Show me your remodeled kitchens--what would you do differently?

[RyeRanch]

If there is an Ikea near you every few years they sell of their display kitchens for CHEAP! We purchased a display kitchen from Ikea for $1400 including the fridge, sink, faucets, lighting, dishwasher and hood vent ( stainless steel, kitchen aid). We had to purchase an additional corner cabinet and extra length of butcher block counter top to fit it to our space. We found a great stove on Craigslist for $150 to complete the job. All in we were at about $2100. For cabinets and appliances. You certainly may have to wait them out, and it is some work to remove the cabinets and haul them yourself, but then again, you don't have to assemble them. All in all the Ikea cabinets are pretty decent quality and have worn well. We put in ceramic tile floors from a close out that we got on the cheap. It was not exactly what I would have purchased had I started from scratch, but there were also a lot of extra lighting doo-dads drawer organizers and other extras I would not have purchased either. All in all it was a win.

 

[debilorrah]

Rare,.. did you see how they do the paper bag flooring? It can save you big bucks! Google it... you can do it on counter tops too...

I just looked at that - WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That is so cool!!!!

 

[redhen]

I know.. i like it. Thinking of doing my bathroom in it..

 

[Rare Feathers Farm]

Thanks everyone!

 

[jreynolds]

That paper bag flooring looks amazing! I wonder if you could do something similar on walls? Do the "leather look" and use wallpaper glue you think?

 

[Rare Feathers Farm]

That paper bag flooring looks amazing! I wonder if you could do something similar on walls? Do the "leather look" and use wallpaper glue you think?

Probably? I think it looks really neat!

 

[Rare Feathers Farm]

If there is an Ikea near you every few years they sell of their display kitchens for CHEAP! We purchased a display kitchen from Ikea for $1400 including the fridge, sink, faucets, lighting, dishwasher and hood vent ( stainless steel, kitchen aid). We had to purchase an additional corner cabinet and extra length of butcher block counter top to fit it to our space. We found a great stove on Craigslist for $150 to complete the job. All in we were at about $2100. For cabinets and appliances. You certainly may have to wait them out, and it is some work to remove the cabinets and haul them yourself, but then again, you don't have to assemble them. All in all the Ikea cabinets are pretty decent quality and have worn well. We put in ceramic tile floors from a close out that we got on the cheap. It was not exactly what I would have purchased had I started from scratch, but there were also a lot of extra lighting doo-dads drawer organizers and other extras I would not have purchased either. All in all it was a win.

The nearest IKEA is a 10 + hour round trip....plus I don't really like IKEA's look....I'm more into rustic than contemporary or modern style...

 

[justbugged]

We have now bought new kitchen cabinets. We bought Kraftmaid cabinets from Home Depot. They were running a sale that included an upgrade on the finish, a free sink base, trim, and some sliders for in the cabinets. There were also additional discounts for buying more than 9 cabinets. We got over 10,000 dollars worth of cabinets for roughly 7300.00. They are a Shaker style cabinet door, in a dark red color that they call Cabernet. The cabinets are now sitting in the middle of my living room.

I bought the cabinet hardware from Amazon. I got 2 different sizes and the 6" cost 1.90 each, and the 10" cost 3.07 ea. They are as good if not better quality than the same type at Home Depot. At HD the same kind are more like 10.00 to 23.00 ea for the cabinet hardware.

The floor has to be replaced because of a water leak. This is the third or fourth time the floor has been replaced because of water. They now sell plastic flooring that has a lifetime residential warranty. So the flooring is a grey color, and it looks like plank wood. The floor is supposed to be completely waterproof. The cost was about the same as laminate flooring.

I was able to buy a stainless steel over the range microwave oven. It will replace the one that has cracks in the door. I was able to find a 1700.00 refrigerator for 900.00 on craigslist. It is counter depth, and is stainless steel. It had never been used. It was about a 1/2 inch to wide for the space the other owner had, so it's now mine. It works very well for us.

I bought a stainless steel single basin farmhouse style sink. I got it on E-Bay for a 150.00 with 50.00 more for shipping. It normally retails for nearly 500.00. But after the cabinets arrived, it's clear that there was no way it was going to fit in the cabinet. DH made me sell it on craigslist. I was able to get 300.00 for it, so at least I made a profit on it.

I now have buy another sink. I think I am going to go with a drop in composite sink. I am going to find the deepest sink that they make. I bought a Delta faucet that has a pull out sprayer attached to it. It is a very tall faucet with a single handle. We will install the sink as an undermount. I bought this from Amazon also, It is one that had been returned, so I got a fairly good discount, and there is nothing wrong with it.

The counter tops are going to be zink sheet metal. I have bought two 10 foot sheets of zink. We are planning on having the local heating and air guy, bend the sheets. The counter tops will be seamless. The sheets are wide enough to be able to create at least a 4 inch back splash. The counter tops will cost less than 500.00 to create. Zinc is a very good surface for a kitchen. It doesn't allow bacteria to live as long as it can on laminate counter tops, or it does on stone counters. Zinc also develops a unique patina for each different location. If I decide later that I don't like the patina, I can have the counters buffed out and sealed.

At this point it looks like it will be mid September before DH and his dad will have time to install the cabinets. As soon they get it done, I will post before and after pictures.

 

[Rare Feathers Farm]

Excellent! Sounds interesting! I wish I could do the SS countertops but they're too "industrial" for my tastes. I'm more of a natural stone person...although I guess granite releases radon? And we're not putting granite in the double-wide! LOL Don't want to drop that kind of money....so we'll probably go with a fake granite stuff....

Looks like my cabinet guy has bailed on me...was at least hoping for a custom island....but looks like we're back to square one and will be waiting another year.