Let's talk about counter tops and sinks.

[MAKmom]

Good luck ! It will be beautiful.

 

[RUDisney]

That's going to be beautiful.

For those who are curious, here's a link to the countertop color. http://www.silestoneusa.com/colors/colors.cfm?ColorID=36

I was originally thinking it was going to be more blue than it is. I really like the subtleness of it.

 

[DisneyPhD]

That's going to be beautiful.

For those who are curious, here's a link to the countertop color. http://www.silestoneusa.com/colors/colors.cfm?ColorID=36

I was originally thinking it was going to be more blue than it is. I really like the subtleness of it.

Thanks for the link. Yep that is it. The cabinets are going to be a honey maple shade, the appliances are white and the floor hardwood. The walls blue. The counters should tie it all together well. Now to live with the construction (and pay the bills.)

 

[RUDisney]

Thanks for the link. Yep that is it. The cabinets are going to be a honey maple shade, the appliances are white and the floor hardwood. The walls blue. The counters should tie it all together well. Now to live with the construction (and pay the bills.)

You've got to post a picture when you're finished. The worst thing is that you'll be eating a lot of microwaved things and take out while the kitchen is destroyed. It sounds good when you're starting the project, but it gets old fast.

Before our counters were installed, the contractor mounted my sink temporarily under plywood so I'd have something to work with while we waited for the real countertops.

Here are two pictures of how ours turned out.

 

[pjshaff]

RUDisney - what finish are the cabinets in? I love it.

 

[DisneyPhD]

RUDisney, that looks great! I will be sure to post a picture when we get done (late Aug or sept.) Your pictures get me even more excited. I was singing "I'm dreaming of a new kitchen" instead of white Christmas. I had words and everything.

You did under cabnet lights right? We are planning to do that too.

 

[DisneyPhD]

Oh, and by the way. My local HD had TONS of Alien green Mickey heads pant samples. I took a few ( 4 or 5) just in case. They had at least a hundred more out.

They don't seem to be discontinuing it around my parts.

 

[jw50]

We have the blue Sahara too, my wife loves it:

But she wanted stainless steel for the sink (Blanco):

 

[PlutoLuvr]

I had a corian sink and hated it. I had to scrub that sink practically every time I used it. Cookie sheets would make black marks on it, spaghetti sauce would stain it. Now I have stainless steel--much better, but now I'm dealing with a scratched up sink that isn't fixable. Oh well at least you can't see the scratches unless you look closely!

Boy, you're not kidding about these sinks!

We went from stainless to porcelain and have had or are having the same troubles. The porcelain we have now picks up EVERY stain, and cookie sheets/pizza pans make these marks. Luckily that Bartender's Friend makes the sink look perfect again, but, still ... we're using that stuff every couple days!

I thought this would be an improvement over the stainless we used to have. Never had any issues with the stainless looking dirty, and it was very easy to keep clean, but the scratches and eventual pinholes drove us mad. You couldn't see the pinholes very easily at all, but you could sure open the cupboards under the sink and see it was a problem. With the first "puddle," we were convinced it was the plumbing, but it was a little hole in the sink ... then another, and another. UGH!!!

 

[PlutoLuvr]

Be sure and take photos to share with us, Disneyphd!

 

[shelly3girls]

We had quartz installed in our Butler's Pantry and it is great. Completely indestructable!

I have one recommendation that we did and I love it. Many of the faucets now have matching accessories. Ours offered an undercounter soap pump, can be installed where a faucet hose would have been located. I fill mine with dish detergent. It is by far the best thing in my whole kitchen. Now I do not have to keep the detergent bottle on the counter or reach under the sink for it. I cannot believe how this one small item has simplified my life!

 

[RUDisney]

RUDisney - what finish are the cabinets in? I love it.

The cabinets are quarter-sawn oak. The stripes below the sink and the cabinets on either side of the sink are chestnut and the rest are hazlenut. The corner cabinets are hazlenut. They just look lighter because of the flash.

You did under cabnet lights right? We are planning to do that too.

Our under cabinet lights are Juno lights. We have the lights controlled by 3 switches and they can all be dimmed. The under cabinet lights are on one switch, the light over the sink is on another and the soffit lights are on a third.

I have one recommendation that we did and I love it. Many of the faucets now have matching accessories. Ours offered an undercounter soap pump, can be installed where a faucet hose would have been located. I fill mine with dish detergent. It is by far the best thing in my whole kitchen. Now I do not have to keep the detergent bottle on the counter or reach under the sink for it. I cannot believe how this one small item has simplified my life!

This is exactly what we did, too. It's so much easier than dragging the Dawn out from under the sink every time we wanted to use it.

 

[DisneyPhD]

The cabinets came today. We won't be ready to put them in for a few weeks yet. The kitchen is empty and gutted. We need a lot of work, electric, plumping and other wires need to be run, drywall put back up and things painted before we can put them in place.

They look good and I will try to post pictures soon of the gutted kitchen and new cabinets.

