This morning, I pushed the kitchen table out of the room and arranged the black IKEA chairs by the back door. I squinted at the diagram from the kitchen dude and mapped out the new layout in blue tape on the kitchen floor. I am a little worried that Steve and I are going collide when cooking.
Yes, we’re getting a new kitchen. Class marker, alert! And it’s a rather large class marker.
When I started this blog four years ago, we lived with a cockroach-ridden,
galley kitchen in a four floor walk up. We had made the room slightly
more usable by getting two cheap-o cabinets from IKEA and resting a
slab of butcher block on top, without any supports or braces. After a
while, the whole business began to list to the side. The kitchen was
also our laundry room.
Then we bought this fixer-upper by the railroad tracks. Our original
kitchen had two different kinds of brown, floral wallpaper. It had
nasty, colorless linoleum and appliances from the Johnson
administration. It also had rubber, press-on molding. We dealt with
wall paper and the floor with buckets of paint, but we couldn’t do much
about the old appliances and the cigarette burns in the Formica counter
top.
The cardboard, drop ceiling is sagging because of a slow water leak from the bathtub upstairs.
So, we’re gutting the place in a few months and expanding into the
mud room in the back. We’re also fixing the adjoining power room, which
is actually more god-awful. Press-on tiles and a rusting, metal shower.
We can afford it and, by most standards, this is one ugly kitchen.
Still, I am really worried that this is a silly way to spend money.
Everything works and there are no bugs. A few years ago, we were really
pleased with not having to walk down four flights of stairs to get rid
of the garbage. And now, we’re shopping for counter depth, stainless
steel refrigerators with an ice-maker.
When are they going to offer prizes for the "Most Neurotic Blogger"?
Apt. 11d 
Have you checked out Susan Serra of thekitchendesigner.org? I came across her at the NYT Dream House blog, where she comments occasionally, especially on kitchens. Her blog is gorgeous, and she has a special thing for Scandinavian design.
LikeLike
We’re also going to be redoing our kitchen, although we’re aiming at waiting until next spring/summer. And yes, it feels very indulgent, when we have a usable, if ugly and poorly designed kitchen.
My justification is that we upgraded the kitchen of our old house in order to sell it, and I never want to do that again. If we’re going to spend the money to do it, I want to be able to enjoy it for the next 15 years.
And the appliances are totally worth it — I suspect the fridge and dishwasher will pay for themselves within a couple of years on reduced energy costs, since the old ones are total dinosaurs.
LikeLike
Ugly kitchen
Laura at 11d has some pictures of her kitchen up. I think we beat her in the ugly kitchen contest: These pictures are from last winter, when we were first looking at the house — now there’s a thick dusting
LikeLike
We did our kitchen this past spring. Ours looked a lot like yours, except with really ugly green laminate countertop. And we had no dishwasher, which was the tipping point for us. Don’t fall prey to the “stainless steel” stuff. White looks just as nice and won’t smudge. We spent way too much money and I think we were taken for a little ride by our contractor, but you know what? We had next to no problems, and as I said to my husband, I’d rather buy cheaper stuff and pay more to the people doing the work. I know that is probably counterintuitive, but I don’t care.
LikeLike
No granite, please! (Unless you passionately love the stuff, in which case, knock yourself out.) Personally, I don’t know why it’s been fashionable to install tombstones as kitchen counters.
Also, just for fun, have a look at Lileks’s “Interior Desecrations.”
LikeLike
Ditto ditto ditto to what Elizabeth said. We need to remodel our hideous early-90s kitchen before we sell the house (really, we need to Craftsmanize it, to match the rest of the house, which is original), and why not get the fruits of our labor?
But man-oh-man, am I not looking forward to it.
Stainless steel is going to be the avocado green of the 2010s….
LikeLike
It seems to me the housing boom is well and truly over. This means an end to the idea that, ‘well, I can spend $50000 on my kitchen and get it all back on sale and I had three years of a nice kitchen’. But if you are going to be in your house for ten years and want a nicer place to cook, why not? Do it for you.
We redid ours. One of the things we are happiest with is that we put in two sinks, and it makes it much easier for us both to work at the same time.
LikeLike
Personally, I don’t know why it’s been fashionable to install tombstones as kitchen counters.
LOL! That might explain why I don’t care much for the granite look. I have also wondered if stainless steel and granite will be the avocado green of the 2010s.
We chose soapstone to go with our 1920s colonial home and skipped the pricey stainless steel appliances by going for Kenmore & Jennair black instead.
Our best contractor experience was with a pricey one who turned out to be dependable and abundantly accessible. This was after we had to fire the previous contractor who stopped returning our phone calls when the job was not quite finished.
Good luck and try not to let the class guilt add too much to the other angst along the way.
LikeLike
+1 to the comments on granite, which also has the drawback of showing streaks when you clean it. The house we bought happened to have Corrian, which IMO is the best of both worlds: hard and not cheesy-looking, like granite, but not quite so trendy. We’ll see on resale, I suppose…
LikeLike
+2 to the comments on granite, which ensures that everything you drop on it breaks.
