Great job. It is easy to see that you gave a lot of thought to the new layout. Congratulations. c

So much better, you must be thrilled - congrats to you!

Very nicely done! Very efficient layout. It must be worlds better than the before. You can tell from your "before" photo's and notes that you really thought this remodel out, Good for you!!

breezygirl: What a transformation! Its hard to believe its the same space.
---------

What she said!

Wow...it really IS hard to believe it's the same room/space.

The dishwasher without a front panel is a great idea. One of the only "new" (and it's five years old!) items in our kitchen is a dishwasher and I'm constantly turning it on (by mistake) when I reach up to wash the window or stretch across the counter to clean the corner near its awkward location.

Thanks for posting such a great transformation series. It gives me hope! We moved into our 1961-built home in 2005 and the kitchen has never seen a remodel other than white tile counters that the former (and original) owner probably added in the mid-eighties, which I might add - I've come to despise! Especially after having granite in the previous two houses. In fact, the white tile was the recent trigger to my "I can't stand these countertops and I'm not gonna take it anymore" (sniff sniff, wipe away single tear) soliloquy.

Also, I enjoyed having captions to go along with the photos. As I watched your before photos scroll by I was thinking "yup, I know that feeling" and "yup, I know THAT feeling." (shakes fist at annoying old kitchens in general)

Again, amazing transformation. Congratulations!

It's better for the dishwasher drain hose if you hang it up higher. Right now, as it is, it holds a lot of water in the low part of the loop down.

I love the changes and all the usable space you have! I love the new lighting, new counters, and the total transformation is really a WOW! I love the 42" high cabinets for so much storage and the updated look! Which style cabinet is this since I was looking at one similar when I decided the inset cabinets were too much but I was going back and forth on the linen color versus the cognac stained maple doors or the glazed auburn stain on the maple doors. I may do my lighting and floor first and paint the cabinets temporary to save money since I had no idea how much it cost to remove the soffit, remove old cabinets, unplug and plug the appliances and the plumbing, the get counter I want with a new sink and faucet and install the new cabinets ON TOP of needing the tile floor installed and needed my new lighting. But that is a great idea with your light to get rid of that ugly fixture I have. I have been going back on forth on recessed halogen lights or a fixture like yours.

I have Brazilian Cherry Floors in my open family room so I wanted a wood that will go with them. I love the light maple doors on your kitchen cabinets but it will not work in my room. I really appreciate you for sharing. I am so happy for you.

Thanks for reminding me that I need a new water heater now that I keep putting off. Mine is 21 years old!

This is a really lovely kitchen. The cabinet color is just beautiful, and your backsplash compliments it perfectly. Great choices all around.

Wow, what a difference versus the old kitchen in terms of layout!!! Enjoy every minute in your wonderful and functional new kitchen.

Thank you for the link to the Lowe's fixture. I saw that one, but was scared off by the reviews. Glad to hear its working for you. Might have to revisit it again.

ICFgreen- Actually that pewter color is the one I have. It doesn't look as dark on my ceiling. All halogens get hot; we didn't install it as I said. So once it's up there, it's up there and done. :) Yeah, honestly if I read reviews endlessly (like I do on Amazon.com), I'd never make a decision, so I tried to just buy one. I found another ceiling light I liked but I measured the room empty and forgot the over fridge cabinet would be so close, so I had to return it. It was 6' long! Opening that door would hit the fixture. Good luck in your search.

Wow...you must be so happy with you beautiful AND functional kitchen! Great job!

Cherryblossom99, the light is similar to what my neighbors have and it gives great light since Halogens have CRI (Color Rendering Index) of 100 making their colors so true and bright.

I love the undercabinet lighting. Your cabinets look like the cabinets I almost bought in the Linen color. I am still upset with myself but maybe if I do my floors now and the lighting, I can revisit the installation costs and find a contractor to remove the soffit and the cabinets since Home Depots, $8,400 cabinets became $24,000 with NO uncabinet lighting and no other light installed but a fixture I bought and that price does not include the tiles I bought and I would still need to buy grout and thinset. The other place wanted $31,000 but that price included recessed lighting, LED's under the cabinets, the grout and thinset.

The prices I am getting charged to install the tiles are so much more than the quotes I got before deciding to do the whole project and let the place doing the kitchen install the tiles and lighting. Hence, I have decided to not put the tiles under the cabinets and to do the lighting also and revisit the cost without these two items in it.

