Can You Get Away With A Partial Kitchen Remodel?

Dear Laurel,

Well, we moved into an 800 square foot apartment five years ago. It was in pretty good shape; didn’t do much to it, but got some new furniture, mostly for the living room.

Three years ago– today, my kitty died and now it’s not “we,” it’s just me.

Several months ago, I was feeling ready to redo the kitchen, but started feeling overwhelmed by the project. But then my dishwasher died and my fridge is about to die. My microwave squeaks when it’s on. And the range, is the cheapest range that G.E. makes.

 

But a friend asked me the other day what was happening with my kitchen remodel and it made me start to think that I should revisit the situation.

 

I was thinking that maybe I could just get the new appliances for now?

Is it crazy to do that?

Thank you,

Laurel

 

Well, Laurel…

Yes, it’s crazy.

Are you some kind of nutjob or something? Don’t you know that you’re supposed to have a solid plan before diving into any interior design project? Have I not taught you anything in all of these years?

yeesh!!!

 

Uhhhh… Laurel??? What’s going on? That woman’s kitchen remodel story sounds identical to your story and her name just happens to be Laurel. Plus you’re being a bitch to her and that’s not like you. What gives?

 

Oh sorry… didn’t realize that anyone was listening…

Yes, yes, it’s me. My kitchen remodel. My obsessing over it. Indecision. Going back and forth and then beating myself up about it. Sound familiar? Really. I’m no different from most folks; that is, when it comes to myself.

But I did get an email from a reader about 10 days ago curious about the kitchen and it did get me started thinking.

PLUS, I really miss having a  dishwasher. And the rest of the appliances SUUUUUUUUCCCCKKK!!!

So, what did Laurel do?

I semi-impulsively (if waiting 6 months can be considered impulsive) got me some new appliances– on Cyber Monday!

And yes, I am a naughty girl for not having a solid plan. However, I certainly have thought this one through and worse case scenario, I can sell the appliances and I did get some good deals.

Oh, do tell!!!

Well, I would, but you can’t get them at the price I paid now so it might make you feel badly.

First let’s look at the original design for the new kitchen. You can see it here.

While I still love this design for my kitchen remodel, I realize that it’s probably a little too much for this narrow trapezoidal-shaped galley kitchen.

Plus, my apartment IS a little funky.

And the average apartment kitchen in my part of the world looks like this.

 

Hey, there’s my range! yuck. Almost exactly the same. This one might be bisque. That refrigerator is WHITE!

AND OAK, OAK, OAK!!!

This is a beautiful old building and a two-bedroom with two teensy bedrooms on the market for $495,000.00! Good luck with that! You should not every have this window overlapping situation. I know that this apartment once had a charming kitchen!

Poorly designed kitchen. Who has their fridge butted up to the stove? This one is definitely a tear-down. They could’ve at least painted the cabinets white and changed the fridge. (some ideas coming up about that)

 

And something that I was discussing with Nancy Keyes which is, you don’t see any of my appliances head on. That does make a big difference because nothing is really in your face.

 

 

But, there’s something important regarding that incredible range, I love.

 

 

Remember this gorgeous Blue Star Range?

 

I’ll be honest. I mostly use my range for boiling pasta. So, why do I need a $6,000 range? AND, the venting issue. It would have to be a ductless hood because it’s an apartment and impossible to vent outside.

 

Any of you designers who do a LOT of kitchens have experience with ductless hoods? Yes? No? That is not my area of expertise.

 

Now, for boiling water, I probably could get away without any venting. lol But occasionally, I do saute some mushrooms. And of course, one day I’ll sell this place and the new owners will not be happy if the venting isn’t adequate.

The other issue is the floor. I’m 95% positive that there are already at least two different floors. And the one I have isn’t awful.

 

LAUREL!!! Just stop rambling already and show us the appliances that you got!

 

Sorry, I’m getting to it.

Last spring when I was researching the kitchen remodel and considering what size fridge, I measured the allotted space if I decided not to change the current cabinetry or at least the footprint–errr… wallprint ;] of the cabinets.

The opening is exactly 28″ (and an ooch) wide x 71″ (and an ooch) tall.  An ooch if you don’t know is a small number – about an eighth of an inch.

 

Ever try to find a 28″ wide fridge? I was in Best Buy a few months ago and inquired and the dude looked at me like I had just asked him if they carried any moon-walkers.

 

Well, I bet that you’ve already figured out that there IS a 28″ refrigerator.  And it’s actually quite nice– with French doors!

This is the fridge.

 

 

It’s made by Haier and has excellent reviews.

 

My only beef is that it’s stainless. It’s not right for my kitchen.

 

Let’s review the floor plan of the kitchen.

 

As you can see the fridge is on the right just a few feet in. That wall that’s shaded is where the old dumb-waiter is located. It is not allowed to be removed or altered in any way. Bummer.

