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| Awkward view of the fridge from the living room |
My house really didn’t need that much work. Aside from some minor electrical concerns, landscaping, and drainage issues, my biggest concern was the kitchen. Apart from the oven and refrigerator, everything in there was original. My favorite feature is the archway above the two pantry closets. The cabinets were made locally in Baltimore (as the metal tag says) and featured a really nice cast iron drainboard sink. Unfortunately, the 18 x 36” base cabinet was awkward and was the only lower level surface in the kitchen. I debated on what to do but eventually decided to donate it and start fresh.
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The arch and pantry closets are my favorite kitchen features
(view from kitchen into living room) |
I started off trying to recreate the plan in AutoCAD using photos and the minimal measurements I took during the inspection. This helped me create a basis from which to brainstorm layout ideas. Originally, I’d planned to knock down a portion of the wall between the kitchen and dining room and add a peninsula with low bar stools. I had a general idea for the look and feel of the kitchen – original 1930’s touches with a touch of modern femininity. I also wanted it PINK! All my friends (and my contractor) looked at me crazy when I told them I wanted a pink kitchen, but I stuck to my guns. My original plan also had a lot more cabinetry and custom drawers and doors. Of course, the best original plans get busted up by the budget so I had to get creative and simplify.
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| My original grandiose plan that got thwarted by the budget :( |
Here is the updated renovation plan:
Remove the existing base cabinet and drainboard sink
Add base cabinets on both walls with new countertops
Keep the existing upper cabinets but add glass panels to the doors
Paint upper cabinets to match the lower IKEA base cabinets
Add a dishwasher and new more narrow refrigerator
Add wainscoting as backsplash
Paint- Sherwin Williams Bayview Coral (it's a blush pink)
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| Locally made original cabinets. How cool is this! |
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| These are the soft close hinges for the cabinet doors |
The best choice for me was IKEA. I sourced the cabinets, the sink, hardware, and organizational tools from there. This helped to save a lot of money while still maintaining the look I wanted. The original 12”x12” ceramic tile floors were in excellent condition and though they wouldn’t have been my top pick, they will remain in place. For countertops, I originally wanted quartz but due to budgetary restrictions, I ended up with Corian countertops in Raincloud. That dang budget always ruining my dreams!
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| DOMSJO Sink from IKEA. |
After taking better measurements and double checking my math, I was able to squeeze in more cabinets than I originally thought. My main goal in adding cabinets was to provide work surface and not necessarily storage, which isn’t a concern in this kitchen. There are two pantry closets, an existing tall cabinet and a run of upper cabinets with shelves. Combined with the added cabinets, there will be more than enough storage.
If you’re planning on using IKEA cabinets for your kitchen remodel, here are a few tips I have:
Read up on the IKEA cabinet product. A lot of people are skeptical when they hear the name IKEA. They think of some of their least expensive furniture items and assume the cabinets are made of the same materials. Not so! The IKEA SEKTION cabinets are excellent quality and offer endless possibilities for customization. The beauty of the system is that you buy the boxes, customize your own combination of doors, drawers and interior dividers and then choose your door and drawer fronts to match your style. Traditional custom cabinets like that could cost twice as much or more. One of my favorite features is the soft close hardware on the drawers and doors. No more slamming noises!
Do as much planning ahead of time as possible. IKEA has a wonderful online planning tool. It allows you to drag and drop your kitchen plan into a drawing that will generate a 3D view of your kitchen. You can customize the doors, drawer fronts, hardware, countertops, even down to the wall color and floor type. On top of all that, it will prepare a shopping list of all the items you placed in your 3D drawing with a total for all the parts and pieces required. Amazing! You should register your email address so you can save your design. On the day you go to purchase your cabinets, you can log in at the store and pull up your design right there. A lot of people skip this step and end up spending hours at the desk drawing out their ideas. Do it before you get there and save yourself the trouble.
Understand that your design may have to be tweaked. Even though I’m an interior designer and work in the construction, design, and space planning field, I still ended up needing help from the IKEA kitchen designer. He was able to rework my space to make it more cost effective by suggesting I swap out certain parts and pieces. As a designer, I can get pretty defensive about the things I’ve designed, but they know how the product works so my being open minded worked to my advantage.
Be prepared to spend A LOT of time at the store. From the time you sit down at the kitchen planning station, to the time you actually are able to get your cabinets could be several hours. Relax, be patient, and wear good shoes. It’s best to go in the early morning. Plan to have breakfast there and be at the kitchen department right when they open. It helps me that I live fairly close to IKEA so I went to the kitchen planners the night before to sort everything out. That took about an hour and a half. When I went shopping with my contractor the next day, all we had to do was pay for the order. Unlike other products at the store, you can’t just pick up your cabinets off the shelf. They are picked by the staff and then brought out to you. You can choose to have them delivered but since I shopped with my contractor and had a relatively small order, we put everything on his truck.
Check your purchases against your printed list. Everything comes in its own box labeled with the product name. If anything is missing, let them know right away. Again, this step is important for everyone, but especially if you live far away and can’t run back for more pieces. Since my house was empty, I laid out every box on the floor and made sure everything was there. All the hardware comes in labeled plastic bags but there should be a set for every door and every drawer you’ve purchased. I did have a minor snafu in that the kitchen planner included two end panels that were too short so I had to go exchange them. Other than that, everything else turned out well.
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The geniuses at IKEA sure know how to pack a cabinet into a box!
The little boxes on the left are the legs for the cabinets |
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| It's not as complicated as it looks! |
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| I'm pretty much an expert IKEA assembler |
In my next post I'll talk about the construction progress. Thanks for reading!
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