But I see I would have enjoyed the cabinets you bought that I also loved in the Maple stained Auburn Glaze color. I loved the light maple but as I said, they did not go with the wood floors in my other room.

I am going to miss those pull out trash cans and the silverware organizer that I was looking forward to.

I know you will continue to be happy for many more years.

Beautiful! And what an amazing use of space. Enjoy!

Now, there's a great thing to be thankful for at Thanksgiving. I love that red pendant over the sink! Mostly what I love is seeing what a useful space you made out of a kitchen that could only have been loved/designed by some guy who never actually used a kitchen for its intended purpose.

Great work-- wonderful to see such great use of a smaller space.

I stopped at Lowe's tonight for light bulbs and their cabinets were very nice that also looked like what I almost bought. I will continue to save for my kitchen but first I will do the ceiling lights and the tile install so I have that out of the way. I was amazed that the taller cabinets had the 2nd shelf even higher up so that I could only read the 1st shelf. The 30" cabinets I have now, I can only reach the front of the bottom shelf and tip toe to get something off the bottom shelf.

I also love the red pendant over the sink!

Boy, girlie! Are you living large now or what!?!

Just amazing. What did people think when they put kitchens in years ago?

From the few peeks at the rest of your house, it sounds like your kitchen was a black hole. Given the little sights of elegance I could see, your kitchen is just the crowning jewel.

Great job and congrats!

Christine

Great pics. What was the total cost of your remodel? Could you break the price down for us?

Also, how did you go about finding a trustworthy contractor. For your remodel?

We are really happy! For a while, during the remodel, it felt like it was like looking into a magazine we'd never be able to use. Now when we use it daily, we always are saying how much easier it is. Before the portable dishwasher, I was wasting time cleaning dishes after every meal and had to put my young son on hold just so that the kitchen would be usable at the next snack/meal. Now after dinner, gone is the hour long cleanup routine. We load the dishes and run 1 load, do minimal dishes by hand and move on with life!

It was really hard to enjoy cooking (my 1 main hobby, I'd say) with that old kitchen. I couldn't keep pepper, salt, and oil nearby the stove. I back tracked all the time.

I spent a lot of time, since the end of September until a week ago, making decisions, researching online, and living and breathing kitchens. I didn't want to make a mistake for this much money.

It's a 9'x9' kitchen if you exclude the hallway, so it had to be organized and planned well. I took the Lowe's plans and wrote in where I would put everything after taking an inventory of every item I have in the kitchen.

The cabinets are Shenandoah brand "Winchester" style cabinets in honey maple. When I needed replacement parts and when a door had a big knot on it, they sent it out fast!

Thank you all, I am so happy reading your comments.

Lynn2006- Sheandoah (sold at Lowe's) Winchester cabinet in honey maple. No glaze. It would have added about 20% to the cost and we were already sticker shocked by the total bill. It cost a lot for us because we had to move gas lines, water lines, put the microwave and fridge on their own circuit, and run new electrical. I thought given the space 9x9' it'd be cheaper for cabinets, but really, you get what you pay for. After pricing 2 other stores for similar cabinets, we realized Lowe's was the best quality and Shenandoah had a lifetime warranty.
What's nice about the over the fridge cabinet is that even though you can't reach the back shelf without a stepstool, the front is flush with the fridge so I can put my slow cooker up there without help!

I saw a lot of things I liked over the course of the remodel (cabinet colors, granite, lights) but you're right, some items just are beautiful but won't work with your remodel.

Our h20 heater was 17 years old. It started to leak randomly and recede. The installer said we should replace it when he turned off the water to the house and the relief valve started dripping. Once we decided to replace it, he started to drain it and the drain valve just FELL off. The entire water heater emptied all over my unfinished basement floor. We were slopping buckets as fast as we could. Thankfully there's a drain nearby but it was still a mess. If you see any leaks at all, replace it early and have buckets ready anyway. Good luck.

taggie- We are enjoying every minute. I am so thankful we got it done!

Suzannes1- thank you! So true, it must have been designed by someone who didn't care about having a useful kitchen! We actually saw the house empty and we knew the kitchen wasn't great at all, but it was the best house we had seen and had good bones. I would have loved to see how the previous owners used that horrible kitchen!

Thanks waterdamage- It is a small room and it's not a giant kitchen with an island, I would have loved that but we had to live within our means and dimensions. Haha.

