I did our kitchen about 3 years ago myself and it turned out pretty good for as small as it is. Had to move just about everything around except for the fridge: I ordered the Kraftmaid and find no problems with them but then what can happen?

Before:

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c3...1/100_7018.jpg

After:

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c3...1/6bcf10e7.jpg

Hi Steve!

Do you know anyone in Charleston who works at NOAA? Guy I grew up with in high school named Steve Morton lives there now and works for the weather group.

I like your kitchen! I did something similar last year, but instead of real wood I went with Thermofoil. Thermofoil is a heat-shrink plastic that goes around wood, and it results in a surface that while not having the sheen of real wood, it is TONS more resistant to scrapes, bangs, and marks. I don't beat my kitchen cabinets, but I enjoy knowing they are far more resistant to marks! You have to have good eyes to tell the difference too.

The thermofoil cabinets came with an upside down "V" accent that I liked, so we put these in. I wanted black Indian granite for the countertops- she wanted it for the backsplash as well, we went around and around about this one, in the end I let her do it; I was right- the kichen is now too dark. Oh well- I'll take pictures in a few minutes, the one's I have all were during construction.

N

I've installed Omega cabinets. Here's a link to their websight. They're a high quality product .

Cabinets for kitchen & bathroom, cabinetry for your home. Omega Cabinetry

Shadetree, agree with Milt-one of the nicest kitchens I've ever seen. Your wife definitely has an eye for interior design.

Scuba Steve, very impressive for something you piece together. Looks very professional. How do you like the glass top stove? Is there a reason why you went with the glass top?

Craig, very impressive. You're very talented. I'm sure I can do the same---in my dreams.

Are there pros and cons with a gas range vs. a glass top electric?

Thanks all.

I have ****ty painted over white 70s rental home cabinets. But they are clean and functional as proven by food being prepared 3 times a day from scratch. It doesn't taste any worse than off a granite counter top. I would weigh a high $ remodel carefully. Kitchens and bathrooms are some of the higher returns when selling, but you are still out some good Porsche money that you can't recover ...

;)

G

You are a wise man. About 10 -15 years back, out of my cabinet shop we did many kitchens and baths projects. it was about 70 % of our income. We came across this really wonderful client. Both husband and wife were very involve with the kitchen design and the build. Very nice to our crew and to each other. One day, near the very end of the project, I was going over drawer pulls with them at their home. The eruption began over a silver or gold nobs. I found out later from the husband they had been at each others throat for about 6 months. This was from the design stage when I first met them. They ended up divorce over the project I later found out because I had trouble collecting near the end. Not because they did not want to pay, they kept at each others throat over paint color and finish flooring and such so a decision was never made on a timely manner.

That is a nice kitchen. Tell your wife that your Pelican friends approved and that she's done a great job.

Jeff

George,

I'll make you a great deal. We just re-done a very nice home in Glendora for an old client of mine. They moved from the West side when they retired 2 years ago. Hell, I will even show you how to do it yourself over a cup of coffee.

Kitchens and baths are the first thing buyers look at. The last thing they want is to have a dirty bath with water spot all over the place, and old kitchen doors that bind with a dirty sink. The rest of the house can be cover with carpet and a coat of paint.


Jeff

Good deal Jeff. I'd certainly do it myself! ;) I just find it funny when people remodel kitchens for $40k to warm up TV dinners. Sorry for taking the thread off topic. Being on the off topic forum doesn't excuse that.

G

Change the 4 to a 6 to only boil water. I love those guys.

Please post that thread. I'm interested to see.

Just moved to Charleston, and I've seen NOAA trucks around but don't really know anyone outside of work yet. This place is in San Antonio. Movers are doing their thing and we're out of here later today.

I'd have loved to have found a way to reuse the old cabinets, but they were in bad shape. They were made from chipboard and were starting to crumble apart into little bits. Besides, the old microwave (18 yrs old...) was one of the small square kind and the cabinet with the wall oven would never accommodate something newer if this one died.

Anyway Habitat was happy to have the entire old kitchen.

No gas lines in the immediate area. The house is built on a slab and there is living space above the kitchen. It'd have been fun plumbing that in, and we knew we were moving anyway when I designed and rebuilt the kitchen, and for gas the ROI wasn't there.

We really, REALLY like having a completely flat cooktop. The old one had four plastic knobs - knobs with lots of melted spots from hot pots and pans touching them.

seems to be a lot of kitchen interest - I have a MS powerpoint thing I prepared for my sister & also for a friend

somebody explain how to to turn the ppt into something I can post (easily) and I'll do it..

We have custom dark maple cabinets, love em... not wild about the handles but they don't catch clothing so all is good. Granite is a must have for me, same as a gas burners (stove or cooktop depending on your layout)....

Cheers

Honestly, i have just never grasped why people spend so much money on bathrooms. Kitchens I understand. That probably where most people spend their time at hme. But a bathroom is just that . You go in there to take a crap and clean up. I don't know, maybe its just me. I recently did a bathroom for a customer, the soap dishes alone cost more than most of the fixtures Ive installed in other homes. I was terrified working with some of the stuff in fear of damaging it and having to eat the cost of replacement.
But yeah Ive seen disgustingly extravagant kitchens built for people that cant even boil an egg. Most of the time it is just a status thing

Its a boy thing. During the design stage, most men I come across couldn't care less about a fancy shower as long as there's a pipe with dripping water to wash the soap off. They are fine with that. It ends up with steam, muti jet showers and etc. I have to say, there is a difference in the quality of high end plumbing fixtures. You can easily get over 10k in a tub and fixtures.

I am not sure if its a status thing. You just don't want to put in a home depot kitchen with just simple Delta faucet in a million dollar house. It hurts Resale value and buyer do notice.

The new trend I don't understand is outdoor kitchens. Don't get wrong, I think they are nice and they look great. We like to do more of them. We put in a few in the past couple of years, but what the hell's wrong with a BBQ and a couple of tables. One of those custom end jobs can set you back 15-20k and up with fancy land scaping.

When i was redoing the bathroom in my last house my "temporary shower" was a 2 ft piece of garden hose with a spray nozzle zip-tied open and a few sheets of tyvek stapled to the wall over the shower pan. Worked fine for me! the wife, not so much!:D

I totally understand the resale value of a good quality high end kitchen, its just that alot people build them for looks and not actual use.
My kitchen in my house i just remodeled( well, still in the process...) I went with Ikea cabinets. Im pretty happy with them, Yeah they aren not top quality but good enough for my own use. I beefed them up a little bit. Im just glad they finally switched over to standard american sizes instead of the old euro sizes they used to carry.

The outdoor kitchen thing is HUGE around here.

the second to the last one was in the 60+k range. seating, pond, fireplace, stone work, etc. The owners had no kids. THey were both doctors and are never home. If I slipped in there one Saturday and cook a meal for my family, they wouldn't have known it. THe architect was so proud and laugh all theway to the bank.


I will see if I can get a couple of pics of kitchens. I don't take much pics of my work, but I really should.

I did that wrong. How do you guys answer or quote each paragraph?

Yeah , I rarely do either which is a big mistake. Alot of customers have asked for example of past work, and have lost the job because of it.

Work is real slow. If this was my primary means of income, I'd be in trouble now.