How much would a new kitchen cost? (Part 1 of 3)

This is a question I rarely get asked. Clients who visit our showroom to look at cabinetry often are either nervous about this question, or they already have a good idea about what these things will cost. Sometimes people go into shock when they hear me tell them what they might like to budget for the cabinetry portion of the project. This can vary wildly in what percentage of the overall cost of entire project runs. I have seen cabinetry exceeding half of the entire budget, or using only about 20% of it. This certainly is determined by the level of quality that a client is expecting and which items are priorities to the client as well as how large the room is and how many cabinets there are. If the budget is tight, but the client wants commercial grade appliances and exotic stone for the countertops, there may be only enough money left for cheaper cabinets. The truth is, people usually want better cabinetry, and many are surprised to hear that what they thought was good quality often is less so.

"Production quality" is good for many remodeling projects. This product is a money and time saver as the cabinets are produced quickly (literally 2 days in some cases) and shipped quickly. Depending on the brand, there can be many beautiful door styles and the choices in finishes continue to get nicer looking as these factories do battle with each other to get your business. The fact is though, that if you intend to stay in the house for over 5-10 years, you may want to look to one of the next levels which we call semi-custom and full custom. For the sake of today's blog entry, let's focus on the production variety.

These cabinet companies often print expensive gorgeous literature and hire excellent designers so that the visible parts of the product are great looking, mainly the doors and the drawer fronts. This is what you find in the Big Box stores in a variety of quality levels.

The least expensive has particle board in various thicknesses as the main construction material including the drawer bodies, sides, bottoms, tops, and shelves. Purchasing these cabinets for your project is a great way to save money on getting a home ready for quick sale (flipping), although due to the nature of the construction, these are more liable to suffering shipping damage.

The Perfect Sink (Part 2)

Kitchen sinks come in lots of materials other than stainless steel. I love stainless myself, but I do have clients who don’t and want to know which way to go on this extremely important part of their new kitchen.

When I replaced my counter tops (10 years ago??) I chose DuPont Corian for various reasons. (the stuff of another whole blog post) I wanted stainless steel under-mount sinks in my new tops, but was over-ruled by my husband and daughter. The seamed-in Corian sinks I got are cool as there is absolutely nowhere for grime to hide. If you close your eyes and feel the area where the sink and top are joined, you will not be able to feel a seam at all. It is quite hygienic, and for that reason doctors and nurses seem to be especially drawn to that feature. My objection to Corian as a sink material is that it is white (or off white). I don’t know about your house, but the stuff that hits my sink is rarely white. It’s coffee, tomato sauce, grease, berries, meat juices and all sorts of dark staining stuff. A bit of “Soft Scrub” with bleach is all it takes to make it look new again though. I did manage to gouge a spot at the bottom by bringing the barbeque grids in and trying to clean them in the sink. When it’s clean you really can’t tell, thank goodness.

Other choices for sink materials exist, and if you don’t want stainless, you owe it to yourself to explore them all. The porcelain cast iron sink is certainly substantial, and does come in some lovely colors. It may take two people to carry it in the house as they are so incredibly heavy. Kohler is the big manufacturer of these and they come in a huge array of shapes and bowl sizes. The surface can be scratched or even chipped, but you’d have to drop a brick on it to make a big mark. The surface is high gloss so cleans
up brilliantly. If you under-mount one of these behemoths, (which you should) be prepared to pay your installer extra to build an armature below it to support the extra weight. These sinks are heavy on their own, but imagine what one will weigh when it’s full of water.

Take a Stand

When I go to a client’s home for the first time, I take pictures and careful measurements. I note what is stored where. I’ll ask what kind of cooking goes on there? How many people are eating in the kitchen at one time? What about the daily communications? I often find that 70’s style “Mom’s Desk” off to one side. It typically consists of a lap drawer “knee hole” with a small cabinet above it. I even see the old NuTone communication system above it, where apparently Mom was able to speak to all the family members while she was sitting there planning the weeks’ meals and cutting coupons. The phone is always there too, and often still with a cord holding it there like a captive. It’s clear that no one sits there anymore. The chair is often gone, and sometimes a wireless phone has long ago replaced the old corded one. We all have to have an area for our communications. The calendar, schedules, mail, weekly school packets…it all has to go somewhere, right?

