Phoenix remodel part two:FURNITURE!
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4 years agoPatricia Colwell Consulting
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what's the deal with bad remodels? (rant)
Comments (37)Weed block fabric, bad. Weed block plastic, positively evil. That's all I'm sayin' about that. There's always going to be differing opinions about whether or not someone "should" have done Project X to his/her house, and I think it's rather a waste of time to discuss taste. But what I don't understand is when work on a house -- or a garden -- is done 90% of the way, when just a little extra push/time/money would've made it a great job. Examples? How about the houses that have "finished basements" -- but there are no switch plates, base moldings or light fixtures installed? Just a couple of bulbs dangling from the ceiling. How much more work would it have taken to add those little finishing touches that really complete the room? Or the back garden where they've splashed out on quality paving materials and had them delivered to the site -- but then they're dropped randomly onto the ground instead of being properly placed, and they're wobbly and unsafe to step on. Why not take the extra time to prepare the base and secure that material in a way that's appropriate for your climate and practical for people using it? Or the "sunroom addition" that's larger than a bump-out but too small to hold usable furniture... I was in one not long ago that was five by seven feet. If you could afford to hire the workers to pour the slab foundation and build the "room," how much more cost would've been involved in making that room 9 x 11 instead?...See MoreUsing Design-Seeds....Part II
Comments (110)No I don't have a design background at all, other than what I learned from watching Christopher Lowell or Lynette Jennings. But my mother was a sewist and she made all my clothes when I was growing up...I used to design my own wardrobe, pick fabrics, mix and match, and she'd make it for me. I was also allowed to decorate my room as I wished (including having the mattress on the floor in my "hippie" days) and it was great fun. I've always been sensitive to my environment and needed my surroundings to feel comfortable and be well balanced. It's so funny as the principles for the exterior are the same as the interior, but somehow decorating porches and patios or landscaping are beyond me. Somehow I do so much better when the space is defined by walls. I had a similar reaction when I was working on this house and had to select tile. I can walk into any fabric store, no matter how large, and feel quite comfortable despite the cacophony of pattern, texture, colors....but when I started selecting tile, I was confused and struggled with where to look and how to put it together. I realized it was because the fabrics are "done" but tiling a room is like designing the fabric...you are selecting the colors, the patterns, the textures to put together to create the "fabric" if you will. Once I realized that, I got a lot more comfortable and did better. So I think applying your color, pattern, texture skills is the same thing, only in reverse...I had to learn to go small, you need to find a way to go big. Once you realize it's all the same thing, you'll be more comfortable with it....See MoreHow did you deal with the remodeling blues?
Comments (32)suzannes, my dd had a spreadsheet for every detail for the wedding. I thought. It wasn't until we got there with 2 days before the wedding did she spring the food thing on me. I don't know what I could have said or done really. She did help, though she had a million other things to do and kept being called away from each. I wouldn't have minded the work IF I had known about it ahead of time and could have come days earlier so we could have taken it a bit easier each day. What I am upset about is that I asked her to make it easier for us by ordering trays, she agreed, and then she changed her mind without telling me. She was trying to cut corners to spare us the expense, and I was trying to make our lives easier. I'm sure at her age I would have thought I was doing the right thing by saving money, but at my age, I've come to think that my time is worth something too. I took a page from claybabe's book and made a few lists of my own today. First, I decided to work on one big thing in the kitchen. I think it will help me to see something big get finished. So I am concentrating on the refrigerator cabinet. It's probably not the right thing to do, but we decided to leave the tile in the wet areas, like in the fridge cabinet and dishwasher. It will never show and the wood floor won't be ruined if there are minor leaks or drips. So I didn't take today off completely. I just finished grouting the tile in there. I also made a list of things that can be done that will make a difference in how we are living, and decided to pack up all the kitchen stuff that is stacked in various rooms, and put it in storage. We've already got a storage unit rented, and could just rent a larger one for a few months. When we put the dining room furniture in storage, I foolishly thought it would only be a couple of months. But that was when we had someone else who was supposed to do all the framing and roofing, and that guy kept making excuses so dh started building. I know I'm still down, but believe it or not, a day off, and your shoulders to cry on have helped me feel better. I need a goal other than "get the project done". I need to break it into steps, and have a time goal for each step. Tomorrow, the fridge cabinet. Thanks all!...See MoreKitchen remodel layout design advice
