kirk.bangstad@renovatorsplace.com
Renovators Place Columnist
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Janet and Al Zander have been continuously renovating and adding to their pre-fabbed home that they bought over twenty years ago, and are almost finished with their latest kitchen remodeling project. I sat down with Janet and asked her a few questions about her kitchen remodeling project.
RP: Why were you unhappy with your original kitchen?
JZ: Our kitchen was way too small. It was built as a kitchen/dining room combo about 20 years ago, and the kitchen was made to be "efficient." This meant that you could almost reach all of the kitchen cabinets without having to take a step. My husband is a pretty big guy who likes to cook and he was always feeling crowded. The dining room only sat six, and that was much too small for extended family gatherings. We ended up expanding the kitchen into the dining room, adding another "great" room onto the house, and using our old family room as the new dining room.
RP: How did you find a contractor for your Kitchen Remodeling Project?
JZ: My husband's brother is a carpenter who works for a kitchen remodeling contractor. It was natural to hire them because we got a great deal and my brother-in-law worked with us on the project.
RP: How did you select the style of your kitchen cabinets, countertops, floors, etc.?
JZ: I wanted our kitchen to be warm and have a country feel. We used maple for the floors and kitchen cabinets. Luckily, we are friends with someone who works at a commercial flooring company and were able to get high quality maple flooring for a great price. We added warmth to our kitchen cabinets by choosing beautiful brushed silver knobs.
As far as our countertops, I originally wanted all Zodiaq but went into sticker shock when I found out what it would cost. I discussed alternatives with a salesperson, and settled on a combination of brown Zodiaq and laminate. The laminate "crackle" pattern I chose took on some of the browns from the Zodiaq, but had its own unique style. I put the laminate on a certain section of our kitchen island and used Zodiaq for the rest of the countertops.
Using a blend of laminate and Zodiaq really cut down on the overall price of our countertops, and I think the contrast is actually really cool.
RP: How long did the kitchen remodeling project last? Did it go smoothly?
JZ: The project lasted about six weeks. Although we had to wait a little longer than expected for the Zodiaq to come in, we were told the entire process could take between 4-8 weeks. We hit a few bumps in the road along the way, however. It turns out that our old kitchen cabinets were designed to make room for plumbing behind them. We couldn't have known that until we started tearing everything down. When our new kitchen cabinets came, they were too deep. Instead of chopping them up, we rerouted the plumbing, which definitely bit into the buffer we created in our budget. Luckily, we found other ways to economize, like doing more of the work ourselves. All in all, I'd say that this kitchen remodeling project went really well, and that we were lucky there weren't more surprises along the way.
RP: How did you manage not using your kitchen for 6 weeks?
JZ: That definitely took some creativity. Unfortunately, in our home, you have to go through the kitchen to get to any other part of the house. We couldn't just put a plastic sheet around everything and ignore it. We did our best to stay out of the way. We also cooked a lot on the grill outside and made a separate little food-preparation area in another room. Although there was some inconvenience, the end result was worth it.
RP: Would you have done anything differently?
JZ: Although I'm very pleased with the results, I probably would have run the design that we used by an architect before we started. Our contractor was very experienced, but I think getting a second opinion from someone who focuses more on design than construction is always a good idea.
RP: What was the total cost of the project?
JZ: The big costs were the appliances, countertops, kitchen cabinets, and flooring. Altogether, I think we spent around $14,000.
RP: Are you happy with the way your kitchen looks now?
JZ: Absolutely. It's much more functional and pleasing to the eye.
RP: Is there anything else you would like to do to update your kitchen further?
JZ: Sure, but don't tell my husband! I eventually want to install better lighting over the kitchen island, and there's some extra space in the kitchen that would work perfectly for a built-in pantry.
About the Author
Kirk Bangstad is a singer living in Chicago, IL. Kirk received his B.A. in Government at Harvard.
