Frugal kitchen remodel?

[Valerie in WA]

LOL! Yeah right! No, really!! Can it be done?

I need your best tips for getting this done at minimum expense! Our house was built in 1946 and still has the original kitchen. It's AWFUL!!! We are just starting to plan a complete remodel, which includes completely redesigning the whole thing. I'm going to take the hot water heater OUT of the kitchen and put the refrigerator back IN. (The 'fridge is currently in the dining area & the hot water heater will find a home in the laundry room.)

The best frugal tip that I already have going is that dh is a general contractor and has literally installed about 50 kitchens. We won't be paying for any labor.

One burning question I have is this: Should I choose cabinet faces that please me or ones that will resale well? We plan to stay here for another 10-15yrs. It would seem to me that the new owner may want to upgrade at that time, and I should just choose what pleases me. OTOH, what if we leave sooner & others don't like my colors (light cherry wood, sage & cream paint)? Should I go neutral to keep it re-saleable?

Should I skip the roll-out shelves in the lower cabinets & just stick with basics or these features really worth the extra money?

Last question (and possibly the hardest): Dh wants to limit changes based on level of difficulty, but I want to make changes that improve the functionality. For example, I want to move the sink over 2-3ft, but he doesn't want the extra work. So the question is NOT 'who's right?' but rather, what are the pros/cons of each of our viewpoints.

TIA for your thoughts and tips!!

[Darlene]

Question #1 Do what pleases you. Your going to be there for a while so enjoy.
#2 I'd do the roll out's on a couple cabinets that you know you'll use alot. I have them in one cabinet that I keep snack stuff & cereal in. Easy to see & grab what you want.
#3 Moving plumbing isn't much fun but if lets say the sink isn't by a window I'd want to move that baby there. Maybe you could bribe him.
Good luck & hope the dust settles quick.

[SewCrafty]

I completely agree with Darlene!

Also on the pullout drawers, my mom has one for her pots and pans cupboard and it is fab! She also has 2 lazy susan cupboards above and below the countertop to utilize the corner space that is usually just dead space.

[Darlene]

Thanks for the reminder Dee, I have a lazy susan in my upper cupboard next to the stove. It's chock full of spices and makes it so nice to find what I am looking for.Wouldn't ever want to be without it. Love it more than the pull out drawers.

 

[Englishlady]

There are a number of ways to change a Kitchen and they need not cost a lot.

In the past I have painted my cabinets and changed the Handles this can make a HUGE difference to the look of the Kitchen.

You can paint tiles and change the work tops.

If you keep the basic cabinets you can even change the whole door fronts

As for resale value, I look upon my house as my home and will change the decor if needed as and when I put it on the market to sell.

In the meantime, if you plan on living anywhere longer than 3 years I think you should decorate to your own taste.

When preparing a house for re-sale, you need to decorate in pale neutral non offensive colours

de- clutter, de-personalize ( remove as many family photo's as possible), clean! clean! & clean again!
You are selling a "lifestyle" not just a house, so you only want to show things that the average joe in the street would "aspire to"


In the meantime, decorate your house to suit you and your needs and don't forget to look into the "work triangle" aspect of the Kitchen ( the food prep area, cooker and sink should be situated in a sort of triangle) so that you don't spend too much time shlepping backwards and forwards accross the kitchen too much

The paler less "dramatic" colours are easier to live with, look cleaner and you will be MORE likely to tire of a BOLD colour sooner than a paler neutral one

HTH?
Karen

[canadian gardener]

your cabinet choices sound pretty good for resale too, so if you go with that, and choose to sell earlier than expected I think you ought to be able to sell it easily.

Plus there is always paint if there is an entirely new colour trend going on in kitchens at the time.

Please yourself.

(only time I wouldn't say please yourself is if the colour choice is really unusual, and you plan on selling at some point)

your second and third questions both really cover function.

I'd go with the pull out drawers myself. It was one of the features I have in my kitchen that I really loved about this house, and yes other buyers will see it and like it. I have only 2 in my pantry, and wish I had more.

third, function first. Kitchens are used several times a day, all year long. The only room that gets more wear and tear and use is the bathroom.

So if it were me, I'd be moving things around to make it work better. That may not have any direct bearing on resale later, but it will have a lot to do with being able to be in the kitchen, cooking up frugal savings vs feeling too tired and ordering out.

If the kitchen works better, your life works better, all aspects of it, from frugality to child care to cleaning to caring for dh's concerns too.

One moment of fuss for him, vs many moments of irritation for you.

Ask yourself if he would put up with a work space at a clients where he was constantly banging himself, bruising himself and couldn't use his saws or power tools properly.

How long would he as a contractor put up with that????

You are in that kitchen daily, and it's part of your work to keep the family going just like his job. He isn't the one who has to live with the decision not to do it right. You are.

Do it right the first time.

[patches]

We are hoping to build a house this coming year and the main jist of what I want is space, organization, easy to clean.

I'm doing my counter tops in copper, brick tiles and flooring, Butcher block in middle, pot rack above it, lid rack below it. Right now we have a range top with storage beneath and a wall oven unit which I thought was great when we first moved in because I could see things as they baked. I hate it now.