And +3, because you can’t chop on it.
Also +1 on “no stainless steel.” It looks great, but it’s (much) more work to keep looking great than enamel.
LikeLike
I’m amused at the amount of opposition to granite and stainless steel. Another thing to consider, though, is how it will fit into your house. We have a tiny 3 BR ranch that will always be homey at best, so white appliances and solid surface did us fine. You seem to have an older, bigger house and the resale appeal of the granite and stainless steel might be greater.
LikeLike
There’s a growing backlash against granite and stainless steel. It’s probably going to be a long time before it starts hurting resale value, but I think it is starting to look humdrum, rather than “wow!”. I suspect Tuscan colors and six shades of beige decor is also going to start being a minus soon. (There’s a new dorm complex here that just opened, and the cafeteria bathroom floor and half the bathroom walls are done in chocolate brown tile. I’m not even going to say what my mental associations are every time I go in there.)
If you’re going to live in a house for a long time, I think you should love the kitchen, but that it should be something you can live with your whole life. My grandma’s kitchen was put in over forty years ago, and has stayed essentially the same, with new wallpaper now and then, but it’s always been my idea of what a kitchen should be, sparkly yellow formica and all. My grandparents built the house themselves, and every inch of it reflects their foresight and skill.
We have yet to own a house and have lived a long time with beige landlord carpet, white walls, IKEA bookshelves, and a dining room set that we got used for $200 in Pittsburgh with an air conditioner tossed in, but I’ve got a couple of fat folders full of magazine clippings full of dreams. I’m very friendly to understated white kitchens with soapstone counters, but I also have a lot of clippings with color, like zippy lime and yellow kitchens. Judging from my reading of the kitchen magazines, I think color is coming back in a big way, and I think that’s great, especially since paint or simple tile is so much less expensive than a lot of previously fashionable “natural” surfaces.
For more ideas, there have been a lot of very helpful and detailed kitchen comments from readers at the NYT Dream House blog.
LikeLike
Laura,
I just reread your post and see that you are planning to encroach on your mudroom. I don’t know what your setup is, but I would encourage caution, and some serious thought as to what you want your mudroom to look like and do for you. There have been a lot of recent mudroom designs featuring a bench that contains storage and that you can sit down on while putting on or taking off boots, etc. A common set-up is bench with storage, above that hooks for coats and umbrellas, and then a shelf above that. I also like the idea of a small kitchen office area. You might want to have a mail sorting area there, or maybe in the mudroom. By having an effective mudroom and mail area, you cut down on some of the biggest sources of clutter in a busy household.
LikeLike
I was just looking at some of your photos and realized that your kitchen is a close relative of our rental kitchen, although ours recently got new appliances, a new beige vinyl floor, beige formica counters and backsplashes, and some buckets of cream paint on some of the wood panelling. It’s actually pretty functional, but the cabinetry under the sink smells funny due to years of dampness interacting with particleboard.
LikeLike
One more idea: how about something along the lines of Angelina Jolie’s kitchen in “Mr. and Mrs. Smith”? (Including the unique oven features, of course.)
LikeLike
We’ve got a sidedoor that functions as the mudroom area. We don’t hang up coats or pile up shoes by the backdoor, so I don’t think we’ll miss the room. It has pantry cabinets that will be relocated to elsewhere in the room. If knock out a kitchen wall, we’ll get the light and the view of the backyard. We’re also sawing the bathroom in half. I know it’s a major no-no to turn a full bathroom and make it a powder room, but we never use the rusty shower and I want the light.
I find it a little weird to talk about this kitchen rehab on the blog, because I don’t who know reads this blog. In real life, I wouldn’t talk about this project with someone who couldn’t afford it. Just seems to be in bad taste.
But on the other hand, I’m enjoying your feedback. My husband is going to kill me for rethinking the stainless steel appliances. I’ll blame you all.
LikeLike
I think it’s a great idea to talk about it–it would be weird to spend all that money without collecting all the expertise you possibly could. Plus, it’s a fun subject. (By the way, the NYT Dream House commenters recommend getting a kitchen designer.) As to class issues, no one with imagination is going to envy you the months you’re going to spend washing dishes in the bathtub and doing all your cooking in the microwave while the kitchen is underway.
LikeLike
The cardboard, drop ceiling is sagging because of a slow water leak from the bathtub upstairs.
MOLD!!!!
And in my rather experienced opinion, once you open up a ceiling, you might as well go whole hog.
The best kitchen counter surface I ever worked on was brushed stainless steel–didn’t show smears, didn’t warp/burn if somebody was careless and put a hot pot down, didn’t have cracks in the grout that let the ants in, very easy care.
The downside is that it is expensive to fabricate and install.
As to stainless steel appliances — fie upon them. One fingerprint/dog nose print and it looks like you haven’t cleaned for a month.
I have a butcher-block worktop now (came with the house I bought) — wouldn’t repeat it, as I am always bleaching the danged thing.
