[jlehrma1]

Hi IkeaFans Experts:

What an incredible site you have here! I’ve been amazed at the knowledge and insight I have seen on this site, from useful articles to helpful comments from the many volunteers.

We’re about to remodel our kitchen and I am posting the plan in hopes that some of you of wise women and men may be able to offer some suggestions – or at least a sanity check.

So, without further ado, here’s my plan.

I welcome any comments.

Please comment on Adel med brown kitchen plan 

Please comment on Adel med brown kitchen plan 

Please comment on Adel med brown kitchen plan 

I have some particular questions, but will post them separately because I can't get this thread to post, perhaps because I have too much text here.



Mission Statement: lots of drawers so we can access our things; modernize the look for present well-being; update for re-sale in about 4 years. We want to keep the budget down so that our Bang for the Buck on re-sale does not fall too low. So not planning much structural work (other than doubling the window size (maybe a bow, bay or garden window?) and knocking down an inner wall to the right of the fridge to replace an antiquated fixed shelf pantry. We don’t do a lot of parties and we’ll be empty nesters in the fall.

Thanks for your time!

[jlehrma1]

Here are my particular questions for the plan I just posted above:

1. Appliances: we’ve configured the plan for 3 stainless steel appliances from Ikea, including a counter depth (27.5” depth) side by side refrigerator. Our hope is that the Ikea Fall Sale returns and we could get that juicy 20% discount on the cabinets. Anybody hear further news on the rumor that Ikea won’t be having that Sale for a while? If there’s no sale, we found a nice set of Whirlpool appliances, with a larger fridge (30.5” depth) and a more sophisticated Samsung three-in-one microwave to go over the range.

2. Cabinets to Ceilings: We are going with tall 39” wall cabinets. Should we install the cabinets flush to the ceiling (8 foot high) or insert some sort of filler panel? What kind of panel?

3. Lighting: any suggestions for lighting? We are going with the blackish Uba Tuba granite from Ikea. We don’t really like hanging pendants or recessed lighting in cans, which are both the rage I know. Would it look totally out of place to go with a modern single fluorescent in the middle of the kitchen?

4. Butler’s Pantry: the stray cabinets you’ll see just outside the kitchen room are for a butler’s pantry around the corner from the kitchen.

5. Innards of Cabinets: Generally, we’re going for pull-out drawers everywhere we can, and lazy susans in base and wall in corner. We are planning to get the utility broom closet cabinet to go in the corner to the right of the fridge. Do people have any experience with this cabinet (AK HCP 89926352); is it useful for storing brooms, step ladders, etc. or would the space be better used for storing food?

6. Bamboo Floor: we’re planning on installing a light grain bamboo locking floor from either Costco or Lowe’s. at under $3.00 per square foot. Any advice here?


Again, thanks for your time!

[panchodog]

I think it looks great!

The only thing you might need to watch out for a bit is when the dishwasher door is open you're going to block your walk path around the island, but that's an easy fix by shutting the dishwasher! There's no better place to put it that I see.

I think you've got a great plan!

[liz_legend]

I'd recommend getting the matching trim to install on the tops of your cabs.

Here are the pics of what I'm talking about from our local store

Re: Please comment on Adel med brown kitchen plan 

Re: Please comment on Adel med brown kitchen plan 

[Petra66]

Originally Posted by jlehrma1

Here are my particular questions for the plan I just posted above:

3. Lighting: any suggestions for lighting? We are going with the blackish Uba Tuba granite from Ikea. We don’t really like hanging pendants or recessed lighting in cans, which are both the rage I know. Would it look totally out of place to go with a modern single fluorescent in the middle of the kitchen?

Again, thanks for your time!

I must say, fluorescent light is my least favourite light source. With a single source of light in the middle of the kitchen you are sort of casting a shadow on your prep surface because you're standing between the source of light and the counter. I think it would be nice to install under-cabinet lighting to have light on your work surface.

HTH , Petra

	HTH definition HTH means Hope that helps!

[rawlus]

Originally Posted by Petra66

I must say, fluorescent light is my least favourite light source. With a single source of light in the middle of the kitchen you are sort of casting a shadow on your prep surface because you're standing between the source of light and the counter. I think it would be nice to install under-cabinet lighting to have light on your work surface.