If the power goes out, you can't bake because the thermostat is electric and the oven won't ignite. Bummer!

The range top isn't big enough to use the canner and boil water at the same time because the burners are too close together.

The sink is in the corner with a small window beside it. I like light in my kitchen and will have plenty of window space and window sills for plants.

I like stainless steel because it is easy to keep clean, so I will probably have stainless steel stove, fridge, etc. I also like less clutter, I want all of my appliances to have hidey holes to live in unless I am using them. Breakfast bars are a waste of space in my opinion, but I hope to install a dropdown table that can be used if extra table space is needed. The extra chairs will fold and tuck away beneath.

I also like enough kitchen outlets to plug in everything that I might want to use at once. Coffee pot, chopper, blender, microwave, ect. Right now, if I am doing two things at once, something has to be unplugged because there isn't enough room around the outlets. One is stuck behind the dish drain of all places.

Personally, I would decorate according to my tastes even though we might possibly sell the place within a year or two of building. I will build for somebody that likes to live in, cook in and use the living space rather than somebody that is just there for 4 hrs a day.

My home may not appeal to everybody, but it will appeal to somebody that likes a warm looking, cozy kitchen that doesn't want to clean all day and really cooks a lot.

[Valerie in WA]

You guys make some great points! Thank you! I think I'll just have dh read this thread (rather than me 'bossing' him).

I have one comment & one question:

The comment is that a 'facelift' with paint and handles just won't work. I've lived with this poorly designed kitchen for six years. I'm done! It's not me being picky about appearance; it's the whole set-up. I could try to describe it, but trust me: the layout is terrible!

The question is: Do those of you with Lazy Susans find that they work well? Dh is concerned that stuff will fall off the back...and then the whole thing won't turn...and you have tug on it...etc.

Thanks again!!

[Valerie in WA]

I just re-read this thread and I want to say:

Margery, your post was very empowering. Thank you.

Now I feel like jumping up on the {non-existent} counter-top, flexing my muscles and saying "I AM WOMAN; HEAR ME ROAR! Just kidding; that's not my style.

Seriously, though, I hadn't really thought about how much time I spend in there and the value of that time & effort to our family and finances.

[PrairieRose]

I have 2 large lazy susans in my kitchen, lower cabinets on each side of the sink. I LOVE those things. I have to admit that when I get sloppy and try to scrunch too much stuff on them then yes, something will slide off the back. I'm down there on my belly, fishing for it so it doesn't knock everything else off as I whirl it. It's not impossible to get something out of there, just not that much fun. I try, TRY not to knock things over behind it b/c of the pain it causes.

I echo the other girls in saying decorate to please yourself. The new owners, when the time comes, can paint or do whatever they want and chances are they'll do something anyway. My house is my home...my refuge, my haven. It has to be ME. No matter what's resaleable. It's where we LIVE. Sounds like loads of fun, that you're gonna have. Great that your dh is a contractor and can do the work. That will save at least 1/2 and he can get you some great deals on your materials as well. I'm looking forward to new counter tops and backsplash and doing a bit of sanding and re-polyurethane-ing my cabinet doors, adding new knobs and pulls and hinges. I'll get a new oven and stove top, but that's all that I'm gonna do to mine. Sounds like you're onto the right train of thought in making it easier to work in. That's so important.

[canadian gardener]

I totally understand about the paint, no paint. Paint is great if the kitchen works to begin with, but if it doesn't then it's like someone forced to do a job without the proper equipment. How long is that situation going to last, till every last ounce of good will is used UP!!!!

Get a susan with a guard rail!

belt those babies in and give 'em the ride of their life.

seriously I've had them, and they are great. One thing IKEA has, and I'd get is the heavy steel chrome plated "mesh" ones. I had solid melamine ones, shelves on roller skates so to speak with a tiny lip.

With the IKEA ones, the guard rail is higher AND

dirt falls out of the wires, you don't have to clean the shelves, just once a year or so spin the opening around and wipe the bottom, vacuum once in a while.

Check out IKEA online, and get them to send you their kitchen catalog for ideas.

Lazy susans, with or without the wire mesh shelves, are a wonderful invention and no deep corner cupboard should be without them.

The alternative is what I have now, and it takes a LOT more work to dig stuff out, and I'm super organized, and I still have trouble.

gimme a susan ANY day over the alternative!!!!

[canadian gardener]

Oh and something else I do, I have a couple of lengths of wood. I stack them up for "bleachers" like at the hockey game, for my spice jars. Makes it easy to keep the spices organized and works much better than the cheapy wire types or the slidy plastic ones, both of which I had and threw out in favour of the bits of wood.

I've bought rubbermaid lazy susans for the upper shelves too, and that helps with upper deep corner cabinets, but in this kitchen the upper stuff is too shallow.

Last Sunday Sears had a sale on baskets, and to make some of my lower shelves into drawer shelves I bought these woven weird wickery plastic or something on metal framing low type tray style baskets, (lined with ugly cloth, which I will sew something better later)

and the trays go in on the shelves.

The metal means it will hold the shape, and I can yard the baskets in and out by the handles as needed to get fairly light stuff like my plastics.