Kitchen design advice request  

You need to determine the scope of your remodel, full all the way everything new? partial, just the areas that need improvements? or just a paint job over the existing?

You also need to determine your budget. Kitchen cabinets alone ranges from IKEA ( not too cheap anymore) to a very high end system like Bulthaup or PoggenPohl which cost more than a house or a new luxury car. The same goes for appliances and kitchen fixtures, you can decide whether you want a look alike or the real thing. Choosing cabinets pulls/ knobs and handles ( if not integrated into the door fronts) if you are not careful can easily go over budget.

Determine your skill level when it comes to DIY projects. TV projects get edited in the cutting room narrowed down to a 1 hour show without showing everything involved. If you know what to do in terms of leveling your cabinets when your floor and walls are not, you might be ok.

Are you relocating plumbing lines, electrical outlets and other light fixtures? These alone can cost as much as the cabinets or the appliances probably more if it is an older house which requires all new work to comply to current building codes.

I am not trying to scare you, it is more involved, expensive than most people imagine and stressful if you also happen to live in the same house you are remodeling.

I hope these helps.

I'm a fan of IKEA kitchen cabinets (I've put them in several places I've lived in) and their sale is coming up which makes the bottom line a little easier. That's if replacing cabinets is a given, of course. People have done some amazing transformations with just paint, though keep in mind that kind of thing usually looks better in photos than up close.

If you can get to an IKEA store, by all means go and check out their kitchen department. They have every cabinet and the mechanics and extra fittings on display, plus many model kitchens set up for inspiration. Last time I looked, there were still very few American companies offering frameless front cabinets with Blum drawer runners, which are the best in the industry and are standard on IKEA cabs.

They also offer free design services. I've never used them because one of my kids does that stuff. Their website has all their prices, so you can work that stuff out in the planning stages and come to a very good idea of what it'll cost you.

But first you need to figure out what you can afford, what absolutely needs to be replaced or redone, and what you want the finished room to look like, more or less. And yeah, what minimoma said---avoid moving plumbing and windows and electrical if at all possible. That means the stove and sink will probably have to stay where they are.

Thanks for your replies!

Well, my budget is flexible, though I don't want the house to cost me an arm and a leg. Hope to find cabinets and most other stuff in IKEA.

Not planned to change electrical outlets, but existing ones don't fit my future layout, so have to. I'll try to leave the rest connections, but I haven't started designing yet, so everything may change 🙂

I meant DIY design, not all the works. I'm quite realistic about my level, so will hire someone, of course.

I wanted to spend not more than

A simple design concept for your remodel is also good to have, not just for your kitchen but also for the entire house if possible.

Depends very much on what you plan to do. A kitchen renovation can be anything from fairly simply to very complex, and not always because you choose complicated auctions. Sometimes it turns out that the floor under the old sink cabninet is rotting from an old leak, or the wiring has been chewed by mice over the years--unpredictable stuff like that. And a lot of it depends on who you get to do the work and when they can schedule it. I'd say get going on it immediately if you want the best chance of making that deadline, and even then don't count on it.

My current kitchen took about 3 weeks total, I think--but I did all the demolition, prepped the slab floor and grouted the floor tile, and assembled all the cabinets. Cabinets, counter, new sink & faucet, garbage disposal, fridge, stove, slate tile floor, and cabinet installation, some drywall, and tile setting labor added up to $15K, I think. The kitchen is here: https://www.designaddict.com/forum/General-discussion/MCMmodern-kitchens (scroll down to post #27)

I did it while living in the place and it wasn't too bad---but it was just me and I'd already been cooking with just a microwave for the year before due to non-functional stove not worth replacing short term.

Back when I was much younger, my then-husband and I gutted a the kitchen in our 1910 house down to the studs and subfloor; he rewired it all, re-plumbed, hung drywall, installed pre-assembled cabinets, put appliances in, built an island, and laid a vinyl floor. I painted and did some other stuff but I think mostly kept our three young kids--including a baby on all fours--- out of the way. Christmas fell in the middle of this project (presents under the tree had a festive dusting of drywall dust) and everyone caught a nasty stomach bug one by one, too! He had one helper but the guy kind of had a bit of a drinking problem, so. It took 11 days. I would not recommend going that route. (Husband was just an avid DIYer, not a professional contractor of any sort at all. Ever.)

