Steel framing plus structural work equals a structural engineer and thousands spent. The entire wall has to be opened up to create support for the larger opening that a larger window will require. So, all the cabinets have to be redone, or all the brick has to be redone on that wall.

Going down/ taller with the window is typically a lot easier than going wider., The brick exterior is going to add work regardless of which direction you want to go.

What's wrong with delaying a response until a picture is posted, Jan? All that exaggerated indignation.... A bit silly. No?

Yep, pretty silly.

Jan made some pretty good points, perhaps a little snarky but true. Reminds me of people who will put in long ads on Craigslist Describing every detail but will leave out the mileage.

Jan posts some of the most helpful and in depth advice here. On top of it I have watched her reach out to strangers to help them with a problem in real life, not just with comments. I hear Jan's tone as candid between friends, not snarky, putting someone down. I realize a new poster may not know the personalities here, but it's pretty encouraging that a total stranger with nothing to gain from you bothers to respond.

A little patience would go a long way. I had to work and didn't realize people couldn't wait till photos were posted. I couldn't post a photo via my cell after I posted this. I guess there is no option to do so and that's where the photos were. Once I got photos on my computer, I had to rotate them. Then, it would not let me post (error). I had to post as a comment instead. Excuse the dishes and mess. This is why Im redoing the kitchen in the first place. To be honest, I've gotten snarky remarks before...this is why I hesitate to ask anything on this forum anymore. Youtube convinces me its a great place to go. Got to wonder though. The measurements are a little shy of 27" x 35".

This kitchen has got to go!

Well, if you're remodeling the whole kitchen, then install a new window at that time, and you'll have flexibility to center the sink under the window or vice versa.

And, Jan is awesome. She just is really excited to see your dilemma. You'll see. :)

Which way do you want to go with window?

Wider I would assume? Perhaps. Maybe up and even a little down?

The kitchen window is one part of a total kitchen redo. You're showing one wall. We can't see the entire kitchen. We can't see if it's a galley, if you're simply going to keep whatever layout exists, or not. The window is just one piece of a dim and crowded space. It depends the entire kitchen......, your plans for it.

You may indeed WANT a larger window, or new appliances and more interior lighting may be a better spend. Certainly cabinet matches and a more "centered" look for the window would help greatly.

It's just one aspect in other words. No good advice, "snarky" or otherwise can come your way without full information in the question. That includes, "here's my whole kitchen, here's my lack of storage, and I can spend _________ or I can't spend more than a few bucks. I like the layout, hate the layout, wish I had, etc etc. This is my inspo picture, and what I'm going for ( add a pic for that ) .

That's how you get advice . All the varying types, and all the opinions as well as to the quality of the advice. Then you decide because it is your kitchen, and your money.

We'll ALL be excited to see the rest, which indeed may be very problematic, from what we can see in ONE picture: ), and with no dimensions, no drawing of the existing space, and adjacent spaces.

Now,....ABOUT that window??

Don't start a new thread, add more pictures. Measure the space, draw it neatly and take a photo. Make a jpeg of that drawing and upload it. You simply do all that in this thread, as a comment. Could take a couple days to get a lot of opinion. It's a big vacation week.

Just put in a big ole window and design you kitchen around it.

There is no "just". " Just" is about the worst word ever for any remodel. There IS no "just".

Just is for take a nap, go shopping, make your bed, throw in a load of laundry, have a snack, get going, go home and a million other things. It doesn't apply to kitchen redo's or any other remodel or build. It JUST doesn't. All I can do is laugh when someone uses it in remodel terms. Therefore I just want to thank you for that laugh : )

In the overall picture of a 100K redo, another 8K is nothing. In a 60 K redo, it’s a little more of a something. In a 30K all DIY job? Not going to happen.

