Neat Solutions for Kitchen Remodel- #4

As I said in my last entry.... electrical needs to happen after demo but before the cabinets are installed. It's a good time to talk about electrical and lighting. While Kevin the tiler was doing demo, Jesse the electrician was moving outlets and electrical boxes. Electric...we know dangerously little about it. And dangerous it could be. Please find a licensed electrician. Jesse Dugan (Dugan Electric - 704-256-4234) came highly recommended from a neighbor. During the initial meeting we went over the basic layout that we had in mind. Jesse was able to ask questions and make suggestions to refine and improve our vision. That's the great thing about finding knowledgeable and experienced subs... they can improve your ideas ...TEAMWORK! Based on this first meeting we received a quote on electrical work. The quote included labor & cabinet lighting but not new room fixtures. We agreed we would shop for those on our own. We decided we would keep the pendants above the island (for a while). The problem was the hideous gray tubes of fluorescent lights that  circle all four walls of the 80's "modern" kitchen. They lit the area well enough..but LOOK AT THEM! We thought one just goes to the lighting store, show them a picture of what you currently have, and ask what other choices 

will work! We received many, many quizzical looks with expensive and complicated answers. Apparently our current lighting was very .... "unique"...utilizing the same electric boxes would take creativity and an abundance of searching. You see... the current lighting is wall mounted, not ceiling. The "tubes" are mounted on narrow bands of wall..so size is an issue. We considered adding recessed lighting into the  vaulted ceiling...expensive and we just were not sure it would light our space adequately. We could not find wall fixtures that were suitable and to buy enough to light the circumference of the room would be mega expensive. Our current pendants hang on tracks... so we thought ...track lighting. Its not conventional to put track lighting on a wall and usually the designs are fairly contemporary, but, track lights allow you to point the lighting where needed and they would fit in the narrow space without tearing up the ceiling! We shopped local big box stores (ugly) and lighting showrooms (pricey). We literally combed the internet to see what was available. We finally found an appropriate style, but, it was shown as a ceiling mount. We called the manufacturer directly to ask questions. This is a great tip. The manufacturer can help you with technical issue and also direct you as to where to purchase their product. They directed us to a website (http://www.direct-lighting.com/) where we could purchase the style we liked and it was VERY reasonably priced. We consulted with the electrician via email about our choice. He was confident it would work... so we made the purchase. It was shipped from California and arrived unscathed in one weeks time. They even included the halogen light bulbs. We will let you know how this solution works out. This one is a bit scary, but, we put in the time and energy to ask questions and shop around. The track and light fixtures are a bronze color. This helped guide several future design decisions.... faucet, cabinet pulls and sink selections. Stay tuned....

Neat Solutions for Kitchen Remodel- #3

Now the cabinets have been chosen and layout completed. We actually came under budget on this so decided to add a few goodies... a bar with wine storage and new closet doors for the laundry area. Both of these are in the "sun room"...right outside the kitchen area.
I need to back track here for a minute about an important bit of info! The order in which the work needs to be carried out.....1) DEMOLITION OF THE OLD KITCHEN. 2) REWIRING AND RE PLUMBING. 3)FLOORING. 4)CABINETS. 5)COUNTER TOPS. 6)LIGHTING. 7)APPLIANCES. This could changes somewhat..but this is what was suggested to me. I will let you know later if that changes :).  Next choice... flooring.

Again, the choices are dizzying...wood, tile, laminate, stone. I am way too messy of a cook to choose a wood floor. Stone is pretty but is more expensive and requires some special care. Laminate...been there, done that. We decided on a tile that looks like a natural stone. This floor is neutral (remember resale), sturdy (we have boys and pets), and beautiful. We shopped all of the normal locations: Lowes, Home Depot, flooring retailers. We accidentally came across a tile showroom  (ITM Tile & Marble Importers) in the back of an office park in Mooresville. They generally supply direct to contractors but business being what it is these days, they put out a sign to try to get any warm bodies in. It worked! They had a great choice of porcelain, ceramic and stone tile and were able to give me names and numbers of local installers. We called Kevin at Ciccone Tile (a 3rd generation tiler from Boston-704-881-3438). He & his son, Keith, came over, measured, and gave us an estimate for

