[Remy1492]

I am a military, non-construction builder-type guy. But I want to enjoy my home for once.

Been in Iraq and Afghanistan the last 3 years and now moving to Corpus Christi. I am a SoCal native soI have always had IKEA nearby and love their stuff. Now is my first chance to live in a house and design it the way I want, IKEA style

Now my closest store is 3hrs away in Houston.

I am buying a house and took some photos of the kitchen. Perhaps some input or opinions would be what I am looking for. I will be doing all the work myself and lack real skill but I learn fast and can make many trips to Home Depot if needed.

I want to take out ALL the wood colored wood in my kitchen and bathrooms and replace it with ASKERUM light Gray glass cabinets or some Beech colored wood.

I have already planned on ASKERUM grey wood with glass doors for all the top cabinets, though I dont know the sizes. the hardest part would probably be installing halogen lights and the wiring, even up to hiring an electrician to put a new outlet on top of the cabinets for the large power supplies.

The bottom cabinets seem more daunting, to install as I dont know if there is matching floor tile under then or if the current floor tile ends at the base line, then what counter top to use, I imagine I will have to take out the current formica counter top???? Still unsure as to what IKEA offers and what I can do at home. I am also plannign on learning to TILE the kitchen wall just like the displays in ikea

There is an island that I really dont want to tear up, but the wood color needs to go. Still dont know what to do.

Then there is the big blank wall past the refeigerator that is open and blank, I know I can put some ikea stuff there, but not sure just what.

I have been using the software to design the IKEA kitchen but its all amateurish for me. I will get one shot to rent a truck and drive to IKEA so I want to get it allmy shopping done inone trip.

so here are some photos of the house, with its previous owners decor in it, as it stands now.



So..... you guys got any good ideas?

[GardenOfDarwin]

Remy1492 -- Welcome!

Thanks for the pictures, that's so helpful when tryingto get a feel for alayout. Looks like you've got a big kitchen, with good bones. What are the dimensions? Askerum isa nice cabinet. I've seen it in person in a new kitchen and it looks great! Kind of a chameleon as far as color goes, so get yourself a sample and make sure it doesn't look pink or green in your room.

As far as your questions...You'll need to know the exact dimensions of your walls before planning your cabinet sizes. Assuming you are planning to keep the same layout,I wouldn'tworry too much about whether there is tile underneath the existing cabinets or not. Since cabinets are pretty standard in depth,when you take the existing ones out, you'll put the new onesin the same place, hiding any gaps with toekick. IKEA's cabinetlegs arevery easy to level, so even if you have an uneven surface below, you shouldn't have any trouble.

Countertop...take a look over on the Fansite side at the countertops page. It will give you a general idea of what IKEA offers. Some stores also act as a middleman for Corian or granite, so that may be an option as well. Think about incorporating a couple of different surfaces for different work areas in the kitchen. For instance, you might want to put butcherblock/wood on the island to use it for prep, but you might want to put a new laminate or granite on the perimeter cabinets.

Tiling. When you have some time, check out the John Bridge Forum. Lots of helpful information there on tiling in general and in specific. From pros, no less.

The island. When you replace your other cabinets, you'll want to replace the ones making up the island as well. There are large cover panels that can be used to dress the back side of an island, or you could add some cabinets on the other side and increase your storage and eliminate the backside problem altogether. Or, you could use 4 39" tall (but only 12" deep)upper cabinets, add legs and a top with an overhang on the far sideand have a nice bar-like area for your friends to hang out.

The big blank wall....you might consider adding another cabinet run there. It would give you a convenient place to plunk stuff down that's just out of the refrigerator and room to put the microwave somewhere other than on the counter. If it were me, I'd take out the existing island, make a huge new one with a raised bar for folks to hang out at while you cook. But that's me .

As far as ordering is concerned...there are a few other Texans here, so they can give you the heads up on orders through Houston. You may want to find out about delivery as well. Also, plan on more than one trip. There'll be things you forgot or didn't think about, things you find out about after the fact and things you just plain can't live without. Happens to everyone.

You mean to tell me those aren't your cutsie plates and mugs hanging all around the room? I'm shocked! :shock:

Glad you joined us!

Susan

[Remy1492]

Thanks for the welcome!

Yeah, those plates and decorations arent mine. I like a very modern look, the Gloss Blue ikea kitchen really fascinates me, I love Royal blue and my bed and curtains are that color already, Ikea has a lot in that shade of blue and I love it. But.... my Real Estate agent knows I will move in 3-4 years so ReSale is a big factor, I cant go too extreme white, black or blue in a kitchen, it has to be somewhat neutral to resell the house to more people.

I like glass cabinets and cant wait to see them with the lights installed I have blue plates like the ones already on the wall so they will shine nicely. I dont know another guy friend like me, I like looking at a clean/neat house and smiling. Ikea lets me do that.

As for bottom cabinets, your words ease my mind, hopefully all the dimensions will work out, was thinking of a corner cabinet with the circular wire organizers in it as well.

