We are redoing our kitchen. Our home is valued over $400K. Our kitchen is an 80's nightmare with a stove top with only 2 working filaments, an oven that needs pliars to get started and a microwave on two bricks that is in the hole where a built-in used to be because the original caught on fire t The kitchen is 20 years old and the appliances are a hodgepodge of KitchAid and Kenmore. Our current appliances are almond or black. Our cabinets are currently very good wood and stained light oak. Our floors are oak the shade of the cabinets. The sink is in a 7x3 foot island along with a dishwasher and trash compactor. The microwave and oven are built in and the stove top is on a counter that isn't the island.

I don't have the flexibility to knock down walls, but my budget is pretty open ended. I don't want to redo my plumbing either, so the sink and refrigerator aren't moving.



My questions are as follows

We don't want to pay for new cabinets, but would entertain getting them refinished - Any advice or suggestions there? I am going to buy new pulls. Would you prefer a kitchen with brushed knickle, iron ior bronze pulls and hinges?

I could put in a 36 inch dual range where the stove top is and then use the area with the built in for just a microwave and more counter space - if you were house shopping, would you consider built in oven/microawave with separate stove top more or less appealing than a nice range (viking/wolf)? Would you rather the microwave at adult eye height or at a kid friendly height?

We are looking at granite countertop because that is what we are told is "in" - anyone with advice about other countertops?

We are having rubbed and disressed black island made. It wil be 7x4. It will have a sink, dishwasher, trash compactor on one side and drawers and a wine frige and a corner for two bar stools on the other. Would you prefer drawers or open cablints with baskets? What kind of sink would you want? (1,2 or 3 compartment sink. what made of? what other than the faucet would you like?

I will take some pictures of the kitchen an post them later

First off, have fun!

For cabinets, I hate light oak but that's me. It's very dated. If you want to salvage them, you can strip them, sand them and restain them. I would choose a darker color than light oak. Perhaps a nice alder color (med. tone). I prefer oil rubbed bronze. It's the newest "in" thing and a step above brushed stainless. Our house is in the $400K range and that's what we have.

Stove: personally, I would LOVE a Viking stove or professional grade one. Problem is, you would have to have the profesional vent/hood for it. I don't know if you have room. If you do, I would opt for that and then a kid friendly height microwave (that is the "in" thing around here and ours is over the stove so my kids won't be able to use it for many years ).

Slab granite for counters. I hate marble but that's me. We have tile granite and I would love to tear it out and put in slab but the tile was here when we bought. I don't like grout..it's hard to keep clean. I also like concrete countertops. They are very modern though so your kitchen would have to be more modern. It wouldn't work in french country for example (at least I would think so....)

On the island: I prefer drawers that have pullouts for pots and pans and it makes dishes accessable to the kids. At least a 2 compartment sink and I like the black granite undermount ones...you can't scratch them! Farmhouse sinks are lovely too...depending on the style of your kitchen. Usually, undermount is great. Stainless is popular but I don't like it. It scratches.

Good luck and have lots of fun!

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Proud to say I haven't shopped at a Wal-Mart since Sept 2003

Thanks! That is exactly the advice I am looking for. I edited my original because I meant granite, but wrote marble by mistake. I am hoping those with experience house hunting modern homes or actually updating can offer me some help. We don't have to get the appliances for at least another week. The cabinet guy will then cut the cabinets around what we decide on. New cabinets were around $40K

Here are some pictures. The wall paper is coming off this weekend if my son can get to it. The island is being replaced by a rubbed, distressed black piece that will look like furniture. We had hoped the drop down ceiling portion could get knocked out, but for whatever reason, the builder decided that was the best place to put a 12 inch steel beam (silly man) We are going to either restain or paint in an antique type cream finish the cupboards. The cupboard over the stove top and microwave is being raised to the ceiling. The cabinets at the refrigerator are going to be totally redone and the desk will be gone. If we do restain, we will go with a darker stain. The pulls will be iron or bronze (which we did with all the other hardware we have replaced). The big light box is coming down. We have an electrician coming next week to lay out a plan for new ceiling lighting and cabinet lighting. The tile will be replaced by stone to match whatever counter we decide on.