That was then and this is now. Sometimes it takes some convincing, but my job is to point out new ways of doing things, and there is a better system for keeping all the stuff of a desk handy, but doing away with the chair. We call this the “standing desk”. Ever since the cordless phone was invented, the Mom’s desk became mostly obsolete. We now can take the phone (or laptop!) elsewhere to make the call, write the e-mail, or chat on the phone while multi-tasking. Checking e-mails is usually done at the breakfast table or island bar where there is more room. The eliminattion of that ball and chain makes it possible for us to get the whole area working harder. I typically place base cabinetry with upper drawers where the knee hole used to be. The stamps, paper clips, tape, scissors, envelopes, pens and paper tuck away here. All the stuff of a desk, without the knee hole or chair. Perhaps we need a file drawer or two there too. No Problem! The cordless phone can dock when it’s charging, and all the directories, phone books, etc can live in nice normal size wall cabinetry above. I point out that all the chargeable devices (cell phones, I-pods, cameras, GPS devices, etc) can be tucked into a basket on a shelf in there as well, with the outlet conveniently place there by an obliging electrician. We now have a hidden “recharge zone” right where we want it, but it and it’s nest of snaky wires is not on full view any longer.

The Perfect Sink (Part 1)

After multitudes of client meetings here in our showroom, I find homeowners are almost all looking for the best information they can get about all the materials for their new kitchen. Almost everything they are purchasing is expensive, visible, and has to last a long time with daily hard use, often by many family members. No other room in the house will have so many items that are so difficult to change later.

Everything you select is critical to the overall satisfaction with the finished kitchen: Appliances (the power tools), Countertops (the work surface), Floor (daily grind), Cabinetry (beautiful storage furniture), Hardware (function), Good Lighting (absolutely crucial).

The missing link- Plumbing fixtures (water appliances)

I like to think the cabinetry is a priority, and all the other vendors of various materials think the same way about their products. But truthfully, there is nothing else in that finished room that is more important than that sink and faucet. If you did a time/motion study of how you use your kitchen the sink rates close to 70% of your time. Even a bachelor who doesn’t cook will stand there to open take out food, put it on a dish, then rinse the dish and put it in the dishwasher. All sink work.

If you have lots of room and want double bowls, get at least one that has 21” of width inside so you can lay a roasting pan or cookie sheet flat to scrub or soak there. If you have room for only one bin, consider getting the largest single bowl for the space you have available. I had one client take her largest cookie sheet to the plumbing supply showroom to make sure it fit into her new sink. Smart cookie!

Winter Promotion

Now through February 28th 2011 Crystal Cabinetry is offering several amazing free upgrades to their custom and semi-custom cabinet lines.

◦ Free Highlight or Glazing on all Crystal product lines (Crystal, Quest, Encore and Keyline). Excludes Keepsake, Rub-thru, Homestead & Brushing.
◦ Free upgrade to Inset styling in Crystal and Keyline.
◦ Free upgrade to plywood box construction offered in Quest, Keyline and Encore product lines.

Please feel free to visit our showroom for a closer look at the award winning line of Crystal Cabinetry. We have ten Crystal displays and hundreds of samples to inspire you or your clients. If you would like more information about Crystal Cabinetry or any of our other cabinet lines please contact us and we will gladly mail you a product brochure. Or visit Crystal's website for more product information.

The New "Old World" Finish from Shiloh Cabinetry

NOW AVAILABLE IN SHILOH! Introducing the new Olde World finish. Featuring seven beautiful colors shown in the images below. Each color features a mocha highlight with a brown undertone. Standard finish techniques used (no modifications allowed) are worm holing, edge and panel gouging, glazing, wearing, dry brush glazing, rock dents, crackle and water spotting.

AIDP Decorating Open House

The Kleppinger Design Staff would like to thank all of the AIDP designers that participated in our Decorating Open House. They truly created a winter wonderland right here in our showroom. The decorations will remain up through the holidays so if you missed the open house and need some inspiration for the holidays, feel free to stop by our showroom for a visit. Information on the AIDP designers can be found on our AIDP webpage as well as in our showroom. AIDP member and photographer Bob Narod was kind enough to photograph the displays for us. Some of the images can be seen below. For more information on any of the decorations please contact Kleppinger Design Group or the AIDP designers. Click on any of the images below to enlarge.

Thanks again to Linda Bassert, Dianne Gensinger, Sue Rosenbaum, Marilyn Jenkinson, Toni Korby, Bonnie Heebner, and Bob Narod.

Save, Save, Save!

I’ve been learning about some methods to Reduce, Reuse, Recycle and SAVE money, energy and time right in the kitchen!

SAVE MONEY (It’s yours. You worked for it. Now keep some.)

