"The existing kitchen was attractive and functional but very traditional in flavor (notice the feet on the cabinets and dark counters). The owners and their architect, Jimmy Crisp, set out to give it a more modern look that still respected the homeâÂÂs architecture."

And it doesn't look like an inexpensive "update" either.

Honestly, all I see are the whims of an indulged homeowner. I understand changing out perfectly fine design elements that get on your nerves but this is a bit much.

Yeez. Coulda saved 70K by sawing off the ''feet' of the cabinets, the muntins out of the glass doors, and swapping out the white farm sink to a stainless one. The black counters were actually more contemporary in look. Suprised they kept the white farm sink. But, it's probably a different white farm sink. Can't have anyone getting cooties from the previous owner's atrocious taste after all.

Just another example of the conspicuous consumption that Houzz loves to publicize without throwing any numbers at it. Too many people see that kitchen and don't realize it's a 100K redo, and then wonder why their want list that they developed from saving all of those images to their idea books is out of their budget. Fully replacing like with almost exactly alike is more about the latest dog to pee on the tree and showing off than it is making the room function better. Only the fridge addition was about that.

OMG the article, "Quick and painless design moves like ... custom cabinets" Since when are custom cabinets quick and painless?

Kudos to them for stimulating the economy, I guess, but otherwise seems like a rather needlessly expensive renovation.

LOL. I'd be worried if I were their dog :)

I had the same first impression as most of you.

But, if you look closer, there is probably enough changes that replacing the cabinets might have been the easy way. They were replacing the window, so those weird little boxes in the corners above the window no longer made sense. If the old cabinets were built in place, simply pulling the boxes off might have damaged the remaining cabinets.

They added a pot filler, which possibly required putting in new pipes behind the cabinets. The island cabinets have completely different functions. They added cabinets above the door to the DR. Who knows what other cabinets they changed on the fridge wall?

It's not the cheapest way to do it, but probably easier. And cheap doesn't get you an article on Houzz.

Bored Connecticut trophy wife.

I'm in the minority, I think the after looks quite a bit better. I also like the changes they made on the fridge wall and the added hutch.

I think the "before" was not all that bad, the "after" is lovely and done with a generous budget. As with many gorgeous kitchens, this falls into the aspirational & inspirational bucket albeit with some elements which can be adapted eg I love the niche concept.

On an aside, it appears we are much nicer to each other on GW :-) If this had been a GW White kitchen reveal (which are also not always exactly budget driven) the comments would have been more positive.

The thread on Kitchen acceptance rings a loud bell...

http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/kitchbath/msg051014418831.html

This post was edited by gemcap on Mon, Jul 21, 14 at 4:26

I think it's beautiful. I love the lanterns. I've looked at them and they're something like $1,200 each!!

That kitchen that nosoccermom posted in the OP is in the article that gemcap posted. Probably knew that - but it's funny.

Off to my white kitchen which is now FOUR years old, oh NO!!! - need to tear it out and start again.

edited for dumb spelling

This post was edited by blfenton on Mon, Jul 21, 14 at 1:27

I strongly prefer the before, save for the counters. I guess it's one of those kitchens that will get "resold" on that high end kitchen recycling site. I am just shaking my head.

:-) bifenton, didn't realise that.

Victoria Barne's article on kitchen acceptance really rang bells for me..(not that she works off a budget either!)

We are putting our kitchen together from scratch. I first settled on Grohe faucets on an SS sink. Then saw the Blanco Silgranite so out went the SS and in came the Silgranite. Then saw an undersink filter which just had to be incorporated. That required a tri flow, which sort of doubled the faucet cost.

I'm still working towards a budget so anything thats durable is budget, anything thats high use and can deteriorate over time is not. So the granite is very budget, the drawer runners are not (either Blum or Hettich). kitchen cabinets are being custom made and are mdf..... Still a cost creep.

