Reusing instead of throwing away in kitchen/laundry mini renovation
Brandy Wismer
last year
last modified: last year
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Reuse possibilities for kitty litter container?
Comments (22)Do you think that storing water for an extended period that you planned to drink or use for cooking might leach out some of the unpleasant chemicals in the plastic? I'd want to fill it with water, let it stand for a while, preferably in the hot sun, and use it to flush the toilet about a dozen times before I used it that way, I think. My landlord buys weed kller in about 4 - 5 gal. jugs and, after rinsing several times and letting stand a while in hot summer sun, I use them to carry water down to the other end of the garden, that I can't reach with the hose. Haven't heard any complaints from the plants, yet - or lost any. The cucumbers, melons and squash, plus tomatoes, sometimes suffer from blight ... but that's well after they've been watered from the jugs, a number of times. Suzie, if you were to get a piece of mesh with apertures of about 1/4" or slightly more and fit it into about a 12-18" square frame of wood, with a container to put under it, perhaps you could run the used litter over it and get another use or two out of it? Make a funnel of cardboard, or cut the corner out of a cereal box, or use a margarine/yogurt container to refill the jug. 'Twould be especially helpful if you could train the cat/dog to use one litter box for the one kind of waste and another for the other. First idea - straight goods. Second - somewhat tongue-in-cheek. ole joyful...See MoreAdvice/lessons learned for potential DIY kitchen renovation
Comments (28)You can do it. I think the most important thing is to have thought through it all very well and truly have a plan in place. Know what materials and finishes you want to use, or you'll be wasting time and money with "while we've got the wall open" and "let me just see how this tile looks." I tend toward the analysis paralysis" side of planning, so I spent at least six months tweaking the IKEA kitchen planner and picking out cabinets, backsplash and countertop. But once I made a selection, I stuck with it. Ours dragged on a bit, but we're a very busy couple and made the decision to do most of our work on the weekends and not also consume our weeknights with the kitchen. We DIY'd absolutely everything except the quartz countertops and the final plumbing hookup. DH and I would get testy with each other, but we each had our "roles" in the process. We know our strengths and weaknesses and don't play against them. I decide the overall look, he gives input where it's important to him, and I work those things into the plan. I measure, he cuts. He holds, I check for plumb. I hold, he nails/screws. He builds walls and hangs, muds and tapes drywall. I finish drywall and paint. I sweep/straighten up at the end of each day. I assemble cabinets, he builds platforms/bracing walls for them and installs them, together we level them (we had one run of 17.5' of cabinets). Play to your strengths. Spring-fall 2009 - play with IKEA kitchen planner, web search incessantly for the "perfect" backsplash, get fridge and range on sale at Sears that was closing and go ahead and install them in the old kitchen). Buy open box $800 sink for $100 at Lowe's.Buy range hood and Expo that is going out of business (sense a trend here?) October - travel to IKEA to buy the cabinets and hardware during the sale. Order the mosaic tile backsplash on 40% sale. November - Demo the range/fridge side of the kitchen of Thanksgiving weekend and start work on some wiring changes (for range hood, moving microwave into pantry, wall to create fridge alcove, and little pot lights in the ceiling). All of this gets done (to include drywall install and painting) by Christmas and we install the two new cabinets for that area with plywood tops for the holidays. December 2009 - Dad comes back up after Christmas to help us demo the sink side of the kitchen and help install that run of cabinets. From this point we don't have a kitchen sink or DW and use the little bar sink on the other side of the room. I can't decide on a countertop for several weeks and pull the trigger on that on 12/31 to get a sale price. January 2010 - lots of waiting around. Some of the quartz slabs are faulty, and then some of the second batch are cut wrong, so the third batch finally comes in and is installed (this we paid the pros to do, of course) in . . . February 2010 - I pay a plumber to come in and hook up the sink and DW (for a few hundred bucks, we get a guy who has all the right bits and bobs on the truck and it saves us 6 trips back and forth to Lowe's). We DIY the backsplash and range hood install. Kitchen is functional at this point. April 2010 - I finally paint the pantry doors and trim and the kitchen is DONE....See Morescrappy25 renovation Part 3- The kitchen cockpit (Stages 45 sink)