Comments (5)I’m just tickled to have your thoughtful input. Please see responses below. Emilyam819- I added dimensions to new layout. The island is a roller that we already use. We love it. It is a great place to put fridge items and groceries. It’s also a nice barrier to keep visitors out of my work space, and give them room to help with prep. When loading dishwasher it’s pretty tight. But sometimes I roll island over a bit to make space during clean up time. We tend to prep on island or peninsula. The counter next to fridge has toaster and becomes husband & kids junk pile. I’m tempted to turn it all into pantry in hopes that they would dump junk elsewhere. I just hate to think of where new junk pile would end up. Build beautiful- 1. Ideally you'd like a little counterspace on both sides of stove currently any hot item that spills goes right into your breakfast nook floor. We are planning to keep the stove & hood in current spot to save costs. The load bearing wall right next to it is was a brick exterior wall ages ago. I agree that adding counter to the right would be great, but it doesn’t seem feasible as the stove just fits to the side of the window and we have a trap door in the breakfast room that we need to occasionally access. I’ll attach an updated floorplan with walls marked. 2. In the updated version of the breakfast nook, everyone has their back to the windows. Agreed about the backs to the windows in the breakfast nook. Perhaps I’ll just keep table & chairs. 1&2 Alternate: Can you extent the wall to the breakfast nook, if not adding counterspace on the stove side, it at least keeps hot stuff off the floor and allows for the updated layout to be mirrored & lets people face the window. I wish we could, but given their load bearing walls, I don’t think it’s feasible in our budget. 3. The bar seems to have cabinets on both sides, which means neither side would be full depth & someone sitting at the bar would have to move to access them. Alternate: Swap your pots for your pull out trash/recycle and people won't have to get in your cook-zone to throw something out. The bar currently has a pony wall, the cabinets facing out were a floorplanner user error on my part. I’ll keep the wall and maybe face it with some interesting craftsman tile to stave off all of the shoe scuffs that we have now. I added a new floor planner rendering with a tile option- but our pattern would be different. Thank you for the great suggestion regarding trash. In my old kitchen I loved having trash and dw flanking sink, but I think you’re correct that it would just be too awkward here. 4. 9" pull-out pantries can look cool, but you already have a spice island and all that you could fit in 9" would be a broom. Altlernate: Extend that side of breakfast nook wall & relocate the existing pantry door to the kitchen side. You'd pick up some extra storage shelving where the exist'g door is & not have to leave the kitchen to get kitchen supplies. I added 9” pull out to give space between wall & fridge. I have spices in drawer as well as hanging in pantry now, so I’m confident we could put it to good use and I think I would find it less cumbersome than 12”x 24” pantry. I’ve included new floorplan where loadbearing walls and trap door are in red. Those need to stay. The laundry room wall could move: I’ve colored it green. You have me thinking about maybe changing laundry access so I could possibly move pantry to kitchen side. I agree $20K is light, but our 20yr old ikea cabinets are falling apart and hubby insists on replacing this year. I may have to forgo the 48” fridge, but I’m still hoping to find a steal at our local scratch & dent spot. I’ve sourced a decent semi-custom cabinet line that will run about $5500 installed. But that doesn’t include the laundry room. Maybe we’ll finance the fridge… GreenDesigns- I appreciate you taking the time to look at my plans. I agree the house has had some unfortunate alterations that we would not have chosen ourselves. The lackluster remodel is why we were able to afford this house in our dream neighborhood. After living with it for 12 years, we actually like the way the open concept functions for our family and our lifestyle. As much as we would love to spend $60k on a new kitchen, it’s just never going to make sense for us. Thank you for your suggestion. I’ve had disappointing experiences with “designers” in the past. But I agree that kitchens are quite a specialty and I will investigate some local resources. We'd choose a different tile pattern- but I think it would be a nice spot for a craftsman touch and it would also help block shoe scuffs. Thank you again everyone!...See Moreocotillaks
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