*Editor’s note: This post was lost when we revamped the site about 3 months ago. Here it is again for those who may not have seen it the first time.*

Walking the Talk with Ikea Kitchen Design & Installation

We designed & installed our own kitchen last November. The old one was 14 years old, and I needed an Ikea kitchen to use & show off.  So here it is, with custom wall cabinet doors, a wine cubby, some floating shelves & some really happy owners.

Kitchen: Before

Cramped. Dead end. Dark. Raised panel tiredness. Not inviting. Small. Insanity provoking.

Kitchen: After

Open circulation. Well lit. Ample storage. Energy Star appliances. Green finishes.  Easy to use, even with multiple people, dogs & cats. Great kitchen design for parties.

The Design: Before – After Modern Kitchen

I can say firsthand that living in & using this kitchen daily for 6 months now has been a pleasure, to say the least. It’s modern, usable, easy on the eyes, and the oven & dishwasher doors no longer hit each other.

If you’re ready for a modern kitchen, we’re ready for you.

Home Builders Association of Wake County: 2010 Remodelers Home Tour

That’s right, ladies & gents, this weekend you can tour up to 13 remodeled homes in Raleigh. We had some contributions to one of the featured houses, be sure to check it out:

“Anderson Retreat” 2721 Anderson Drive

This unassuming little house underwent a major transformation & now has space galore, including a great lower floor rec zone for the younger dwellers.  EcoModernism was happy to help design & install a small kitchenette area complete with microwave & recycling collection. After all, a rec zone needs amenities, too, yes?

We also installed a modern, narrow profile vanity & sink in the half bath on that same floor. We used IKEA cabinets & accessories for both the kitchenette and the vanity.

Happy touring!

Deets: There is a one time $5 fee payable at any of the locations listed at the bottom of the main tour info webpage.Tour dates & times are below:

Saturday April 24 10:00am – 5:00pm

Sunday, April 25 1:00pm – 5:00pm

Over the past 4 or so months, I’ve noticed a trend to delay kitchen renovations. Some of the reasons for that include:

• the economy: it’s tight, unpredictable, and folks want to be safe.
• the election: related to the economy, direction of government is no longer as much in question.
• the holiday season: it’s here, no doubt.
• indecision: uncertainty about design, budget, duration of the project

Actually, the only one of those things we can’t do anything about is the economy. The election’s a done deal. As for the budget and design conundrum, it may be worth a closer look. And maybe the holiday season is not the hurdle it appears to be. (Unless you have to spend it with your in-laws, with whom you share no common political ground. In that case, we really can’t help you.)

Budgeting for a remodel: look again

There is also an increasing trend to be more creative within kitchen design budgets. Two of my most recent clients opted to go with IKEA® cabinets in their remodel projects. The savings on the cabinets gave them more to play with for their countertops and appliances. One even decided to upgrade her master bathroom cabinets as well!

For $4,100, we were able to get 14 IKEA® cabinets for the kitchen and bath I designed, including:

• hardware and inserts,
• sinks,
• a dishwasher and
• over-the-range microwave
• assorted fixtures and fittings

She still has to get countertops and some other finishes like flooring, but what a fantastic price on the bulk of her remodeling components! Additionally, she was able to take advantage of a special 15% off sale, so timing was also an advantage. She opted to do most of the assembly herself, and is hiring out for the cabinet installation, plumbing and electrical, carpentry for wall adjustments. Not bad.

Bottom line: it’s entirely possible to significantly optimize costs within the design budget.

Still debating?

Check out our IKEA® Pros and Cons info in our post here. There we cover info about all IKEA® products, not just kitchen cabinets. Like everything else, IKEA® may not be for everyone. However, we seem to be finding no shortage of people who do love it.

Proudly Enabling the IKEA® Habit

That’s our new tagline! Countless people have written in, ecstatic that they can continue to get their IKEA® “fixes” in the Raleigh area, even without a store closer than a 4 hour drive away. So we thought the adjustment in the tagline was fitting.

[diagram images courtesy of jessica hagy and indexed]

Green and Save: ROI tables for greening your home.

The usual margins of accuracy aside, general rules of thumb for renovating a kitchen are as follows:

Facelift to Sell: If you’re sprucing up the kitchen to sell your home, you should budget about 5% of the overall value of the home. So, for a $300,000 home, that’s about $15,000. What can you do for that?

• Replace countertops. Maybe you want to update plastic laminate and go for engineered stone like quartz ($45-90/SF) or something like concrete ($80-100/SF).
• Replace fixtures and appliances. A new sink, faucet, dishwasher, microwave, range, cooktop, fridge and oven could easily run anywhere from$5,000 up for all of them.
• Paint. Paint is the cheapest way to improve any room in your home, including the kitchen. Under $200 buys 4 $40/gallon cans.
• Cabinet hardware. You could change out knobs and drawer pulls for $100 +/-, depending on how many you have. As an example, figure about $5-6 each if you go with stainless. Prices vary wildly, just remember you get what you pay for and it looks like it.
• Lighting. Replace any burned out bulbs, and make sure there is plenty of light. You can update a light fixture or two for anywhere from $100 up. Again, you get what you pay for, and even though it looks semi-ok to you, a discriminating buyer will definitely notice.

Staying 5 years or more: If you’re going to stick around – say, you love the neighborhood, the neighbors, the location, and you are just a s happy to stay, you can spend up to 25% of the overall home value. So for that same $300,000, that’s a whopping $75,000. That’s a very nice budget for a kitchen, & you could pretty much update everything, including flooring and backsplash tiles if you wanted.

What’s the Return on Investment?

This one is tougher to gauge, and depends on many variables. You probably won’t get your project money back if you put $30,000 into a kitchen renovation in a $100,000 home. Depending on other factors like location and comparables in the area, you can recover anywhere from 75 – 100% of the project cost. In other cases, a kitchen renovation can add up to 15% to the total home value.

A kitchen update can make or break a deal: a buyer might come in & fall in love with it and that’s what they want. Then again, someone could come in and open the cabinet to look at the construction, and see that there are new doors on the cabinets but the boxes are unchanged. Or, maybe it’s too dark or cramped. Those all scream “money pit”. And though it can be a negotiation point for the price, it probably means work for the buyer sooner rather than later. Moving is work enough without having to jump right in to a construction project.

Bottom line, for folks who want to update and stay, the average kitchen renovations can run between about $19,000 and $50,000.