Kathleen
Cupcake
Over 30 years ago, I bought this house. It had the most ugly laminate in the kitchen but had the most gorgeous stove from the 1940s. It also had original metal cabinets. My thought at that time was to get the stove refurbished and add more metal cabinets, and tile the floor with some tile with a 1940s look. For years, I looked for someone to refurbish the stove. By years, I mean decades. I found people that were out of state that would take on the job. By the time I had someone remove the stove, pack it up, ship it, refurbish it, return it, unpack it, and return it to the kitchen, I was not far off from a significant cost of a total remodel.
Regardless, I still lingered wishing for a miracle for the stove. Since I've been here, we have worked with it. It had a burner that was completely frozen so we could not use it, but hey, three worked! Then the oven was red-tagged by the fire department. A repairman who advertised that he worked on antiques walked into the kitchen, glanced at it and said, "Nope." We fixed with with a machine screw and a little prayer. It was not level nor were we able to level it. Then two other burners started to have troubles. It was time. If refurbishing the stove was off the table, we decided that we would strip it down to the itty-bitty bare walls and floor.
We called multiple contractors. Now, I have never done a remodel like this. I could not find anyone to give me a price. Like give me a range! I honestly felt like people wanted me to give them a blank check. One was able to give me a cost of 53K. That is not a typo. It did not include walls, floors, hardware on cabinets or appliances. It also did not include the cost of plumbing.....or electric.
Another wanted to "start" at 23K. This included a 4K cabinet budget. Yet one more wanted me to tear out walls between the dining room and kitchen. The fact I did not want an eat in kitchen did not seem to matter. It was going to happen whether I wanted it or not. And he was intending to charge 34K with no appliances and "bottom line of our quality cabinets" to start. Laminate would have been floors. No electric or plumbing.
I went to Lowes when I first started to explore possibilities. Now, typically, I go to Lowes and such, and get people who can read boxes. Giving advice was not really there if it is not on the box. Luck was with us though. We had a kitchen consultant that was a retired contractor, and he gave us lots of good advice (including when we may wish to look elsewhere.) I was planning to install is pot filler, but he quickly noted that my sink was only a few inches from my stove now. He told me to go home and see if my kitchen sink nozzle reached. (It did. Easily. Who knew?)
He guided us through a ton of cabinets offered by Lowes. I originally selected one that was pretty spendy, but he shared that the finish was not as durable as the finishes on another cabinet made by the same manufacturer. Also, the other cabinet was a bit less expensive and has a solid wood frame. Additionally, he advised when certain things went on-sale. In the end, we selected some really nice cabinets that were 30% on-sale and the paint was free as part of the sale. Appliances went on-sale as part of the big Labor Day sale, and there was additional money off if we purchased a package. If I purchased a warranty on the refrigerator, he shared that it was cheaper if I bought a warranty on two appliances. (Only 5 dollars less, but the dishwasher is now under warranty too.)
The downside in going through Lowes was that we had to do a lot of our own legwork and are our own project managers. (Remember, we have never done anything like this before.) But with our kitchen consultant, he would point us in directions and work with our choices.
I told the kitchen consultant that I needed a contractor. He said that he would ensure that a really quality guy installed our cabinets. And then he added, it is who I would want if I were having cabinets installed....and he does other things too. I had the recommended guy come in and he does everything. While I am technically paying Lowes to install my cabinets, I hired the contractor with a real contract to complete other things like plumbing, electric, floor, etc. etc. etc.
In planning the kitchen, I fell in love with quartz countertops. Our consultant advised when there was a sale, and the sink came with the sale of the countertop AND the company does the installation at a pretty low price.
We wanted a "touchless sink." There were several we were considering, and found one on Costco for pennies on the pound. It was made by Kohler.
So...the best part, by being our own project managers, we had much more left in our budget to purchase appliances. The refrigerator is my splurge item. It makes artesian ice, including perfectly spherical ice cubes. When the floor tile did not arrive as expected, we made tons of calls, etc. In the end, the tile was delivered on Sunday and we had to pick up one of the boxes of tile to be ready for Monday. Frustrating, but...Artesian ICE!