MsTina, we put in a triple window on a brick house where there wasn't a window previously. A good contractor should have no problem with that, and ours was no where near 8K. Here's an old thread discussing something similar. Once you get into the thread, click on 2littlefishies reveal to see before and after of her windows. That was my inspiration. Bringing windows down to the counter bring in a lot more light even if you don't have the wall space to go that wide. You are smart to research the costs of any structural changes before you get into the actual kitchen design as that will help you to budget the rest of your project.

https://www.houzz.com/discussions/2555680/counter-height-window-bumpout-how-deep-is-too-deep#n=16

IMO enlarging windows is very often expensive and on a brick house even more so. I agree the window is small but you could remove the grids and the blinds and up your interior lighting for a heck of a lot less money. Honest remarks are not snarky but often they are things that need saying and not everyone has time to hold your hand while telling you something. If you post pictures of the whole space you get better help period.

I enlarged my kitchen window in 2013 -- probably from about 30" wide to 60" (no change in height from what I recall), brought it down to the counter, and boxed it out around 10" (brick exterior as well). I put in a Marvin Ultimate awning window w/ transom above (to match other windows/doors). I think the total cost was just over $6K (would have to confirm).

It is my absolute favorite thing in my kitchen (particularly the counter height part w/ 10" extra space). [Along with my pot-filler and pull-out shelves in my pantry cabinets). :)

It's my experience that enlarging a window could become cost-prohibitive depending on the type of window you want or the type of wall that's being modified. If this is a two-story house, then the structural support becomes an issue and the size of the beam needed may not fit without other significant modifications. This is how the cost escalates to the $8K figure that GreenDesigns tossed about without elaborating on in his/her usual unhelpful way.

This is the time to get the window you want, within budget, of course. If you have to cut something like quartz countertops and get Formica you can replace later, that's the kind of budget trade to keep in mind. IMHO, the kitchen window is often the most important window in the house.

It looks like you are in the middle of sorting things out. If you want advice on sorting out what to keep before remodelling, try starting another thread.

Provincetown Beach House · More Info

Commenting to read later!

Formica isn’t cheap either get the material you want from the get go.

I love how we are all “just” moving on with this project with constructive input .

Sorry about that. I typed up a whole post last night and ended up loosing it.

So yes this will be a diy project. A whole kitchen redo with new cabinets, a new dishwasher, stove, flooring and paint. I’m thinking about retexturing the walls as I hate what’s on our walls now. The window was an idea because this small one is not bringing in light and I kinda hate it. Other kitchens I’ve seen with bigger windows I've found I love. I’m pretty sure we chose this one due to budget at the time. I also wasn’t into the aesthetics of anything. Being on groups like this has brought ideas to my plate. I now see what is a possibility, but I’m also on a limited budget too.

I hate showing pics of my house. It’s a crappy kitchen I know, but want to end up with something beautiful. That’s the reason for the remodel. I’m sick of this kitchen. I don’t believe you have to spend $20K+ to get a beautiful functioning kitchen. I’ve found a local company that has real wood cabinets painted white or gray. They have other colors, just not what I want. They’ll be shaker style. I’m just not sure about their gray. I’ve painted my cabinets from a beige to a gray and I love my gray. Theirs seems to be darker. Someone local can make cabinets for me for around the same price, just not painted. The price for cabinets is under $4,000. I don’t recall if that was with the island or not or if it included a wall I’m calling the coffee wall (probably not). Anyway what I don’t like is the microwave, mixer or pressure cooker on cabinet top. Not enough cabinet top. I’ve decided to do away with the double oven and a sink that was to go on the island. Flooring to be either engineered wood or wood look tile. In the past, others have said don’t put stove on island, however there is a down draft already set up for it and I like facing the room not a wall. Not sure how I feel about moving it and putting in just a regular stove. This L kitchen will start to look my in laws kitchen. lol

I’m including pics. I’ve tried to get on a few various kitchen design programs to see how my kitchen would look with a bigger window or appliances located elsewhere. Not having much success.

I hope I didn’t miss anything. I’m not sure what measurements the local cabinet co came up with on that 3rd photo, but it doesn’t seem right on a approx 150’ wall. Because if I widen that window, I’ll loose cabinet space. The last photo almost looks real, its not but gives an example of cabinets they have (they also said its gray, but looks white to me). Thanks any and all help or ideas.