Who wouldn’t want to waste less time and money? How about making less of a mess of our planet at the same time? We do the same things over and over because they are habits. What if we did some things just a bit differently? I know most of us have been recycling glass, plastic, metal and paper for quite some time. For some, that requires paying a trash company to haul it away for us. I recently learned that my refuse company had been charging me almost twice what another charges! (this after 10 years of paying enormous fees) After more inquiring, I further reduced this monthly fee by asking if they could stop by my house only once a week. The answer was yes. I now throw all the recyling together in one huge rolling bin, and all the trash in another identical one, and they are both picked up once a week. When I designed my kitchen, I placed a rollout trash/recycling bin next to my sink. It’s easy now to rinse the bottles and cans and toss them in. When it’s full, it gets dumped in the bin outside. No drips on the floor!

I’m Irish, and am always looking for ways to keep from having to buy stuff and more stuff. I have been washing disposable sponges in my dishwasher for years. As soon as they get grungy, I toss them into the top rack and run them thru. A quick squeeze when they come out and they smell like new. We have been even washing out our zip lock plastic bags. This may seem extreme, but some of those freezer bags are expensive, and if I only use them once, I’m spending my hard earned cash wastefully. Why not give them a sudsy rinse while you’re washing something else? The trick can be getting them dry though. Look at this cute little rack.

Parents, Kids, and Pets, Oh My!

When re-designing a kitchen space for a family, everyone who lives in the house and their needs must be considered. When I meet clients for the first time, I find out how many adults and kids there are, and also if they have pets. Some tell me “no pets yet“, but they are thinking about getting a dog. (Some tell me 3 cats, 2 dogs, a parakeet, a lizard, and 2 snakes!) I have a good reason for wanting to know about the pets because of their specific requirements. Can the floor material hold up to sandy dog feet? Where will you bathe the dog? Their food and feeding is also a household issue that must be addressed. If it’s a big dog, or several dogs, often the food is stored in huge bags in the pantry, a closet, or the laundry room. I often find boxes and bags of it in the old knee hole of the original kitchen desk (where no one has sat, apparently, since 1976).

Since we are starting from scratch, we can prepare a specific spot to feed the pets, store their food and hair care products, and even be sure to plan a great washing area for them. I try to also think about other items like the leashes. Can they go somewhere near the door without being in full view? Let’s make this easier, ok?

The floor material is critical. The enemy of a new wood floor is not water, food, or even the dog’s nails. It’s the grit that comes in from outside. That grit, carried onto the floor, begins to get spread around on your feet, the bottoms of chair legs, etc. It acts like sandpaper on your new floor. This doesn’t mean you can’t have wood floors, but if you do you will have to stop the grit from getting in. (or else vacuum and mop every day.) Most of us have a rug of some sort in the foyer and garage entry. If you come in the house with the dog through the garage, a space can be set up out there for wiping the dog’s feet before entering the house. Ideally, there is also a laundry tub nearby to make this easier and more efficient. A mud room would be the ideal place, if you have one. (see My Mud)

A feeding station needs to have a mat of some sort to catch the drips, (which in the case of Great Danes is considerable.) This mat should be water resistant, but can also be pretty. You will want the colors to coordinate with your new cabinets, countertops, and other accent accessories. Bargain rugs are available from lots of outlet type stores. Home Goods, T J Max, and Bed Bath, & Beyond come to mind. (look in the “Beyond” department!) Since these colorful rugs are usually inexpensive, they can be replaced as they get ratty without too much guilt. We also have to be certain to locate this station where it will not impede the daily traffic of your busy kitchen

Magic Corner

In laying out a kitchen, the corner cabinets can be tricky.  The most efficient use of base cabinet space in the corner is the "lazy susan".  However, sometimes the layout of the kitchen doesn't allow for the 36" of space necessary on each wall  for a standard lazy susan cabinet.  These great storage pieces do come in 33" wide but the door opening is so small it becomes a much less usable cabinet.  An alternative to the lazy susan is what's known as the "blind base".  This type of cabinet comes in different widths but is typically 24" deep with a door and drawer.  The "blind" section of the cabinet can be difficult to access so people generally store things that they don't use regularly in these corner units.  One solution we've found for this challange is the "Magic Corner 1" from Hafele.  The cabinet door mounts to a pull-out unit and rolling shelves allow easy access to items in the back of the cabinet.  The "Magic Corner 2" is another great option providing total access to the far reaches of the blind cabinet.  The front baskets pull out and swivel to a 90 degree open position while back baskets are simultaneously moved to the cabinet opening. 

