Cost of new kitchen and some guidance

Amarante

Sun, Aug 28 2022, 10:14 pm

amother Azalea wrote:

Does anyone have a kitchen designer and contractor to recommend in Brooklyn?

Get the kitchen designer as they will generally have GC to recommend and since they work with them on a number of projects they know how to work with them and also the GC will be more willing to go the extra mile since they will be getting further business with the kitchen designer.

I went with the GC who had worked with my kitchen designer on a lot of projects - I went to see two of the places he was working on to get a sense of the quality of his work. Because of their relationship things went more smoothly and my kitchen designer acted as a Project Manager for me as she would inspect stuff and have it corrected if it was wrong or reassure me that it was fine - these are important for we amateurs since we really don't know what is "standard".

I would regularly flip out when things are not finished like when I saw the tile floors in my bathroom without anything else and I thought they were a disaster and she reassured me that once everything else was in place they would look beautiful - and she was right.

amother

Burgundy

Sun, Aug 28 2022, 10:54 pm

Amarante wrote:

There is a saying that I learned when I started researching my remodel and it is "you don't know what you don't know" - meaning that there are things that we amateurs don't even realize have to be taken into consideration - like where a faucet needs to be positioned in connection with the drain so that it doesn't splash.

There are SO many decisions that you will have to make during the remodel because you will be working in collaboration with the designer and there are things that are YOUR taste or how you want your space to function that you need to communicate with her. But some things I was happy to leave up to her like where you put the knobs and pulls on the drawers and doors.

Until you remodel a kitchen you don't realize extent of things to think about because when you move into a kitchen that is there you adapt to what is there. So where did I want my knives to be? And how high did I want each drawer to be? Just examples of the kind of decisions you make based on your personal needs.

I didn't know there was such a thing as a microwave drawer but it was perfect for my small kitchen because I didn't want to give up counter space. I also got what is called a work station sink which has a ledge around it so that you can prep stuff OVER the sink - I have a cutting board as well as a "grid" thing which is great because I can dry stuff on it and I can use it as an extension of my counter if I need it to be.

And when I spent time prior to the remodel I saw things that I didn't know existed that I wanted to incorporate. If you start googling and looking at how people configure storage for example - how do you want your spices as there are internal spices organizers or there are ones that are in upper cabinets. One thing that is unique to me is that I had them install toe kick step stools because I am relatively short and this enables me to reach top shelf without shlepping out the step stool.

OP - yes you can PM if you have any questions you don't want to go public with

Yes, I'm a big fan of yours, and a good student, too, lol.
You have taught me the importance of NOT diy-ing it.
Some of the examples that irk me, are things you have posted that your designer pointed out.

amother

Mon, Aug 29 2022, 12:08 am

Amarante wrote:

Hi -- I just sent you a long PM, but I don't see it in my 'sent' box, and it may have disappeared into a 'black hole'. Not sure how that just happened! Please let me know if you did receive it. If not, I will write you again tomorrow (and save my message first). Thanks.