Thanks CEFreeman! The old kitchen really made us sad. It was the only thing we argued about and felt helpless to change. Thank you, it really makes the house complete! And I can't believe how often I use it! ;)

SiMBa37 - Whatever you think your remodel will cost or want it to cost, double it. It is a luxury but for us it was a luxury/necessity. Cabinets were most expensive, then labor, then appliances, then granite, then all the other little things. I suggest not going with the least expensive contractor, you surely get what you pay for. When I asked the cheapest contractor about a written contract and if he was licensed and insured, he got scared. He blew off a follow up appointment and never called me back. He would not have done as good of work as the guys I went with. With the company I chose, I had used them before to install lighting and was so impressed by their professionalism and punctuality. I am big on punctual, it means a lot to me.

This remodel really overloaded me with decision making, it was overwhelming decision making, but I'm glad we got through it! :)

Thank you Cherryblossom99 for letting me know that the cabinet style was what I was looking at since Woodmark (won many awards for being so green & I would have had no problems with any outgassing and they are all plywood with soft close drawers and doors) has styles that are the same for Home Depot and Lowe's. Lowe's Winchester is the Home Depot's Charlottesville that I loved and was considering to go in my kitchen to look nice with the open family room, either the Maple painted Linen Finish or the Maple stained with the Autumn Glaze. I loved the simple style door and drawer and the quality of the cabinets and the price until I got a quote on installing my tiles, removing my soffit and cabinets and installing my lighting. I guess I should have also looked at Lowe's since when I was there tonight, I saw they had the same product but maybe they would have been more fair to me. But I am going to do the tiles first and the lighting and then revisit the project. My kitchen is 10 X 14 in size and unfortunately I have a soft and bought tiles that I want installed and I want the huge ugly light in the ceiling removed.

But I will miss that perfect pull out trash can and recyclable container, that double slide out silverware organizer, the lazy Susan's since I am short and I would have had one on the top cabinet to get to everything, the soft close drawers, the easy clean up finish on the cabinets, etc. I am so happy for you since that maple color I liked a lot also but had to choose what would look good with the room my kitchen is open to.

I already have my appliances but I could not understand why they wanted to charge me $659 to install a $150 fixture I bought that is small. They wanted to charge me $2,880 to install the tile and not provide me with the grout or the thinset when I already had prices of $1670 and $2,330 from installers who would provide me with the grout and thinset. They wanted $2,880 to remove the old cabinets and the soffit that had nothing underneath. They wanted over $1500 to unplug my appliances and plug them back in. This was the Home Depot installers. I guess I should have looked at Lowe's. But I know getting the other things done first will help me when I am looking again. Meanwhile, I am going to find a handy person to remove my soffit so that will not be in the equation next time since it has nothing in it as others in my townhouse complex have removed it.

That is great that American Woodmark send you need replacement parts quickly.

Again, enjoy your beautiful kitchen that has both form and function and beauty.

P.S. Cherryblossom- My installation + the granite counters were three times the price of my cabinets which was a sticker shock for me. But I felt they had value and I think I would do what you did (find my own installers and not the store's installers) when I am ready to buy cabinets again. I do love natural maple and I would have not gone with the glaze either. If I went with the linen I would go with no glaze but the Auburn color matched my Brazilian Cherry floors so I would have had to go with the glaze. I did price out cabinets from a cabinet place and their cost was more and then their total cost became even more with their tile install price of $3,300 and their lighting cost of $4,500. Like I said, I feel I should do what I can first so when I am looking again, these other costs will not be in the total price to have less of a sticker shock.

P.S.S. My cabinets were going to be the 36" tall ones but I love your 42" ones with the extra shelf. I also love the usable drawer under the sink that tilts that I did not add since I told the Kitchen Designer I wanted it and he forgot when he did the plan. But I do love the taller cabinets. Your kitchen has such an amazing renovation and I feel happy tonight seeing it and seeing you chose what I loved also. You did a great job on your back-splash. I was going to wait to do that next year. Your children seem to be enjoying your kitchen also and I am sure your husband loves it and the extra time you have for him with such a nice dishwasher. Congratulations again. Sorry for another post but my friend keeps calling as I type so I have to send and I keep forgetting to tell you everything. His 16.5 year old dog that he loved passed away and he misses her so much.

