The Backbone of a Remodeled Kitchen
As you go through your plans to remodel your kitchen, what is the one thing that you dislike the most, right now? For many people that answer would be their kitchen cabinets. The cabinets are too narrow, too low, not enough space for anything tall or deep enough or the shelves are not where you want or need them.
I’ll bet you can add a few answers of your own. So now that we have identified some of the problems, let us look at a few answers. Cabinets can be custom made or off the shelf. One is obviously more expensive than the other. If this remodeling is a do-it-yourself (DIY) project, you still have decisions to make. There are many different places that sell kitchen cabinets, regular store fronts, specialty shops or online stores. Most places will allow you to modify some of the measurements without too much hassle, but if you have unique spaces to fill, you may have to go with completely custom cabinets.
When we remodeled our first home, we did all the cabinet work ourselves. I will tell you that since we had little experience, it involved a lot of research up front before we bought material to build the cabinets. I chose a different look for our cabinets; we decided that our cabinets would all be sitting on the floor – no hanging wall cabinets at all.
After we torn everything out of the kitchen and the basic cabinet frames were built, we set them in place and ‘played’ with them for a while. In fact we moved them around quite a lot to see how the traffic would flow and where things needed to be for easy access. We really wanted to be sure that the placement and the height was going to be right for how we lived and worked.
The design for our cabinets was very simple since the house was built in the flavor of Frank Lloyd Wright, the lines were clean and simple. The kitchen was to follow in the same design – black cabinets, white tile counter tops and gray Berber carpet. It was really very stunning when it was finished.
Your kitchen needs to be a reflection of you. If your house has a country theme, then you need a country kitchen. The cabinets should be in a wood that reflects that. Perhaps the kitchen cabinets will be painted a soft yellow or green with Roosters or Bunnies painted on the wood. Or maybe you want an ultra modern kitchen that is all black steel, chrome and glass front cabinets.
No matter how you design your kitchen cabinets, make sure that they are a reflection of what you want and not someone else. You will be the one who is living with the results. Remember that your cabinets truly are the backbone of how your new kitchen. And with the cost of remodeling these days, it will most likely be a long time between new kitchen cabinets.