Here are some photos of the kitchen prior to making any changes.
Regardless, I still lingered wishing for a miracle for the stove. Since I've been here, we have worked with it. It had a burner that was completely frozen so we could not use it, but hey, three worked! Then the oven was red-tagged by the fire department. A repairman who advertised that he worked on antiques walked into the kitchen, glanced at it and said, "Nope." We fixed with with a machine screw and a little prayer. It was not level nor were we able to level it. Then two other burners started to have troubles. It was time. If refurbishing the stove was off the table, we decided that we would strip it down to the itty-bitty bare walls and floor.
We called multiple contractors. Now, I have never done a remodel like this. I could not find anyone to give me a price. Like give me a range! I honestly felt like people wanted me to give them a blank check. One was able to give me a cost of 53K. That is not a typo. It did not include walls, floors, hardware on cabinets or appliances. It also did not include the cost of plumbing.....or electric.
Another wanted to "start" at 23K. This included a 4K cabinet budget. Yet one more wanted me to tear out walls between the dining room and kitchen. The fact I did not want an eat in kitchen did not seem to matter. It was going to happen whether I wanted it or not. And he was intending to charge 34K with no appliances and "bottom line of our quality cabinets" to start. Laminate would have been floors. No electric or plumbing.
I went to Lowes when I first started to explore possibilities. Now, typically, I go to Lowes and such, and get people who can read boxes. Giving advice was not really there if it is not on the box. Luck was with us though. We had a kitchen consultant that was a retired contractor, and he gave us lots of good advice (including when we may wish to look elsewhere.) I was planning to install is pot filler, but he quickly noted that my sink was only a few inches from my stove now. He told me to go home and see if my kitchen sink nozzle reached. (It did. Easily. Who knew?)
He guided us through a ton of cabinets offered by Lowes. I originally selected one that was pretty spendy, but he shared that the finish was not as durable as the finishes on another cabinet made by the same manufacturer. Also, the other cabinet was a bit less expensive and has a solid wood frame. Additionally, he advised when certain things went on-sale. In the end, we selected some really nice cabinets that were 30% on-sale and the paint was free as part of the sale. Appliances went on-sale as part of the big Labor Day sale, and there was additional money off if we purchased a package. If I purchased a warranty on the refrigerator, he shared that it was cheaper if I bought a warranty on two appliances. (Only 5 dollars less, but the dishwasher is now under warranty too.)
The downside in going through Lowes was that we had to do a lot of our own legwork and are our own project managers. (Remember, we have never done anything like this before.) But with our kitchen consultant, he would point us in directions and work with our choices.
I told the kitchen consultant that I needed a contractor. He said that he would ensure that a really quality guy installed our cabinets. And then he added, it is who I would want if I were having cabinets installed....and he does other things too. I had the recommended guy come in and he does everything. While I am technically paying Lowes to install my cabinets, I hired the contractor with a real contract to complete other things like plumbing, electric, floor, etc. etc. etc.
In planning the kitchen, I fell in love with quartz countertops. Our consultant advised when there was a sale, and the sink came with the sale of the countertop AND the company does the installation at a pretty low price.
We wanted a "touchless sink." There were several we were considering, and found one on Costco for pennies on the pound. It was made by Kohler.
So...the best part, by being our own project managers, we had much more left in our budget to purchase appliances. The refrigerator is my splurge item. It makes artesian ice, including perfectly spherical ice cubes. When the floor tile did not arrive as expected, we made tons of calls, etc. In the end, the tile was delivered on Sunday and we had to pick up one of the boxes of tile to be ready for Monday. Frustrating, but...Artesian ICE!
Here are some photos of the kitchen prior to making any changes.
I don't get artesian ice without the refrigerator. I'm especially unhappy because the countertops are scheduled to be measured next Monday. I was planning for the countertops to be installed the first week of December, then painting and done. 