My nasty looking kitchen. :(

Design made by a local cabinet company that has the pre painted cabinets. I told them where appliances should go, but guess they put them where they wanted. lol They quoted around $3,000 for this. Real all wood (we've already looked at them), soft close, pre painted gray. RTA cabinets.

Also from the local company.

More photos...
This is from a different cabinet company that I got with a few years ago. At the time we couldn't proceed due to cost and other issues came up. I had them remove all the bells and whistles to get the price lower. I think this one or bottom one was around $7,000. They are all RTA cabinets. They once had our double oven on the east wall (coffee wall), but it left very very little room for anything.

They were supposed to remove those wine boxes above the fridge. :/ Everything else looks good.

East wall (coffee area). I like it. Maybe with just one oven though.

My measurements might not be completely accurate. The table will go in the area in front of the laundry room or by the French doors. Im not sure what to do w/the area in front of laundry room if we don't put our table there.

20K doesn’t have a prayer of making what you want to happen. Double it and you’ll still come up short. And that’s with a lot of DIY labor. Bargains are not a bargain if they are poor quality and won’t last. No way that 4K in junk cabinets is worth doing. You’ll just need to redo it when the quality becomes obvious. You can’t do the materials to build them yourself for 4K.

wilson853

Now that is a dream window! Wish it were a possibility for me, but maybe I can do something similar. I also love how the window is lower and the cabinet top goes right around the back of the sink up to the window. So clean and streamlined. Definitely an inspiration. :)

Why not Ikea? Budget and quality.

What are the pipes in the center floor of the kitchen? And what's the pipe in the corner? Are these things you have to work around or are they moving?

noticing that you DO NOT have drawers in the lower cabinets (which would give you lots more accessibility and storage) than those lowers with doors/shelves.

The smaller pipe water and drainage. These will be capped off because I decided I don't want the island sink anymore. The other is downdraft for the stove on the island. So the island will be in that area. Thought I posted a photo w/island. Guess Ill do that to show what Im potentially looking at, but its not exactly what I wanted.

Island ideas. Not even sure why they put the sink in that spot. The pipes for it are on the other side of the stove. lol

GreenDesigns

So are you saying that all wood cabins are junk (No particle board)? Custom made and factory made? I find that hard to believe. What about the 7K and 8K cabinets I got a quote on where they are not all wood construction. Junk too?

Good furniture board is far better than terrible import plywood and buzz words that do not mean quality. RTA is 99% junk. If it isn’t conversion varnish coated, doesn’t have the choice of an extended stile, won’t let you do 13 1/4” depth with an integrated finished end, and only has 3 choices for crown molding, you’re dealing with low quality.

Dear Ms Tina Michelle,

I think I can safely say that the vast majority of kitchens do not cost 40,000$ or even 20,000. In fact, I think it's safe to say that there are millions of kitchens in the US, in modest homes, that are easily under 10,000.

The first problem I'm seeing here is the window. I suspect it is much more involved than you think . The size of the current window leads me to think that it may be inserted between the studs. If you make the window wider it will require header beams and some serious calculating to support the vaulted ceiling . This is not a diy project. Try to get an estimate from a contractor and see what it would actually take to do it.

Second, your plans are all over the place! You really need to sit down and make a list of needs vs wants. Do you need a double wall oven or will a slide in range work for the way you cook? The difference in cost is significant, several thousand in both the cabinets and the appliances .

The plumbing is already in place for a sink in the island. You will spend considerably more time prepping and cleaning up than cooking. If you put your sink and dishwasher there it also reduces the impact of the tiny window, your back will be to it.

I have no problem with rta cabinets. If you can assemble and install them yourself it can save you significant amounts of money. Ikea is well worth looking at if you have one within reasonable distance. They have a bit of variety in their style and you might find something you like better than the grey shaker rta that you don't seem thrilled about.

