Cabinets | It's Great To Be Home

Our Flip: Some Serious Progress!!

June 25, 2009 By Liz - It's Great To Be Home 11 Comments

Wanna see something exciting??

The kitchen at our flip doesn’t look like this anymore:

flip - before - kitchen

And it certainly doesn’t look like this:

Nope, it’s all snazzy now. Still unfinished, but snazzy. You see, the custom cabinets, wood floor and trim have all gone in. I’m practically giddy from these sights:

[back wall of kitchen with sink, dishwasher, and undercounter microwave]

[half wall between kitchen and den with fridge enclosure and range. the drawers are deep enough for pots and pans.]

[back wall of breakfast room with built-in pantry]

Wahoo!!! Can you believe how much has changed in the past week? The granite will go in next week, the painters will start doing their thing in the next few days, and the floors will be stained as the very last thing before the house goes on the market. It’s going to be finished in no time!! The hubby and I need to start picking out knobs and pulls for these gorgeous cabinets. I’m so excited!!

We opted for wood floors in the kitchen (like in our own home) to increase the visual flow in this open-concept kitchen and den. What flooring do you guys have in your own kitchen?

This post is shared with Hooked on Houses.

Our Flip: Timing Is Everything

June 17, 2009 By Liz - It's Great To Be Home 12 Comments

The new cabinetry for our flip has been ready and waiting for almost two weeks now – can you believe it? I can’t – I mean, we only closed on the flip 15 days ago!

You might be asking why the cabinets are ready so ridiculously early. Well, in all honesty, this is exactly where we want to be – you see, timing is everything when it comes to flipping houses. They key is to have everything timed and organized so that all of your materials (like cabinets, appliances, tile, lighting fixtures, etc.) are waiting on you, rather than you waiting on them to be ready. Time is money, people! And the only way to make that happen is to make lots of decisions, and to make them early.

For example, we had to make each of these decisions before we closed on the flip and, in some cases, before we even put an offer in on the house:

Were we going to change the layout in the kitchen, or leave it the same? This decision was made right off the bat, before we made an offer – we had to make sure that we knew exactly what we were going to do with the space so that demo could go smoothly – we didn’t want someone to demo a wall or move a gas line that we actually needed. It’s the same story with the master bath. Ultimately, we kept the layout of both rooms the same, with a few minor tweaks – we created a half wall for a breakfast bar between the kitchen and the den and moved the fridge over to that wall, and we stole a bit of the closet in the master bedroom to make a larger master shower. Not huge changes, but significant enough so that everybody needed to be on the same page from the get go.
What appliances were we going to choose? This definitely sounds like a detail that could be left until the end, but when you’re having custom cabinetry built you want to make sure that the cabinets fit around the appliances like a glove. Because of that, we went appliance shopping weeks ago and settled on the Euro-series of stainless steel appliances by Jenn-Air. Our decision was actually made relatively quickly, because Jenn-Air is pretty much the only mid-level manufacturer that makes a gas range with a built-in downdraft. We quickly learned that we needed a range with a downdraft because the range is in the peninsula that separates the kitchen from the den – we didn’t want a big range hood blocking the view but we still needed ventilation, so a downdraft was the only way to go. Sometimes your decisions are just made for you! (And I’ll tell you more about the great deal we got on our appliances later . . . )

What did we want the cabinets to look like? We met with our cabinet guy, worrying that we were going to have to get the most plain-looking cabinets ever created to stay within our budget. Not so!!! We were pleasantly surprised that all of his cabinet doors were priced the same, no matter how fancy or intricate the design, as long as he already had a template for the design and it could be created with a single pass of his machine. We were thrilled because we got to choose cabinet doors that are almost identical to the ones in our kitchen, which we absolutely love:

Here’s a close-up so you can see the detail on both the frame and the inset – I’m a sucker for some detailing! The cabinets in the flip will virtually the same, except for some fluting that we had added in various places around our kitchen.

Now that the cabinets are ready to go, we should probably pick out some countertops, right? We’re off to see the granite and tile guys today, and I’ll fill you in on all the fun later. Yay, I’m excited – this is all the fun stuff!! Until then, we’d love to hear what brand of appliances you guys have in your kitchens – we have Kenmore Elite in our own home, and Jenn-Air will be in the flip. Do you guys like your appliances, or wish you had made a different choice? Dish the dirt!