What I am wondering now is if we should get a new fridge. Our old one is a top freezer and it is wide and deep. It sticks out far and is 31 inches wide. That is making it a bit tight on the wall. If we buy a 30 inch new one we will have a bit more room, and we can get a side by side that has ice and water in the door. I think that would be good, the girls could get drinks themselves better. Any one have insight to how they like theirs? I would put the old one in the basement for an extra space. It would be a big added expense though. We might be able to get one that isn't as deep, so it won't stick out as far into the room too.

DH isn't as sure.

I have hardware questions too, but I will wait until I can post a picture to show you guys.

Man it has been a crazy week. I don't see this going very fast with DH doing most of it himself (alone.)

 

[shelly3girls]

What I am wondering now is if we should get a new fridge. Our old one is a top freezer and it is wide and deep. It sticks out far and is 31 inches wide. That is making it a bit tight on the wall. If we buy a 30 inch new one we will have a bit more room, and we can get a side by side that has ice and water in the door. I think that would be good, the girls could get drinks themselves better. Any one have insight to how they like theirs? I would put the old one in the basement for an extra space. It would be a big added expense though. We might be able to get one that isn't as deep, so it won't stick out as far into the room too.

I have had every type of fridge including side by side, top freezer, and now bottom freezer drawer with top french doors. I have to say that the side by side was my least favorite. Each compartment is narrow and deep. It is a pain to store things and nothing wide fits in it. My favorite is the bottom freezer drawer. The drawer is amazing and very easy to keep organized. The top fridge area fits a ton and is very easy to store almost anything. With 3 kids it makes life a little easier. We have the ice and water on the door like you mentioned and it is an added convenience.

 

[ndelaware]

I have to say my favorite has been the side by side. The water and ice feature is a pleasure to use, which we use constantly in the summer. I like the many shelves of the sibe by side as opposed to the top or bottom freezer since you have to do alot more stacking in the freezer compartment.

 

[shelly3girls]

We do very little stacking with our bottom freezer. I agree that is a problem with a top freezer but bottom freezers (atleast all that we looked at) have sliding drawer compartments which makes storage quite nice.

Several bottom freezer models now offer the ice and water on the door.

 

[RUDisney]

Wide things are not an issue when you have the second refrigerator in the basement. Anything that is very large will store down there and it's easier to buy OJ and iced tea in bulk without taking up all of the space in your kitchen refrigerator.

My best friend has a counter-depth refrigerator and hates it. She's got 3 kids plus she and her DH. She hates that she has no storage space in it because it's not deep enough. She recommended to me that I should go with a traditional side by side and let it stick out a little. I have not regretted my decision in the least bit.

I've done the bottom freezer and the top freezer on past refrigerators. I'd accept a top freezer again but would hate to ever have a bottom freezer ever again. Finding things was definitely an issue with that one. I keep too much on hand at all times.

Currently, my kitchen freezer, basement top freezer and 17 cubic foot freezer are full. I like to be prepared for just about anything.

 

[shelly3girls]

Wide things are not an issue when you have the second refrigerator in the basement. Anything that is very large will store down there and it's easier to buy OJ and iced tea in bulk without taking up all of the space in your kitchen refrigerator.

My best friend has a counter-depth refrigerator and hates it. She's got 3 kids plus she and her DH. She hates that she has no storage space in it because it's not deep enough. She recommended to me that I should go with a traditional side by side and let it stick out a little. I have not regretted my decision in the least bit.

I've done the bottom freezer and the top freezer on past refrigerators. I'd accept a top freezer again but would hate to ever have a bottom freezer ever again. Finding things was definitely an issue with that one. I keep too much on hand at all times.

Currently, my kitchen freezer, basement top freezer and 17 cubic foot freezer are full. I like to be prepared for just about anything.

I completely agree about the counter depth frig. They don't have the space as the bigger ones.

I think freezer placement is really a personal choice. We love ours. We purchased ours b/c we had 3 friends with them (all had previous side by sides) who all loved them. I think you just need to evaluate your needs and spend a great deal of time in the store. I recommend measuring (or maybe even taking empty containers) the items you use the most and make sure they fit where you want them.

 

[Dee & Greg]

We had Swanstone in our previous house... a Corian look alike, but you can pour boiling water into the sink and it won't crack like Corian; plus it was less expsensive. I loved it!
Now we have dark granite in our new home... it shows every little crumb and piece of dust. It's beautiful, but high maintence. And it drives an OCD person like myself nuts constantly wiping off crumbs!
Wish I had the Swanstone again... it hid crumbs and was super easy to clean.
www.swanstone.com

 

[DisneyPhD]

Thanks guys. My in laws have a bottom freezer and that is what DH likes. He isn't as sure about the side by side. I was thinking the bit things would not be an issue if we kept the old one and used it in the basement. Right now we have my old dorm fridge in the basement for soda and such.

I did not realize that they have bottom freezers with in the door water. Does yours have 2 doors on the top? Does it only have water? Not ice?

I don't think I want a counter size one, but the one we have now is 30 inches deep with the doors on it. It has a 31 inch width. That is what is really giving us problems. It is only about 6 years old and is fine shape. Nothing fancy, but does the job.

It is just too deep and will stick out a lot. I want one a big smaller, but not too small. It seems what ever is in the back just gets lost and we forget to eat anyway.

We will have to do some shopping around and see what we can find.