Minor kitchen update plans after botched renovation

10 years ago

last modified: 10 years ago

Hi -

I posted a month or so ago regarding mistakes me made in our DIY kitchen renovation. We are not convinced we want to stay in this house more than 1-3 more years. Our dream house has gone into foreclosure and if/when it hits the market was want to go for that.

However our kitchen is frustrating us right now - the aisle are narrow (39-42), the island is a barrier, there is no kitchen eating area.

We have come up with somewhat of a solution to fix some of our issues - without having to redo all the cabinets/utility moves/etc.

We also have a plan to convert the back corner of our garage into a long wide laundry/mud room. I have included that in the plan I sketched out here.

The major parts of this plan are:

1. shorten kitchen island by 39 inches - change 24 inch dishwasher to 18" - remove 15 inch and 18 inch cabinets. Remove 6 inch out curve on depth of island (not show in pics) make is a straight line across with normal 1.5-2 inch overhang.

2. Add 15 inch cabinet to the right of cabinet beside stove - put new 30 inch counter-top on. To do this we need to either move out window down 18-20 inches or make it 18-20 inches shorter. I am hesitant to make a smaller window since we are going to use the space in front of it for kitchen table.

3. Remove 60 inch cabinets between kitchen and family room - this has contributed to creating an awkward space - and I am afraid trying to put a kitchen table in front of a shortened window space will be crowded and not feel right.

4. Convert garage space to laundry/dog/mudroom - our main laundry is upstairs but i still want to have one on this floor for towels and blankets for dogs - we do do grescue - currently have 4 rescue pups that are staying.

Open to any ideas and suggestions - the mudroom is being completely changed - we can put utilities/etc where it makes sense - also windows?

Current layout:

This is an idea of what we are planning:

Thank you,

Roberta

Featured Answer

Sunnysmom

10 years ago

Can you show furniture placement in the family room to your new layout?

Those double doors look like they would make furniture placement awkward for both the family room and the den.

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Comments (8)

User
10 years ago
last modified: 10 years ago
If you are planning to sell the house soon I would:

A) Do nothing

B) If you must, remove the parts of the island that are visible from the front door (looks like you'd remove 15" + 18" + 2nd dishwasher in one plan but looks like you can leave the dishwasher in the second). I'd only do this if it wouldn't cause flooring problems. Neutral on the cabinets in the family room (would have to see photo and dimensions I think).
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Roberta Long
Original Author
10 years ago
last modified: 10 years ago
Thanks for the suggestions - - the problem with doing nothing is that we have been doing that for the last 4 years (as we discover these problems) - and they are driving us (mostly me the main cook) crazy.

It is basically do these minor fixes or a total renovation (again).

Our realtor friend said "if you can fix it for 5-10 k, you will get that back when you sell - but don't do an entire renovation as most buyers are going to see "new kitchen chef kitchen" and be happy, not analyzed the fine details (like me). Some of these things we would need to do to tell regardless (trim panels, moudlings, etc) so to add in making it what we can live with is not that much more.

Also it could be at least 6 months up to years before we find the right house - if the one we want even comes back on the market (their short sale fell through - not it is going to foreclosure), it could be a long time.

The drawing that shows everything lining up if we keep the island dishwasher is the correct one. If we change the 24 dishwasher for an 18 (the 24 dishwasher is on its last legs, it is the one appliance we re-used during our renovation) it would be a perfect line up with the fridge/pantry wall.

The total cost to make the changes is:

- $1600 to move the window/build wall back to add another cabinet - so all 3 rows line up (already have materials) - redo island trim/finish other trim - disconnect and reconnect plumbing, etc

- 1200 to remove - and remove and recut island down/slim off rounded edge opposite of freezer/pantry and into a new piece for the other side of the range.

so $2800
User
10 years ago
last modified: 10 years ago
Spending $2800 would essentially restore the area for the breakfast table. I think being able to look from the front door through to the backyard without the island in the way would look better. I'm not sure you'll recoup the investment but if you have a very nice backyard it might help "wow" a potential buyer to have a clear line of sight through the house.
cpartist
10 years ago
Agree with Stan. Otherwise do as little as possible.
Roberta Long
Original Author
10 years ago
Thank everyone, we do have an amazing backyard, 1 acre backing to no other houses and 8 acres behind that. It's pretty unusual for our area (MD-DC suburbs) so we aren't giving that up unless something better comes along.
Lavender Lass
10 years ago
If you can afford it, do it : )

It's your house, you know what you can afford and what you like. And what if that dream house has black mold? Enjoy your home, now!
emilyam819
10 years ago
I would do everything except #2. I dont think it's necessary. And the quote seems low.