Pantry Heaven

In all my years of helping families with kitchen remodeling, one theme continues to pop up: PANTRIES! It seems that most folks wish for a better, bigger, and more organized way to store dry food and other large items. Those who have no pantry at all are often determined to work one into their new kitchen plan. Since we are starting from scratch, my job is to make that dream come true. Sometimes, it is easy. The builder pantry of the 60’s-70’s era was built with typical 2x4 framing, drywall and (now aging) bi-fold doors. I commonly see shelves jam-packed; the floor covered with large items (cases and or liters of soda, Costco paper towels) and yet there is still enough room in front of the shelves to store 3 children. This is wasted space, which when remodeling this important room is unacceptable.

Decorating Dilemma

When I help clients in the showroom with their kitchen and bath selections, I find some have some trouble making hard choices. How will this cabinet look with that floor, and which granite looks best if I use Stainless Steel appliances? What if I like green glass tiles? What color grout should I use in my shower?

My training is primarily in space planning, although I have seen plenty of beautiful kitchens, and am happy to share my opinion of a particular combination. I tell folks that it’ s a lot like getting dressed to impress. (The decorative hardware is the earrings.) I also urge them to buy lots of kitchen/bath magazines and put sticky notes on any page that catches their eye. Maybe it’ s a light fixture, or the bar stools they like. Make notes, as later you might not remember why you liked something. Eventually, you will start to see a pattern develop which should help you to know you will love your final choice and not get tired of it.

The Crowning Glory

In over 30 years of working in the building/remodeling industry, I have seen amazing changes in styles of everything from appliances and flooring to decorative hardware and countertop materials. One thing that has blossomed into particular focus is the assortment of moldings offered by manufacturers to “accessorized” your kitchen cabinetry.

20 years ago when I remodeled my own kitchen, 42” high wall cabinets were getting popular. Elimination of the need for the bulky, boxy bulkhead, and gaining another 12” of dish storage was here to stay. Cabinets were set clear up to the ceiling, which was never exactly level, and some type of molding was required. I used a small but decorative cove type molding, and I thought it looked great. Nowadays, we have many more choices of not only moldings, but even combinations of moldings. Why do we have so many choices to make?? Just look at the yogurt section of the dairy case in your grocery store. We demand variety! 







Another addition to the arsenal for a designer, is the introduction of an idea which beautifully highlights the shapes of crown moldings. We call this “Staggered” moldings. This technique places several taller, deeper cabinets clear to the ceiling only in strategic locations. Often they are the diagonal corner wall cabinet, the refrigerator cabinet, and perhaps an oven or pantry cabinet. I then use somewhat shorter wall cabinets to fill in. The result is more mitering of the crown molding which truly displays their shapes and beauty much more than just running it across in a straight line of cabinets. This creates visual interest and movement and prevents the doors from becoming a “wall of wood”. It’s tricky though, and does take careful planning. 

The Great Divide

When I’m helping clients design a new kitchen, I show them some cool ways I’ve found to manage the storage of some odd shaped items. The baking sheets, pizza pans, roasting pans, cutting boards, and muffin tins can be extremely difficult to extract if they are all stacked on top of each other. Inevitably, the one you want is on the bottom. Thankfully, these items and others can be organized neatly in small spaces with dividers installed in various cabinets. Tray dividers are vertical partitions or metal racks that enable the cook to find an item and easily slide it out for immediate use. These work well in spots that might otherwise be tough to reach. I like to see them above the refrigerator in the deep wall cabinet I place above. Even a shorter cook can usually reach the bottom corner of a pizza pan or cookie sheet. They are standing up like books on a shelf. Easy peasy!

Other types of dividers can be arranged in drawers to corral all those odd-shaped items we seem to collect. I know I don’t use my pastry blender very often,(apple pie maybe twice a year) but when I want it, I have a space designed exactly to fit it. The apple corer fits right under it. The Container Store (I love this place) sells a system to arrange items in drawers which was designed by a woman in California. She realized that with rigid plexi type plastic, the only tool necessary to cut a straigt line was a razor blade. All you have to do is score it along a straight edge and snap the pieces over the edge of your counter or table. In the kit are also some peel and stick u-shaped channels that allow you to keep the rigid dividers in place in the drawer and to each other. I took all those wicked kitchen tools out and arranged them on my counter first. I like having the most often used ones closest, and the weirder ones at the back of the drawer. Now I have a perfect place for even the shish-kebob skewers. That’s power! I got so excited I went back and bought more. I now have a special drawer for the plastic picnic flatware, the special spoons for pho noodle soup and even birthday candles.

