Kitchen Remodel - Great Indoors?

[ColoradoMom!!]

Thanks - but this is a 4 year old thread, and thankfully our kitchen is done!

We are finally embarking on a kitchen remodel. Our kitchen is small, as is our budget. We had a designer at Home Depot do a layout using Thomasville Cabinets. I just didn't like the "lack of interest" in his design. I know it is small, but I want some pretty too.

Went to Great Indoors today. They seem to have more qualified designers, but I am worried about the $$ being higher. Any experience with Great Indoors out there?

We really can't afford custom. Thanks!

 

[disneyhand]

Any kitchen remodel, no matter the what the size or budget, deserves the full attention of the designer. The designer needs to talk to you in detail and pay attention to your likes and dislikes and how you use your kitchen. You need to be happy with the finished design, there isn't any reason not to be

I have heard of people that were unhappy with Home Depot's contractors in their remodels, so I would really check them out if you go ahead with them.

Sorry, I haven't heard of the other company you mention. Ask around your neighbors and friends for remodel company referal's.

Good luck!

 

[Calliaz]

When we remodeled, the main reason we went to Ikea was that they actually listened to what we wanted and were willing to be creative. The Home Depot lady told me I didn't want an in-cabinet oven after I told her that's what I wanted. They also didn't want to give me my cookie sheet cabinet (which I LOVE).

Lowes and Home Depot were both very lacking in creativity. However, I think if I knew exactly what I wanted and took it in, they could have done it.

I have not used the planners at Great Indoors, but you are probably right that they will be a bit more expensive. The kitchen is going to last a long time, so it is much better to be happy than to save a little money. At least go in and see what they quote you.

 

[ColoradoMom!!]

I don't think we have an Ikea in the Denver area. I have heard a lot of people like them!

I have been dreaming of this for years, and now that it is here, I am just paralyzed with fear - not getting what I really want, etc.

 

[Astro Orbiter]

I think it's where you go. I went to Lowe's - but a different Home Depot might work as well. If you don't like your designer, go somewhere else. Or at least pick a different designer and get a new perspective. If you REALLY know what you want, make sure you get it. But make sure that you listen to what they have to say, too.

What's missing to give you the pretty? Kitchens are basic - cupboards, counters, appliances, sink. The pretty comes from the walls, moldings, cabinets, lighting...

When I did it, we had an older gentleman. He recommended an upper corner cabinet, which I never would have thought of. And an appliance cubby, which once I nixed he never brought up again. And a deeper cabinet over the fridge to make it look more built-in, which I took. And when I said I wanted built-in bookcases underneath a ledge, figured out how to do it with upper cabinets without doors, cut shallow, and some trim molding. He even showed us a layout with replacing the can lights with pendants. And, instead of picking one of the stock colors of granite they had, gave me the card for where they got their granite from and I got to go pick out my pieces myself.

Honestly, the times we went to the Great Indoors we always left empty-handed, because what they had was fancier than we wanted and more expensive than most other places.

Deb

 

[quentina]

Do you have a Just Cabinets around you? They do amazing things with their compters and have tons of cabinets to pick from.

 

[Maggie'sMom]

I'd call a few local, non-chain remodeling companies and ask for a consult and estimate. A lot of times you can find someone who will do better quality work for less money than the large chain stores. Ask friends and neighbors if they know of any companies that do kitchen remodels. Or join Angie's List, if there is one for your area. I've located some wonderful contractors through Angie's List that provided me with superior work at excellent prices.

I'm going through a complete kitchen remodel right now, but I'm blessed because my brother is a contractor. He cut me a great deal where he's doing the work for cost. I'm paying all the contractor's prices for materials and the hourly wages for his crew, but he's donating his labor and not taking any profit on the job. The tradeoff was I had to wait until his slow time so I got to have my kitchen ripped to pieces over the holidays. Oh, and I'm doing all the painting myself.

 

[bringmethathorizon]

being a contractor/remodeler you need to be carefull.this is your house,next to your kids it is the single largest exspence you will have .take care of it.the problem with going to a Kitchen cabinet place is that is all they do.who ever they are contracting with that week is going to come in your house and tear it apart and install the new cabinets and they are gone.then you will have to find someone else to install sink plumbing install applianses ect...
make sure you are getting a turn key job or at least find out what you will be responsible for .now i know not all of them do this but there are alot that does.we have been call countless times to come in behind a home improvment store to finish the job.one time the poor lady was out of a kitchen for 1 MONTH.to many different contractors to many different schedules.if you can find someone who is qualified to do a little of everything he/she can work with your cabinet /contertop company to minimize down time.it may cost a little more but piece of mind conts for alot.
sorry for the long windedness ,i have just seen to many nightmares

 

[ColoradoMom!!]

No need to apologize for a long response - that is what I am looking for.

The Great Indoors say they have a project manager that oversees everything - and coordinates all the work - so I guess I can hope.

I looked up Just Cabinets - and I don't see one in our area.

