I’ve gotten a lot of good info from this board and want to give something back…
I recently finished remodeling a kitchen and would like to share an idea I had. The remodel was almost total, including a new cabinet depth fridge and new over-the-range microwave. There was an old Caloric gas range which still looked really nice so that was left. I installed a new Silestone counter and farmhouse sink. Some custom cabinets. I refaced the existing cabinets. Refinished the hardwood floor (was carpet). The kitchen now looked great, except… the dishwaser.
The dishwasher was a classic brown KitchenAid from the 70’s (everyone has seen one at some point) which still worked great. We thought about replacing it simply because it’s, well… ugly. But no one really wanted to replace the washer just because it was old and ugly. Plus a new one would be about what? $300.
So I created panels to match the cabinets but was not sure how to attach them without damaging the dishwasher. I had the idea to rout cavities in the back of the panels and glue pieces of magnetic sheeting to the back of the panels. The panels have been there 6 months, held in place by magenets, and have no slipped an all.
Replies
Thanks. Good tip.
Quite a few possibilities. Odd colored fridges and, because I'm on the electrical side of things, maybe a removable cover for an ill placed electrical panel. This is a recurring problem in renovations.
Love this idea as we are moving and i do not want to maintain white appliances but can not afford all new. Do you have any photos of this kitchen to post? How pricey are silestone counters, I love the idea of this with farmhouse sink as we are renovating and old farmhouse. Also, did you ever reface metal based cabinets? That is what is currently in the house we bought and I was planning on tearing them out but maybe I can reface them for much less?
Metal cabinets can be refinished by taking the whole thing to the local powder coating outfit. $30-$80 per cabinet, and they'll last another 50 years.
Good place to get really, really strong (neodymium-iron-boron) little magnets:
http://www.wondermagnets.com/cgi-bin/edatcat/WMSstore.pl?user_action=list&category=Magnets_and_Magnetism%3BPermanent_Magnets%3BNeodymium
did
Blah, yada, whatever, Hi how are you today
They also work well for clamps. For hard to reach places like a veneer bubble on a vertical surface. One magnet inside, one magnet outside. Instant clamp.
Now, that's a good idea. I'm going to remember it.
Here's one back at you. Some friends of mine had an ugly fridge in the remodeled kitchen of their new house. They were a little stumped, and did not have much budget for a new fridge. When I looked at it, the fridge had screw-on door trim--ah hah, romovable panels. Hmm, choices are dinged-up white (showing) or a marigold or avocado panel underneath. Undewhelming. Galvanized back of the white panels get left showing.
I get a call later to come visit. They had gone to the craft store, and found an interesting solution--chalk board paint. Now the fridge is a tasteful dark charcoal grey (which matches the black appliances better). On top of that, there's a magnetic bin with chalk in it. Grocery list is up high, in adult reach; many many drawings are down low, in crumb-cruncher reach.
I just built a fold down desk inside some bookcases with a dryerase and cork board behind it and on the bottom the homeowner is going to paint a chalk board so when its up it can be used. Prettynice set up for ten year old kid who did't have a desk before this.
ANDYSZ2I MAY DISAGREE WITH WHAT YOUR SAYING BUT I WILL DEFEND TO THE DEATH YOUR RIGHT TO SAY IT.
Pretty nice set up for ten year old kid who did't have a desk before this.
Sounds like it. I was leafing around my sample binders, but now, I can't find my source for commercial, baked-on chalkboards. As I remember they had a range of gauges for the metal backing, and a range of colors, too. May have to go googling later.
Had this idea, dry erase or cork on one side, metal backed chalkboard on the other, magnets inbetween. That way you get a choice of either or, just by flipping around.
I like the magnets as clamp idea.
Occupational hazard of my occupation not being around (sorry Bubba)
Edited 10/24/2003 6:06:00 PM ET by CapnMac
Gerald,
May I suggest that you submit this to the magazine for their tips and tricks section. They pay good money for excellent ideas like this one. I too would like to see a picture or two of your work.
Thanks,
Kevin Halliburton
"I believe that architecture is a pragmatic art. To become art it must be built on a foundation of necessity." - I.M. Pei -
Gerald, you've received some worthwhile replies to your suggestion. Can I respond in a different vein?
A total remodel, custom cabs, silestone counter, new fridge, refinished wood floor, what are we talking about, $20k? (I'm betting that is way too low) And "the kitchen now looked great except for the dishwasher."
Which is better, to have a completely new, cohesive looking kitchen for an extra $300 or have a clunker 30 year old dishwasher sticking out like a pig with some lipstick and save the price of two nights in a motel?
They replaced the carpet, it probably still had some wear left in it; they replaced the refrigerator, maybe it looked bad but I bet it still ran. Why did they cheap out when it came to a 70s dishwasher?