But still, a big silver box just as I’m walking in, is not something I want to see. We’ll address that in a sec.

First I needed to find the best deal for this fridge. And I found it at Home Depot.

(I did pay less for the fridge, but it was Cyber Monday)

 

Is everything the cheapest at HD?

 

No, not necessarily. But I figured that it’s like going to the dentist with four cavities. Better to have them all filled the same day then to go back four separate times.

 

So, I decided to get everything at Home Depot.

 

Next is the dishwasher and after looking at dishwashers and reviews, I knew that I wanted a Kitchenaid.

This is the dishwasher I got

 

Have to say of all of the medium-priced appliances and even some of the high-end ones, that Kitchenaid has a monopoly on style.

And one of the things they have going for them is a beautiful round high-end looking handle. So smart.

Are you saying Laurel, that you got the Kitchenaid appliances for the handle?

uhhhh… yeah… Can you think of a better reason? ;]

Look, right now I have NO dishwasher and I mostly use my range to boil water.

And handles are important!

In all seriousness, I looked carefully at the reviews and feel confident with my choices. Sure, there is always the odd farbissina who gets on social media and whines about something, but I’m interested in what the majority are saying and kitchenaid rocks.

Plus – NO stainless steel for the body, please! I don’t care WHAT they say on HGTV!

One thing that I really wish the manufacturers would do is offer one more white that isn’t neon white and isn’t biscuit. While biscuit is better than the old almond, it is probably still a little too cream and not everything comes in biscuit.

Now for the range. And the nuker.

 

Here’s where it gets a little dicey.

 

I actually won a high-end range hood. But I’ll probably be doing a giveaway.

In the meantime, I decided to do the obvious and looked at the kitchenaid ranges. And immediately found one that I like quite a bit.

The only thing is that it’s a freestanding range and all of them have that high lip in the back for some of the controls.

My new kitchenaid range in white

 

I dunno. More obsessing.

The kind of range that I want is really a slide in that doesn’t have the lip, but there are very few white slide-in ranges and none that I like. Kitchenaid doesn’t make one and I really do LOVE that handle! Plus I really like the knobs. The door looks a little dark, however. Maybe I could put a film on the outside to soften it.

It could even have a pattern like this window film

 

 

A range that would look really pretty is this Ilve.

 

I had forgotten about it. But then, this range has some hefty BTUs and definitely would need a proper range hood, not a microwave fan.

Plus, the Ilve would need to be subsidized which I don’t know if that’s possible or not.

AND the kitchen aid is such an upgrade from the dumpy GE that I have.

Last and least is the nuker.

There was something about the kitchenaid microwave that didn’t appeal to me.

 

 

I prefer this Maytag, so I got that one. I think it has a convection setting and the range oven does too.

What next? Well, here’s what I’m thinking. I’ll get my appliances in.

 

 

OH! and I also got this beautiful runner on Etsy. I was inspired by Sarah McGee’s beautiful kitchen rug. There are zillions of these runners from all sorts of vendors on Etsy. They are very inexpensive too.

 

I would still like to reface and one reason is because I hate the hardware.

 

There is this company that provides refacing for Ikea cabinets called SemiHandMade. They are going to be at KBIS, (next month is the show) so maybe I can sweet-talk them into a sponsorship?

And then I would like new counters.

But, I might end up re-doing the cabinets anyway.

 

Now, what about that big silver fridge?

 

Well, one can have them painted; but, it is NOT a DIY project unless you want it to look like crap. And you have to take it outside. It really needs to be done in a shop by a pro.

I did find a nice post on Young House Love which shows how difficult it is. I do love them, but even though they said it’s “easy,” it’s clear that those darling young uns had been sniffing too much of that horrid epoxy paint. Clearly, this is not an easy project!

And one should be able to control the color better. But, their fridge does look a lot better than it did.

I realize that some would say that it’s absurd to paint a new fridge, but whatever. If it makes me happy, who cares?

Another idea I have that is a little funky and would be to put a pretty self-sticking REMOVABLE wallpaper on it.

There are a lot of patterns, but I have the pattern already on the Roman shade. I’ve looked but haven’t found one that’s shouting at me.

The fridge could be covered with self white stick dry erase paper

And then these cool overlays could be applied. This is a very interesting company. I’ve ordered from the before and they can do custom designs.

 

The fretwork inside the doors is the overlay which is a plastic that you can paint, if you like.

This is a design that I made.

Well, there are lots of options.

We’ll have to see. Who knows? Maybe I won’t mind the stainless steel?

Well, that’s it for today.

How are y’all holding up?

I went into the city today to see Alvin Ailey with a dear old friend.

 

Please do click here to check out the holiday shop!

 

It is filled with hundreds of ideas for holiday decor and GIFTS for just about everyone, including tweens and teens, foodies, hosts, garden lovers, guys, gals, gifts under 50 and luxe gifts.

I’m adding to it all of the time.

xo,