I would love to go with a private local person, but they appear to be more expensive. I need to give a few a try - but I hate to feel obligated if I get a quote. A co-worker of my hubby's got around 10 different bids, and all the private ones were way higher than Home Depot and Lowes. To me that makes sense, because HD and Lowes are less personal, deal in large volume, etc. which costs less.

Keep all the great advice/experience coming!!

 

[Sammy]

For those who have used Ikea: how did you find the quality of the cabinets? I always thought of Ikea as sort of "college student" budget with the quality to match...?

 

[bringmethathorizon]

just make sure you are comparing apples to apples.compare quality/construction of cabinets ect..
lately in our area with the economy the custume cabinet guys have been compeating pretty well.
we dont build we just do the demo and put back together.this is the part that will make the largest problems.
the kitchen is the most exspencive room in the house to remodel.
hope you are able to figure it all out. dw and i are into a small remodel ourselves.
dw keeps saying somthing about some shoe maker and his own shoes?
trust me i can remodel a kitchen better than i can spell.

 

[mistysue]

Home Depot and Lowe's will give you a great initial quote. Unfortunately, the initial amount is for no drawers and completely standard height, wide boxes with doors...
I went to Home Depot and according to their price guide, my kitchen (10x10) in the design I wanted was aprox. $2,400. Okay, so we picked specific cabinet sizes and it was $6,000 BEFORE we had any extras or decorative features. No tray cabinet, no garbage can, spice rack, door handles (yes, they are extra), pantry etc. That was delivered, not installed. In the end, I spent $6,300 through a private contractor and got a bunch of special features with my cabinets, added a pantry and got extra cabinets to build a peninsula and knocked down a wall to make more room.

My family business is actually in casework (institutional) so I can tell you first hand that you can get some amazing deals through small custom shops. They can produce the same product and the up-charge for special items is not so dramatic because they aren't making cookie cutter basic cabinets.

Think about what you want. Do you want a wood or a laminate? Ikea can give you a nice product if you want laminate, but play around with the line you are getting before you order.

 

[tommya60]

We used Lowe's for bathroom cabinets, DH ordered some extra parts to customize them to what we needed. My friend has redone her house--major remodel, moved/removed almost every interior wall in the main part of the house. She has amazing cabinets--did the whole thing at Ikea. She did her mom's kitchen there, too. When we converted the old water heater closet into pantry space we bought the pull out shelves there, DH installed them--I love it.
Maybe you need to get a few plans done to see what's possible, and then use the one that works best for you.

 

[Maggie'sMom]

I would love to go with a private local person, but they appear to be more expensive. I need to give a few a try - but I hate to feel obligated if I get a quote. A co-worker of my hubby's got around 10 different bids, and all the private ones were way higher than Home Depot and Lowes. To me that makes sense, because HD and Lowes are less personal, deal in large volume, etc. which costs less.

It would be good to call some companies on your own and get quotes. There's no need to feel obligated just by getting a quote. Designing and bidding jobs is part of the business. Contractors know they won't get every job they go out to give a quote on.

Before I realized what a great deal my brother could get me, I was looking into just refacing the cabinets I had. I didn't think I could afford new cabinets. I got quotes on refacing from Home Depot and another local family-run company that has been in business for more than 30 years and has a great reputation for quality work. Home Depot's quote was more than twice what the other company quoted. This was for similar style doors, same wood, similar hardware, same countertops, etc. I was astonished!

What I usually do is check out Angie's List and look for "A"-rated companies where members writing the reports mention what a great value they got, how this contractor gave them a better price than other companies, and that they felt they got more than what they paid for. Of course these comments have to be combined with comments about what excellent work the contractors performed.

 

[RNMOM]

We remodeled our very small kitchen in 2002. I knew what I wanted in theory but needed some guidance. I actually wanted to act as my own contractor and hire the individuals to do plumbing/electrice/ etc. What I got was a wonderful man my DH worked with a few times. He listened to me, gave us a reasonable quote then told me what I needed to do and when. He was great. He had a couple different guys help him and they were all nice people. We are still friends. I got my cabinets from Lowes and used a young female designer. She was great. The things I hemmed and hawed on I still wish I had done differently. I wish I had put in lots of big drawers instead of the cabinets I did on the bottom on one wall. Who knew?

Try to imagine yourself putting your belongings into the cabinets when you are deciding. Figure out what will go where and do you have what you need for this. I chose to middle of the line on cabinet cost and decided on formica. I have two sons living at home still hand there is some damage to my appliances and counters due to them. I am glad they weren't top of the line or they would be dead.

I agree with those who said to try other Lowes or Home Depots. Perhaps you will find someone who thinks like you do. The previous person who said the charm is in the wall color, trim, extras is right but the basic pieces make the pallate for your art work. There are tons of things to consider and having a guide can help. I know we put in Kabinetmaid cabinets and they have a good website for designing. Lots of advice on style, color and options they have. I imagine Thomasville has similar items on their site. Use them for ideas.

