Home

[Lilysmom]

@Mominohio , I haven’t read all the posts but would make three comments.

I agree with @Carmie .  Don’t assume that Corian will be less than granite or quartz.  I have it in my kitchen and bathrooms.  Some choices are as expensive and more so than granite/quartz.  The countertop in my master bath, which I love, was way up there in price.  Very easy care.  If scratched or damaged, it can be buffed out.  I have a linens color with a black stripe along the front edges to match my black appliances.  Love it, no seams, under mount sink.

For work surfaces, especially around the stove and adjacent areas,  consider pot lights.  Far easier to deal with than fixtures that must be cleaned.  Give yourself a dimmer feature on lights, especially if you have an eat in kitchen.

Love the soft close drawers.

if you do a lazy Susan, do a full one and not the one with the pie shaped cutout that must be aligned to properly close the cabinet door.

Go to some model homes and show rooms to have a look at the latest.

Good luck!  LM

[BirkiLady]

Love my Corian! If you cannot afford a custom-made Corian sink, buy a porcelan sink. They are durable and last forever without the spots and rust marks of stainless sinks. Like you, I've never been a fan of stainless sinks since they don't hold the heat of the water long enough; nor are they as deep as a good cast iron or porcelan sink. I love a quality sink. Be sure to select a durable faucet, too. Sorry, don't know anything about the type of cabinets you have mentioned. Best wishes on your remodeling. Hope your foundation is repairable. 

ETA: I've replaced my roof twice. Plus a horrible hail storm damaged it again; insurance paid for the third roof. I've been in this house 31 years. 

[jackthebear]

---

@Mominohio wrote:

@jackthebear 

We are on it. IT will be the second roof since we bought the house. Ugh!

---

we just went through a roof thing,  ugh is the word . 

[SXMGirl]

@Mominohio  We redid our kitchen a few years before I retired, about 8 years ago.  I realize now what I would change.

First, cabinet color.  DH really like the cherry cabinets, as did I, and they are beautiful but difficult to keep clean.  They show everything, so I am constantly wiping down all of the cabinets.  There is a difference between being clean and being crazy.

I would now choose to have the cooktop in the island.  It is easier for cooking and cleanup.

I did add two things that I really like.  One is a tray cabinet and the other is a closet for brooms and other cleaning supplies.  Since I have a pantry, this frees up some space in there.  

Make sure that any grout is well sealed.

I have the easy pull-out cabinet drawers, which is very nice.  Make sure that yours are not warped. It doesn't take much for this to happen.  You might also need shelving for cookbooks or appliances.

Your cabinets need to be high enough from the counter for your appliances.  If you have a Kitchenaid mixer, you need a very stury cabinet unless you plan on leaving it on the counter.

I chose a very large stainless steel sink, not divided, which I really like.  Makes cleaning pots and pans very easy.  With that said, sometimes I need to run the disposal for a second to get all of the water to drain.

Make sure that you have good lighting.

Good luck with your reno.

[Tennesseegal]

@Mominohio 

Several years ago we completely redid our kitchen. We have an older home and even though it is solidly built it has uneven floors! We were cautioned that tile floors would crack so we went with a very pretty linoleum. It has a cobblestone appearance and many people have complimented it. We did get new cabinets (our biggest expense) and replaced the Windows.  We went with Formica countertops that have a marble appearance; there is a wide selection of patterns to choose from today and the quality of mine is good.  We took down the old paneling and put up sheet rock which we painted a buttery yellow. I still love my kitchen and enjoy its appearance. I tell myself that it is country French!  We live in the country and are outdoors a lot so I wanted low maintenance on the floors. I went with a stainless steel sink that was extra deep because I do canning in the summer. Not as much as you do though! I know you have wanted to redo your kitchen for a long time and I wish you luck. We did a lot ourselves to save money. 

Edited to add: We stayed with our traditional white appliances instead of getting stainless.

[faeriemoon]

I haven't read all the responses yet but my suggestion would be to go on Pintrest (even though you don't really want to) and find a look you really love.  Print the picture, take it to your kitchen design place and tell them you want to replicate the look as inexpensively as possible.  They should be able to come up with something good!