Currently, the stove top has a down draft vent system. I don't know if we can put a hood that goes outside in, but my guess is no. I was looking at vents that pop up from the counter, but I don't know if that is an option with a dual fuel range. I know it is okay with a gas cooktop.

When we bought this house it was total junk, they started with a huge custom house and put the cheapest of everything in it (linoleum, partical board counters, cheap appliances,etc.) so my biggest piece of advice is to keep with the style and price of your house.

We still have the white cabinets that came with it because they are still functional and we didn't have enough money to totally gut the kitchen, but I HATE white cabinets, they show every speck of dirt. NEVER put white cabinets in!

When you get your granite go to someone who lets you pick your specific slab, not somewhere like Home Depot or Lowes. We went to a granite place in our hometown and their price was almost as good as HD, but we went to the warehouse to pick our specific counter and changed our mind when we saw the big pieces. We went looking for one paritcular kind and ended up picking a brownish black instead. Now I think I would pick more of a black, I just like that granite better.

We have regular stainless appliances that I love, but nothing extra fancy, just regular.

Our BEST feature is our sink, it's the black composite. We ordered it from the counter people and they said it was the biggest sink they have ever seen (even though it fits in a regular sink opening, so I don't know maybe they meant deep). We measured our biggest pan and made sure it would fit flat sitting in the sink and I like the second basin for thawing and just running a small sink of hot soapy water. I happened to have a picture of it because we discovered a crack and we had to get it replaced.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...y/000_0021.jpg


Another place to get ideas is to go to new upscale developements with open houses and check out what they have? I love to be nosey and it gives you a great idea of what the in thing is right now. Just tell them you are working with a realtor already and they'll leave you alone.

Have fun!

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"A true friend is someone who thinks that you are a good egg even though he knows that you are slightly cracked." ~ Bernard Meltzer

You have a great kitchen - nice size and layout. But your cabinets kinda get lost in the flooring (which is beautiful) because they are the same color. I agree that a contrasting, darker color would set them off - especially because it looks like you have some great natural lighting going into the kitchen. If you refinish the cabinets yourself, which is really a LOT of work (you have a lot of cabinets), sanding, staining and sealing - then you can save a lot of money. (You could, of course, paint them, but I personally hate to see such nice wood covered with paint)

I really like the brushed nickle hardware and stainless appliances, which is the trend now. But then again I grew up with a mixture of gold & avocado appliances!

The counter top does not have to be granite, they have some really nice solid-surface such as Corian that mimic the color and texture of granite and marble, but is more cost effective.

I also really love the sink that flipper has. If you are redoing the countertop, I would definitely go for the under-mount sink - you will be much happier.

I would get the ovens that fit in your existing space.

The other areas "Dating" the kitchen, the wall-paper, which you mentioned, and the ceiling light fixture. Maybe you could replace the box with a couple nice pot-lights, or even track lights.

Anyway, that's my 2¢ worth. Good Luck, Have Fun, Add several weeks to your timeline, and allow for 10-20% extra to the projected cost. Do as much as you can yourself.

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Mary

Having done our kitchen over last year, in what I have dubbed "the dreaded remodel", because being without a kitchen while it's in progress STINKS. But here are a few things I did that may or may not help.

Our Lowe's rep, was soo helpful. If your cabinets are in good shape, refinish. We needed all new and he suggested things that we went with, that I had never thought of but love now. All I wanted was a lazy suzy cabinet underneath the corner that was just wasted space in the old kitchen. We got pull out shelves for the pot's and pans, Love it. Plus a top/bottom pantry next to the fridge, and love the fact that our garbage can is built in and out of site.

We went with Stainless appliances and they look sharp. I'd prefer an over the stove microwave and a nice stove..like the Viking your suggested over a built in oven and separate cooktop. I'd rather have the extra counter space.

Our old sink was a double sink and I hated it, this time went with a resin type material sink, but chose a deep single sink in an almond color. We were looking at Corian counters as we couldn't afford granite, but ended up going with an acrylic counter believe it or not. The color selection was superior to the ones offered by Corian. Here is the site for the counter top....LG HI-MACS® Acrylic Solid Surface : Durable, Versatile and Lasting Beauty Countertops We chose Basil color from the Volcanics collection and it compliments the Cherry cabinets well. The sink is also built in so it slopes and no edges to gather gunk....