So, take a deep breath, let the kitchen forum help you with your layout and get a firm plan and budget in place. It will save you money in the long run and give you a much more functional kitchen. And yes, I believe you can do it for less than 10,000$.

Nope. Just the average cabinet expenditure is 20-30K. If you are trying for something mid grade. You can do a real budget job for 30-40K, with lots of sweat equity, but not ever with 4K of garbage quality cabinets.

https://www.remodeling.hw.net/cost-vs-value/2019/

Cute website, I'm not handing over my info so I can get spammed.

Since I won't register, let me guess. These are projects done by a KD with custom cabinetry and higher end appliances. I can assure you this is a cherry picked average. There is a very good reason Lowes,Home Depot, Menards and Ikea all sell cabinets and the other assorted parts of a kitchen. And bathrooms for that matter. Your numbers are out of line for the majority of working joe people.

Cost vs Value is a well respected, decades long, industry survey, published annually. You can read the national average 64K without registering. Average joe projects. Upper end projects start at double that figure.

Averages work well for statistics, not real life. I live in the mid west, lcola. I can buy a dated fixer upper,livable, in an ok area for 64K. I can get a very nice house, including the kitchen, for the upper end project cost. If you calculate 10% of the house price for a kitchen remodel most will be 10K or under

There is a basement cost for all projects, home costs be darned. An electrician’s $100 minimum is going to apply, no matter what your house costs. Same with a plumber. 10K is an average appliance budget for a mid grade project. Yes, you can do 3K worth of apartment grade appliances, 2 K worth of laminate counters, and 5K worth of stock cabinets off the shelf at a box store. I’ve done plenty of kitchens like that. No one ever called them average. Builder grade is the term for that. And it does not account for sink, faucet, disposal, lighting, paint, flooring, backsplash, or any expert labor or oops whatsoever. Add another 5K for all of that, minimum. Realistically, more like 7K.

You Go Beth H!!!

chickemama

I'll certainly look into Ikea. These RTA cabinets I was looking at (where the designs came from) were quoted somewhere around $12k to $15k (after a discount from about $19k). I'd have to look back to see what it all included. Im thinking I told them to just forget about the island for now and take out all the bells and whistles (pull out trash cans, knife drawers and any other specialty type cabinets). That got it down to about $6k to $7k. Long story as to why it never got to a final/final draft. Those plan photos are from two different RTA cabinet companies with several draft presentations. I agree, they are all over the place. A few times Id ask them to take something out and put something in and the out item ended up still being in. lol As far as the double oven goes, you can see where I asked for them to remove it as I decided just to get rid of it. We could keep the one we got, its fine but we just don't use it much anymore (now that there is a range next to it). So its just collecting dust. I don't have to have all the fancy stuff. I even know I can add a few of those fancy items to the cabinets later for a heck of a lot less money. So if I do a range only w/oven, then I need to decide where its going to go.

Ms. Tina:

Don't get discouraged by the naysayers here. DIYers come in all varieties and skill levels. IKEA makes excellent quality RTA cabinets and you'll save a ton.

I've cut brick to install a larger window. It's a PIA, but it isn't all that either. I like the skylight idea.

Laughing at everyone who's saying that you need to spend $60K to remodel a kitchen. Do they think only rich people remodel their houses, or something? You could spend that on a whole-house remodel where you install things you actually want and like, and not the cheapest thing available. We've completely remodeled two kitchens and are currently on out third, and we spent less than $10K per kitchen. They weren't small kitchens, and the results weren't ugly or bad-quality, either. When we were selling, pretty much everyone who came to look at the house would compliment the kitchen, in both the first and second house. First figure out what you need and like in a new kitchen and go from there. That'll give you an approximate base cost of the whole project and an idea of what you want it to look like in the end. The latter will also give you something to refer to when shopping around for the best prices. DIYing all that you can will also save a ton of money.

The first thing you need to do is create a floor plan with a good layout. That layout includes all lower cabinets having drawers for better storage. And it means NOT putting the cooktop on the island. A downdraft hood is mostly useless and as explained, 70% of our time is spent prepping food, not cooking it and to prep we want to be next to the sink.

