Not garden related at all!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[seansmum]

I have decided to gut my kitchen and redo it. Does anyone have experience with ready to assemble cabinets? there are many sites and they all say I can save thousands but I'm concernd about quality. If you are uncomfortable discussing this here or feel it's inapppropriate please send me a PM. Thanks!
Sue

[writeone]

Hey, this is over the garden fence. Neighbors discuss these things.

A carpenter told me the best deals on cabinets are at a local cabinet discount store that moves left over merchandise. Something like a Big Lots for cabinets.

I don't recall the name of the store.

Think carefully about gutting a kitchen. Unless the current cabinets are trashed, upgrading to modern cabinets doesn't usually increase the value of the home.

It's a lot less expensive to refinish existing cabinets.

Do you have any community discussion forums in your area. We have one here, that was a spin off from freecycle. People give many great ideas on local deals.

Maybe you can contact the http://www.freecycle.org/ moderator in your area and ask about any spin off discussion groups. Here is the link to ours:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ChatCafeofCentralFL/
 

[morganmac]

I live in a 1950s split-level that we're slowly redoing. We were going to replace the cabinet doors in the kitchen, but decided instead to just replace the hardware and use the cabinet refinishing stuff from Rustoleum. It's meant to be heavier duty than just regular paint. It's held up well so far. I mean, painting cabinets with anything is going to be tedious, but as long as you remove the doors and take your time, it's not too bad.

The kitchen was originally knotty pine that had been painted gray...GRAY. There's very little natural light in there, so it was like cooking in a morgue. 

They have one for countertops, too, though I can't give any information on it as I haven't used it.

http://rustoleumtransformations.com/

[writeone]

Probably a good choice. I've done both -- refined in the past and put all new in an empty room. They were both big projects the new was probably the bigger and way more expensive of the two.

Is the counter top damaged or just stained? I own a maid service and have seen many homes where people think a surface is damaged, but I can get it looking like new. It's just knowing what to use and how to restore it. To start, determine what type of material the counter is made of -- Formica was big in the 50s. Then is the surfaced, deteriorated, stained, or does it have a buildup of some sort. If a build up, what kind -- hard water and soap file? paint?

[seansmum]

My kitchen has homemade cabinets that are probably thirty years old. The doors are warped, there are no runners on the drawers, the laminate on the counter tops is lifting and the floor is worn out. the floor plan is also atrocious. It is definitely time for a total redo . I have looked at the the mid range cabinets that the big box stores sell and drove two and a half hours one way to look at a kitchen store display (loved it) , but, I need to be aware of the budget. There are a lot of companies offering ready to assemble cabinets that have dovetail drawers and solid wood doors etc. but, I'm leary about commiting to something I haven't seen. They will send a sample door for a nominal fee. A door is only part of the cabinet so I don't know how much I can learn from that.
Sue

[writeone]

Yep. Sounds like an overhaul is in order.

Through going to the store I mentioned, I got high quality maple cabinets for about half the price I'd have paid in a standard store.

[seansmum]

Living where we are doesn't provide the best shopping opportunities and a cabinet discount store is not an option here. Nice thought though. I can't stop thinking about the ones I saw today , perhaps, I'll make an offer once I'm sue that configuration will work in my space. I have my son trying to do some CAD magic. We'll see.

[Deb]

I vote for adjustable shelves in the upper cabinets.  The lower ones need sliding shelves.

We remodeled the kitchen in our old house and when we moved I said I could deal with the kitchen for a year or two.  16 years later the kitchen finally made it to the top of the priority list.

There is no way I'm going to spend major big bucks for the things I've seen so far.  I had a carpenter build sliding shelves in the lower cabinets wherever they would fit, put in a new sink, changed the portable dishwasher for a built in, replaced the ugly carpet (carpet in the kitchen?  UGH!), and am calling it good.  I still can't reach things in the upper cabinets - mostly because the shelves aren't adjustable and the 2nd shelf is just too high to see/reach what's in the back - which means the 3rd shelf is completely useless.

Gutting the room and starting over is definitely the way to go, if you can stand the mess and chaos for longer than you ever dreamed it would take.  Keep telling yourself that you'll love the results and so they're worth waiting for.  ;>

I hope you can set up an outdoor kitchen over the summer to get you through the remodel!

Deb

[writeone]

Yeah, you might want to consider the solar oven some folks rave about on this site. I do a lot of cooking, so I'm thinking about investing in one myself. It will pay for itself pretty quickly.

For standard sized cabinets there are premade sliding shelves.

My shelves are adjustable and I'm tall, but to use all my space I still use a step stool at times. A grabber also comes in handy. Something like this http://www.hiwtc.com/products/handicapped-supporter-and-pliers-grabber-reacher-1044-1890.htm

[butterflygirl67]

Solar ovens rock!  Cooked roast with rosemary, potatoes and carrots and also corn on the cob over the weekend.  Delish