Edited 10/24/2003 6:12:37 PM ET by AK373
I think your ideal was pretty clever. But (here it comes) when it comes to old dishwashers & kitchen remodels, saving the old girl just doesn't make good sense. Dishwashers have a life, maybe 8-12 years. You just spent 3, 5, 7, thousand dollars on a new floor, the old machine leaks for a while, you don't notice it.
But that's okay, You saved $300.00. Even a $1200.00 machine is cheaper than replacing that floor. Plus running a old machine cost more run & the new ones are a lot quieter
I still think your idea was a good one.
PJE
Edited 10/24/2003 10:37:15 PM ET by CarpenterPJE
Edited 10/24/2003 10:38:26 PM ET by CarpenterPJE
Good point and I did think about that. I hope it does not ruin my floor someday. I guess I took a gamble. But we never run the dishwasher or even clothes washer when were not home so I think we'll be ok. And I made sure a new one will fit if ever I do have to replace this one. BTW - the floor refinish was $650 with three coats of oil based poly. It's not a large kitchen.
I hope you can post some pictures, the whole project sounds like a winner.
OK, I took 4 photos today. My digital camera is integrated into a video camera and is a piece of crap. The pictures come out grainy and distorted. But it's all I have. I didn't bother to clean up at all for the photo shoot.
sink1) On the left is the dishwasher. Looks much better than brown. I installed the sink and built the doors and frame below the sink. The sink had to be installed in it's final location before the counter was installed. Since the floor is like a banana, it took some careful leveling/shimming of the cabinets to get it all ready.
counter1) The washer is on the far end. I think it's pretty cohesive. I never removed the upper cabinets. Every other part of the kitchen was torn out to studs. The studs were kinda cool, all varrying thicknesses. Square nails held in the lathe. I confirmed that there is no insulation at all in any outside walls so I had cellulose blown in after.
fridge1) There's the new larger fridge. I shortened the cabinets above and made the small on to the left. The cabinets around the microwave are particle board el-cheap-o's from Lowes. I made my own doors and added 1/4" plywood to the ends to make them look just like the others in the kitchen. We liked the gas stove so we kept that. The microwave vents to the exterior through the ceiling.
table1) just another view. I wish I had a better camera. I think some of these look better in real life.
It's a modest kitchen in my 1867 colonial. It has plenty of charm though.
Thanks to all for responding to my post. I've enjoyed the conversation.
Great job! No need to apologize for those pictures.
Hahaha. I'll try to get some photos up this weekend. If I can figure out how, I'll submit the idea to the Mag.
I guess I didn't mention that it's my own kitchen that I was referring to. With that in mind I can easily answer. Total cost was 8K - no labor cost because I did all the work. It's an 1866 house. I ripped almost all the kitchen down to studs went from there. The only part I paid someone to do was re-finish the hardwood floor after I removed the rug (my wifes decision - I want to refinish the floor myself )
"the kitchen now looked great except for the dishwasher." - Yup, that's right.
Our attitude was to not throw away a functional appliance. I do see your point though. We went back and forth for a while on it. We could have easily afforded a new one. But it did turn out pretty cohesive I think. It would have been a pain to get out too. There is BX cable coming up through the floor underneath and it's wired in directly. I don't know the code but I'd guess that's not allowed. As I recall the water supply copper pipes come up through the floor and don't allow the washer to slide out.
The carpet was an industrial grade (very tight weave) dung brown and stained pretty bad. Plus the previous home owner smoked and the smell was hard to get out. It had been there for a Loooong time. Wicked ugly. We discovered hard wood floor underneath the rug and a layer of linolium. Who wouldn't expose the hardwood?
The existing fridge, yes it ran, was small and no longer had a good seal. The exterior was wet all summer. We bought a much larger fridge and a I modified some and built another of the cabinets around it to make it fit nicely. We gave the old fridge away to a friend with 4 kids and they have it in their garage for "extra" refrigeration. So we didn't really throw that away either.
The cabinetry in the kitchen is very simple. Thus with my amature status I was able to refurbish the existing and make some new that matched the old very closely, at a very low cost. Reface is probably the wrong term.
We're really happy with the Silestone. Look and feel of granite but it's non pourous so there is no sealing required. We only have 11 linear feet of counter so to use an expensive material was not a big deal.
We love the farmhouse sink. It allows us to easily swipe stuff from the counter into the sink. No lip to go over. Plus the style kinda fits the house.
So I think we had good reasoning for everything I did. : )
I'll try to post photos. It's a modest kitchen but people seem to love it.
I enjoyed every minute of the work. You people who do this type of thing for a living are lucky. I hope to someday.