Expanding the refrigerator space and adding the hutch were nice functional touches. Also, they added pocket doors to the dining room, as there is a direct sight line into the sink/cleanup and prep area. I'm still wondering if there was a better floor plan that got the fridge traffic away from the mudroom entrance. And, with that large of a kitchen, I'd like to see a beverage station or another approach to the coffeemaker/toaster -- perhaps in the hutch, rather than just removing them for the staging.

Those existing cabinets look custom as well, with integrated end panels, valances and continuous face fronts on the stacked inset cabinets. I personally prefer the look of the extended valence, I think it is not necessarily traditional, but a more finished look.

I know a kitchen designer who has replaced more than one kitchen with the almost identical kitchen. (White kitchen to slightly improved white kitchen), and one of my mother's friends was on her third kitchen by the time they sold the house and I recently found some pictures of their kitchen from the 70s (a party) and compared them to the recent listing photos and #3 was almost identical to #1 with the exception of granite countertops, and that the harvest gold appliances in #1 actually looked better than the white in #3--so I wonder what the point was.

On the one hand, I think it is conspicuous consumption and a waste of resources to replace like with almost like, but on the other hand, someone earned that disposable income and can spend it how they see fit, and at least they are keeping some people busy doing it.

Jeesh... Kind of a waste of effort, no? And the one thing I didn't like about that kitchen - the valence fabric - they left unchanged. It's a beautiful kitchen and a free country, but the kinds of changes they made were minimal in impact, expensive, and messy to perform. Why bother?

I don't understand the negative judgmental comments above. The homeowner could be reading your horrid comments. Shame on you! No one here knows the story behind the change. I really thought the people who post on this board were different than the standard internet creeps who can't wait to pounce when given the chance.

We experienced a personal tragedy 5 years ago and have made a few decisions since that some who don't know us well have questioned out loud. As in -- "Why did you move after spending so much $$$ to redo your entire house?" (code for "what a waste" - As if it were their business. As painful as it is, I don't mind sharing our trauma and all the gory details that precipitated our move ... I hope that maybe they will think twice before judging someone next time.

This post was edited by nightowlrn on Mon, Jul 21, 14 at 2:13

Nope, didn't know that it was the kitchen gemcap posted. So, I guess we're going full circle here.

And yes, they did have a recent tragedy in the kitchen, ergo the redo and Houzz publication.

At least from the pictures posted above I have a hard time seeing the difference between the two. I kept having to pop up and down to see anything.

palimpsest - your kitchen remodels over time post reminds me of what I discovered while rebuilding our place. The new layout is quite similar to was was there from 1959-1979 with the exception that the doorway from the dining room to the kitchen is much larger now. The remodel was much less functional than the original.

BTW, what was that kitchen resale site? I'd like to check it out again.

"OMG the article, "Quick and painless design moves like ... custom cabinets" Since when are custom cabinets quick and painless?"

It is quick and painless when you hire Jim Crisp as your architect and a high profile contractor and millworker...this was totally painless to the HO, just a minor hit on the check book

I think if there is a reason, such as a fire or some other damage that precipitates the renovation of a nearly perfect existing kitchen that it is probably in the best interest of the article about the kitchen to mention that.

I think people get distracted when it's assumed that $100,000 was spent on a whim.

It is their money, HOs can spend whichever way they want.

The new kitchen is nice! But I am wondering the use of "A niche provides a place for spices and bottles of oil". and pot filler.

Ok, ok, Pot filler is debatable. But the niche is right next to the stove top; I think it is the worst place for oils and spices.

"But the niche is right next to the stove top; I think it is the worst place for oils and spices."

I would be willing to bet that they are not all that concerned about it, bigger concern would be where the take out menus are stored

I'd be beyond thrilled to have either kitchen!

I thought about a pot filler but realized more importantly, I'd need a pot emptier nearby. Carrying a pot full of water is a lot harder when it's nearly boiling than cold.

I think they did a really nice job. The finished pictures on Houzz look great. The architects stated up front that the goal was to "sharpen the details" rather than to start from scratch.