This was something I couldnt find at Ikea.com, you said I could simply buy Askerum Paneling? Like large sections of it, to cover, say..... the
ceiling light panel
to match my other Ikea cabinets???? If so, this is a great thing to hear.

As for the blank wall............ I think you know exactly what I need, something like a stroage, shelf, and upper cabinets, or perhaps just lower to give the room more space. Was considering some sort of Magiker series cabinet system but perhaps making the whole kitchen the same Askerum wood and color would be better.

Oh I realize I will have to make mulitple trips, but I have an Explorer, not always LONG enough for all the parts but good enough for small stuff. Maybe I will make friends in the Corpus area and carpool

As of now, I dont have any kitchen measurements, perhaps I will ask the current owners for some, that may help preplan.

Here is a question for you though.........

In the IKEA catalog they show a nice kitchen with glass cabinets on the bottom, a girl and a dog next to them, this looks real cool but how practical is this? If I resell the house to a family with kids and a dog that run around and BREAK stuff, would this not be a good idea?:?



After this kitchen, its off to IKEA-ize the Bathrooms, argh, more cheap wood there

[GardenOfDarwin]

Yes, you can buy cover panels in sizes large enough to cover the sides of the tall pantries (high cabinets) and there's also a 3' x 8' "oven panel" that is used to finish out the oven cabinets as well as for providingsupport to counterweight (likea cabinetend run that finishes with a dishwasher).

Another option to consider with your island, since you like the clean modern look is adding a Nyholm unit--it's the one you see in the catalog with the new Linjar blue cabinets.



It backs up to cabinets, hides the backside and provides shelving to boot. Nice, clean look. Future owners can store cookbooks, kidstuff, or breakables there...whatever they want. Safer than glass at ground level, although I love the look.

Takea look around on the Fansite side at some of the Finished Kitchens and Before and Afters. You'll get some ideas for some things that would work in your eat-in area--a pantry or two would be good for you as well as for resale. Is there another formal eating area, or is this it? Another option, which is popular these days is to put in a raised "breakfast bar", which you could do in a number of places including the half-wall behind your sink.

Get your measurements so you can really start to play!

Susan

[Remy1492]

Thanks for the help, I wonder about that center island thing.

Will have to check it out, hopefully this weekend.

As for making the island a bar, that is a great idea, like a table you can eat at instead of using the kitchen table (which I dont have).

I checked the before and after forums, photos are kind of grainy and hard to see. (I plan to take MANY fotos of my project step by step for others to see).

As for extending past the sink, turning its overhang into something to eat on or a bar. Would you do this seeing these photos now. I wonder if it would extend into the main living room walkway. hmmmmm.....

And all the counterop, looks nice, but I suppose I will have to rip out the formica huh?

[GardenOfDarwin]

You've already got probably, what...8" there? Extend the countertop out another 6" or so, and you've got an eating bar. Looks to be still plenty of room to get around, unless the front door is right there. Anyway, you could also do the same with an island ala MsAzadi:



Reminds me I need to get her finished Finished pictures! I think she just finished the tall side out with shelving for cookbooks, but it's been a while since I've looked. Need to add that to the list of things to do!

For the eat-in area, I was thinking of something like this:



This is from a kitchen that's using Askerum with Tidaholm and Numerar Stainless.

Oh, just so you know...if you click on any of the pictures on the Fansite, they enlarge. Most of them, larger than that particular one I just posted which seems smaller than it was on the main page.:?

Anyway, depending on your monitor and resolution, you should be able to make out the details of most pictures if you click to enlarge. If you tried that and still can't seem them, let me know which ones and I'll see what I can do.

[Remy1492]

I think I will make my island like that, is that Corian she is using as the countertop?

Looks very nice. I also like the microwave inset in the cabinets........I think I will go that route as well or stuff the microwave in the island, not sure, but the current setup of a microwave on the counter eats up too much space in my kitchen.

I dont think I will be able to go to sleep with all these ideas in my mind:shock:

[DesignDiva]

Welcome to the Great Adventure of Kitchen Remodeling with IKEA! You'll have lots of fun, do lots of hard work, learn all kinds of things about your house and enjoy a beautiful kitchen that you built yourself for years to come.

I have some ideas but will need to come back later to address them. In the meantime, can you give a birds-eye view with measurements and window placements? That will help those of us who want to play in the planner.

And I want to say that you and your family have our family's heartfelt thanks and gratitude for your service to our country the past several years. God bless you for what you do!!

[GardenOfDarwin]

Nope, that's soapstone. Beautiful, gorgeous, tactile soapstone.

Susan

[bob330i]

Man, I wish I had that kind of space in my kitchen/dining area. I'd go wild.

I'd keep the island as a prep area and as mentioned above, create a long bar on that half wall where the sink is. Would double nicely as a buffet.

Yes, if you're going to replace the cabinets, you'll probably need to remove the formica. I think it would be really tough to rip them out leaving the formica untouched depending on how the cabs areattached.

An above the frig cabinet would be nice to fill that gap.

However, if I knew I had to leave in 3-4 years, I may just live with the set up as it is now and wait for a more permanent home where I'd enjoy my work for a bit more time. Good luck. The fun is just beginning.