This is what I really wanted to do, but now am wondering about the window seat instead. I really want to put the fridge there because it will look flush with the counters. That island will have to move and someone suggested making it more square. That way, we could put a post at the end of the island to support the wall we are removing. Should I re-think this idea?
Stupid basement!!!!

There's a lot of ways to save 10K on a reno if you DIY things. Labor is always the expensive portion of any project. Plan the projects in stages. Nothing says that everything has to be done all at once. Do the window to get more counterspace. The wall can wait a bit. Look at Ikea cabinets. Look at DIYing the flooring and painting.

If you have the "ultimate" plan, think of the journey to get there and how to pause along the way.

I am getting my cabs built, so they can be any size I want. I am getting Cambria counters, putting hardwood throughout the space and new appliances. So, I thought by putting the seat under the window, I could save a couple of thousand there and put carpet in the bedrooms instead of hardwood. I will not do anything in the bathroom for a while.

I'm not sure of what countertop material you were thinking, but counters are so easily changed out that maybe you can do a laminate for now and then change it out later. Counters (especially as big as yours will be) can really add up. I know that sometimes that is a hard thing to accept when you have your heart set on something dreamy and more costly, but it is one thing that can be done later and give you a lot of savings up front. Maybe enough savings to be able to even remove that wall and get all the dirty work done up front. And then in a year or two, you replace those counters with something you love.

sorry, we must have posted at the same time. Now I see you are planning on trying to save that money from not just the kitchen, right?

Can I ask a question about your seating in the kitchen? Island says 3.5 x 9. You have 2 seats on the 3.5' side across from the fridge. I have a counter that is a little over 4' wide, there are legs, so I lose some space there, but even though we can fit 2 stools on the end, it is not very comfortable for 2 people to sit next to each other. I'm not really sure how it will work for you with only 3.5'. I think you are supposed to allow 24" per person. In addition, will it be "bad flow" to have chairs backing up to the fridge? Scenario: having dinner, someone gets up to get more milk, and can't get the fridge open.

Just something to think about. Perhaps I'm missing something such as moving the table into a dining area. I'm sorry if I didn't see that.

Good luck on the new house!

Why not do it in steps and wait until you can afford each step? Then you don't need to cut corners. Is it dangerous or not functional? You may find after living there that things you would have ripped out are quite nice and things you would have put in aren't necessary--or that you were totally right and now are sure.

Yes, figure out how to do it in stages. We have been working on our kitchen for seventeen years. We call it our twenty year kitchen project. That is probably an extremely long time! On the other hand, this whole redo the whole kitchen at once is a pretty new concept.

There are advantages besides budgetary ones, to doing it slowly. For example we are doing the island and it is all drawers. We plan to do the sink counter and its cabinets next year. We will decide how to configure the sink cabinets after we see what we kind of storage we still need.

I like a kitchen that has a fair amount of furniture, too. Furniture can be changed very easily without any remodeling. Our kitchen furniture is antique oak pieces. But should I decide to go with another era or look, I could replace all that furniture and give it a totally different look and feel.

Our kitchen is about 400 square feet with its pantry and eating area. The furniture includes two small bookcases, a table and chairs, a secretary, a wardrobe, a nightstand, a huge oak piece with drawers on the bottom and sliding doors on top (I don't know what to call it. I think it might have been used in a store once). So it would make quite a difference in the look if I changed the furniture.

I don't know your situation, but it is very difficult to make these types of major decisions before you actually live in a house. If it were my space, I'd live in it for a while before taking down the wall and having a completely open concept home.

If you are set on your island layout, I would not put a window seat under your large window (it would be great with your existing layout). Instead, I would put in the window I ideally want (perhaps to mimic your other window by the sink). I would be tempted to do the perimeter cabinetry now and hold off on doing the island and taking down the wall until a later point. But this will present issues with new flooring (can't put it where wall is).

I like the idea of using less expensive counters for a while, but note that laminate counters are made for top mount sinks which may not be what you want when you put in your ideal counter. Also, off the rack counters from the big box stores and Ikea only have 24" deep counters so this poses a problem for the island.

I feel your pain. I tried very hard to cut costs but it is very difficult once you get started.