Whether or not something is "worth it" is mostly subjective. If there are design flaws that's one thing, but most people when doing a remodel have some way of splurging on things they really want for reasons other than pure cost-efficiency. The only way to really think about value for money is to think about impact on resale value, and the increased value for the owners who will live in it.

Plus, I'm not sure how you could look at the single before-photo and decide that it was a near-perfect kitchen. The other photos in the Houzz set show improvements across the whole kitchen.

I have to agree with nightowlrn, even though this is an anonymous forum, I just cringe when I see personal insults as "commentary" on photos of someone's home!

i don't think there's anything wrong with this reno. the after is beautiful though the before was perfectly lovely as well. i think the issue is the article- these are pretty major changes and they make it seem like a weekend kitchen budget update.

happytimes:

I don't know when I've ever seen a "personal insult" on this forum.

A conversation about conspicuous consumption seems appropriate here. I see perfectly good appliances donated to Habitat for Humanity just because they were now the wrong color. Some folks can't afford any appliances; some can afford to change them like shoes. Life isn't fair.

Plumber to architect, successful people in remodeling understand that they are in the fashion business. If you've got a whim and a positive cash flow, I'm your man. Unapologetically.

I wrote a column about this:

Here is a link that might be useful: Remodelers

This post was edited by Trebruchet on Tue, Jul 22, 14 at 16:49

Not that it matters but where did you read they had a tragedy in the kitchen and that's why they redid it? I haven't seen that mentioned anywhere in the article.

Can't even tell what they did. I have to look back and forth to even see what is different. Total waste of money.

Treb- accurate article. If I had stumbled upon it by happenstance I would have guessed you wrote it. :)

Some of the judgmental comments really tell us quite a bit about the posters making them and nothing about the owners of the project. Makes me glad that I haven't posted my projects here.

I might replace a perfectly nice kitchen with something very similar. Why? We don't like the counters and backsplash, but the quality of the cabinets isn't on par with the rest of the house, so it doesn't make sense to change the counters without changing the cabinets. Photos wouldn't show the internal poor quality of the cabs and I would get the same types of comments. If someone has the funds for it, I don't think it is anyone else's business what they choose to change or remodel in their home.

"It's no ones business what someone remodels" so let's post it on the internet for EVERYONE to judge and comment on. HA!

@arkansas_girl: LOL.
@texas: The article and the architect's comments, as well as the fact that it is on Houzz, provide some information about the tragedy.

I could not find anything about the tragedy. Maybe I am not looking in the right place.

This is purely semantics, but "tragedy" implies something like loss of human life. What happened in this kitchen, a mass murder? If it was a fire, call it an accident. Sorry, I just think the word "tragedy" in this case seems extreme. I know it has nothing to do with the topic.

Yes, unfortunately, posting something like this on the internet will open it up to all sorts of analysis and scrutiny, and some of it will always be negative. I think there is always the assumption that when people spend money like this they are taking it out of the fund they would use to give to charity. This may not be the case. They may be extremely generous in other ways. They were certainly generous to the companies that worked on this kitchen.

Pal, I just did the math and my master bath remodel is providing income for 16 families, most of which are small local family owned businesses. I was also happy to pay a premium for USA made products and many are made right here in CA. I could have gone to Vegas and gambled the money away ... circulating the money back into the economy seemed like a better choice and I get to enjoy a new bathroom!

(note: I don't gamble and the money would have just stayed invested)

I love both the before and after pictures! I would be happy with either kitchen!

Pal- that was my thinking as well. I too found nothing and would also never call destruction of property a tragedy.

I agree with nightowlRN. Really, how can people be so ridiculously judgmental about someone else's kitchen and how they spend their own money. Even picking at the language used to describe, and minimize some unknown catastrophic event someone may have endured. Who cares what they do. It's their home, their money. They are very fortunate in that way.

There sure is a lot of disdain out there for women and their precious kitchens and houses. These recurring types of commentary and attitudes seen throughout threads like this and elsewhere is degrading to women.