Comments (14)Hi Ainelane, since the Stages comes with the bottom rack , and it is undermounted, I don't think that my pots have ever hit the metal. I just went and knocked on the metal and it sounds like a good solid metal, much different than my cheapie sink in m basement kitchenette.I don't see any insulation when I look from below. Curious, I looked it up the Stages listing and they are touting "SilentShield sound-absorption technology offers quieter performance", I honestly have no idea what that means other than that it seems to be on a lot of the Kohler sinks. Perhaps they have engineered something into the metal design? The inside deeper part measures 31 inches across. It is 9.5 inches deep and with the undermount it is deep enough that there is very little outside splashing when cleaning pots and pans. I LOVE my peninsula sink for all the reasons you mentioned. The two matching pull down faucets are like the Chinese lions that flank the front doors in China, they seem to stand at attention in the sight line. When I have company, I put the small drainer into the sink and pull out the heavy Kohler cutting board over it . Although too heavy to be regularly used, that board is a thing of beauty and creates more counter space. The white containers can also come out as needed to hold items for a buffet. pinkpanther5, I remember looking for cheaper alternatives and the Ticor 4000 for $400 would give you a similar design for the larger part of the sink (no ledge), but the drain is in the back center of the Ticor and does not allow the large pullout trash that the Stages does with its off-center drain. I think they are hard to find but they are still out there. That is worth considering if price is an issue, just add one or two integral drainboards to your countertop and you have most of the functions of the Stages sink....See More*picture heavy* - Thoughts please! Kitchen and laundry elevations
Comments (48)You guys.... So my husband is the one with thumbs down. Hahahahahahahahahah he hates the idea of having the fridge and the ovens next to each other. So I spent the whole day thinking about all the advice you guys gave me. But also had to be honest with myself, and think how we actually cook and clean. Then I started thinking that not all meals are created equal in the Rookie household. I thought long and hard about this. And being the OCD that I am, I drew patterns again. Couldn't do a mock because my temporary residence is too small. Not enough length anywhere. So I had to imagine and think about previous experiences. The way we prep, there is a lot of back and forth to the trash. WAY more than opening the DW during prep. So realistically, I may leave the trash pullout halfway open during prep. Emptying the DW happens either before prep or after meals, or if I have something in the oven, or stove that will take a longer cooking/baking time. But never during prep. Breakfast time is a fast and furious event at our house. I'm normally rushing everyone, otherwise they think it's the weekend and they can carry on a conversation without any concern for time. It will be more efficient to have the kids sit at the island, and have a mini pantry with the few non perishables nearby. This way I will concentrate activities around one area, and still have easy access to the trash. Dinner time is a more relaxed time. I normally gather all my ingredients first. Then prep. Not a lot if back and forth to the fridge and pantry. So if I move the dinner prep zone to the side of the island, I will have easy access to all related items as well as the baking zone. And easy access to the trash. For some reason, I realized how much I use the trash during prep. I went through the meals I prepare, step by step, you know, and there it was, popping up as a sore thumb every other task. My current (and previous) kitchen has a trash can in plain site. Yuk. Awful, but very practical. Cleaning time: as I said, this is never done during prep in my house. So I tried to think about the items that I will be putting away, their size, quantity, etc. for example: a typical load will have about 40 thousand cups and 50 million silverware pieces, but only one large bakeware, 3 pots and pans, and a few cooking utensils. I figured it would be easier to keep the items that are more prevalent in the load closer to the dishwasher. This means fewer trips far from DW. With the DW on the right, and with its door open, it will block the putting away path to half the cabinets. With the DW on the left, it will provide a more clear path to all cabinets. Setting the table and easy acces to plates, cups, and such without coming in the main cooking zone will also make things flow smoother. I realize most of you recommended the DW on the right. And I do see the point, and wisdom in that. But the more I think about how our family functions, the more I'm convinced that it needs to stay on the left. But I did consider all your advice, believe me. So much so, I changed the lowers to mostly drawers, and added a space for a mini pantry near the fridge. I'm still open to suggestions and opinions. I do not claim to be an expert on kitchen design. Just a hopeless OCD person trying to build my perfect forever home. ;) Here are the patterns: BREAKFAST PATTERN DINNER PATTERN DISHWASHER PATTERN (PUTTING AWAY)...See MoreBrandy Wismer
last year
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