UPDATE ON KITCHEN DESIGN

WOW...again that old disappearing act seems to hit me...but not really on purpose...just have been overloaded...REMEMBER for me to go out takes a major undertaking in my head...and then get my body to go along...so in order for me to get things done with the house meant I would have to go out...

Now you all remember I already had a run in with a kitchen planner at Lowes...and I received a very nice phone call from the sales manager from Lowes trying to resolve things with me...Well I took him at his word and called him not once BUT several times...NEVER called me back...and no one at Lowes knew where he was...just ridiculous...I would still be waiting on going to Lowes if I was waiting for his phone call. So I got my NERVE up sort of speak and went...PRAYING that I would not run into that rude lady...well we went and they had another lady there and the rude one....the rude one looked at me and I could tell that someone had spoken to her just by the look on her face...(maybe I am paranoid) but I so trust my instincts...I went directly to the other lady who was INCREDIBLY super...so helpful and nice and open to suggestions and gave great tips and I could not be happier....JUST AS A SIDE NOTE...the rude lady was on her way to her lunch break...just so happens about a minute or two later the phone rang for the lady that was helping us...and all she kept saying is oh yes ...yea ...yes...yea..then hung up...you think that the rude lady called her from the front to warn her about us...I think so...Allen says no...again I may be paranoid but again I trust my instincts...the look in her face..in her eyes spoke volumes. We must have sat for at least an hour going through the layout and types of cabinets and such...WOW...lots of work...I thought I had a small kitchen before hand, now this lady has loaded it with cabinets (which I did not have) and it is going to look SMALL...that is not a complaint...just reality. Now the cabinets and installation costs I had figured pretty good...almost to the dollar (patting myself on the back) but the countertop is UNREAL...my brother who has always worked in construction told me long time ago that countertops are expensive...he said that would be the majority of your budget...he was NOT kidding. The countertop will cost more then the labor and cabinets and new stove combined. We looked at and compared acrylic, laminated, tile, quartz and granite...the pros and cons for each one...WOW a lot to think about...but the bottom line is that natural quartz needs NO CARE...NO TREATMENT...DOES NOT SCRATCH...CAN TAKE THE HEAT OF A POT OR THE COLD OF ICE..IT WITHSTANDS EVERYTHING...the only negative part is that it is the most expensive material. Well for peace of mind I guess natural quartz is the way we are going...also they are having some deals that if you choose certain colors of quartz you get a sink included that is molded into the counter top meaning no seams or edges near your sink...so it is totally sealed in...this is a great thing. This lady also is going to extend our counter top and cabinets near a wall that has about 3 or 4 feet of useless space and we will have a BIG lazy susan cabinet in the corner for pots and pans or whatever...TOO COOL...We are going with OAK cabinets...Allen and I are huge fans of wood material....they had aluminum and other metals but we LOVE wood...especially oak.

This is a picture of one of the base cabinets:

 

 

Also we found out that my kitchen is NOT up to code with the stove being next to a wall and no exhaust...the kitchen I have is about 22 years old and the man we bought the house from did the minimum in requirements to get it passed so at the time...it did not need a countertop barrier between stove and wall...that is okay...I wanted that anyway it was just annoying to hear how it is not in code...which also brings me to another new feature we are getting which is an exhaust fan over the stove...WOW...I am excited about that too....we are getting a ductless exhaust...that means the air goes through a filter system and comes out clean and fresh...YEA....I am a happy camper that we do not have to go through a duct system because that is major construction and LOTS of permits..very expensive...

I am picking wooden handles for the drawers, keeping things simple, and sunflower knobs for the cabinets...I LOVE sunflowers and want sunflower decor eventually in the kitchen...I chose a buttermilk yellow to paint the walls..I have sunflower kitchen towels already....if ANYONE knows where I can find sunflower canisters or sunflowers anything for kitchens...let me know...I have checked walmart and they do not carry it anymore...I guess sunflowers are out...so let me know if you see them anywhere.

We have a dishwasher...however it has been disconnected for a very long time, up until today Allen was going to try and reconnect it and see if it still works...but today Allen decided that we should just order a new one for the new kitchen and have the cabinets built around it instead of trying to get ours fit into the new cabinets...which is great by me...so I priced them and found one I like....which brings me to a new issue....our refrigerator is white...and the freezer we ordered is white...so shouldn't I order a stove and dishwasher also in white....what do you all think?

This is the dishwasher:

 

BTW...the stove is a ceramic top...with the radiant heat...two of the burners can be six inches or 9 inches and one can go from 9 to 12 inches..just depends on the setting you choose while cooking. Also in the middle of the burners is a lil burner that is a warmer...you put your pot there to keep warm...does not burn your food...pretty cool.

This kitchen planner printed out a picture rendition of what our kitchen might look like. It looks good...Allen and I need to go back with a couple of measurements because we werenot sure how big our windows were or the "passthrough" space above the sink....having that measurement will determined how long the cabinets above it will be...she also wanted to use the same quartz countertop on the passthrough but I am happy to leave that alone...I think that is a useless expense..Am I wrong?

I like the idea of sunflowers....I am wondering though...just need ideas from everyone else...you know how sometimes you set your mind one way and then cannot see clear to anything else...well...what do you all think of butter yellow for the walls...(they are a darker yellow now) and the sunflower stuff...give me some ideas...just want suggestions thrown at me so that I do not have tunnel vision...Allen says whatever makes me happy....and Crystalyn says sunflowers because that is what I always wanted but she wants a black stove and dishwasher...and the other appliances are white...so I am confused a bit...I wish my mom was up here....she could help out so much.

This is the freezer we just got:

 

I called my sister today (she is an interior designer/decorator) you would think she would have helped me out all this time...NOT....however I did get her opinion on things....she said stick to all white appliances if you already have some in white...she said yellow for the kitchen is nice especially with a dark colored countertop...she also suggested BLACK hardware for the cabinet doors and drawers...she said it would give it a striking color contrast...hmmmm interesting thought. Well that is something to think about.

Well...there is more news to tell you about but I am getting tired again...have been fighting some ailments that are kicking my back side right now...so I will catch up more on that later....

Remember to HUG those you LOVE......PEACE!!!

 

 

Tags: kitchen, planning, colors, appliances, renovations, cabinets