Kitchen Renovations

**mommy4ever** · 03-31-2007, 10:33 AM

I absolutely HATE my kitchen. Superficially the cabinets look ok, but some of the doors have cracked apart, and willa gain once the kids close them too hard once again. We're a family of 6, and due to how the layout is, it's very crowded. I want to do some changes. But I've done a kitchen reno, top to bottom, including flooring and it is pricey.

I've seen lately, that some are doing away with top cabinets altogether, and going with open shelves. It looks so much more efficient, but dust may be a concern, but since I use just about everything in the top cabinets on one side every other day it shouldn't be a concern.. But I could eliminate lots expense that way. On the other side, I'm considering not having any period. I'd like to build a HUGE pantry instead. Since that side is entirely baking stuff, lunch makings and teas. Not effiencient usage.

So I was thinking, there's a wall there, by the back door, we never use the back door as it is too crowded for more than one person. If we were to removed the cabinets there, tear down the wall, and put the dishwasher right beside the sink(more efficient less pipe, hot water stays hotter). Only need a 3ft couintertop(the current one is damage and the arbrite is peeling, so issues for cleansiness). IT would open the back door area and make it more useable, The other side is the challenge. It would be no top cabinets, but shelves. I want to move the fridge and remove the small cabinet between the stove and fridge and do a large pantry. But I am not sure where to put the fridge..lol. Obviously we need to keep it. Guess I need to pull out the graph paper and play with it.

We could keep the other lower cabinets, dh is handy with a saw and router and could make new doors with mdf, we hav eother cabinets in the house we built that are awesome. It would be 1 sheet of mdf for $28 and some door hardware. Shelves for wher ei want them is $120. The pantry would be 3 or 4 sheets fo mdf(about $120) plus hardware. So it wouldn't be big financially, just time..lol.

Am I insane? I'm jsut tired of everything looking so rough in here.

Oh at the back, I'd remove the lousy broom closet, and open the coat area and make it a small mudroom(open). We have friends that did this, and it is amazingly effecient, and gives more room overall.

Ok enough rambling..lol.

**FrugalMomof3** · 03-31-2007, 11:34 AM

I totally know how you feel, we are in the middle of remodeling our kitchen too, I hated the black/white checkered flooring, metal cabinets and wanted a pantry so bad, so we're working on it slowing since cost is a major factor.

I say take it one step at a time, do little by little and the money wouldnt even be that bad, unless you decide to buy everything at once, if we do that we usually go to Home Depot where they have that no payments or interest for 12 months when using your HD credit card, saves us alot and then when income tax comes in we pay the balance off. Good luck and let us know when work begins!

**mommy4ever** · 03-31-2007, 12:31 PM

The issue will be convincing dh to do it..haha.

**FrugalMomof3** · 03-31-2007, 02:11 PM

Ohhhhhhhh well good luck, it was easy with my DH he agreed that we needed to update ours

Let us know how things go!

**mommy4ever** · 03-31-2007, 06:27 PM

I'll get my way

I'm feeling impatient to do things. But I want to clear some other stuff so we have available CASH to do it. Once the other bills are GONE, then it frees up LOTS, it would be jsut a few months of saving to get it done.

Truthfully, I want to go all out, remove a few walls, and have it open to the current"computer" room, which is actually the diningroom. Open that up and I could layout the kitchen as I want, with the large pantry and the open shelves.

Dh will NOT be happy about the extent of the renos but he knows I have a good eye for it. I'm just plain sick of the kitchen currently..lol

**FrugalMomof3** · 03-31-2007, 06:52 PM

Wow you sound like me, lol.... I made hubby knock out the wall between the dining room and kitchen, since our kitchen was soooo small and felt so closed in making it seem so much smaller, now we added a center island (getting solid wood bar stools already painted the same color from craigslist for $25 on Tuesday), I totally love how the kitchen is coming out.

DH always says I have the decorators touch, my mother said I should go into interior decorating but no money for that and doing my house is more than enough for me right now,

How about showing us some pics of how your kitchen is now, might give me a better understand of what you want to do and inquiring minds wanna know,

**favesis37** · 04-01-2007, 08:48 AM

i took down our old cabinet fronts at out other house, had a friend make new frames adn used chicken wire on the fronts, it gave them a awesome open look. However, the dirt,grease and gunk was terrible. and very hard to clean, right now i love my kitchen, but need all new door handles, we need like 32 knobs, and those critters are expensive. good luck

**TheRootedNomad** · 04-05-2007, 09:07 AM

Originally Posted by favesis37

i took down our old cabinet fronts at out other house, had a friend make new frames adn used chicken wire on the fronts, it gave them a awesome open look. However, the dirt,grease and gunk was terrible. and very hard to clean, right now i love my kitchen, but need all new door handles, we need like 32 knobs, and those critters are expensive. good luck

I would take some of the cabinet doors off for a few weeks as an experiment to get a feel for open cabinets/shelves, and to see how much grease/gunk builds up and how fast. I think open shelves look awesome but know with hubby's affair with bacon (even though I hardley ever fry anything else) I've always known I wouldn't want to clean the open shelves as much as they would need it. Just what ends up on the fan blades makes me crazy. Anyway it doesn't cost anything to try it while your still running things through your head.

**jinx** · 04-05-2007, 09:40 AM

Sounds like you have a plan. As for the doorless cabinets I would try it before commiting to it. You are lucky to have a hubby that is handy and able to do some or all of the work himself. Be careful, doing one thing almost always leads to doing more and more and more. I know.
We did almost and entire redo in our house about 2 years ago. It started with wanting a new kitchen floor. It mushroomed to renovating the entire kitchen. Not only a new terra cotta floor, but new cabinets, appliances, tile backsplash and granite countertops.
Bathroom, only wanted to replace vanity- total renovation down to the studs. completely tiled including ceiling, removed tub and put in tile shower stall, one of those cool glass bowl vessel sink on a marble vanity.
Took out window in living room, installed sliding doors,
redid family room by removing wall to make it bigger. Recycled old cabinets and created more storage space in basement.
added shelves in storage area in basement so now I have a pantry.
add full bath off family room.
The best thing was taking up rugs and finding perfect hardwood floors.
it took just about 1 year to do everything. Tough to live through and very expensive but well worth it.