Precipitating events aside, those two kitchens are very different. That homeowner has every right to create the one of her dreams just as anyone else does. Just because they have oodles of money doesn't mean they should refrain from enjoying it and give it all away to others.

In this case, I think it's perfectly appropriate to discuss whether the kitchen remodel is successful and worth the hefty price tag. Yes, this is someone's home. But we've only seen it because it is being used to market products and services and placed in the public domain as a form of advertising. We saw it on Houzz, not on a personal blog or a GW reveal post. Personal attacks are not OK, but conversations about conspicuous consumption are appropriate when we are discussing advertising IMHO.

Completely agree with fiesty68.

Personal attack: your mother was a hamster, your father smelt of elderberries.

Not a personal attack: discussing a kitchen on a marketing site where the homeowner consented to having pictures posted.

Where does "wow, that's a lot of money to spend on what appears to be the same kitchen" = "PEOPLE HAVE NO RIGHT TO SPEND THEIR OWN MONEY!" I don't get that leap at all. 100K is 4x the federal poverty level for a family of 4. That is a lot of money to spend (for example, we of course have no idea what this kitchen cost) on what appears to be few changes. Certainly their spending does support those who are working on the kitchen for a couple of weeks.

Of course it is their right to spend their own money; whether they "get" to do that and post it on on the internet without raising some eyebrows is another story. If you are not open to such criticism, it's best not to post your pictures online.

As far as my post goes, all you have to do is read through the responses again to see personal attacks and commentary on the person renovating. Discussing the project, design aspects, questioning it's worthwhileness, noting excesses is not objectionable, imo. The nasty comments, however, are not really kitchen related nor necessary to the discussion. They are simply degrading remarks and comments about the woman of the house.

Thanks Chispa, I was thinking the exact same thing. No money was wasted. Many hard working people took home money earned on that job. My new kitchen isn't that much different on the surface from my old one either but to us the differences are huge and we love it.

The second kitchen is clearly and improvement and functions better for the family. Personally I love the dual fridge/freezers flanking the doorway. Good on these homeowners for designing a kitchen they can truly love. It's what we're all here for, after all. :)

Sorry, I was sarcastic --- since someone had posted that a tragedy may explain the reason for this kitchen "refresh."

Regardless of whether one finds this update "unnecessary" or "nobody's business", while there may be exceptions, I personally find "job creation" as a justification for most kind of personal consumption quite ridiculous.

Nosoccermom, I have not seen it on the level of a kitchen remodel, but personally have been approached by folks looking for work on numerous occasions outside Home Depot. Our former nanny's husband is in the landscaping/gardening business and sometimes looks for projects in between jobs, we will think of projects that are not "necessary" but nice to have and it helps them out. So while I usually clean the gutters, I can afford to pay him to do it and I want his family to have the extra income (and of course he does a better job, too). The fence gate is a bit crooked, we certainly could live with it but also could have him fix it . . . gee, it would be nice to take out the tree that is not doing so well and put in some new annuals . . . So I guess I could imagine, if one had enough money, and perhaps a friend wanting to get a start in the design/remodel business, giving that person a project in part because it would help them both with $ and their portfolio? I hear that a number of architects/designers started off with commissions from parents or other relatives. Maybe those are the kind of exceptions you mention.

This post was edited by Oaktown on Thu, Jul 24, 14 at 12:48

Oaktown, I completely agree. I have done this, too, with INDIVIDUALS who needed work, whether it's home renovating, child/elder care, etc.
However, I have my doubts with a 100K architect-commissioned project with an architect who does projects in Westchester, Berkshire, and the likes.

Still, it's kind of interesting that we think we need to come up with an explanation. I think it's simply that these homeowners wanted a slightly different kitchen and are willing to spend the money to do it. No tragedy, no job creation, or whatever.

Oh, I see. I tend to be pretty literal so I don't always "get it" the first go round (or even the second) ;-)