When I knew we were going to go ahead with this remodeling project, I was most excited about getting new kitchen cabinets so I started researching products and pricing immediately. I quickly discovered that there is are huge price differences between stores and brands. Name brands that you think might be better quality because of their reputation really might not be. Or they might manufacture one or more lines of lesser quality. We started looking at Home Depot and were quoted a price of just under $20.000. I choked up when I heard that and began doing some more research.
There are many companies online that will design and manufacture your kitchen cabinets from your own measurements. Then they will send you the cabinets already assembled or they may offer to send the cabinets unassembled. The best on line company I worked with was Kitchen Resource Direct. I was very close to actually placing an order with this company, which is located in Tampa, FL. They offer a huge line of solid wood cabinets with dove-tail drawers and quality construction. Their kitchen designer was awesome to work with. Then I talked to a friend who had just placed an order locally with Appliance Center. They carried a line of cabinets that I fell in love with- Choice Renaissance. These solid maple cabinets are made in Cleveland, Ohio and they are reasonably priced yet quality cabinets. The manufacturers keep the costs down by limiting the options you can order. What they excel at is quality. The drawers are all soft-close- no extra charge, and are made with dove tail construction. The price came in at just over a quarter of what Home Depot quoted me.
I placed the order and was told it would take four to six weeks. The rep gave me some door samples to take home which I used to match paint and other products. Now we were ready to get some quotes for labor, which would include carpentry, electrical and plumbing.
A blog detailing our experience with a major remodeling project involving our bathroom and kitchen.
Monday, June 10, 2013
Wednesday, June 5, 2013
First Things First: What Can We Do with the Space We Have?
Before you can determine what you want to do with your remodeling project you need to get your existing space down on paper. You can do this using a program like Photoshop or you can buy some grid paper and lay it out that way. The easiest method is to make one square equal a square foot. This will allow you to visualize your space and when it's time to get bids on having the work done you can show the contractor. If you're doing the work yourself, it's just as important to have a plan!
Scott created this drawing of our existing kitchen space using a CAD layout. He's an engineer. You don't need to be an engineer to measure and draw a straight line. :)
Scott created this drawing of our existing kitchen space using a CAD layout. He's an engineer. You don't need to be an engineer to measure and draw a straight line. :)
Tuesday, June 4, 2013
Love It or List It?
My husband watches the Love It or List It show pretty often. I'm really glad he does or he might not have decided it was time to remodel our home. We have a three bedroom ranch style home that was built in 1964 with probably around 1500 square feet originally. When we purchased the home 11 years ago it also had a 20" x 24" great room that had been added 8 years before. The great room was THE reason we bought the house, in addition to the full basement.
Eleven years later we decided to add a closet in the basement and my husband began removing the paneling. To our horror he found a long horizontal crack in the foundation! He removed the paneling on another wall, and while that one was not nearly as bad, it appeared we would be doing some major excavation to repair the foundation.
Why not get everything done at once and use all that equity we had built up over the years? That's how we made the decision that it was time to RENOVATE. We didn't plan to move and we were very happy with the location of our property. We have a park-like setting with almost two acres on the edge of town. Our yard is private and backs up to a creek (drainage ditch- but it's pretty), and Scott has planted over 50 trees since we've lived here. Across the street is a field and the city zone ends in the middle of the road, so no one is likely to ever build unless it is rezoned. That's not likely, as farmland is a precious commodity here in Northwest Ohio.
Eleven years later we decided to add a closet in the basement and my husband began removing the paneling. To our horror he found a long horizontal crack in the foundation! He removed the paneling on another wall, and while that one was not nearly as bad, it appeared we would be doing some major excavation to repair the foundation.
Why not get everything done at once and use all that equity we had built up over the years? That's how we made the decision that it was time to RENOVATE. We didn't plan to move and we were very happy with the location of our property. We have a park-like setting with almost two acres on the edge of town. Our yard is private and backs up to a creek (drainage ditch- but it's pretty), and Scott has planted over 50 trees since we've lived here. Across the street is a field and the city zone ends in the middle of the road, so no one is likely to ever build unless it is rezoned. That's not likely, as farmland is a precious commodity here in Northwest Ohio.
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