I wanted to have the kitchen done and see how my design worked before designing the rest... Have already started doing something, but don't like what I'm getting...yet.. hope to figure out in a few days 🙂

Liked your white tile and shelves with nice stuff, they make the kitchen look so cozy!

I know how it feels to live in a house which is being renovated, had such experience when I was a child, truly awful, so now I'm happy I won't be living there till everything's finished!

I would suggest considering first what your intentions for the kitchen are: Show kitchen? Functional kitchen? Etc? Also you should consider whether you wan materials that will stay looking the same as new, or whether you want ones that wear in.

A truly functional kitchen can put extreme demands on the materials (heat, acids, impacts, etc) and so certain materials will not be appropriate. For instance, many counter top materials scorch easily. Also many appliances and other materials show every mark imaginable, even fingerprints.

So if you wanted a show kitchen that barely gets used, you could install black quartz, stainless appliances, and a shiny backsplash, and a hard to clean floor. It will look great (if you like that kind of thing), but you will have to have an attendant on hand to clean it after you walk through it. And you also don't need to even think about ergonomics or workflow. You just arrange it like a showroom floor, and done.

If you want a functional kitchen you will have to make different choices. Mon the extreme end of functional, you would have a commercial kitchen with scratched and dented stainless steel everywhere, etc. probably not what you are looking for, but it makes a worthwhile comparison.

You probably want something in the middle. I guess my point is that we have not invented materials that are perfect in every way for kitchens, so you need to consider which offer you the benefits you most want, and have drawbacks you least mind.

I have done....3? Kitchen remodels. Almost entirely myself.

On 2 of them I have used Ikea cabinets and have no complaints. On one the finish started to crack but they replaced them.

Use their planning professionals. They KNOW the tricks of the things they sell. Their online tools are also pretty cool.

Things that are non-negotiable

- Need a strong oven fan (vented to the outdoors).

- Get a deep sink

- Your floor should be utilitarian even if it doesn't look like it. Even the kitchen of a neat person is a freaking mess. I put down real tile in one house and cork in another. No complaints. I prefer the cork as 1) it can be replace fairly easily and 2) it has no seams so gunk doesn't get lodged

ALMOST non-negotiable

- Counter tops should be something that you don't mind working on. Solid surfaces with minimal seams. I have installed white marble (LOVE IT) and soapstone (LOVE IT). I don't mind cutting, etc. on those surfaces. Real marble can be found pretty darn cheap. It's not as durable but I kind of like that. I like people knowing that it is a working kitchen, darn it.

- Yes, their should be some kind of seating in the kitchen. It's the way we eat nowendays.

- Many work surfaces is a big +

Misc.

- call me a heretic, but I am not a task lighting fascist. Decent, central ceiling lights worked for our folks and still work fine. Kitchens that have task lighting in every nook kind of spook me.

- Buy a good set of knives and keep them sharp

- Cooking on gas is great, but electric ovens are wonderful. They make reasonable models that have both (I think ours is an LG and it has 2 ovens! Very handy)

At the end of the day you should have an environment that is welcoming, personal and efficient.

Good advice, Waffle. But I don't think a blanket recommendation for central lighting can be made without knowing the room. It's fine in some kitchens, but in others it just means that you (or your deep, low cupboards) will always be casting a shadow on your work.

The only blanket recommendation I could make would be not to design the kitchen separate from the rest of the house. The design elements need to carry across throughout the whole house in some way or another. If there is a continuity throughout, then accent elements stand out. If everything is different from everything else, then everything is an accent, and consequently nothing is an accent; you have a junk shop, which is a place you suffer in order to discover dirty gems in the piles of trash.

I take it you're not the real Andrew Flintoff, but you don't have any links to anything selling anything so maybe you're a real person.

I have a galley kitchen that you walk through before getting into the living area. Brilliant for the weekly shop, but not for entertaining.

@kyle-barrett Save your energy Kyle, they don't care for what you have to say. Even our dear friend Andrew is a machine, although sometimes a rather funny one. I only wonder how it is that the bots have a thing for kitchens.

Out of he blue, not exactly on cue, it's suddenly "Chuck"! Apparently an expert, too.

Let’s take a moment to bitch about incongruously black dishwashing machines