installing tile.  We were able to then go back to the tile showroom with exact measurements and get a quote on all materials (subflooring, grout, etc.). Because the old flooring needs to be removed, the flooring installer usually will do the removal....for a price.  We asked Kevin to give us an additional quote for removing the old floor as well as the entire demolition of the old kitchen. This included removing old cabinets and counters (carefully..so that they could be recycled in our garage) and moving out all appliances. The electrician is responsible for removing old lighting. The cabinets and appliances were easily removed on day one. Most of the old tile was removed on day two. Once the tile removal began, the dust accumulation started...all over my house. They put up plastic but we have crazy high ceilings so all of the dust could not be contained. The old tile literally needed to be cut and chiseled out. It was loud and messy. Day 3 & 4 were for finishing the tile removal and starting to laying the subfloor. We had some leveling issues so this

took a little longer than expected. Today was supposed to be for finishing the tile..but it's a snow day!  We called Brian the cabinet maker this morning and warned him that the floor would not be complete until Wednesday This photo shows the very beginning of the new tile. Still to share.....Granite, sink, faucet and the most painful selection......lighting.

Neat Solutions for kitchen Remodel- #2

Having come to the conclusion that we were going to attempt to take on the task of being our own contractor, we set about finalizing with our subs contractors and shopping for the many things necessary for a kitchen remodel. This installment will focus a bit on design choices and layout. Where to start....

 My background is textile and graphic design so I am comfortable making design and color choices on my own. For those of you not so confident, it can be overwhelming so try this....visit showrooms, look in magazines, books, online. Take notes of what you like...cabinet color and styles, floor types (wood, tile, laminate), color palettes (earthy, neon, cool, warm). You will start to see a pattern emerge in your preferences.

Don't forget to consider the style in the rest of your home...please don't try an ultramodern kitchen if the rest of your home is traditional colonial. In our case...we have a transitional/contemporary home. The previous  kitchen was contemporary...white laminate cabinets, gray counters, gray floors, crazy lighting. Over the years we tried to"warm" it up a bit with paint, accessories and artwork but it never quite got there. we decided to go with a transitional style. This is defined as classic with a contemporary twist. Warm colors, clean lines, natural materials. We wanted a "Tuscan-ish" color palette that is used throughout the dining, living and family areas...terra cotta, green, brown, gold. Unless you are planning NEVER move, one should always consider resale.

Neutral is the key to resale of a home, right? That helps narrow down the colors chosen for the more permanent items like floor, cabinets and counter tops. Add color with paint, accessories, art, towels, rugs, and dishes. Along with style you must also consider layout. Believe me, I am no expert in this area, but, whoever designed the layout of my original kitchen knew what they were doing. It always worked for me...everything had a place, the areas between the sink, oven, fridge and counters were convenient. Friends and family could help me cook or keep me company and not be in the way. We decided that except for a few minor changes we would keep a very similar layout. This would save some $$$ as we would not need to move plumbing or electrical. Where ever you purchase your cabinets (whether factory built or custom built-ins ) they should be able to help you layout the cabinets to suit your needs. In our case, we ended up with Browns Woodworking. They are a family owned wood shop. The cabinets are custom made to order....so we could choose style, color, layout. Brian Brown showed up at the house with a laptop computer and a few samples. The computer has a design program so we could visualize 4 drawers vs 5 drawers,  glass doors vs wood door, or 6 small cabinets vs 3 large. You would expect custom to be more expensive than factory built, but for the the same quality we were able to save about 25% off the cost of factory built AND get exactly what we wanted! Why? Because...NO MIDDLE MAN. No contractor, no retail overhead, no design staff to pay. If you choose this route just be sure to get references and see actual examples of the work. Coming up.... what's the difference between porcelain and ceramic tile and other stimulating questions.

Neat Solutions for kitchen Remodel- #1

Sorry for my long absence....but I'm back! I have been busy working on a kitchen remodel project. We started out shopping at kitchen stores and then quotes from contractors. What we experienced was STICKER SHOCK. So we got busy talking to friends and neighbors who recently did a similar remodel and learned a few things. They said if the remodel did not require a lot of wall-moving and engineering type work, that we should consider being our own contractor. They shared names of sub-contractors with us...electricians, cabinetmakers, tilers. I did some online research and asked builders many questions. Armed with too much information...we began to get some quotes from several subs...narrowed down the list....checked references....and came to only one conclusion.... we would save 25%-50% if we cut out a contractor and shopped wisely for products. So if you have the time, shopping savvy and organizational skills....this may be the way to go. We decided it would work for us...but will let know.

In future blog entries I will give you specifics as to where I found great deals on everything from sinks to lighting. I will also share tips and pitfalls that I encountered. So stay tuned for more Neat Solutions for kitchen remodeling.