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Thread: Upcoming Project: Our kitchen

  1. #1
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    Upcoming Project: Our kitchen

    LOML and I went and hit all the big box stores and a kitchen design center in Toledo yesterday looking for ideas for our kitchen. Guess she trusts me now that I pulled one off.

    Our original plan was to replace the doors and drawers on our existing cabinets which are run-of-the-mill mass produced cabinets installed in 1991. For the most part the boxes are in good shape, except one that is loose and a lazy susan that is sagging. I could deal with both of those issues. The cabinets themselves aren't that well designed--some of the uppers have fixed shelves, most have a stile down the middle which causes us to lose 3" of space on the bottoms where there are pullouts and drawers. And in general they are just kind of plain. We planned to do an inexpensive laminate counter since we didn't want to put big money into a stone counter on old boxes. In the end, it just doesn't make a lot of sense.

    Some of our plans are:

    • Red oak, because LOML likes it and it fits our house well. We're thinking a "natural" finish, which means I shouldn't have to worry about staining. It will age well compared to some of the trendy finishes out right now too.
    • Prefinished maple ply--because I'd be crazy to do anything but.
    • Blum Tandem undermount slides with Blumotion. We used Blum side mount slides on my parents' kitchen and in retrospect I wish I'd talked them into the better slides.
    • Mix up the heights and depths of the upper boxes. This seems to be in right now and I really like the look.
    • Build a box around the fridge space and pull the cabinet above out 24". That makes for a massive deep-storage area.
    • Add details for character. Some things we are looking at are crown molding, a base molding around the bottoms of the uppers, shelves on either side of the cabinets above the sink, some kind of valence over the sink, and a wine rack.
    • A pot filler faucet (LOML's requirement) Should be easy to do with PEX.
    • Lots of drawers in the lowers. In fact, I think we might only end up with 4/9 boxes that have doors including the sink base instead of the current 8/9.
    • Tile backsplash (we've had the tile for 4 years--maybe we should do something with it.)
    • Keep the layout the same because it works great for us. This will save cost too because thee will be no plumbing (other than the pot filler) or wiring changes.

    Hopefully this week I'll start working out a Sketchup plan. The plan is to start construction around April-May, but maybe not until spring cleanup yardwork is done since that's a major undertaking around here.


  2. #2
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    Here's a way to maximize the usability of that space above the fridge.
    Attached Images Attached Images

  3. #3
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    Jamie, that's a neat idea I'll have to show to LOML. On my parents' that space ended up being a great space for giant plastic bowls, vases, and other stuff rarely used. Plus it fit the screens for their new casement windows perfectly which is nice because they can take them out in the winter instead of them building up dirt and grease.

    Here's some real preliminary Sketchup drawings.

    Matt&Pams Kitchen Looking Northeast.jpg

    This is looking toward our family room. Right now these lowers are 2 drawer, 2 door cabinets. Two of the new ones will go to all-drawer while the other will be 1 wide drawer with doors and pullouts below. Above, the cabinet will be a 15" deep, 36" high box which will add a lot of space. Next to it there will be a wine rack. The shortest wall has a breakfast bar now which we'll duplicate and the less-short wall is just a 1/2 wall.

    Matt&Pams Kitchen Looking Southwest.jpg

    This is looking the other way. Starting at the left on the bottom we'll have a 2-drawer cabinet with the glass front "dry good" doors. Behind there will be pot storage. Next is the stove, then a standard cabinet with pullouts in the bottom, and then a corner lazy susan. Turning the corner, a 12" wide cabinet for cookie sheets, cutting boards, etc, then the sink and dishwasher. Next to the dishwasher, all drawers for silverware, plates, etc. Then the fridge which will get boxed in.

    On the top its a mix of 12" deep by 30" high and 15" deep by 36" high boxes. We've seen some ideas for above the sink we like but I'm not positive what we'll do there. Open to ideas! We'll also put open shelves on either side of the window. Around the uppers there will be a crown molding and a base molding at the bottom of the upper boxes.

    And, we estimated a drawer/pullout count and ordered Blum Tandem with Blumotion slides. Expensive, but much less so with Woodworkers Hardware's current sale.
    Last edited by Matt Meiser; 01-27-2010 at 11:29 PM.


  4. #4
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    Quote Originally Posted by Matt Meiser View Post
    ...doors and pullouts below....
    Pullouts behind doors make sense to me only as a retrofit to existing cabinets. If you're building new cabinets, I'd just put in big drawers. With pullouts behind doors, you must first open the doors and then pull out a pullout to get something. With drawers, you just pull out the drawer. It is fewer motions. (And a little less construction to boot.)

  5. #5
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    I think for these two places they'll work for us. The wide one is going to hold the small appliances and some other bulky items. The one next to the stove I suggested drawers but there's a tiered pots-and-pans pullout we saw that LOML wants for the other one. But nothing is set in stone yet and we still plan to hit a couple kitchen showrooms and refine the plan over the next couple months before I ever cut any wood.

