first step for this type of project?

15 years ago

Hi,

I've been reading and gathering info and ideas from this wonderful group, but haven't really started anything yet!

We are seriously considering a medium sized kitchen remodel to our kitchen in our house built 10 yrs ago. The cabinets are maple and still in good shape so we would probably use all the same cabinets. However, our idea is to remove one of the kitchen walls that has a small (ie useless) mudroom/laundry room behind it and re-orient a small powder room by using wall space we gain from walling over one entrace from the garage (there is another entrace from the garage directly into an large space we now use as the laundry room. This would give us about 5 feet more width to the majority of the kitchen. Cabinets, wall oven,bar area etc that were on that wall would just get re-attached to the further back exterior (actually garage) wall. Our hardwood floors needed to be re-done anyway, and I want to get rid of my solid white corian counters. The new space would also allow us to get a new, larger island which I would like to be the main "wow" part of the new kitchen since I am not getting new perimeter cabinets. I've seen tons of beautiful island ideas, but have no idea which shape/style would function best in our new space.

Here is my confusion: I understand that most kitchen design showrooms have you pay down something like $1,000-$2,000, and then they work with you on all aspects of your kitchen/bath remodel, and usually including a whole new kitchen full of cabinets that they sell you and will credit your $1,000-$2,000 towards.

While I would like a "wow" new island, the great majority of our budget will be going towards construction and new (probably granite) countertops. BUT, I still need help from someone on how (IF?!) my ideas will work, since it also includes totally switching the proportions of an ajoining powder room.

Should I just show up at a couple kithen/bath showrooms and explain my situation? I totally understand why they might not be too thrilled to work on our project which only involves a small purchase of cabinets (which I'm sure is where they really make their money!).

We're new to this entire remodeling thing, so any guidance would be appreciated!

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Comments (4)

elizpiz
15 years ago
While kitchen design showrooms do employ dedicated kitchen designers, I am sure that you could find an independent KD in your area that is not affiliated with a showroom and so could give you what you need in terms of a proposed layout, design etc., that you could then execute.

We did our own design, but I know a number of people on this forum have used KDs that charged by the hour or per project. If you don't get a lot of responses to this post, you could try starting a thread with the title "Can anyone recommend a KD in xx?" and you'd get specific guidance for your city. You could try a web site like homestars.com and do a search for your city. There are also a number of members who are KDs and could give you great advice about how to get started.

HTH,
Eliz

Here is a link that might be useful: Homestars
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malhgold
15 years ago
If I were you, I would post your current layout and your proposed layout here. There are alot of very talented people on this forum that can help with layout decisions. Then, when you have a better idea of what direction you want to take, maybe take it to a few places for some quotes. Also, many on this forum have had success with local cabinetmakers. They might also be willing to take on a smaller project and give you the attention you deserve. Good luck!
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pence
15 years ago
yes, you are on the right track. In my area, midwest, I don't think a kitchen showroom would want to help you space plan and reconfigure cabinets unless you are planning to pay extra for it because usually they are expecting to get a bigger cabinet sale out of it. The contractor is the one who is going to do most of the work, thus make most of the money so I would start there. However, lots of contractors don't know how to space plan, they just wait for orders from an architect or homeowner. So the trick is to find a qualified experiecned contractor that can space plan (he may even have someone on staff that does that. Ask for recommendations from friends. You may end up with an architect or even a draftsman after looking around. You could do it yourself by mapping it all out on graph paper, taking measurments, posting here... when you've got the design the way you want it, then you can take it to most any contractor for a bid. Good luck
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evilbunnie
15 years ago
OK, first things first, unless you are doing the demolition and framing yourself (and since you are new to this, I'll assume you aren't) it sounds like you need a general contractor, not just a cabinet showroom and kitchen designer. From what I've experienced and what I understand, the kitchen design folks do fine with the kind of kitchen remodel that changes finishes and replaces cabinets, but they aren't so keen on moving walls, or reorienting plumbing. Also, have you figured out whether the walls you want to lose are loadbearing? If they are, you will need to either alter your plans or get a structural engineer or architect to design a method of carrying the load of your house -- like installing a steel beam or a laminated beam across the span. Then you need to have the town building department sign off on the design. The kitchen showroom is unlikely to touch that aspect of the problem, and neither would a local cabinetmaker.

At best,the kitchen showroom people may refer you to a contractor. Because you aren't doing a full gut and replace of all your cabinets, and want to reuse your cabinets, I fear the kitchen showrooms will view it as too much work for the minimal amount of cabinetry they'd be supplying, and they wouldn't take on the full job -- they'd just do the cabinet supply, and maybe the installation. That's not to say it can't be done -- rather, you're just letting the tail wag the dog, thinking about the cabinetry first. You need to talk to a contractor, identify the issues about moving walls, then get a sense of the cost of all of this. It might be so much of an investment that you'd do better to replace all the cabinets at the same time too.

Do post your plans on here, though. It's a great, free design service, and you can't put a price on the expertise of people who have gone through this and made the tough choices too.
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first step for this type of project?

Comments (4)

elizpiz

malhgold

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pence

evilbunnie

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