Hello from a long time lurker : plans to build a new kitchen
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7 years ago
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Long time lurker coming out of hiding :-)
Comments (27)Marcia...Welcome! (96% of the time, I'm on the Paint forum...) I had to respond here 'cuz I'm in Fargo, ND. >>> Saaaayyy....What is that green stuff all over your front yard?!?!? ;-) Gonna be hot here this week...we'll finally get high's in the 20's!!! Oh, and to clear something up...we have snow 266 days/year....! (my DW grew up in a little town just south of the Canadian border!) Faron...See MoreLong time lurker, finally ready to start kitchen.
Comments (11)Wow: your kitchen brings back memory. My previous kitchen was identical layout, except mine didn't have a hood. (I don't know how the previous owners lived here for 30years w/out a hood! The old cabinets were so GREASY!!) Do you have a layout of the 1st floor? What's past the peninsula? -- "Almost 4 years ago I gave up on the addition, double the size of the kitchen thought." Really? I was there, 4 years ago. --- Question: are your kids toddlers now, or are your kids older and you'll have toddler grandkids coming to visit? "I can survive a couple toddlers not burning themselves on the range " "I would love more than the 20" to the left of the range for prep" --- I ask this because these were 3 of the main reasons why I renovated my kitchen: - lack of hood - lack of prep/countertop - unsafe/not optimal use of the peninsula I am so happy that I DID change my layout, instead of just living with the same footprint/layout. -- Now I have a fantastic hood (sucks up toddlers w/ 1100CFM along with fried fish smell and all the steam from the induction cooktop when DH forgets how quickly his water boils when he walks away to get the tea bag). I also have tons of countertop space (23feet) to spread out: - DH gets his sandwich making area/baking area - I have my prep/cooking area, with no one walking through it - kids have the peninsula to hang out/do homework, without the risk of Mommy splashing hot oil or hot water or stir fry all over them/their craft paper, etc. Amanda's original layout Amanda's improved layout in 1st screenshot --- Now to be helpful: - hoods: My friend has a powerful Zepher. It worked great, but I'm not sure how easy it was to clean: spraying soapy water into the fans to clean??? I love my Kobe baffles that I can remove to soak/wash in the dishwasher. It sucks up so well; it's astounding just how much grease it catches. (Think about how much would be in my house if I didn't have this hood: ugh). --- countertop: - conflict: I like solid surface, but I had Corian in my previous kitchen and the integrated sink was great BUT it had tiny little dark cracks right around the drain, and it was constantly difficult to keep white. So while I love the integrated sink, I wouldn't want to deal with an unsightly sink. Formica: can you have an undermount sink? I can't stand an overmount sink for crud to catch at the rim. So of the 2 options, I would get solid surface, maybe with an undermount stainless steel or Silgranit (GW people love it) sink, instead of an integrated one. Good luck, Amanda...See MoreFirst post from a long time lurker
Comments (14)Thank you Anglophilia and mojomom. We are pretty set on having the extra bedrooms in the basement. As mojomom said, this is very common where we live , even in high end homes, and I have no qualms about it whatsoever. Mushcreek, I am glad you chimed in. I have followed some of your threads and really respect and admire what you have accomplished. We will also be DIYing some of our build (although not nearly to the degree that you did). rrah and mushcreek, I'm glad to hear that you enjoy your deck space. We will have to think about what will give that space the most utility for us personally. jannicone, thanks for answering my question. These insights are helpful. chisue, I appreciated your post. Good point about living spaces. I hesitate to use the word "forever home" but we really do plan on this being the last move we have to make. Obviously life could throw some unforeseen circumstances at us, but barring anything really really surprising we plan on staying here. Again, this is a very rural area, and people just don't buy and sell to the same extent that they do in the city or even larger towns. To me, it's almost a foreign concept to buy/build for every stage of life. I'm trying to stay away from the idea of building the "perfect" home. We do want a well built and thoughtfully laid out home. If that doesn't work perfectly for every stage of life, that's okay with us. I've seen the small farmhouse that my dad was raised in. He had five siblings, and they also took in his grandparents towards the end of their life. Looking at it now, it would be almost inconceivable for even a family of three to live there, but they obviously made it work (although I'm sure it was far from ideal). Standards of living sure have changed! I also think that's one of the big advantages of a forum like this. As we move through the planning process, I may not necessarily know what we'll need for those different life stages, but people here who have been through that can hopefully offer some insight and advice based on their personal experiences. chisue, I also thought it was interesting that you said "You don't want to spend your children's growing up years concentrating on creating The Perfect House to house them." That's a great point, and also one of the reasons we're not building yet! Our children are young, and building a house is a big commitment. We're doing okay where we are for now. We plan to GC our own build, and also DIY a portion of it. I know that's going to take a lot of time and focus, and I'm not prepared to take that away from my children right now. When they are a little older they'll be a little more self-sufficient, and also able to contribute more to the process....See MoreLongtime lurker....first time poster...
Comments (42)I don't think this registers with many of the regulars on this forum, who seem to believe that every online plan is evil and should be ripped to shreds, while any plan from a "person of design talent" borders on complete perfection. Neither is completely true. I've seen plans from architects that definitely are awful. There is a "top" architect in my neck of the woods who's name seems to be on at least 1/2 the new projects in town, yet I wouldn't give you two cents for any of his plans because they are more odes to his ego than they are collaborations between himself and his clients. However, I know the OP and Doug probably spent a lot of time hashing out what would work best for her and her family and that any compromises made, were discussed and decided on mutually. All houses have compromises. As for your comment about online plans, yes many are awful and too many use lipstick on a pig to try to get around the fact that they're just poor design. However take a look at some of the plans by The Bungalow Company or Allison Ramsey. The difference is the plans aren't bloated with excesses of gables or huge roofs. It just seems like such tradeoffs/compromises are only acceptable on this forum if made by an architect. Tradeoffs are fine if the person realizes they are tradeoffs and not just them trying to fit their lives to a house that won't work for them. The other problem is those who come to the forum with no design experience, but they learned how to use Sketchup or another CAD program and they think that automatically turns them into a design professional....See MoreCurryUp
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