I'd prefer brushed nickle or pewter type pulls and hinges, but that again is personal preference.

It was fun picking things out, but a horror to live through, because as we all know..nothing ever goes smooth and there's always something to come up to hold things up. It was fun eating out or ordering in for about a week, but then it got old quick.

GOOD LUCK

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Eileen

**Some people are like Slinky's, not really good for anything, but you can't help laugh when you see one tumble down the stairs**

I have the dreaded light oak cabinets, too. WHen do you think those suckers will come back in style? I don't have the country kitchen though!! LOL Sounds like you guys have some lovely kitchens.

cj/

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I was walking home one night and a guy hammering on a roof called me a paranoid little weirdo. In morse code. -Emo Phillips

I think the light oak is lovely and I wouldn't do something just because it is "in". Go with your own taste. Also I have a smooth top electric range and I will never have anything else. It is a snap to clean. Just don't boil over sugary stuff on it. That made pits in the surface. That doesn't hurt the cooking any though. And that doesn't bother me. It just reminds me to be careful next time. Of course I grew up making do with what you have and using it up, instead of throwing away. Granite has to be sealed every so often I understand or it is messed up. Where I work we have Corian and it has taken lots of abuse and still looks nice.

The kitchen already looks lovely to me... I live in a much lesser home!

Are you looking to sell the home? Do you think that renovations will up the value of the home? Make the home sell more quickly? Would you re-gain your investment when the home sells?

If you are only re-doing it because you are selling, I'd think about just reduce the sales price by a little bit -- IF the buyers ask! To me, it wouldn't be worth it (headaches, time, money....) and many buyers' taste is just so different... I also can't fathom the waste of building materials that goes into a remodel where the new owner comes in and rips it all out.

Not trying to cause trouble if this project is for sure going to happen and maybe you have no intention of selling the home!!!... just putting some thoughts out there because we are in a similar situation but are looking to sell in the next few years. We have opted not to do the remodel.


As a simple dressing-up that would be inexpensive, I'd consider some throw rugs to define the space a bit more and maybe remove wallpaper and re-paint -- is the rest of the home 'country style'? Maybe replace the appliances if you want to go a tad bit farther but leave it at that... we don't replace appliances until they are at the nonworking stage (or almost there, like your appliances!). That's me.

I have to agree with Cuthie. If you said you were going to knock down walls or change the footprint, that would be a different story. It looks great to me by the way. Also, I would not want to lose counter space with a counter microwave. If you are going to sell, that was a great suggestion to go to the new home open houses and see what is in. If this kitchen is for you, then replace the appliances. IMHO.

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Lyn Clarke

After seeing the pictures, WOW! That is an awesome kitchen, so many cabinets! I do agree that it is a nice looking kitchen and maybe just some appliance upgrades and a new counter, instead of gutting the whole thing might be a good way to go? Redoing the cabinets takes you to a whole new level of disaster and even though they do blend with the floor, they still have a good, clean look. The counters will be done and in in a day, so no real mess there.

I do however disagree with not getting granite if you can afford it. A granite kitchen is a great selling point and if there are 2 houses a person is comparing and they have granite and you don't, that's a point for them in most buyers eyes. But if YOU love a color that corian has and you can't get it in granite then by all means that is a great choice for durability and look.

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"A true friend is someone who thinks that you are a good egg even though he knows that you are slightly cracked." ~ Bernard Meltzer

omg i love your kitchen, we are in the planning stage of buliding a new house and looking at your kitchen gives me some great and wonderful ideas for a very classic and beautiful kitchen. LIke poster above leave the cabinets and floor and just change the countertop and do't forget the backsplash.

Just out of curiosity- when people talk about the granite countertops....what kind of money are we talking here? I know if depends on the size of your kitchen but just a ball game-$1000....$3000...I don't have a clue. I still have the old 1950's kitchen which LOL seems great to me. My last house was built in 1910's.

