Kitchen renovation (Possibly a remodel?) journey - Advice appreciated!
2 months ago
last modified: 2 months ago
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Kitchen remodel advice-we don't entertain--but love high-end kitchens
Comments (16)Look at the kitchens of a few of your neighbors houses. Take notes as to what types appliances they have in their kitchens. Take this information to the Kitchen Forum along with a floorplan of your home, including pantries, doorways and windows. Let them give you some general ideas of what may be accomplished. You may also want to consult with an independent kitchen planning consultant for help. We can give you lots of specific ideas about appliances, brands and features of appliances and the best use of appliances. But, we will need to first assess the space and basic requirements. While many on the forum have experienced children that go through strange food stages, we generally love to cook. We also tend to be kitchen and appliance obsessed. This means the convenience foods you are currently serving to your family are classified as emergency foods. They are not the primary types of foods we feed to our families. Even a substandard kitchen can produce good, healthy food. It can be done on a budget and it can be done quickly. A challenging kitchen just doesn't do it as nicely or efficiently as it could be done. Do not take this a criticism, but it seems foolish to make the effort and spend a lot of money on equipment that won't be used or appreciated. If you continue to feed your children a diet of frozen chicken nuggets and pizza, they will never learn to experience the full range of nature's bounty. Learning to eat well and appreciate food is a life-long process and the foundation is laid early in life. May I suggest you subscribe to one of the weekly meal delivery services and commit to cooking two or three meals a week from scratch. I use one and I have found it to be both educational, convenient and budget friendly. It would expose your family to foods that they otherwise might not experience. If you put it in front of them enough, they will eat eventually. Also, this might help you to determine what kind kitchen is needed. I use Green Chef, they are entirely organic. They have family meal options, too. There are any number of these services available to suit every need....See MoreCenter-Hall Colonial in Northern NJ Kitchen Remodel Layout Advice
Comments (23)Your home is gorgeous! I spent a year renovating a 1939 petite colonial (1700 sf). In my case, I had to add a kitchen as the old one was tiny had badly renovated in the 1990s. A few workflow tips in your newer post with the kitchen. I'd put the prep sink at the range end of your island, instead of at the dining room entrance end. Think about it -- you chop, then have to carry the food to the range. Please rethink that desk in your kitchen. I've had "work/message centers" as built-ins in previous homes, but here in my new old house, I'm using a piece of furniture -- a drop-front secretary where I can close up the mess when guests arrive, but sit there and work (printer in the bottom). You can put the secretary in any room. Where your desk is located, it's not a drop station for bringing in the mail, schoolbooks, etc. For aesthetics, please try to make the kitchen fit the spirit of the house. White cabinets would likely fit it better than stained wood. Consider having at least a few glass-front upper cabinets. If you turned that desk space into storage, you wouldn't need to line the walls with upper cabinets. It's amazing what you can fit into a "hutch" look that would fit the aesthetics of your home. I had hutches flanking my farmsink in my previous home. One for pantry items, the other for dishes. My current 1939 home new renovation -- hutches -- the one of the left of my paneled fridge is for dishes and the one one the right side is filled with food items stored in canisters and containers. My kitchen is only 12x12 as the dimensions are in keeping with the original room sizes. The dining room is 12x12 and the living room is 12 x 21....See MoreKitchen renovation - advice needed about drain lines on septic
Comments (0)We are planning to relocate the existing kitchen as part of a large scale remodel/addition and DH and I are concerned about kitchen sink drain line placement in regards to the main septic drain located in the basement. This photo shows (in the green) circle where the main septic drain is located and where the proposed kitchen will be. The kitchen area is currently a carport but will be dug out and crawlspaced so flooring joists can run either direction. The existing house's joists run east to west. Our kitchen sink options are, in order of preference: 1) South wall centered approximately on the 16' wall. 2) West wall centered 3) Island area centered With 1/4" drop per foot, the goal would be to get the drain line to the rear exterior wall as quickly as possible so the drain line falls along the wall instead of falling across the main walking area of the basement. My rough guesstimate has a fall of 18" from sink to drain line. Is that doable? Is it trouble waiting to happen, especially with two turns? Is their a pump type system that we could use to move the water/waste along? Am I crazy for even being concerned? TIA!...See MoreAdvice on kitchen renovation with Ikea cabinets
Comments (7)Thank you for the advice! We have to keep the pantry wall where it is (load bearing, and we are already getting rid of as much as we can). :-( @Cherie I like the idea of adding more of a privacy barrier in front of the bathroom entrance though. @kayozzy The counter to ceiling cabinets next to the sink are part of my goal to keep the counters cabinet free. My plan is to keep salt/pepper/knife block/vitamins/paper towels/etc. and all the random stuff that accumulates on our counters in the lower cabinet area. Does that make sense? Does it seem worth the sacrifice in counter space? I like you idea about switching the sides of the pantry. @herbflavor Love the idea of maybe a window seat with storage under the bay window. I wanted to do interesting/glass cabinets around the stove instead of the sink, but I read that the grease from the stove would make them a pain to keep clean (I am trying to keep everything as low maintence as possible!). Do you know if this is valid? @Patricia I agree that it seems like an excessive number of dinning areas in close proximity. We thought about turning one into a morning room or keeping room, but we tend to host big holiday meals and game nights (or we did, pre-2020) and it has been useful to have two separate areas. I have been trying to figure out some use of space that could transition easily between a living and dinning space, but have not come up with anything clever. If it makes a difference, this is our current floorplan....See MoreRelated Professionals
Martha Lake Kitchen & Bathroom Remodelers · Rancho Cordova Kitchen & Bathroom Remodelers · Tulsa Kitchen & Bathroom Remodelers · Coffeyville General Contractors · Hagerstown Interior Designers & Decorators · Van Wert Interior Designers & Decorators · Ives Estates Furniture & Accessories · Clive Furniture & Accessories · Gloucester City General Contractors · Gainesville Kitchen & Bathroom Designers · Grafton Kitchen & Bathroom Designers · Highland Park Kitchen & Bathroom Designers · King of Prussia Kitchen & Bathroom Designers · Pearl City Kitchen & Bathroom Remodelers · North Plainfield Cabinets & Cabinetry- 2 months ago
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