Starter home kitchen remodel: 70% done?!

melle_sacto is hot and dry in CA Zone 9/

16 years ago

I wanted to share a couple pics of progress so far on our mostly DIY (with help from friend) complete reconfiguration kitchen remodel; this is a starter home and we've lived here almost six years. Cabinets are Ikea (Adel birch cabinets and Nexus birch drawers). Counter is LivingStone (like Corian) w/integrated Corian (LivingStone doesn't offer a large single bowl) sink.

It seems like fewer people go w/Corian counters and ours just went in yesterday :-)

Before (original 1978 cabinets, vinyl might be late 80s, newer appliances). By the way, when both were open the dishwasher and range doors touched (that wasn't a huge issue but it gives you an idea of size). The fridge stood to the right of the DW:

Sink wall in progress:

Sink close-up:

Happy Thanksgiving everyone :-)

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Comments (8)

glad
16 years ago
looking good! i think we have the same original cabintes!(i won't miss them!)

Here is a link that might be useful:
joann23456
16 years ago
Looks terrific! It's so clean and simple. And even though you're right that not as many people use Corian, it's a good material, and the integrated sink is wonderful.
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Annette, thanks for the heads up :-) There is 2'11" from the window trim to the hallway tile. The window is a vertical slider, right to left. On the DW between the sink and the cooktop issue, I wonder if that would be so problematic if I had that peninsula with an additional, prep sink in it? I would think it would then be an asset to have the DW close to the cooktop for direct to DW 'clean as you go' flow? Stuff comes out of prep bowls/plates into the frypan/pot and the bowl is then just dropped in the DW( no doubt real cooks are going to find this sentence hilarious!) If water is needed while the DW is being loaded by someone from the clean-up sink, no problem for the cook to just pivot around to the prep sink?
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Good plan for keeping to the budget. A couple comments: 1- The dishwasher may have to go next to the stove (not on the sink wall) because its door has to open all the way- 26 inches or more is typical. Check the opening measurements on the dishwasher you choose and allow a bit extra for how it fits under the counter. Of course before you finalize your cabinet plan, you could try scooting the stove over a few inches to see if you can get a dishwasher to open on the sink wall with enough clearance. 2- To retrain yourselves to go in the front door, use concrete parking stops or plain trash cans to make it impossible to drive all the way up to the kitchen door. It's the kind of structure discipline designed to control crowd movement in amusement parks.
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kailleanm
16 years ago
Awesome job! It looks terrific. You must be so pleased to have such a nice bright space after living with your dark cabinets.
Your counters look great and really complement your paint and cabinets.

What have you got planned for the floor?
melle_sacto is hot and dry in CA Zone 9/
Original Author
16 years ago
glad--> if your cabs are in as bad shape as mine were then you have ALL my sympathy. Ikea is a huge upgrade for us ;-)

joann23456--> the integrated sink option was one reason why I went w/Corian, but cost was another. The other counter material we were considering was Zodiaq but out of the budget, unfortunately.

kailleann--> 12" porcelain tiles that we ordered from HD. They are called "Milano Walnut". They have different shades of taupe and brown, I don't really know how else to describe them and I'm not sure if they'd be considered faux travertine. We're going to lay them diagonally.

We tried to lighten up the kitchen, make it functional for 2 cooks, and keep it easy to maintain.
mahatmacat1
16 years ago
Not to start up a thing here, but melle, don't worry about missing the Zodiaq--just a couple of days ago I had another "glad I have Corian" moments--a somewhat large flowerpot slipped out of my hand and it dropped from a height right onto the edge of the corian--*neither* got dented or cracked! It absorbs impact so much better than a harder substance, IME. DH was there and we both were almost afraid to look...the relief was a wonderful thing :)

3+ years and counting with our Green Tea corian and not regretting it a single second :)
dianalo
16 years ago
Hey,
I bet the transformation makes you grin, even though it is not finished. That is some difference already!
I think your new look is mellow and serene.
Please post more pics as you make more progress ;)
natesgramma
16 years ago
What a huge difference. You must be thrilled going from a darker kitchen to light and bright. Corian looks great with your faucet choices. Keep us updated on the progress.
melle_sacto is hot and dry in CA Zone 9/
Original Author
16 years ago
All cabinets are installed except for the pantry and a broom closet. There's still door/drawer adjusting, hardware attaching, lighting, flooring, wall texturing, painting...

We're in the process of moving stuff back into the kitchen b/c it's mostly functional now. I'm already experiencing some "wish I hadn't done it this way" thoughts and I'm trying to focus on all the improvements rather than the few mistakes. Storage space still feels low, probably b/c we don't have the pantry unit installed.

My favorite things so far are the quietness of the dishwasher (could hear the old one from anywhere in the house), the huge Corian sink, and all the drawers for storage. Will post more pics later :-)

Starter home kitchen remodel: 70% done?!

Comments (8)

glad

joann23456

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kailleanm

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Starter home kitchen remodel: 70% done?!

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glad

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melle_sacto is hot and dry in CA Zone 9/
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