 

[teacup princess]

We did our kitchen last year and although I did go with custom cabinets in the end I got quotes from both Home Depot and Lowes. Lowes to me just seemed to have more options and better designers. Also, please be aware that they will bargain on the price. A 10% discount is pretty easy to get just by asking them to check with a manager at Lowes. I had them up to a 20% discount in the end. I really wanted to give them my business but I found that custom cabinetry was just going to work better in my non-standard kitchen. BTW custom cabinetry usually includes installation so keep that in mind when you get your quotes. For us at Lowes it would have cost us about $2000 in labor to have them installed. The custom cabinetry although a little more expensive included labor and saved us $$$$ in the end when we had to make some unplanned modifications when we opened up the walls and found plumbing, ect. that couldn't be moved.

 

[blanq]

Don't assue that you cannot afford custom cabinets until you actually price them out. I completed a major renovation two years ago (including a kitchen/laundry room gut) and three out of the four general contractors I interviewed gave me that advice, and indicated that custom or semi-custom cabinets can end up being an affordable option. I ended up with custom cabinets and I absolutely ADORE them!

 

[Bren's Mom]

We remodeled the small kitchen in our former home in 2007. I priced out cabinets/had designs done at Home Depot and Lowes. Wasn't thrilled. Then a friend who is a custom cabinet maker suggested a local lumber yard, he said they have kitchen designers there. So I make an appointment and WHAT A DIFFERENCE! We had a great designer who worked with me to get exactly what we wanted at a price we could afford, we got better cabinets and some nice upgrade items (like the sponge drawer I wanted, and pull outs). Delivery was free. Dh put the cabinets in himself with our friend's help, so I can't comment on install. But we were SO happy with them. So check out a local lumber yard. Even if they don't do kitchens, surely they'll know a reputable local contractor with kitchen experience who might be able to help you out/direct you to a kitchen designer that will get you what you want!

 

[Calliaz]

For those who have used Ikea: how did you find the quality of the cabinets? I always thought of Ikea as sort of "college student" budget with the quality to match...?

We remodeled in 2001 and the cabinets are holding up great. They aren't as nice as some really expensive ones (mostly because the insides clearly don't match the outside), but they look just as good as the ones my parents paid 10k more for. There are no dings or scratches in any door. I actually like that if I wanted to just replace all the doors and drawer fronts I can for pretty cheap. At the time they were also the only ones who had full-extension drawers and doors that open wide.

We also installed an Ikea kitchen in my ILs condo and it looks really good. We are do-it-yourself people, so we did not pay an installer on either kitchen. I have heard that is what costs the most with Ikea kitchens.

 

[jlima]

STAY AWAY FROM THE GREAT INDOORS!!!!!!

I used them to remodel our master bath back in 2002. WHAT A MISTAKE! I only met the project manager I was supposed to have one time before my stuff was ordered; and he quit; and they never assigned a new one to me until after the contractors showed up, tore out everything and decided I didn't have enough tile for them to finish. The project manager I ended up with was great, but TGI's processes and procedures just didn't lend themselves to service their customers in one place and utilize their vendors that were all over the country. Their tile supplier was in Tennessee and it was a two week delay each of the three times tile had to be reordered, because there was so much breakage in transit. One of the re-orders was for 34 pieces of tile . . .and they delivered 34 cases. No joke. On a pallet, in my garage. They came and picked it up, after they used what they needed, which was just 1 case & part of a second. The delivered TWO bathtubs, neither of which was the color I ordered. I made them refund the $$ because it wasn't what I wanted and wasn't what I signed off on when my stuff was ordered; no one at TGI EVER called to tell me that color wasn't available; and who in the world decided I needed two bathtubs?

A month after the job was finished, the shower pan leaked into DH's office downstairs; and they had to rebuild the shower pan and reorder tile AGAIN - but that time they asked me to order and pay for it myself from a company in California that delivered it in one day. They paid to replace a ruined ceiling fan in the room below.

The local glass contractor they sub-contracted who built my shower doors and one of my mirrors was completely incompetent. They made a bevel on a mirror that didn't match the ones on my medicine cabinets; and refused to re-make it until the project manager intervened. (the original project manager said I could save about $300 getting that mirror from a local vendor instead of purchasing the Roburn one. It might have been cheaper, but the drama wasn't worth it.) They refused to make the handle on the shower door the way I wanted because "you can't do it on that kind of glass" when they initially said it could be done.

TGI's contractors lost one of three glass globes on the vanity light fixture (they reordered it; another delay); and only delivered two of the three halogen light bulbs (DH just took one and went to a local business called The Bulbman and purchased what we needed. The ones they ordered weren't received until a month after the shower pan repair job).

STAY AWAY STAY AWAY STAY AWAY FROM THE GREAT INDOORS!!!!!!! THEY ARE INCOMPETENT!!! They had one store in Las Vegas and it closed back in March. No reason to wonder why...they were just awful.

The hardest thing about it was DH didn't want to use them because they were part of Sears. I should have listened to him.