Thursday, November 30, 2017

Kitchen Cost Breakdown

After sharing my kitchen remodel with my neighbors I did have a number of questions about cost, which I was totally glad to answer.  I couldn't remember off hand, and honestly at that point I was spending so much money something I didn't want to keep track.  I had did a quick estimate at $15,000 but had warned I'd had to look it up.

I had mentioned before, but I'd say its a must for Ikea to come out and measure, then they will give you a 3D drawing and blueprints.  This is where you decide if you want a drawer or a shelf and what size cabinet in each spot.


I was a little off, in a good way.  I had forget that I ordered all 3 bathroom cabinets along with the dining room bench cabinets at the same time.  So a quick breakdown:

My total kitchen bill at Ikea was:
$6,183.95
This included all my cabinets, under cabinet lighting for above the sink, lighting in my glass door cabinets, my stove and fridge.

Ikea at the time was giving %15 back on all cabinet purchases, so my microwave and dishwasher are not on that order because I used the $927.56 rebate. to cover my Microwave (which is now at a new lower price) at $295.00 and my dishwasher at $595.00, so with tax that covered it all.

I do believe I ended up buying a few extra filler panels, but returned a few extra parts, so I'd say add another $100 for those.  I had the contractor build a side panel to my stove, as well as I believe I needed an extra piece for the peninsula.

That price does not include: counter tops, flooring, sink, hardware, faucets, and installation.

When I was reviewing my quote, I did remember that I went with the higher end appliances for a total of $3,380 (remember, some was paid for by the rebate back).  From the Ikea website, they have great options for most cost effective appliances, all still in stainless steel.

Dishwasher at $345


Microwave at $195


Range at $595


Refrigerator at $1,195


For a total of $2,330 so that's over $1,000 savings

I spent about $3,000 for granite (which included a kitchen sink)  Ikea has some newer awesome much more affordable counter top options as well.

Herringbone butcher block, I love this!! 




Faux concrete


Faux Marble



Flooring:
My flooring is a bamboo hardwood that was nailed down.  We installed in ourselves, but thankfully my uncle had experience in installing hardwoods, but it's not something I'd recommend for a first time DIY.  However, I've used this product in the past from Home Depot, and really liked how it turned out (I put it in my last house, so I could not tell you how it held up as we moved very shortly after) but this is something I'd say you could tackle as a DIY project.



$2.99 a square foot, which is about what I paid at Lumber Liqutoers for my flooring.

Rough estimate would be 225 sq feet needed so about 675 for flooring.


Installation:
I did my own demo.  Rented a dumpster bag and in a day it was all out.  That saved from having the Ikea contractors do the demo.  They did install all of the cabinets, lighting, and put the appliances in place.  They did not hook up the dishwasher.  The total install price was $2,652.00


I'm going to estimate about $300 for hardware and the faucet, and about $500 for all of the supplies and material for the backsplash.

My total cost for the kitchen was:  $13,400 (Give or take a bit)

If you were to demo the kitchen on your own, install your own flooring, us the counter options from Ikea, along with a sink and faucet and hardware from them. I'd say you could easily do it for less than $10,000

Another way to save is on the door front selection at Ikea, now my door was on the lower end of the door front choices, and I'm very happy with it, but there are some great choices for a lot less (and a lot more too)

So here is the door style I got:

They compare a 18 by 30 door in each style so you can really look at apples to apples



Here are some other options for less that I also thing are great, they are all a flat front style so more of a modern look, but can really be dressed up with hardware.




This is their most basic style, but can be used for a two tone cabinet look, where you use this on the top of bottom cabinets and a different door style on the opposite.  


This one is my favorite of the other options, (a half of second of regret I didn't go with this one), first the price, $12!!  That's a $48 savings over the style I went with.  That would save (my guess) over $1,000.  If you are wondering why not more, its because there are a number of fixed costs from the way Ikea works, so all of the hinges and internal hardware are the same cost no matter the style, along with the cabinet boxes. 



 Look at this kitchen below using the Tingsryd door style!!  Looks completely high end! I'm loving that clean and classic look.

 Unsourced photo



Tuesday, November 21, 2017

Christmas Tour 2016

As I'm planning when I'm going to decorate this year from Christmas, I thought it'd be a good time to share last years tree.  Spoiler Alert, this year will be similar as we got a whole new theme last year, but I'm sure a few things will be a little different, as I just can't help buying anything that's buffalo plaid.  As I sit here typing, I'm in my buffalo plaid PJ pants.

This post is a little sneak peak into the dining room and living room. 





 I have loved the velvet Pottery Barn stockings for years, and last year at their black Friday sale I ordered them.  I've heard a few other bloggers talk about, do they buy more or extra, what happens when the family grows, we'll I hope I'm not going to curse Pottery Barn, but there probably a pretty safe option to insure matching stockings for years to come.



Poor Ellie had a cold that weekend last year, and her little nose was chapped, but she loved the tree.  It was really the first year that she fully understood Christmas.



