IKEA kitchen

I think one of the biggest mistakes a person can make when remodeling their house is to skip over the IKEA kitchen design center.  The hardware and the functionality is the same (if not better) than many custom millwork products - and the price is much, much less.  It's a win-win (except for the custom millwork guy).

From what I've read, a custom kitchen of our size would have cost about $35,000-50,000.  We're paying less than ten.  And that includes soft close drawers, good quality hinges, pull-out shelves, etc.  All of these upgrades are standard at IKEA.  Sure, you don't have a ton of choices for cabinet fronts... maybe 10 or so, but the lack of choice is well worth the reduced cost.

We're going to go with the gray high gloss cabinets.  Something like this:

Someone told me that Europeans do not put any aesthetic value on cabinetry which is why IKEA cabinets are fairly simple, sleek, and detail-less, and I think it is brilliant.  There is nothing that dates a house more quickly than a bad set of cabinets, and maybe some bad tile or shag.  IKEA Kitchen gets it right.

On Black Friday, we braved the IKEA crowds.  It really wasn't too bad.  Maybe because we got to the store 2 hours prior to opening (thanks, Mom) to wait in "line" (we were first, very first)?  Eventually, we were able to spend an hour with an IKEA designer.  He printed a 7-page list of parts that we'd need and we went and pulled everything off the shelves... ha, no way... that would take hours, or days.  Instead, we paid $90 for IKEA to pull everything off the shelves for us AND to deliver and carry everything into our home (up the stairs).  This has got to be the best Black Friday deal I've ever found.  I would have paid quite a bit more for that service, but...shhh.

Yeah, our kitchen came in a lot of boxes (our contractor claims, "hundreds") but we saved (A LOT OF) money, and we got a quality, stylish (and timeless) kitchen with all the bells and whistles.

Can't wait to get it all put together!

Progress... and more progress!

I hadn't been inside the house for a week, and wow, a lot of progress was made.  I kept driving by waiting for the roof to go up... but as it turns out, the roof was delayed until next week and so they took a hammer to the inside.  More like a sledgehammer.  No bathroom, no kitchen, no bedrooms, no walls... just memories and dust.   

The wall is now gone between the kitchen and Jules' bedroom.  Our kitchen will be located in the same location as before but the dining room will be moved to the back of the house where Jules' bedroom was located.  With the walls gone, it feels much more open.

This photo is looking from the living room into the new dining area.  We removed the original brick fireplace to create flow and openness.  Finally, the house doesn't feel like a 1940s box house - it's starting to feel like it was built in this era.

Here is a photo of the former main bathroom.  The tub (and everything else) is gone and it will be converted into a funky powder room.  IMHO, powder rooms are the place to go nuts.  So we will.  Pretty much anything goes.

This is a photo looking from the new living room/entry area across the home and into... the powder bath.  (Yuck.)  I really REALLY did not want a floor plan where you could see into the bathroom from the main living space.  We originally created a little "nook" off the powder bath so that you could not see right in, but at this point, we're not sure that the nook is the answer.  We're brain storming ideas so that we can keep the open floor plan without a line of sight into the bathroom.  Hmmm...

Overall, I am very pleased with the work.  The team of 6 is working hard and gettin' it done. 

Progress

When I walked up to the house today, there were visible signs of an addition.  If you look closely (below), you can see the 2nd story overhang starting to be framed out.  That is part of the floor of the new master bedroom.  Eventually, the front door will move to make way for the new "entry" area.  One of my complaints about our house was that you just open the door and walk into the living room.  In the new house, there will be a short walk-though entryway with a coat closet, before reaching the living room.  It should feel a lot more welcoming.  

Here is a picture of the framing for the 2nd story addition (below).  This is inside the living room.  We intended to raise the ceiling from 7'6" to 8'3", but the demo team realized that our house "tipped" about 3" towards the street over the years.  So, effectively, it was 3" shorter on the street side.  In order to even everything out, they added another 3" to the living room side.  Yay!  Now our ceilings will be a foot taller.  This 3" "tip" ended up to be a blessing in disguise.

Kitchen demo has begun... the 80s cabinets are gone!  And so is that awful grayish-blue tile with gold flecks.  Good news all around.