[Eileen in Virginia]

---

@jackthebear wrote:

---

@Mominohio wrote:

@jackthebear 

We are on it. IT will be the second roof since we bought the house. Ugh!

---

we just went through a roof thing,  ugh is the word . 

---

@Mominohio  We replaced our 30 year old roof after a terrible wind storm last Spring. We never had any leaks, but our neighbor told me our roof tiles were standing up straight during the storm. I hadn’t thought about submitting a claim to our insurance company because it was such an old roof, but the roofer recommended it. Not only did they cover it, but our policy had a clause called reimbursable depreciation, so they paid for all but $1000 on the new roof. Apparently, this clause was included in older policies. We chose “architectural” tiles for the new roof. We didn’t really care about the appearance, but it has a much better warranty for high wind damage than the standard tiles and cost about $1000 more. 

[PamelaSue72]

Because I cook, bake, and can pickles and other foods, when we gutted our kitchen, we went with a Blanco siligranite sink. It's a large, single sink, undermounted. I can fit large turkey roasters in my sink. Huge cookie sheets. A large canning kettle. Everything fits beautifully. Our sink color is Anthracite, which is black. We've had the sink now for about five years. I've never regretted the large sink. It seems to work well for me. 

My sister remodeled her kitchen and got another double sink. But then when she saw mine, she decided she wanted the Blanco, too. She's never regretted it either. It just works.

As for countertops, I do not like Corian. I'm used to working on my counters. I roll dough, I cut dough, I knead dough. I don't want to worry about cutting the countertop. When we talked to a kitchen guy and I told him what I did, he said, "You want granite." I've never regretted my granite countertops either. I can knead my sticky bun dough, roll it out, and slice the dough....all on my countertop. I've also found that I don't need nearly as much flour to knead dough on granite.

Don't believe anybody who tells you that granite is a pain because you need to seal it. Yes, you do, but do you wipe your countertops off? Well, that's pretty much what sealing is. You spray your countertop, then wipe it down. I don't see what's so difficult about it.

One of my GFs did her kitchen over and chose Corian. Whenever I go there for dinner, all I hear is, "Now don't cut on the Corian!" "Don't put a hot casserole on the Corian!" "Be careful with the Corian!" Drives me crazy. I'll take my granite, thank you very much.

Consider under-cab lights for task lighting. With pot lights, you always end up in your own shadow when you're working at the counter. With under-cab lighting, it's right there. No shadow. It's not that expensive. And it works. A lot of times, when I'm in the kitchen feeding the cats their breakfast, all I need is the under-cab lighting turned on. That's it. I do a lot of baking early in the morning, esp on weekends; all I need is the under-cab lighting to measure cups and teaspoons and such. Ours is connected to a dimmer switch, too, so it doesn't need to be on high all the time.

If your cabinets don't touch the ceiling, you might want to conside putting a receptacle above your cabinets. Why? I like to decorate above the cabinets, esp for Christmas. You can plug pretty lights in for decorating, if you want. Put the switch for your lights at cabinet wall level and you're good to go. 

That's my two cents, FWIW.

[scatcat]

Can I make a comment about granite?

We’ve had 4 different granite countertops over the past 19 years. I have never sealed any of them. Never had an issue.  

Our latest granite was installed in December and it came “sealed” and good for 10 (or did she say 15?) years. Either way, so easy. I never think granite = hard maintenance. It’s so durable 

[queendiva]

Agree with the above reasons for a single, large bowl siligranite undermount sink.

For the flooring you will get for two rooms: wood or wood look laminate. You could also consider the newer wood look porcelain tile "planks". 

Have you considered a large area rug for your DR? Perhaps that would provide a look more to your liking and tie the floor and furnishings together. Also, do you maybe have too many wood furniture items in the DR? Maybe that's adding to the visual that you are not loving. As you know, often times Less is More.

I think change and updating, on a small or large scale, is fun and exciting! I also like your plan for financing the project once you decide the time and dollars are right. As usual, the women who have replied to this post have " been there, done that" and have provided excellent feedback.

Wishing you Good Luck!