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Lyn Clarke

Our counterspace is about 24 feet long when you measure around the whole kitchen and one part is extra wide and we paid $6000 without the sink and faucet for our granite. The laminate counter would have been about $3000 or $4000 since it would have had to been custom made because of the wide part, so for the extra $2000 we went all out.

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"A true friend is someone who thinks that you are a good egg even though he knows that you are slightly cracked." ~ Bernard Meltzer

We have similar light oak cabinets, so I would love to hear how this remodel goes. I like the look of your kitchen without the country wallpaper and think that granite would be a good move.

Rebecca

Wow - Thanks for all the tips and suggestions. This is an idea of what the island we are having made will look like (ignore the lighting ... )


We are looking at the GE Profile line for the built-in microwave and oven (if we go that route), dishwasher, compactor, wine frige. GE Profile: profile, refrigerators, freezers, electric cooking, gas cooking The stove top will be gas and probably Viking with a telescoping vent because that is what we use the most and I want something super well made and durable. Viking : Products : Rear Downdrafts Viking : Products : 36" Gas Cooktop - VGSU

We are going back and forth about the appliances - black or stainless, hummmm I hate fingerprints and my tolerance for things that need to be constantly cleaned isn't very high.

Another option is to darken the floor. We have all wood on the first floor and are having them refinished next summer. It would be easy to darken them up. Our family room is off the kitchen and is wall to wall oak paneling, too. Lots of light stain in this house. We don't want to mess with the oak paneling, so we figured darkening the floors would bring the house up to date.

We sold our house in June and we got lots of negative comments on our oak cabinets, brass pulls & white appliances. Our house was only 8 years old, but everything in it was already out. We had replaced several of our brass light fixtures. We also got several negative comments on our walllpaper. We loved it, but apparantly wall paper is now out. We have none in our new house - just darker paint colors. I don't know how far you want to go, but the iron spindles are in houses now. We had the white ones in our old house.

Our new house has medium colored cabinets with an even stain (not the wood grain like oak) and we used all oiled bronze and dark fixtures and pulls (except upstairs we used stainless pulls with the stainless faucets - but still the oiled bronze light fixtures). We also have granite countertops and stainless steel appliances. It turned out really pretty. Oh, another thing we did that adds some character is our handrails we did darker than the floor and cabinets.

Another idea is to go through model homes. They are done with the latest trends and that would give you a ton of ideas.

Good luck!
Lisa

__________________
"It's not having what you want,
It's wanting what you've got"

Funny you mention the iron spindles. I was telling my husband we needed to replace our wooden ones with the pretty new iron ones and he looked at me like I had grown a second head ; )

I am now leaning towards brown with black granite, stainless steel appliances, stripping and staining making the cabinets darker but not too dark, bronze hardware, sticking with the built in oven and mircrowave but flipping them so the microwave is below the oven, gas stove top with pop-up vent, whew .............

Any more suggestions?

Excellent point.

My home is only in the $250,000 range so the caliber of folks that we will be selling to will not have these expectations, will they???

Our selling horizon is 6 months to 20 years Realistically, I would guess we will be out of it in the next 5 years. The house is bigger than we need, but it is beautiful and fun to entertain in. We both work 30 minutes from home and moving closer to our jobs wouldn't be a bad idea, but the thought of moving is exhausting. So, we are rehabing the house after living in it very hard due to an assortment of boys and animals and also bringing it into the 21st century. The house was country blue and mauve and I haven't liked it since moving in, but it wasn't horrible and between kids, school and working, changing things wasn't a priority. Now, I have the time, energy and funds to make it something that reflects us.

It turns out my youngest has a talent for removing wall paper and he has taken it all down except what is in the kitchen. We have redone all the first floor except the kithen and all the upstairs except for a new shower/tub in the master bath. We totally redid two upstairs bathrooms ourselves - put tile down and new fixtures and shower doors and hardware. We will recoup way more than we put into those.