I do love your surfaces and your colors. However, to me the thing that makes your remodel truly great is that you took a kitchen that was dysfunctional and made it a workhorse. It went from cringeworthy to "I could make Thanksgiving and the sides here."

I don't know if this would take a lot of time, but if you have a drawing or schematic of your kitchen before and another one after, you might post them along with your pix. People studying this thread who are just embarking on their remodel could really benefit.

It's good advice to give to focus on quality of work and not just price.

So what did you pay for the total and are you willing to break down the price to exact numbers?

If you don't want to volunteer that info, that's okay, just let us know.

I just showed my friend you kitchen and he told me he knew I would be happy with all those nice features. I have a new tile guy coming by tomorrow night that owns a construction company who will look at my situation and see what he can do for me. If you are able to break out numbers to help those of us that have small kitchens that would be great but if not, we enjoyed seeing the changes in your kitchen and all you have shared already.

Fantastic! It looks great and I bet it's a joy to work in now. Congrats! (LOVE the pullout for the cutting boards, etc, and the built ins. Very cool.)

I just noticed the pull-out pan cabinet that I want my next kitchen to have! Cherryblossom's kitchen designer did a great job incorporating so many organization items that I now want to make sure I also incorporate into my next kitchen. I keep coming back to look. I have another electrician coming by tomorrow to find the cost to remove the big ugly fluorescent light.

I am so impressed with what you've done with your kitchen. 9'x9' nothing! I bet you've got more workable space in this kitchen than others much larger. It's very cohesive and easy on the eyes! Two large prep areas on either side of the sink and landing space for your oven to boot. Yay for you!

Great improvements! So inspiring! I am about to jump into my own kitchen renovation I have a couple of questions in addition to the others- how much of the work did you do yourself and how much did you have the experts do?
How long did the project take from start to finish?
Did you have to update plumbing or electrical (beyond the switches) at all?

Cherryblossom99, I feel you got a great deal! Thanks for sharing.

My kitchen is 10 X 14 but since it is an open kitchen and one wall has a sliding door there is just so many cabinets that can be installed. Also part of the kitchen had my table in it since I am using my dining room and living room as a home office in my townhouse. The kitchen is open to the small family room that is a little bit smaller than my kitchen with Brazilian Cherry floors and beige/taupe leather sofa and recliner and glass tables with cherry legs.

My 36" high cabinet cost (same style as yours but a different name since Woodmark is the manufacturer of your Winchester cabinets and the Charlottesville I had chosen for my kitchen) was $8400 after the discounts.

Since I am only 4'10" tall, the kitchen designer felt lazy susan's above would help me get to everything since I have a blind cabinet now. I like the way your cabinets are above better. I also wanted a pull out pan drawer and he told me that I had no room. I think I should have went to Lowe's instead of Home Depot. I was afraid to go with 42" high cabinets since I am so short but I see they have 4 shelves instead of three shelves so maybe there is extra room. When I am on my tallest ladder, I can touch the ceiling but on the shorter two step stool, I have to get on the counter now to get into the top shelf of my 30" cabinets.

The tile floor installation was way over everyone else's install cost when I had installers look at my floor ($1600, $1670 & $2,330 costs with the installers providing the grout, installation and the covering on the bottom of the cabinets while Home Depot told me to buy my own materials... I already bought the tiles).

I have gotten $175 quote to install my light in the kitchen by one outside installer and another one will install it in my dining room for free if I bought high hats from him and give me a new free can over the sink. Amazing installation price Home Depot was going to charge me!

I see now that I do not know if I want a cabinet over the sink and love my clock there so maybe that would have saved me some money.The sale ended yesterday so I would have to wait for a new sale or see who else has nice cabinets or check out Ikea or save money for the Shiloh Cabinets if I have a reasonable installer to do everything for me. But my budget unfortunately was not nearly as much as the quotes for everything I was getting or I would have not looked now and waited to save for another year. I had no clue how much everything would cost.

Home Depot wanted over $2,800 to remove the soffit and cabinets and over $1300 to unplug the appliances and plumbing and plug them back in.

Without any back-splash installed and no lights under my cabinets except for the one over their sink, and using a B granite (either the Giallo Ornamental or the Santa Cecilia or the New Venetian Gold as my choices with NO overhang on the counter that separates the rooms ... would have cost more to allow stools to be there so I said NO), the total cost by Home Depot came to $24,000 for me!