Don’t forget to leave a comment on any post through Monday, June 22, for a chance to win a ton of awesome products from Gorilla Glue in the IGTBH Gnarly Giveaway!!! More details about the Gnarly Giveaway can be found here.

Image courtesy of Jenn-Air.

Back In Black: Beth’s Beautiful Budget Kitchen Makeover

June 11, 2009 By Liz - It's Great To Be Home 14 Comments

The moral of this kitchen makeover is to make the most of what you’ve got. That’s definitely what Beth did when she took her blast from the past kitchen and updated it with a sophisticated color palette and modern touches – all without breaking the bank. Here’s what Beth had to say about her inspiring kitchen makeover:

Hey there! I LOVE your blog, and your transformation is absolutely amazing. I bought a 35 year old home and have really been busy with it, so I completely understand. I didn’t have the money to completely renovate our kitchen, so most of the changes had to be cosmetic. I attached the before and after of our 70s kitchen. I actually did this entire project in a week (after getting home from work at 5pm each night!). I worked really hard, but I was glad to knock it out in one week, and was pretty happy with the result. And all for under $3000! ~ Beth

Here’s the 70s kitchen that Beth started out with – functional but totally lacking in style:

After a week of late nights and tons of elbow grease, Beth had this stunner of a kitchen to show for all of her hard work:

Amazing, right? Here’s what Beth did and how she did it:

(1) Pick a tight color palette. Beth definitely planned ahead before she tackled her kitchen makeover, right down to the color of the accessories. Pops of fire engine red keep your eye moving around the kitchen and provide great contrast to the simple, black cabinetry and stainless steel accents.

(2) Bring the cabinets into the 21st century. Beth’s kitchen cabinets were a blast from the past, but they were in great condition. Instead of starting from scratch, she made the smart (and cost-effective) decision to paint the existing cabinetry (check out a tutorial here). After a few coats of tinted primer and black paint, Beth’s cabinets no longer screamed “70s”!! Switching out the old brass hardware with new chrome knobs was another easy fix that modernized this kitchen in a snap. (Tip: Use a tinted primer when going from light to dark – it will help you get to the desired color faster and let you get away with fewer coats of paint).

(3) Increase functionality. Beth’s kitchen had tons of unused space in the middle, so Beth made the perfect choice to add a kitchen island – talk about a feature that every homeowner wants!! Now she has extra counterspace, additional storage, and a place for two barstools in her spacious kitchen. And the best part? That stunner of an island was a steal at only $200 from World Market.

(4) Add some luxurious touches. There’s no doubt about it, stainless steel appliances are the “it” thing to have in your kitchen these days. Spending a little extra cash for these snazzy appliances will add a bit of luxury to your kitchen, and will also pay off in a big way when it comes time to sell your home. And in Beth’s case, she found jaw-dropping deals at Sears (where we also got our kitchen appliances, and where we’ll be getting appliances for our flip) and practically stole her new goodies for under $2,500 – I’m so impressed!! The icing on the cake is that Sears delivered Beth’s gleaming, new appliances in just 2 days.

(5) Let there be light. Beth replaced her outdated ceiling light with a simple modern fixture from Home Depot that perfectly compliments her shiny new cabinet knobs and gorgeous appliances.

(6) Stay grounded. What’s the use in sprucing up the rest of the place if the flooring is still blah? Beth was able to instantly update her old linoleum with some great new flooring from Home Depot in an earthy tone.

I still can’t get over the fact that Beth completed her entire makeover for under 3 grand, including the new appliances – way to go!!! Can’t wait to hear your thoughts on Beth’s transformation – and be sure to stop by Beth’s blog to check out her other DIY projects!

P.S. When it rains, it pours!! Beth’s getting two back-to-back features this week, today here on IGTBH and yesterday on Young House Love. Lucky duck!

And thanks to Christy of A Lil’ Welsh Rarebit for giving me the cutest award ever – you rock!!

Want to see your own DIY project or makeover featured on IGTBH? Send it in to itsgreattobehome@yahoo.com, we can’t wait to see it!