Ten Reasons People Remodel

When I meet clients in the showroom, we first sit down and I try to learn something about their family and their home. Depending on the age of the house, and how they would like the new room to function, certain topics almost always come up. I don’t have to ask them why they want to remodel their kitchen, but these are reasons I often hear:

Top Ten reasons you want to Remodel your kitchen:

10) The appliances are dying

9) The floor is shot

8) There is horrible lighting 

7) Not enough storage and what is there is hard to reach

6) The Formica counter top has seen better days

Spice is Nice

Your kitchen may be a very clean and organized space. Perhaps you know exactly where every single item is. Good for you. If not, please know we are used to helping people solve some of their problems with organization in this most often used space.

As we begin the process of designing a kitchen for a client, there are typical questions that help us understand how the current kitchen does or doesn’t work. We then know how to proceed to correct problem areas. One common complaint is storage and retrieval of spices. The bottles are small, and often hard to reach, but most often almost impossible to find. I find the analogy of a library a good starting point for explaining how we can help make this problem go away. Imagine going into a Library to find a specific book. The books are on the shelves, but they are going every which way, and the titles are all turned where we cannot see them. That’s the frustration you feel when you are searching for that tiny container of Cream of Tartar. Some solutions:

Me and my Mud (Room)

Long ago, the mudroom of a house was the area between the outside of the house and the inside. In winter ice and snow, and in spring with constant rain, this room with it’s tile floor was a barrier to keep mud off the finished wood floors of the house proper. In households with animals such as horses, you can imagine the dirt that otherwise would have been tracked inside.

Nowadays, I hear clients referring to their “mudroom” but most often I find it is the laundry room between the garage and the kitchen. We have been referring to this as the “Family Foyer” because guests use the formal front door, but the family goes in and out this informal “mudroom”. For families with children, this room can become a problem as the kids routinely dump the coats, backpacks, shoes and sporting equipment on the floor when they come home. What can be done?

We have been working in some solutions to such an area and making it pull double duty. This can be a place to store out of season outerwear and shoes if we can build up to the ceiling. (mittens/hats/ beach towels/ flip flops) Depending on how large the area is, we can create cubbies, often with coat hooks and a place to sit so that it’s easy to hang up the coats and back packs and put on, take off, and store shoes and boots. It’s also a great place for mom and dad to park some of their gear so it doesn’t wind up on the kitchen counters. A “charging” zone can be created for the various rechargeable devices (phones, cameras, GPS, laptop, I-pods) that could develop into a snake nest of wires in the more public parts of you home.

NARI President's Breakfast

Kleppinger Design Group hosted the NARI President's Breakfast on Sept. 23rd. June Stanish was on hand to snap a few pictures of the casual networking event. The monthly NARI President's Breakfast is an opportunity for NARI members and potential members to talk with the NARI Metro DC President Jerry Levine.

Tupperware Nightmare

Let’s face it. Getting dinner on the table is a big enough chore. There’s the planning, the shopping, the prep work, the retrieval of all the cookware, the actual cooking, and the endless clean up. Can we make this easier please????
I have worked with many families over the years to help them create their perfect dream kitchen. Each project presents me with a unique challenge which needs specific solutions to make life easier. Some areas are a common problem, but we have great ways to address them.
One complaint I almost know I’m going to hear about is the nightmare of the plastic containers we lovingly call Tupperware. There is no question that it is tough to store and retrieve. The lids go missing as they seem to jump off the shelf. Finding the right size container with a matching lid is frustrating at best.

iPad for the Kitchen

The iPad may be the best solution for those looking for a way to have easy access to recipes, music and more in their kitchen. Not many people will go to the extent of cutting out the cabinet center panel and mounting the iPad behind the door, but it does make an interesting conversation piece. Check out a video demo and find out more about this unique iPad cabinet installation at technolog.ie.

More options for are becoming available everyday with many computer manufacturer experimenting with touch screen interfaces. The HP TouchSmart is a desktop PC designed to let users call up pictures, music, and email on the flat screen monitor with the just a touch. It also can be controlled with a keyboard and mouse.

Shiloh Offers Inset Door Style

Shiloh Cabinetry is now offering flush and beaded inset style doors. To see some of the door styles and finishes stop by the KDG showroom or visit the Shiloh website.

Crystal's Homestead Finishes

Furniture that has the look of generations of wear.

Crystal's new Signature Homestead finish represents the look of furniture or wood that has had two layers of finish applied, and through generations of wear, the top layer of finish has partially worn off to expose the finish underneath. The wearing of the top finish layer, and the sanding of the raw wood is hand done, thus creating a timeless, handcrafted look for your cabinetry.