A Kitchen Odyssey: Follow Along, If You Dare
I was wondering if you might want to make a journey with me. It’s bound to take some time—maybe 6 to 9 months. Where are we going, you ask? I anticipate a trip through remodeling hell. That’s right, folks, I’m in need of a new kitchen and I hardly know where to begin. Given my relative lack of knowledge and the research I’ll need to do, I thought it might be helpful if I shared the thought, planning, and construction process with all of you. I fully expect it to be a bumpy ride, full of potholes, missteps and missed opportunities. But I think we can all learn from this process together and maybe you can even provide some wisdom that will help me as we proceed. (Other than to hire a competent but unaffordable architect or designer.)
I don’t undertake this project lightly. My kitchen is tied to my livelihood and having it torn up and unusable for any period of time will make my [other] job as a food columnist infinitely more difficult. (I might just need to rotate through all your kitchens to do my recipe testing.) So it is important to me to do all the research and make all the decisions and purchases prior to starting any demolition.
My husband and I have not yet settled on a budget, and that ought to be an interesting discussion. In any event, it is not likely to be enough to put the project into the capable of hands of a professional to design. (We will, of course, hire professional contractors to do the work.)
I don’t anticipate any drastic changes, such as pushing a wall out onto the porch, or removing the wall to the dining or living room, but it will be a complete demo—cabinets, most appliances, and the floor. The configuration will remain very close to the existing design, so I hope that will make things go more smoothly (ever the optimist). But who knows? Maybe I’ll be inspired along the way and do something radical. We’ll just have to wait and see…..
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Gai said:
Shortly we will go down the same route with remodeling a 1985 galley kitchen with tile countertops. I will look forward to your appliance selection. Yesterday I previewed some wall ovens and was shocked at the prices.
August 21, 2008 8:39 AM
Susan Brady said:
If we were going to stay in the house for longer than I anticipate, I would install those lovely Turbo Chef ovens. I spend so much time in the kitchen that they would be worth it to me. But I know what you mean about overall pricing. We’ve done some very preliminary searching (most recently when having to buy a new washer/dryer), and it is shocking. I’m sure it isn’t the only sticker shock I am in for.
August 21, 2008 12:24 PM
SFNewYorker said:
I did a small kitchen remodel and my advice is to talk to a kitchen designer. Your contractor will ask you to make a million decisions and you don’t really know what to say and won’t know if you made the right choices until you live in the kitchen for awhile. A good kitchen designer will resolve most of those questions in advance in collaboration with you. Your contractor will then be able to give you a more definite bid and there won’t be so many costly change orders. Our designer charged about $5000 for the kitchen and 2 bathrooms, but gave me a rebate because I bought the cabinets through her. I think the price was well worth it, because I probably would have paid much more than that in change orders. I used Kathy St.Clair at Ken Topping Home Improvements in the Sunset District and I was very pleased with her design and I love my kitchen. However, you may want talk to several designers before selecting one.
August 21, 2008 1:42 PM
Janis Mara said:
Oh, sounds exciting! I apologize for this seemingly obvious suggestion, but don’t forget to take “before” pictures. I had my house painted and it was quite the transformation; I was so chagrined that I neglected to photograph the house beforehand.
August 21, 2008 1:44 PM
Susan Brady said:
SFNewYorker: If I get too overwhelmed, I may resort to a kitchen designer. I’ll do the legwork first and see how it goes.
Janis: I did take some before pics. The first one is above. There will be more as the series goes along. Of course, I’m more excited about the “after” photos!
August 21, 2008 4:16 PM
Sal said:
You kitchen looks lovely! Seriously, you don’t need to change a thing. That kitchen could last another 10-20 years easily.
August 21, 2008 7:10 PM
David said:
Just replacing cabinets & counters will set you back at least $8000 for a pretty normal sized kitchen. Standard cabinets, nothing fancy/custom, etc.
New floor: $2000, minimum
Upgrading electrical? lighting? plumbing? Figure at least another $5000.
Minimum cost to redo–$15,000, not counting appliances (appliances probably another $5,000 for stainless, etc), so $20,000. Max price? Unlimited.
August 21, 2008 9:01 PM
susan.brady said:
Thanks, Sal. But wait until you see the close-ups or what the cabinets are really made of, or the cracks in the tile. Not to mention what lurks under the FLOR carpet tiles.
David, I’m thinking $15k is about right. No electrical costs really, as my son is an electrician so all is free on that front. We already purchased dishwasher a year ago and a fridge this year. So that helps on costs. It’s not a big kitchen, but it will get completely torn out.
August 22, 2008 7:59 AM
David said:
Yeah, then you can do it for about $15K with no fancy finishes, custom cabs etc.
We spent $8,000 on our standard cabs & countertop etc.
Oh, and some money to re-do the drywall.
August 22, 2008 8:02 AM
Janis Mara said:
Susan, that’s why I reminded you to take “before” pics – I couldn’t believe the photo was of your current kitchen, because why would you want to redo a kitchen that lovely? Can’t wait to see what you come up with next.
August 22, 2008 12:17 PM