The goal of the kitchen is to replace 20 year old appliances and to modernize it. If we decide to sell, I want it to sell quickly and easily. At our price range, people aren't looking with the idea of improving things. Our area is mostly corporate moves of upper executives with stay at home wives and 2.3 kids. Those that do want a fixer-upper are looking for hugely discounted properties. We should get much of the investment back and we decided to do it now so we could enjoy it for awhile.

I want the house for sale that the buyers remember and want to buy .... that means spending an extra $1K on a cook top so the woman remembers Viking, and an extra $1K on a perfect, custom island. Around here, anything with formica countertop would be considered substandard. The investment in granite or a like top will definately pay for itself.

I am so excited for you! I STILL think your kitchen is BEAUTIFUL the way it is!!!

Thanks for replying.

Our old house sold for $325K. It's not the caliber of house, it's the expectations in this market...it all depends, though. It just depends on which buyer likes your house!

Lisa

__________________
"It's not having what you want,
It's wanting what you've got"

The photos are deceiving. The frig juts out of the wall way too much, but we needed a huge frig when we were feeding three growing boys and didn't have time to food shop every few days. The counters are dinged and dented. The wood around the countertops are disqusting. The stovetop has grime I can't get out and only two of the four burners work. The micrwave is a cheap one on bricks where a built in (long ago broken) used to be. It doesn't hardly have any of the white paint inside it because of cleaning. The oven knob broke and we need pliars to start it. The drawers are pitted and dinged and grimey and icky. The brass on most of the pulls is worn off.

The design itself is great and we love the back stairway. That is the one we use most of the time. The cabinets are well made and quality wood. I like the sink in the island, but with the raised bar thing, it isn't a very good workplace. It is an eat-in kitchen, so having the bar is a bit overkill IMHO. We will probably make a spot in the new island for stools, so one can sit and chat with the person cooking or doing the dishes.

We have lived in our house 15 years and have put very little into it. We knew we would quickly destroy whatever new things we got because of the kids and animals, so we just let it all go until they all moved out. We got a new roof and painted it last summer. That was paid for mostly by our insurance because we had a (lucky) hail storm. It is 5 bedrooms, 6 baths with a finished, full walk out basement with its own kitchen/bar area and full bathroom.

Putting an investment into the kitchen will not only improve its value, it will improve our life for the remainder of our time here. So, while I am doing this for "us" I am also doing this for what other people like. I am really not too picky and my taste isn't the best, so I am enjoying hearing what other people like.

Our washer broke last week. We decided we needed to get an updated set so we got an LG front loader. I decided it was time to paint the laundry room with one of our Ralph Lauen colors. I haven't yet replaced the hardware. In this room, one door goes to the garage and one to a back deck and the backyard. There is a half bath at the end of the room.

BEFORE



AFTER

Kitchens .com - Kitchen Design, Remodeling Ideas, Cabinets, Countertops, Photos Here's a website that might help out.

I agree with the Viking, but also consider if the rest of the house is up to date, such as bathrooms. If not, you might have to remodel some other areas as well.

Thanks! This will keep me busy for hours

You just described my kitchen to a T! And we've been in our house 8 years also. I agree - that look is out. Its amazing how quickly styles change.

Am I the only person out there who does not like stainless appliances? Don't you think they are going to be as desireable as, say, avacado colored ones from back in the dayonce the designers decide they are out of style? We are looking at new appliances for our kitchen, and I think we are going to go with black.

Here are some photos from my kitchen in my house. We took them before we moved in

From Living Room into Kitchen




View from fridge area to living room



We did put in a new dishwasher since the pic was taken. The one here was a whirlpool and it was LOUD and washed like crap. We replaced it with a stainless steel Bosch (and LOVE IT). It also have an electric cooktop that we took out (the builder bought it back from us since it was never used) and we put in a gas cooktop

We have tile granite which I don't like BUT it was already put in when we found the house SO...one day I'll upgrade to slab. We have hickory floors and knotty alder cabinets. Our microwave is black as well as the oven. We do have a stainless look fridge (Whirlpool Fast Fill) but it's the kind that doesn't show fingerprints and is magnetic.