At least the $30,500 price from the cabinet store included canned high hats, lighting under all the cabinet but that price was too high for getting cabinets that I was not in love with. His cabinet price for the Kemper was over $13,000 for the 36" high cabinets in either the Pearl finish or the Cherry cabinets stained Nutmeg.

I never priced the installation of the Shiloh Cabinets that I loved so much in the inset reset doors but the cost of the cabinets was over $13,500 with some organizers but not as much but I would have to pay sales tax. The sale is only good until the end of December. If I wanted no organizers and just cabinets with little drawers and keeping my soffits, the price was less than $10,000 but I would have to pay sales tax and find my own installers. Their installed B grade granite price was in line with the $3700 to $3800 that I was going to be charged by Home Depot before the 7% sales tax kicked in. I see I probably could do better buying from a granite place directly.

Also at first I liked the Savannah cabinets but then found them too busy and $1,200 more for my small kitchen. I thought the busier cabinet would overwhelm my small kitchen.

I am still amazed that you got the cabinets for that great price with all those organization features and having 42" high cabinets! I feel based on quotes that I got, that you got a great deal. I will let others chime in.

I found someone that will remove cabinets and the soffit at a good price unless I want to attempt to paint my cabinets. He also will install my tile had 1/3 the cost of Home Depot! He came by two nights ago to look at my situation.

P.S.: I do not have a garbage disposal and my dishwasher does not have that either so my price did not include a garbage disposal. Also I had all my appliances and range hood so my price quotes do not include any new appliances.

Dalmadarling- Thanks. With the rest of the house, excluding new roof and windows, we've done everything ourselves. So for this remodel we really laid back. Plus most of it were weren't qualified to do and didn't feel like risking our lives to save a few bucks. :) We had enough to worry about making food and keeping our young child safe and happy. And really, it was taxing even if you forgot about the cost or the decisions. It was just hard to live like that on a daily basis: having no sink and having to use a small bathroom sink next to the kitchen and having to use a microwave, toaster, and slowcooker as your only way to cook. We really did nothing other than make purchases and decisions. The only things we did were paint a matching wall by the pantry and put up the pendant light over the sink. Everything else was the professionals.

It took about 15.5 solid days of work. The 1/2 day was a weekend day. When I say 15 days I don't mean consecutive, there were weekend breaks. So basically 3 weeks.

We had to update EVERYTHING! The gas line for the oven had to be moved from the corner to the new wall. They had to run new electrical for the microwave and fridge. There were giant holes in the ceiling to run new electrical for new wall switches so when you entered the room on either side you could turn the lights on. They added lots more outlets (2 brand new ones) and ran new electrical. They added the switch for the garbage disposal. We had no modern conveniences. Short of ripping out the floor and putting in new walls, they had to really start fresh. They ran a water line for the fridge. They had to move the electrical so that we could switch the light on and off on the drywall side of the pantry. They had to install a switch for the undercabinet lighting.

What a transformation! It looks great. I particularly like your under sink cabinet. What great organization ideas! Hope you enjoy your new space. The lovely photos are giving me hope that I may have a lovely kitchen despite being in the midst of chaos at present!

Lynn2006- Blind cabinets are really difficult. We had one in the last kitchen and it was really dead space. Basically, if you use it often, don't put it in a blind cabinet, right? How long ago did you get the cabinets put in? What is the exact problem, the color and design or that it isn't optimized well enough? Can you post pics? I won't go up there every day with a ladder to the highest cabinet, but I really like having the option for things like a knife sharpener, out of season plates, etc.
That sounds much more reasonable regarding the light installation price. Whatever cabinet you go with, I was shocked about one thing. One manufacturer had a 5 year warranty (up from 1 year!) and the company I went with had lifetime. So factor that into your decision. It seems the big box stores really go overboard on the price quotes. I'd look into a separate contractor to do all the installs, like I did, get a few of those kinds of quotes.
I did go to Home Depot once, but they gave me a quick design and "get out of here" incomplete price. It was confusing, but that was my opinion of them. I'd definitely get some organizers, I think I'd regret that. Look at local granite yards. I remember I called 2 yards that are used by Lowe's and they'd actually charge me more because they have agreements with the big box stores to keep prices low. But we found a standalone place that gets the granite themselves, fabricates, and does it all. It was half the price of Lowe's!
With a smaller kitchen, definitely go lighter and less busy for design. As long as that guy's insured and licensed, I'd say go with him for 1/3 the price of home depot! One thing I like is we got a 1 year warranty on labor. Ask if he does that. Good luck!

mmhmmgood- Don't worry, I felt "hopeless" there a while that it'd never end and it WAS chaos, I agree. It WILL end and it's a joyful, happy, glorious moment when the workers leave your home and it's all yours! (I really appreciate the workers, but at the end of 3 weeks of remodeling day-in day-out, you really want your home back!)