I chop on flexible boards now, much easier to work with/sanitize.
two sinks — yes.
I have had two wall ovens and a separate gas cooktop for 20 years, and have a very strong preference for this configuration.
The electronic controls on my Jennair wall ovens are always on the blink, so that’s a no vote on electronic controls & Jennair, but I think electronic controls are ubiquitous these days.
I like “full width cast iron burner grates” with the controls at the right. (Well, I’d prefer them on the left cause I’m left handed, but I didn’t see any). That way you can slide pots across the entire cook surface.
I would strongly recommend that before retaining a contractor, you buy and read “The Builder’s Guide to Running a Successful Construction Company” by David Gerstel, ISBN 1-56158-327-8.
This book will teach you how a good contractor thinks, so you can be a good client and have a satisfactory, cost-efficient job.
LikeLike
I like “What the ‘Experts’ May Not Tell You About Building or Renovating Your Home” by Amy Johnston. She also has a website at dreamhouseinstitute.com, but I haven’t looked carefully at it.
LikeLike
split door fridges: don’t do it. the gaskets conflict. Also, it’s a big pain not to be able to load the fridge from the side. freezer on the bottom: good. pullout pantry cabinets with wire racks – good
LikeLike
Two sinks? Really? People don’t think that’s extravagant?
LikeLike
I think they mean a double basin sink, which is quite common now. Often, one basin is for the disposal.
We got a single sink, no disposal. Our contractor almost had a coronary when he found out our choice, but our septic system doesn’t seem to be conducive to disposals anyway.
LikeLike
The sink is to be a busy, busy place, and there tend to be pileups there if a second person needs a glass of water or to wash their hands while some other lengthy activity is going on. A small second sink seems pretty useful to me in a larger multi-person kitchen, but you could live without it. If you’re getting fancy, a non-hand operated faucet might be nice. You know how you wind up with hands covered with gore or dough and you’d like to wash your hands, but without touching the faucet with sticky hands? Public restrooms often have motion activated faucets these days, but I’ve also heard foot pedal models mentioned at the NYT Dream House blog.
Laura, have you thought much about floor surfaces yet? From what I hear vinyl or linoleum are safe choices, but cork seems to have a lot of fans, too. The basic conflict seems to be how to get a floor surface that is durable, easy to clean, somewhat resilient (so nice to stand on), and doesn’t break everything you drop on it. Cork is supposed to be agreeably springy, but expensive.
While I’m thinking of it, our current kitchen has huge deep pull out drawers for pots under the stove top, and even my stock pot fits there comfortably. That’s definitely a winner. The folks commenting at the NYT Dream House blog are big on kitchen drawers for lower cupboards rather than shelving. Good Housekeeping’s “The Complete Clutter Solution” has a lot of nice storage ideas in their kitchen section. I would resist the currently fashionable trend towards lots of open shelves (grease! dust! grease with dust!), as well as the urge to have built-in cabinets for things like fridges and microwaves.
Have fun!
LikeLike
A second dishwasher also looks appealing on some days, but I suppose the sumptuary police will hunt me down for saying that. They do make small drawer dishwashers, but I get the feeling they’re pricy.
LikeLike
We took linoleum out after six years – high-traffic parts of the kitchen had become uncleanable – and replaced with ceramic tile. ‘resilient’ has to be our shoes, and a glass which drops is immediately history, but it’s attractive and easy to clean. One thing to watch, if doing tile, is that you don’t tile your old dishwasher into place and have to lift the counter top to get it out when it needs to be replaced…
LikeLike
One sink, one standard dishwasher. Pre-finished hardwood floor, corian countertop, shaker-style cabinets. We’re going for mid-range everything. We don’t want the cabinets falling apart after a year, but we also don’t need a built-in beer cooler.
We have to keep the costs of the kitchen stuff reasonable, because there’s actually a lot of other work to do. Walls are coming down, windows are being installed, a backdoor is getting moved. New back steps, new tile floor in the bathroom. We’re getting all new lighting, new ceiling. Every wall is coming down. Insulation. And while he’s here, he’s putting in the vintage front door that we refinished and fixing the stairs.
LikeLike
Are you going to live in the house through all that?
LikeLike
Yeah. Hopefully, it won’t be too bad, because all of the work will be the kitchen and the bathroom, except for the door and the stairs. We’ll just set up toaster oven in the dining room and seal off the kitchen. (We’re not replacing all the windows, just the bad ones in the kitchen.)
I’m sure to be a very grouchy blogger in March, when all this begins.
LikeLike
78.1%
http://www.costvsvalue.com/middleatlantic.html
LikeLike
We redid our kitchen last year, went for granite because it looks loverly (we’re not planning on selling anytime soon)
http://www.coalitionoftheswilling.net/archives/2006/12/can_you_hear_ga.html
http://www.coalitionoftheswilling.net/archives/2007/04/feijoada_update.html
Best thing you can do is re-do the kitchen. You spend so much of your time there; when it’s a dark pit like ours was the change in your general joy level will be palpable.
You won’t regret it!
LikeLike