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Proud to say I haven't shopped at a Wal-Mart since Sept 2003

I agree -- I think stainless will be 'out of style' at some point in the not so distant future. I too would go with black. We didn't have a choice since the builder had already installed a black double oven, dishwasher & cook top.

nightowlrn -- I would go with slab granite (very nice and fairly easy to care for) and a double oven and a microwave range hood combo. I love my double ovens and use them all the time, not just for holidays. My kitchen did not come with a microwave range hood (contractor messed up when he installed the cabinets and the builder never had him fix it and install the microwave (this was long before we bought the house, so there wasn't anything we could do about it).

I would go with a one or two compartment sink in something other than stainless steel (have had stainless sinks in the past two houses and I just don't care for them). Other than the faucet, I like a sprayer, but it has to have good water pressure. The one I currently have hardly sprays so it's pretty much useless. I also don't like the sprayer that pulls out of the faucet -- I want a seperate sprayer.

I would have the cabinets refinished in a darker color than the floor. Oak is somewhat dated looking -- many people prefer something with less grain lines (like Maple), but with a good stain, it shouldn't matter too much.

Sarah.......mom to Jason & Devin

SS - your kitchen is beautiful! We had a kitchen a bit like that when we lived in Florida. I loved being in the kitchen and being able to watch the kids in the family room or to socialize with guests.

Sara - thanks. Now I am back and forth between black and SS. I am leaning towards black oven and mivrowave if I go with the builtins and SS Viking cooktop. Black dishwasher, compactor and frig.

I am also researching how to strip and restain our cabinets.

Another question ... we have the same light oak stain in the laundry room (off the kitchen) Should we make them match?

I think the cabinets are ok-it does they just don't pop out. I think if you were to put in a nice dark granite, and stainless steel appliances, that would be a nice contrast, and with that new center island, I think your cabinets might actually look pretty cool, especially once you change out the pulls. (I like the brushed nickel). Are you going to do anything w/ the tile backsplash? While I like it, I think there needs to be more color. I would also paint the wood trim around the ceiling white. What colors do you have in mind once the wallpaper is out?

nightowlm- Looks like a great position to be in. You will get to use the new kitchen for a while and still get te increase in resale. I re-did cabinets once. I did not re-do the inside just the doors and the frames around the doors. The doors were easy because I could take them off and work on them in a comfortable position. The framework on the cabinets is tiring. Make sure you do the cabinets before the counter. I would think you will want to match the laundry room cabinets to the kitchen. Where do you live? which state? I agree that someone buying a 5 bedroom, 6 bathroom house is usually not a DIYer.
Flippert13- Thanks for the countertop question I had no idea. Too funny, this Christmas I bought myself a new sprayer for my kitchen faucet. It is like a regular spray except it is longer- like 4 inches. I love it. I was thinking of buying one for a friend who just happened to tell me she wanted a new $30,000 kitchen. Here I was tickled with a $10 sprayer!! Too funny. I didn't buy her one!

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Lyn Clarke

If the laundry room has a door (so you don't see it from the kitchen), I wouldn't bother changing them. If you can see them, I would if it's not too much trouble.

BTW...LOVE the island you picked out I agree on a separate sprayer. Mine is the pull out kind and while it's got good pressure, it doesn't turn and get all the areas of the sink I want it too without spraying everywhere!

If you decide to go with double ovens, I would recommened something with convection. My double ovens are both convection (a feature I had never had before) and I love it. You can cook things much more quickly (like 3 dozen cookies in the same oven at the same time) because of the air flow. I love having my Thanksgiving turkey done in half the time too....would be hard to go back to a regular oven

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Proud to say I haven't shopped at a Wal-Mart since Sept 2003

I wanted a double oven, but couldn't get them configured in the cabinets like I wanted. So, I compromised and got a built in conventional/convection oven and then a GE Advantium. It is a built in convection/microwave. My 1st choice would have been the double ovens, but this is pretty nice. We use it way more as a microwave, but use the convection part quite a bit.

Lisa

__________________
"It's not having what you want,
It's wanting what you've got"

I am not sure if this was discussed in any earlier posts but I love the light you have over the table. You might want to consider getting hardware (handles and drawer pulls) to match that.

I think black will go out of style before stainless. My Mom's oven from the 1960s is stainless. (Yes, she still has the original.)