Cherryblossom99, I bought my townhouse over 14 years ago and have been living here for 14 years. The cabinets came with the home and were 7 years old. They are now 21 years old builder grade cabinets with no organizers and only the tiny back short shelf in back of the cabinets. I do have two lazy susans at least but that blind cabinet bothers me and the fact that the cabinets are 19.25" above the counters.

I think I should have went to Lowe's and Home Depot. I am still in love with the Shiloh Inset Cabinets in the Polar White Finish but the price was a lot more and I would have to find my own installers which looks like I should anyway.

I will send you a link to a cracked tile post where I show pictures of my cabinets. I wanted to put them in a slide show but I got too busy and thought it was best to do it this way as I saved the pictures from a slide show of the before kitchen and the after kitchen and the kitchen asking about the new tiles. I have several pictures with one link to each jpg picture.

Should I keep these tiles, sell them and install my wood floors, or hold off installing them until I know what to do. I need my 4 chairs back in the kitchen. I only had two in the picture but I put all 4 chairs back in the kitchen. The table has sides that go up and down plus a middle insert in case I have company.

Thanks for letting me know that I can get granite at half off than what the big box stores was going to charge me.

If I go with the dark cherry cabinets to match my floor in the other room that has darkened, I wonder if my kitchen would look so dark. That is why I was thinking of going with painted cabinets or a light wood unless I keep the counters light and go with light tile floor instead.

I will put the link in my next post.

Shattered Tile Post with several pictures of my kitchen in the links further down with one picture per link and a description of the link. Please give me suggestions what I should do about the floor and kitchen. The kitchen is only 10 X 14 including the area with the table. If I put all 4 chairs in the kitchen with the 42" round table open, then it is even smaller looking and not much room to walk. I know I am blessed to have this nice of a kitchen with the new appliances but I still hate my cabinets, floor, counter, that light and soffit. I am waiting for this other electrician to email me his quote before deciding who to use for the new lighting. Then I have to decide if I should install the tile and pay the high costs to the installers in NJ or sell the tile to cut my losses and install the Brazilian Cherry floors that I have now in the open family room that have darkened up since the picture was taken.

Here is a link that might be useful: Shattered Tile Post with several pictures of my kitchen

Bump .... I want the OP to see my link since she wanted to see my kitchen. I guess I should really take the pictures out of the link to create a slide show of my kitchen so the person does not have to scroll down to see the pictures, one at a time. Should I do this when I have more time later on?

Nice! But did you use Lowe's for anything other than the design? I find the whole idea so overwhelming that I want to just hire someone and say "Here. Do it."

Hackwriter, I also wanted the kitchen places to do everything but then the cost became 3X as much as the cabinets at each place.

Your kitchen is warm and inviting, and looks like the heart of a true family home, especially after seeing the children's spoons and forks in your cutlery drawer. Sweet!

Mhohe, I never noticed the children's spoons and forks so I had to look at the slide show again and you are so right that it really shows you the warmth of this kitchen. I have two tile guys coming to give me estimates. I am not putting the tile under the cabinets so when I am ready for cabinets that will be one less expense that contractors do not need to sub out and cost me so much. I am also trying to do the lighting first.

mhohe- yes, and we have cute kid plates to match. That does look cute, doesn't it? Never gave it too much thought. :) Thanks for mentioning it!

lynn2006- I will respond to your posts today, ironically I am reading my son a book in a minute. Be right back.

Nice work! Really awesome to see the transformation - enjoy seeing the before and after pics.

Question: I actually loved your magnetic knife holder and the stainless spice rack with large containers for spices (where did you get them and do you find that you miss them?) I actually was thinking of getting those but can't find them anywhere.

Julie_Purdue: You can get the magnetic knife holders anywhere, like at Bed Bath and Beyond or Amazon.com. I got all those products you mentioned from Ikea, though I no longer shop there. The spice containers aren't that large, that's their problem. I wasn't happy refilling them so often and twisting the caps wasn't easy.

