Kitchen Design - Renovation Tales
Home Renovation is a bit of a nightmare. I highly recommend a ton of research before you even get started. I am doing a massive renovation to my little 800 square foot duplex - a 378 square foot addition with a brand new kitchen. It is going to be great, but right now it's nuts.I met with one kitchen designer/cabinet person a few weeks ago - his design was $19,000 - and that was just cabinets, no countertops or anything. That was way more than I wanted to spend.
So, I met with three different kitchen designers this weekend. One was a total bitch - she really didn't seem to think my project was worth her time and effort. I wouldn't recommend her. The other two were both great. One was Coyle & Associates of Springfield, while the other was a designer at Home Depot. I liked them both. Very professional, yet understanding that I am budget minded. They were open to creative ideas -- offering their advice, but also listening to my needs.
Lou, from Coyle and Assoc., recommended Shiloh cabinets in a Medium Maple with a Mocha Glaze. They are all wood construction -- very nice cabinets. A bit different than I originally planned. He recommended the blue Corian countertop called "Cobalt." He thinks the white sink that I already have won't look good with the light cabinets from Shiloh. I do like the combination, but it is totally different from my ideas. It does lock me into blue as a color for the kitchen
At Home Depot, I was able to get great cabinets from Kraftmaid in a color close to what I originally envisioned. They are available in Traditions Birch in Taupe Glaze. So, white with a brown glaze. However, they are not all wood -- mostly engineered wood, so not as nice construction wise.
I got a quote right away with drawings from the Home Depot designer -- about $8000, plus countertops. Already a way better price than the ones from the first kitchen person I met with. Countertops will be about $3000.
I haven't heard from Coyle -- I expect they will be a bit more, but I don't know how much more.
posted by Corona Red @ 10:33 AM
6 Comments:
$19,000.00???? Good lord, I almost choked on my yogurt when I read that!!!
Damn! Does that include a full time chef too??? ;)
Good luck...hope it works out for you. Keep us posted! :)
It's so exciting to take on such a big project, but so expensive! My friend is having her kitchen redone, which for her means no access for 6-8 weeks. It's only been 2 and she's fed up with restaurants. Yesterday she left for work and they were installing sub-flooring. When she came home the floor was done...but it was someone else's floor!
So good luck. :)
oh the drama. But how happy will you be on the other end??!!! We redid ours by ourself. Cheap but a royal pain in the ass. But if something went wrong, we only had ourselves to blame.
Thanks everyone.
Stacy - Tell me about it. I almost keeled over when he told me.
Ms Jay - That is too funny. I will have to be sure I am very clear about what I want.
And Kristen - I admire that ability. I am just not that handy.
What a ridiculous price!
Good luck with the project.
Imagine if you lived somewhere, where 19,000 was on the low end of the spectrum for an estimate. I do a lot or real estate remodeling work and while doing it yourself saves money, it does not account for lost time. Glad you finished.
Larrin
http://www.orangecountycabinets.net
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