P.S. Why can't the seller pay for the $10k problem in the basement? Or it should come off the price you agreed to. I would not accept the responsibility so readily. In my area, seller has to fix major issues or buyer can walk away.

I was going to say what dilly said. An inspection surprise comes out of the sellers' pockets--not the buyers'. Is your agent awake?

Well, the seller doesn't _have_ to fix anything. You can walk if your contract states that you can do so after the results of the inspection. And most contracts have that standard language.

Some buyers will try to go 50/50 with you if they really want to sell.

Put your money now in the high ticket permanent items. Put in used appliances for now, have a great looking and functioning kitchen, and save big bucks. Wanting everything brand new (right now, now, now, NOW!) is the most discardable item in the list, something that can be gotten over. Appliances don't last forever even bought new and are expected to be changed out, it'd just a lot sooner than later in your case. Plus, when that happened, you'd get to have what was new then and be happy that you weren't stuck with that tired 2012 style.

I would make the changes to your kitchen that you truly want, if you are always going to look at that nook and wish for more counter space you can figure out other ways to save. A few ideas:

- Be your own GC on the entire project
- Install your own cabinets
- Choose a more inexpensive counter and change it later
- Do the painting yourself
- Buy affordable lighting fixtures, you can always upgrade later
- Consider whether there are any hardwood floor options that are similar to what you want, but maybe a bit less, even $1/sq ft can add up in large spaces.
- Do the deomolition yourself
- reuse some the existing appliances for now (if possible)

Thanks for all of your ideas. Spoke to the powers that be and we will split the cost of the basement "situation". This is the perfect property for us and we plan on this being our final move.

I am doing all of the coordinating of work myself. We got an excellent deal on custom cabinets that will be built by the Mennonites in our area. (Their quality and price CAN'T be beat! I didn't hire anyone to give me ideas or plan my new layout (as you can probably tell:( ). I will be doing my own removing of wallpaper and painting myself. We will hold off on doing anything in the ugly bathrooms for now.

I have been doing a lot of running around today and found a place that has the Cambria countertop that I want at a cheaper rate (savings $1500.!) Shopped around some more for the flooring and found someone who will do the installation of the floor at a reduced rate (savings $0.65 per square foot) Home Depot has the exact same flooring for $3.29 instead of the $5.50 at the flooring store (savings of $2.21 per square foot!) I looked on-line and found some lighting at Ikea that could work (several hundred dollars savings). I will wait for the backsplash for now and will wait for a sale for my other appliances.

I think I really would regret not putting in all of that extra counter space and I have found several thousand dollars by choosing those things mentioned above. This will be my 2nd kitchen reno and I know what I don't want, but am not as certain as to what I do want.

I do want the wall removed and floor done before I move in because I don't want to live through that mess again!!

Now I have to figure out how I'm going to solve the problem of removing the load-bearing wall:( Thanks so much for all of your ideas.

Ikea sells cambria but I never got a chance to price it there. You might want to price it.

it looks like you have 4' between long run and island - isn't that a bit too much? you could put the overhang on the long outer stretch of the island w/stools there. maybe rounded corners for safety.

where do you plan the stove and sink?

is the pic you posted of the kitchen as is now?

That sounds like some good planning, and some good savings!

I took out a load bearing wall between my dining room and living room and it wasn't as awful a job as I would have expected, though, I'm sure every situation is different. It would have been simplier if we would have left of soffit coming down, but my husband didn't want to consider that!

Regarding the island, if you have the space then I prefer 4' that you have listed (besides, that doesn't include overhangs, so it is really more like 3'8" :), especially if the sink and stovetop are on that side!

I would wait on the island and taking the bearing wall out.
I would change out the window and go with cheaper counters.

Personally, I'd do a smaller window - so it balanced the other single window and place it where it was convenient for me. What you're drawing is pretty much mandating cleanup be centered in front of that long window, but maybe it would be better off someplace else like its original location?

Thanks for all of your feedback. I posted a new plan. I must tell you that I am very impatient and want to have the majority of the dirty work done before I move in. I decided to keep the counter going to the left wall and came up with the savings needed to solve our budget problem. (I do have to forgo the window size, though that will be a consideration for the future!)
Thanks again, everyone:)