I don't miss them. It may work in someone else's kitchen but I prefer my spices in a cabinet where they can't discolor. And I prefer to use larger containers. For instance the front of the parsley was yellow and colorless and the back of the parsley (where the sun doesn't reach) was dark green like it should be. I haven't found the perfect spice situation but I don't think it exists.

With the knife rack, it was handy, but I must say there were a few times you'd go to put it back and it's slip out of your hands and onto your feet. So we thought it was safer with a young child (and for ourselves) to put everything in a knife block.

Cherryblossom99, I also have a knife block and felt that was safer so the sharp knives would not cut me.

I am really liking the Charlottesville door sample I have here in the Linen but wish the doors would be a little fancier. The Savannah I had at first loved but it is just too busy for me. I feel sad that I decided to keep the tiles than lose the $500. I think they will look pretty once installed but I am finding out that it can be a problem if I do cabinets after the install.

Hackwriter- Lowe's was just for design and I ended up buying the glass tile, Roman blind, and overhead light, pretty much nothing else. We had to save money because the total was already WAY out there for us, before a designer. It IS overwhelming. To say I never cried, got angry, or wanted to just forget it all, I'd be lying. But the end result will be worth it.

Lynn2006- I can't see your kitchen in person, so take my advice with a grain of salt. If the cabinets are truly banged up and are just horrible, replace them. Or if they're pretty much ok, I'd look into adding some interior organizers (like 2 pull outs per lower cabinet for pots and pans). You have a pretty good layout, given how mine was I would have lived with yours. I love your built-in pantry next to the fridge. I'd remove the scalloped trim over the sink, my designer said that's outdated. I'd DEFINITELY replace your floor, replace counter (maybe extend it to add bar stools), change the sink to undermount, replace the light you hate, repaint the ceiling a fresh coat, replace faucet, do something with the backsplash (Paint or tile), and look into either having the cabinets PROFESSIONALLY painted or re-faced. The reason I say professionally is that we took a solid week to clean the grease off our old cabinets, sand, prime, and paint 2 coats and in 4 years, the paint started to fall and smooch off. It was ugly, though it looks great for a few years! I really LOVE your appliances, don't change a thing there. I love them all and the range is so modern! Unless you're really short on cabinet space and you don't want to replace the cabinets, I'd leave the soffit.
If you do decide to gut it all because you live in a very nice area and you're 100% sick of it and sick of the quality, do yourself a favor and look into an independent general contractor, these big box stores are a RIP OFF on labor! Make sure your upper cabinets are the right height from the bottom.
There has to be someone you can put the tile boxes while deciding. If you were to do real construction, you need a lot of flex room, we discovered. I am not sure about your tile choice, I need more info. But I love the larger tiles over any smaller ones. Tiling your flooring at an angle towards your table would look nice too.
Google your area for granite starting at $39/sq foot or just google the granite places. Then check out a few of their warehouses. I heard somewhere, don't quote me, that the floors and countertop should go together and the cabinet should contrast. But that was some professional person's idea, who knows.

Flooring, having wood in the kitchen like I do is nice but you do worry about drips of water. I have gotten used to it and clean up quickly, but do what you think. Lay some tiles and try to live with it for 6 hours. Fill 1/4 of the room and see how you like it. But it'd be a big mistake to do the floor and then realize you want to do the cabinets too. I'd make a firm decision now if I were going to do the whole kitchen or just small fixes like the floor, toe-kick, and counters. Here's a problem with doing the floor first around your existing cabinets and then installing new cabinets. The depth of the cabinets may not line up and you could possibly have exposed subfloor between your new toe-kick and your new floor. You can barely see it, but I noticed the new cabinets expose MORE of my wood floor than the old cabinets. Meaning that if my floors were severely damaged or a different color there, you'd notice. But I'm not an expert, so get people's opinions and I wish you the best! And I really do love your arrangement, you should save BIG $ on not having to move your oven, sink, or dishwasher. BIG $$.

My husband wanted to say look into refacing the cabinets before spending all that on new cabinets. But we can't see it, so if the inside cabinet guts are falling apart, and your shelves are rotten, then I guess get new cabinets.

Just sit down and really think about the room, while in it. Are the cabinets severely damaged or is it just cosmetic issues and organizers that can fix it?