I agree.

Plus without the wallpaper it probably lightened and brightened the room considerably, and made the room look new just by doing that, Did you take a pic with the wallpaper off yet? If so, can you post? I'd love to see it.

I also love the island you picked out. I think it will look fantastic.

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l/ l/ l/
Dont go through life,
GROW through life

Real eyes...realize...real lies.

Nightowlrn- noticed you have a tile backsplash in part of the kitchen- will they stay or go when you do countertops? Or do you have a choice- not sure if you can work around them. Also, since you have a predefined space for the appliances, have you been able to find a fridge that will fit better. I have all built ins too, and appliances are much bigger now.

The answer to the tile question is buried in post #3. We will change the tile with stone to match whatever counter top (probably granite) we select. The cabinet where the fridg is will be totally redone if it isn't too expensive and we will put a counter depth in there. We have another frig in the basement kitchenette if we need more refrigeration/freezer space. I think we are stuck with 27 inch built-in oven and microwave if we stick with the current configuation, which is the most cost effective way to go. 30 inch is the standard now, but getting 27 inch just requires a special order.

The paper didn't come down this weekend. I should put the bug in his ear though. I will be nice to visualize the room without it being blue ....

I have stainless, I wish I didn't with 3 kids you have fingerprints at all times. They just don't seem to know where the handle is!

We have granite counter tops, just don't get one that is too busy or movement they are hard to put the seams right to match. Remember that you buy the slab of granite and sometimes you need to buy more if the granite has alot of movement.

Don't buy whats in, buy what you like, you are going to have to live with it.

I have a question: since shiny brass fixtures are out, what are new homes using for doorknobs (not cabinet hardware)? And when you remodel, are you replacing doorknobs also - so that they match with the cabinet hardware and/or light fixture metals?

cj/

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I was walking home one night and a guy hammering on a roof called me a paranoid little weirdo. In morse code. -Emo Phillips

we have oil rubbed bronze doorknobs and hinges. We don't have cabinet pulls though (although every time I break a nail opening a cabinet, I think of them.)

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Proud to say I haven't shopped at a Wal-Mart since Sept 2003

The short answer is - yes. We are replacing the second floor and back half of the first with this finish

These are the interior door nobs Amazon.com: Schlage Georgian Passage Knob, Aged Bronze #F10VGEO716: Home Improvement

These are what the hinges look like. Amazon.com: Oil Rubbed Bronze 3.5 X 5/8 Radius Hinge: Home Improvement

These are on the cabinets we have replaced in the bathrooms and will be on the cabinets in the kitchen and laundry toom. Amazon.com: Amerock Double Demountable Hinge 1/2-Inch Overlay, Oil Rubbed Bronze #BP8704-ORB: Home Improvement

These are the door stops Amazon.com: H B Ives #SPS61MB-716 Bronze Hinge Pin DR Stop: Home Improvement




The front of our house we already refinished and replaced all the hardware with brushed nickle. Our house is a formal living room, dining room with a central stairway in the front and informal in the back. We are replacing all the other hardware with rubbed bronze - nobs, hinges, door stops, etc. I may end up changing the front to bronze, but I am waiting to see if the two finishes are a problem. We redid one upstairs bath all in the bronze. It is a private bath in a guest room. We decided to do all the other bathroom fixtures in chrome becaues I like the way chrome cleans better, the rest of the hardware is bronze.

We only have a few door nobs/hinges left to replace on the first floor. They are mostly in the laundry room. We do have three nice brass exterior door locking nobs and deadbolts at the back of the first floor. I put them in a few years ago and I will probably wait a few years to replace those with bronze. I am waiting to see how much they stand out after we redo everything. My guess is I will at least have to change the kitchen exterior door nob and deadbolt. I plan to use something like this on the back doors Amazon.com: Schlage Camelot Deadbolt Keypad, Aged Bronze #BE365VCAM716: Home Improvement

I upgraded my doorknobs to scroll lever-style when we bought and I love them. I think they make a difference relative to other similar homes (there are a lot of 8 or 9 room, 2-story colonials in New England ) ....but alas, they are polished brass.

cj/

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There is nothing wrong with brass, per se. And, I like the lever style, too. The colors we are changing the house to lend themselves to the darker hardware finishes and I don't think the darker finishes show dirt and wear so much. I also think our original brass was cheap because most of the nobs and pulls have the brass worn away and the hinges are discolored and some are rusted. Granted, the house is 20 years old and I don't know the expected lifespan of door nobs and pulls that get frequent use.