HTH, Petra

agree. i prefer hardwired undercabinet lights controlled by a single switch as opposed to the type that plug into an outlet and string together. especially with dark countertops, lighting the work surface is going to be important and i know from experience that commercial type fluorescent fixtures in the ceiling are not ideal for a number of reasons.

Lazy susan, i love the large pullout in the 50" corner base cab, but i am not a fan of the two tier lazy susan for the upper corner cab personally. i went with shelves here, and if i didn't, i think there are aftermarket lazysusans that are likely better than the ikea model.

Bamboo floors - my only watchout for bamboo floors is that they are fairly soft (depending on type, vertical, horizontal or strand) and can dent and mark easily. because they are grass, when scratched through the finish it can tend to be a white scratch as opposed to the color of the natural floor.. in some cases, merely rolling a fridge out and back in from cleaning can leave roller marks into the floor surface - so i would be sure, if you are married to bamboo, to use adequate glides to spread the load point to minimize or eliminate furniture and appliance marking on the floor. i was surprised that i could put a fingernail mark easily in a few samples of bamboo flooring.

[NBeth]

Welcome to Ikeafans! With resale in mind, you should invest in lighting: at minimum undercab lights on one switch, well spaced cans overhead on another if you don't like hanging lights. Single light in the middle screams outdated/inexpensive and you don't want to put all this work and money into updated cabinets and have people get the impression you cheaped out on the whole thing because your lighting isn't good.

With a kitchen that large, there is no need to put the microwave over the range--it limits usage if someone is cooking at the same time and the fans are not that great. I would spring for a mid-range dedicated hood over the cooking surface, then reconfigure the "wall of tall" area to include a built in (or made to look built in) microwave there. Remember, you can mix and match Ikea's doors and drawers so long as everything adds up: those "pantry" units can have big drawers at the bottom, an open shelf in the middle, and doors at the top if you like.

Otherwise, I love all the drawers!

[personalshopper]

With resale in mind, you should invest in lighting: at minimum undercab lights on one switch, well spaced cans overhead on another if you don't like hanging lights. Single light in the middle screams outdated/inexpensive and you don't want to put all this work and money into updated cabinets and have people get the impression you cheaped out on the whole thing because your lighting isn't good.

I agree completely with the above comment about lighting. If you don't do it now, I'm willing to bet that when you put the house on the market, the first thing the listing agent will suggest is upgraded kitchen lighting. Maybe someone at a good lighting store can make some suggestions about lighting that you will like now, and that potential buyers will like in a few years.

[karen51]

Generally I think the plan looks great. The only thing that leapt out at me was the upper cabinets curving around the wall and going up to the edge of the window. I think I'd just up them along the wall to the corner (ending with a straight cabinet, though I am not as against the corner-cabinet-at-the-end-of-a-row thing as some in this forum). I'd leave the window wall cabinetless.

[Joh]

You definitely, definitely need under cabinet lighting as well as a ceiling fixture. I'm in the middle of my ikea kitchen remodel, and having under cabinet lighting was a must. My old kitchen only had a single light source in the middle of the ceiling, and working in the evenings was terrible, since I just cast a shadow on my own workspace. Think of the two sets of lighting as having two different purposes. The under-cabinet lighting is for lighting up your workspace when working on the countertops, the ceiling light is to give general lighting, and also for working on the island. Another thought - what about lighting at the sink when it is dark outside? Without any downward lighting over the sink you will be casting your own shadow again, when you are relying on the ceiling light. Are there soffits in your existing kitchen? You could put a couple of simple recessed lights into the existing soffits over the sink to provide task lighting there.

I also agree on the microwave placement. I personally am not a fan of the over-range microwaves for pure usability reasons - I'm 5' 4" and maneuvering piping hot food or liquids at my head height makes me very nervous. I think you definitely have enough space to put one in the pantry area. I'm going with a countertop model, but I have less space to accommodate built-ins.

One other thought, it seems to be the ikeafans mantra that countertop space between sink and stove is the most used. What do you think about bumping your sink and dishwasher down one, and moving the large drawer cabinet on the end up to the left of the sink? Basically so that the dishwasher is on the end.

Other than those thoughts, I think the plan looks fantastic!