Best practices means we take food out of the fridge and pantry if you have one, bring it to the sink to wash, prep between sink and stove and then bring it to the cooktop to cook it.

I agree with those who say it absolutely can be done for under $20,000 with sweat equity and good quality RTA cabinets. Honestly the best RTA cabinets are not the Joe Blow variety where you get only 2 color choices but I would choose Ikea any day of the week. The quality is excellent and putting them together and hanging them is very doable. I know because my ex and I did so in our first house.

And with Ikea you get Blum hardware and you probably will be able to put back some of those specialty features you'd like.

Think off the shelf formica, granite or wood for counters.

One stove is less expensive than a separate oven and cooktop.

I just returned back from a week long vacation, so now going over comments. So far liking all the helpful suggestions and ideas.

Earlier I got into the IKEA web site to look at cabinets and was confused at best. So looks like they have Secktion line of cabinets with multiple door styles. Do I have that correct? They don’t seem to have much as to color selection or multiple colors under a style or I’m just confused somehow. So far I like Lerhyttan, but just not the color. Grimslov and Axstad are two others I like, but just not the color. How do I get them in a color I like?

I was also looking on Pinterest for ideas I saw a few blogs with how to purchase only the cabinets and get doors elsewhere or painting the doors yourself. Also, to not buy the trim and stuff from Ikea as it would be cheaper to do your own trim and such. They also have a sale going on right now for 10% off. Is this one of the 4 or 5 sales they do each year or do I need to hold out for a better sale and when would that sale be?

Thank you!!!

Ive done more research and now understand what Sektion is. I also understand you have to buy pieces of the cabinets, not just whole cabinets. So Im starting to learn. I still havent figured out the cabinet colors yet, but working on it. :)

Still wonder about the sale (if this is the best one or if a better one is coming) and door faces/cabinet color.

Unless you are in love with the IKEA choices available, or if your budget is so small that adding anything extra is not possible, then an option (that many people before you have taken) is to simply purchase the ikea boxes/hardware and get doors and trim from Semihandmade or Scheer's (or similar company). Go check out their websites or give them a call. These companies make doors in any paint color, and many choices of wood grain, specified to fit the IKEA boxes exactly. If I could build a new kitchen right now, that's what I'd do.

Yes, wait for their sales. I bet the sales are about the same each time.

Yes, you will have to build the cabinets themselves (but if you've ever built anything from Ikea, it's not that hard to do). Additionally, Ikea, in my experience, is pretty good about support, from getting additional hardware to making it right if, say, a piece inside a box is missing/damaged. Plus, there's so much information online to help you diy--from websites, blogs, youtube videos, etc.

Check out the Ikea online kitchen catalog and buying guides, you'll get a much better idea of what Ikea offers than their product website. Especially if you don't live close to one of their stores. You can also order the paper versions online.

Kitchen catalog/brochure:

https://onlinecatalog.ikea-usa.com/US/en/In-Store_Range_Brochure_Kitchen_Sektion/?utm_source=89d-catalog&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=ikea-catalog&utm_content=2019-kitchen-brochure&utm_term=engagements#/pages/1

Kitchen buying guide: (includes non-Sektion kitchens such as Knoxhult) https://www.ikea.com/ms/en_US/img/buying_guides/fy19/IKEAKitchens-Jul2019.pdf

Sektion cabinet buying guide: https://www.ikea.com/ms/en_US/img/buying_guides/fy19/SEKTION_BG_APR2019n.pdf

Best of luck with your project!

You don't have a ton of space to work with. You need to figure out how much space you need for upper cabinets and determine how much wider you can go on the window. If you can't at least double the existing width, I don't think the effort to widen is worth it. I'm also leery of cutting brick, re-framing, structural work, etc. for a DIY project unless you've got some sort of construction background or know a contractor that owes you a favor. I'd strongly consider a couple skylights above and forget resizing the window.