The doornobs & hinges in our new house are nickel. When we were making our selections we were steered away from the oil rubbed bronze because they said they would show wear. I have no idea if that is true or not, but we did the nickel and they look very nice.

Lisa

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It's wanting what you've got"

My Mom just had her kitchen done and two things I love which I suggest are: the faucet that comes over the stove so you can fill huge pots with water and not have to carry them; and an "appliance garage" oh yeah a third thing is her Kitchn Aid mixer comes out on a shelf with hinges that comes right up.

I love the granite countertops myself.

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The political system is broke and it's a joke.

Funny your would mention the stove faucet. We have a plummer coming to give us an estimate on running the gas line to the kitchen and we figured we would see how much extra it will be to run a water pipe there, too. My guess is it won't be too much extra and I think we would use it a lot because we steam a lot of vegetable and boil a lot of rice and pasta. Plus, it looks cool :P

For those following my saga - we have made quite a bit of progress this week.

We ordered GE Profile -
frig, GE Profile 20.9 cu. ft. Bottom Freezer Refrigerator w/ Factory-Installed Icemaker - Model PFCS1NJW at Sears.com
built-in oven GE Profile 27 in. Built-In Wall Oven - Model PK916 at Sears.com
Advantum oven, SCB1001MSS - GE Profile Advantium® 1.6 Cu. Ft. Wall Oven - Features And Photos
dishwasher GE Profile 24 in. Built-In Dishwasher - Model PDW8600N at Sears.com
trashcompactor GE Profile Built-In Trash Compactor - Model GCG1500 at Sears.com

We went with black to go into the soon to be built, black island. I am going to put in a SS hood, so I thought have each side of the hood balanced with another SS product would look good - so the frig is stainless and the wall overns are a combination SS and black. I was going to go all black, but the GE frig black is super shiney and I would be cleaing that as much as I will clean SS. If a new buyer doesn't like the SS frig, it won't matter. In our area, the frig isn't a part of the sale unless specifically written into the contract.

The electician gave us a $4K bid on the electric work, so we are rethinking what we want because our budget was $2K. We can do a lot of the work ourselves, so we may just have a professional run the wiring to the main box and a few of the more complicated wiring things and we will fish the wires through for the new can lights, puck lights, etc ourselves.

We are going to do a venitian plaster. The bid was very reasonable and she is very happy to have me watch, so that will be a learning experience for possible future projects. We are thinking of doing that in our bedroom and bathroom.

We got a very reasonable bid to refinish the cupboards, so that may be phase II - we are refinishing our floors, so we want to see what they look like before we stain our kitchen cupboards.

Whew ----

To anyone thinking of replacing hardware -- get a powered screwdriver

Beautiful Island, Nightowl.

I'm going to put this site up and make a suggestion that you do a search on Viking appliances here. I've read an awful lot of complaints about their reliability as of late, especially for the money spent. This is an excellent place to research into appliances. Appliances Forum - GardenWeb

Thank you.

I am a bit worried about the Viking as well, so I haven't ordered or made any commitments.

What do you think of the monogram ? That was choice 2.

I am so happy to have everyone's input.

Question - is this corney? I am thinking of having this written in script on a wall that does into our family room from the kitchen "A ogni uccello il suo nido è bello." ~ English: To every bird, his own nest is beautiful.

Talk to the appliance people and find out from them what looks to be the newest thing. From what I have heard and read stainless is on the way out.

edit: for spelling

I hosently don't think stainless will ever be "out". The reason things go out is because they don't match or coordinate with the new "in" colors or patterns, which won't happen with black, white, bisque or stainless, they match it all.

As long as you buy something neutral, not too specific, it will always be a classic and in style. IMO anyway.

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