The buffalo plaid ribbon on the tree was from JoAnn's and the tree skirt was from Hobby Lobby.  I did see that they are carrying the same on this year.  They also have their own buffalo plaid ribbon this year incase JoAnn's is not carrying it again. 



Friday, November 17, 2017

Finished Kitchen: Part 2


Finally, the finished project!  If you missed the first part, Kitchen: Part 1.  The change in the layout of the kitchen, makes the space seem almost unrecognizable. Kitchens are when you spend the most money in a remodel, as well as getting the most attention, and I'm so happy how it's all turned out.

Remember the before:



From the last post I got a few questions about why I left the soffits, well, that was not the original plan, I have a vision of 42in cabinets, along with then a built in fridge.  Sadly, after taking a sledge hammer to the soffits, we realized two thing. 1. the soffits were made of plywood, and 2. they were full of wires, that were sadly pulled very tight, so there wasn't any room to move them into the ceiling with out a lot of cutting.  So, they stayed...

As for the backsplash, I think I bought about 15 different samples, from marble, to hand painted porcelain, to glass.  I ended up on glass tiles from Mendards by Mohawk, they were 4 by 12 and I believe the color was Cloud.  I ended up with a very plan tile after the counters had so much pattern.



I'm so happy that I added the peninsula, not only did it add so much additional counter and cabinet space, the stools work so much better for us as opposed to a table.  


There was originally one pendant light that would be over where the kitchen table would be, we pigged backed off the one to add a second pendant light.  All the lighting is from Ray Electric.  I searched and searched the big box stores and could never find anything I liked.  I had this perception that the lighting stores were really expensive, but they were much more reasonable that I had expected, and plus being a member of the Michigan Interior Design Center, they honored that and gave me the designer discount.  My lighting splurge was the dining room light, (more to come) and I think the second most expensive fixtures were these two at just about $100 a piece.











Sunday, November 12, 2017

Madison Braids Review


My Pinterest and Instagram are full of braided hair style looks, and I have to say I'm loving them.  However my braiding skills are not quite to "point" lets say.  And sadly, Ellie hates when I use her to practice. When Madison Braids came across my feed as an ad I was very interested.  They have 5 headband styles that are all different types of chunky braids.

I went for the fishtail, as that's the one I'm trying to master currently (happened to have tired a side fishtail on just an average morning, that happened to be Halloween, Ellie's pre school class thought I was dressing up as Elsa, so I'm not sure if that's a mom win or fail?)

The braids only come in 3 or 4 different colors depending on the style, I was a little worried as the blonde seemed to be a little darker than my hair color, but I really wanted to give it a try.



It came in this cute little box.  The first thing I loved about the headband is that its adjustable!  I am very sensitive to headbands, and apparently have a big head?  I don't know but most headbands only last about an hour before the headache starts.  I also think I might get one for Ellie which I don't have to worry about it being to big.


It came in a pretty tight braid, so I just pulled it a part a bit to give it a little different look. Then before I wore it, I was still a little unsure of the color match, so to tone down some of the shine, I just sprayed a little dry shampoo.  For some reason, lighter color synthetic hair always looks a little more "fake" than darker colors, so I've always found spraying some dry shampoo is great for fixing that.


There are so many different ways to wear this headband, you really can just throw it in and go.  I ended up putting a little wave in my hair first with my T3 1 1/2 inch barrel wand first.  Then I put in the headband and pinned back the sides.



I was really impressed that it blended into my hair color so well, and it was very comfortable to wear.


Use the coupon code INSTA15 to get 15% off and free shipping on your first order! Most of the braids are $35.00.


Ellie's Bathroom

This one was rough... that's a lot of gold... and not in a good way.

Ellie's bedroom is awesome, in that she had her own bathroom, and its a pretty good sized bathroom for the overall size of the condo.  So this one was a decision to complete gut like the master, or give it a face lift.  I went with the facelift, and am really happy.

The before:


Horrible picture but was from the real estate listing.  Now, this I will NEVER understand.  Its hard to see but there are 2 doors in one bathroom...One entered from Ellie's room, clearly.  The other went into the master...but there is a master bath, so why?

I don't know either... So I took out the second door, because it seemed dumb.


So this was the extent of my demo, the vanity, as it was plastic, the toilet as it was gross and the floor as there was no coming back from that one.


While the tile guys were in the master, I had them lay the floor in the bathroom for a few hundred bucks, again, worth it!

You can kinda see the opening for the second mystery door.


Already so much better!



So I went with having the gold tile and tub reglazed.  It was in good shape, just a horrible color.  I have to say 18 months later still looks great, I think it was like $500 or so and totally worth it.

Now as I believe I mentioned before Ikea cabinets are not "bathroom rated" so I think it voids the warranty but they are great for the bathroom, and I'd totally do it again.



I would of loved that much counter space in my first master bathroom....


$24.99 Home Goods mirror...



The finished product! You'd have no idea the before and after are the same room, this bathroom totally did not need a full gut, but still looks brand new.