boxes and bags than you would expect.

One of my boxes looked damaged and one was re-taped,
They replaced them on the spot. Later I noticed a couple of items were marked REA. I think they were returned- but seemed to be unopened and just fine.

The instructions are all pictograms- only one word "CLICK".
If you're good at jigsaw puzzles, you'll be fine. Once you get one together- you're an expert.

One or two pieces weren't drilled exactly, and we had to come up with a couple of different screws to get things right, but all in all it was do-able.

We were sold some extra pieces, about $50 for panels. No idea what they are for. The drainpipe pieces for the sink were plastic, so we replaced them with metal ones from a plumbing supply store.

The next morning after installation, a small piece of an inside door panel appeared to be lifting. I know we didn't damage it, but I'm not sure they'll take it back since we attached the hardware. There's a slight ding on the counter that we may have caused by dropping a glass. So, we tried to intentionally damage a leftover scrap of counter with a hammer and it held up just fine. There's a tiny cut on drawer edge that's not noticeable.

I just don't know if they'll hold up as well as the ones we replaced (25 yrs.) They do come with a 25 year guarantee though.

But, I do LOVE the 30" drawer cabinet. The drawers work like a dream. They hold my pots and pans, so I no longer have to reach over a hot stove for them. And it's so easy to see everything. I wish I had gotten another one, but I'm going to keep small appliances in the other bottom cabinet and I thought the open space might be more flexible.

The laminate counters we got have white on one side and reverse to dove grey on the other. They have a metal edge
which is very nice. They have another which is black on one side, reversing to whitewashed wood grain. I went with the white so that it would be brighter. I figured I can always accessorize with other colors.

I got hardware from Expo. Aqua beach-glass rectangles framed in stainless. I got matching square knobs for the upper cabinets. If I can figure out how, I'll send pix.

Any further developments on the floor choices? The pass-through?

Hi Andi -- I began planning my kitchen last September, and will be doing it in stages over the next year or so. We just finally (yay!) replaced the tank water heater that's inside the kitchen with an exterior tankless unit today (how many months is that? lol). Since we want to remove a wall between the kitchen and dining room and change the size of our sliding glass doors in those rooms to make a wall of glass, we're now trying to find a good architect/structural engineer to do the structural drawings for us so that we can move to the next phase.

We're also going to use ikea cabinets. My plan is to buy the cabinets in stages instead of all at once -- that way I can return the extras and pick up missing pieces as I go. Also makes the overall price much less painful if it's a $200 drawer cab each month instead of a $6000 bill all at once.

We're doing wood floors in our kitchen since the room will flow into the dining room, entry, living and family rooms. We have wood floors that were put in in the 1980s. The finish has worn in the area next to our sliding glass door -- high traffic area -- but it's in good shape around the cooking zone and in front of the cabinet that has held the water heater for all those years. With the heavy duty finishes that so many prefinished floors have now, I'm not that worried about using wood. But then, I want scraped, aged looking floors anyway.

Hi Kren, Andi, Sara---, I took Kren's advice last night and brought home a sample of Armstrong vinyl planking from H. Depot. It doesn't look bad at all. Their fake wood looks more real than the Pergo and other laminates. It's also really thin so that the level doesn't change much. I't's textured but I'm a little concerned it may be a bit slippery if wet. And, it's self stick, will it self-un-stick too? I still have to do the tomato sauce test.
As far as real wood in a kitchen- The week after we installed the polyurethaned oak parquet tiles, I accidently dropped a fish tank filled with water on them! They swelled a bit and I was ready to run away from home. After awhile they went right back to normal and have held up well for years and years.

Suz - when reading your post about the fish tank my chest actually tightened! Glad it turned out ok.

sarschlos_remodeler - You're right...in a small space maybe water isn't such a big deal? Reading about floodstop was good to know about, too!

Thanks.