And I am not sure if you want the microwave over the stove to save space? It's all preference. Or if you want a double bowl sink etc? I did a 60/40 sink. There's so many decisions, let me tell you.

Cherryblossom99, thank you for your advice. I also love big tiles in a kitchen but have a love/hate relationship now with these tiles. I loved how they looked in my neighbor's home with the dark Java Cherry modern cabinets and dark counters and a lot of Halogen lighting. But in my kitchen, I only like them when the sun is out and I am getting natural sunlight. I will never buy flooring that I can't return again.

Thanks for letting me know that the new cabinets expose more of the wood floor. That would not be good if the cement floor is seen and more needs to be covered.

The tiles do not go with the blinds. I hate that soffit. If I was working and getting my invoices out instead of being so kitchen obsessed, I would be in a better situation. I just thought I bought tiles and finally I will get rid of that floor. If I knew how much work it was to install tiles, I would have just installed the wood floor and adjusted it when I got knew cabinets.

That light has to go but the electricians do not give me enough information to be comfortable with them. I need to make a decision. I just am scared to go with a high hat too deep that will not fit with bulbs I like.

Some of the cabinets are in decent shape and others are not. I love the layout of the kitchen so that I am not changing.

I hate the soffit but it looks like it has to stay if I keep the cabinets. I wanted a microwave over the stove but I feared I would need a step ladder to use it or burn myself and now I wish I did do this. If I was getting new cabinets, I would have a bigger cabinet above the range hood to store more stuff and to lower the range hood since it looks funny being to high up.

I definitely need a backsplash.

I found a painter that is reasonable but I am not sure his contract he mailed me means he will be able to do a good jobs on cabinets. He is so nice and needs work and his price is so good. He would prime the cabinets and paint them two coats with me buying the paint and primer. I feel he may need to prime them a few times but be careful to not crack the very thin veneer on the doors if he sands in between coats since the cabinets sides are particle boards and the doors have very thin veneer panels.

Again in the day time, I like the tiles but at night they have a gray undertone clashing with my blinds and it is bothering me so much that it is affecting my work and I need to make a decision what to do.

If I never bought the tiles, I would just do lighting right now and wait to save more money and get what I want.

You are right that if I keep the cabinets, I badly need pull-out shelves and something to help me with that blind cabinet as well as new hinges to replace the tarnished one and some door hardware.

Cherryblossom99, Home Depot wanted over $18,000 for refacing my cabinets, leaving the soffit and that would not make me happy for that price at all! If I paid that night, the price was a little more than $15,000. That is when I started to look for new cabinets.

I am really liking the Linen finish on the Charlottesville (same as your Winchester door) sample door here (customer returned a damaged door) despite it being lighter than I wanted. It seems to match BM Cloud White but BM Cloud White has a tint of yellow in it.

The installation price at Home Depot of $1,485 was not a lot with no sales tax on the $8,400 cabinets (which maybe I could get down in price by seeing what changes I could make) and have a contractor remove the cabinets and soffit and another one install the lighting and another one install the floor.

I think I will keep the tiles. I was getting frustrated with them and wishing they were creamier but in the right lighting, they are nice. I love the size. I can't return them so I would have to sell them.

I really still like the Shiloh recessed door cabinet in the warmer Polar Color better but the $5,000 price difference is a lot for me to not get back when I sell my townhouse one day. My townhouse was worth so much 6 years ago since I live 1 hour from NYC. It is still a lot of money for a townhouse but it has gone down a lot in value. The houses behind me pay over $28,000 in real estate taxes. My real estate taxes are only $7,400 with no real land but that tiny backyard but that is not a lot for my area despite feeling it is a lot for me with no basement. The appraiser came around increasing everyone's taxes that did major improvements in their home but my place was not increased and stayed the same since I was one of the only townhouses still with my old cabinets, my old kitchen floor, the same ugly laminate counter, the same bathrooms..... He said the engineered Brazilian Cherry floors downstairs did not counter as an improvement and neither did he count two floors of all new window treatments like sheer horizontal blinds and other very nice blinds. I guess I was lucky he came when he did before I am contemplating on fixing my home up more.

I know if I did not live in such an expensive area, I could by such a nice house with what my townhouse would sell for but I am here for now and I do love my townhouse or I would have bought the house instead in the other neighborhood that I did not like as much but I would have had a two car garage and an extra bedroom with a bigger backyard for around the same price. But I love my neighborhood.