    After looking at the drawings last night, we decided to swap the all-drawers base and doors-and-drawers base so the one with the doors is in the middle. I think that will look better.

    And LOML reminded me that we are talking about doing a sink base that sticks out 2-3" from the rest of the cabinets, a look we liked at the showrooms.


  6. #6
    Quote Originally Posted by Jamie Buxton View Post
    Here's a way to maximize the usability of that space above the fridge.

    Awesome idea. Showed that pic to the wife. Oops.


  7. #7
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    I've been working on detailing my drawing. First adding counters so I could send a drawing to the place that did my parents' counters for an estimate. Then working on the valence over the sink. The first thing I realized is that we can't do what I've got pictured below with arch top doors and have it look right to my eye. We'd rather have this trim than the arched doors though. Second thing we discovered is that we can't keep the over-the-range microwave and do a pot filler so the latter is out.

    The counters will most likely be real granite. The salesman told me that the breakfast bar area will need some supports so I need to find some ideas for that.
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  8. #8
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    And about as detailed as I plan to get. I even went out to the 3D warehouse and got some appliances.

    We went to the counter place last night and looked at some granite. We pretty much know what we want there, and luckily its at the low end of the price range.

    I'm negotiating with LOML on the sink base design. I want to use spindles like this while she likes the fluted look. I showed here an example of one with spindles though and she thought it looked good.
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  9. #9
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    Hmm, is that the wall that you cut in half a year or two back where you had to re-route 15 or more cables that ran through it? Bet that was fun.

    I like the kitchen design -- I'm also liking the varied heights and depths.

    Since the cabinet material is pre-finished, do you just assemble with pocket hole screws by themselves, or still glue? Or just glue in the back rabbets?

    Regarding the granite... I read an offhand comment the other month that folks are going away from granite because it actually requires a lot of maintenance -- regular sealing and risk of stains? Just so you're aware of that.

    Is that a vaulted ceiling, or just a std 8' height ??

    ...art

    ps: regarding spindles... would they be half or fully round spindles? I'd wonder about being able to clean the backside of spindles.
    Last edited by Art Mulder; 02-05-2010 at 12:49 PM. Reason: ps:
    "It's Not About You."

  10. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by Art Mulder View Post
    Hmm, is that the wall that you cut in half a year or two back where you had to re-route 15 or more cables that ran through it? Bet that was fun.
    Same wall. That was a nightmare. Our attic access is at the other end of the house, so lots of trips up and down, crawling end-end. The result was worth it though.

    Quote Originally Posted by Art Mulder View Post
    Since the cabinet material is pre-finished, do you just assemble with pocket hole screws by themselves, or still glue? Or just glue in the back rabbets?
    I'll use shallow dados/rabbets, through screws, and glue. Goes pretty quick.

    Quote Originally Posted by Art Mulder View Post
    Regarding the granite... I read an offhand comment the other month that folks are going away from granite because it actually requires a lot of maintenance -- regular sealing and risk of stains? Just so you're aware of that.
    I've heard that too. We've got in in 2 bathrooms, which don't have as much stain issues, but the maintenance isn't too bad. Those tops which were from a local home improvement store said to seal them once a year. Big thing is that the granite looks a lot better than the man-made products.


    Quote Originally Posted by Art Mulder View Post
    Is that a vaulted ceiling, or just a std 8' height ??
    Yes, its vaulted. Starts at about 8' and goes to about 9.

    Quote Originally Posted by Art Mulder View Post
    ps: regarding spindles... would they be half or fully round spindles? I'd wonder about being able to clean the backside of spindles.
    Definitely 1/2 round for exactly that reason. Here's a photo of what I've got in mind.
    Attached Images Attached Images


  11. #11
    I am in progress with my kitchen as we write these posts. yesterday. i installed four "vertical pullouts" as i call them, like jamie mentioned, and showed a pic of. wife loves them. previously we had big, deep, high spaces that were problematic to use. now everything is readily accessible. i built mine with removable vertical dividers, offset from center, and also drilled holes for shelf pins, and built removable shelves. too cool. in base cabinets, getting rid of as many shelves as possible and installing large pullouts, with drawer fronts on them instead of doors.

  12. #12
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    Matt, I like your design, here is a pic of the one I did at our last house, varied heights and depths adds alot to the look.

    As far as granite goes...I wouldnt put anything else in, it looks way better than laminate or corian. It can make an ok kitchen look great. I dont think there is any more upkeep to granite than any other surface. We would seal ours once in a while, but IMO you couldnt tell the difference when it was sealed.
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  13. #13
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    Yikes! LOML informed me tonight that this project might be finally getting underway later this year after being sidelined by getting sidelined by more than a couple big ticket projects--getting natural gas, having our well deepened when it went dry, a significant repair bill on the tractor, new roofs, new heat pump, a standby generator to name a few.

    Not sure I was mentally prepared for this news


  14. #14
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    Not sure I was mentally prepared for this news
    Looking at the list of recent projects, that is no surprise!!

  15. #15
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    Yeah, its been a couple years. Doing our part to keep the local economy moving


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