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1. Quartz countertop and not granite. Any color you want and won't look too busy. 2. New frameless cabinets will have more storage space. Also, you get soft closers for almost nothing.
3. Redesign the fridge space so that it does not protrude into the kitchen.
I can see that frameless cabinets technically have more storage space, but can you explain how it would be substantial enough to make a difference? All I can see is that you have a roughly 3/4" by 3/4" additional space up each side and potentially 2" higher distance from the bottom to the top inside the cabinet. Not enough additional space to make much difference, IMO.
Also, soft close hinges are available on framed cabinets, standard on some brands. There is however a difference between "standard" and "for almost nothing".
If the pictures are of your kitchen get rid of the two cabinets over the "bar" counter. Also get rid if the bar counter. That step up. Is worthless. Get the overhanging counter and hang some pendants for useable space. If you're gonna go whole hog install undercounter lights
If you plan to stay in the house for a long time, I would go for the full remodel.
If not, I think your cabinets are fine with new hardware and from the pics don't look like a refacing job. I have never seen a refacing that looked that good and maybe up close and personal yours don't either hard to say.
We put down as much granite as your counters would require for around 3800 a couple of years ago, so I think your estimate may be high. The independent stores that do only granite and quartz have better prices than the big box or kitchen stores, at least where we are.
I think a more neutral golden brown with some darker tones would look better with your cabinets, provide more contrast and better stand the test of time. Gray is popular now, but having lived with it twice it becomes dreary after a while and its hard to match to other colors. It seems to cycle into favor every 20 to 30 years, but I would never use it again.
Thanks for the responses thus far. And I appreciate the tough love, even though it is not what I necessarily wanted to hear. I figured I would give some responses to questions and also add a picture of the kitchen for some more perspective.
The fact is, we may never save the 30k we would likely need to do it right. So I suppose the question could be turned to, what can we do to make it better, and make us more happy, that would not look ridiculous, using a modest budget?
Our kitchen is by no means large but it is not small either. I think the cabinet quote is high because of the fact that the kitchen has a lot of cabinets. I would consider wood countertops but what would the cost of that be compared to say the 5k I mentioned? Would it be signifcantly cheaper? What about the idea of painting the cabinets? Would take a good deal a work and be messy but could that take us closer to matching cabinets to nice counter?
Not a fan of laminate counters and would just as soon get tile. At least, based on what I picture to be laminate. That would not make us any happier.
The cabinets look fine to me. Unless there is a paint color you like better, I'd throw my money into drop dead gorgeous countertops such as granite with a lot of "movement" (i.e. swirls instead of chips).
You could buy new cabinet doors, but not sure why you would want to go that expense.
I would vote against installing new tile countertops. They are difficult to maintain and make a kitchen look dated.
Replace the counters and the cabinet handles and be done with it. Your kitchen looks perfectly functional to me, and there's nothing wrong with the cabinets.
Regarding the upper cabinets on the wall across from the bar. Those will be the only ones that remain at eye level (other then the pantry area) since you are getting rid of the uppers on the opposite side. You could have the doors cut out and glass put in. It would be a relatively cheap way to add some style to the cabinets. Of course, you'd have to keep the interior very neat and organized so it all depends on how you live but just a thought I had about how to dress things up but keep the costs low.
We did a kitchen for one of the rentals for around 2k including new appliances. We put granite tile on the counter tops for around $200. A quote for laminate counters was around a grand and wouldn't look near as nice as the granite tiles. The cabinets were around a grand or so. The appliances a couple of hundred. I'd paint your cabinets and put in the granite tiles. The floor looks like it's in good shape. Those ugly ceramic tiles have to go!!!
Wanted to again thank those who gave advice...and give an update on this ordeal of an experience. Over the weekend, we invited no less than four people over my house to gather bids and opinions on our kitchen. One for just cabinets, and three others for cabs and counters.
Well, to my surprise, the numbers we got were all over the place (for varying services). The highest bid came in at 29k. And this was for refacing, not replacing cabs, as well as new counters. Outrageous.
We did, however, receive two bids that were significantly lower than I ever expected. One custom cabinet maker quoted us $7500 to replace our cabinets and 2k to install granite countertops from prefab. We don't want granite but I was surprised that we could get everything done in under 10k. Felt like a score all the way around.
Then, we visited a company that installs stock cabinets and prefab quartz. And this quote came in at $7500 for both. Astonishing.
So now, we have the money to do everything we wanted to do. But we still wonder whether the second bid is a slam dunk because of the difference in price. We know a little about each company and what we hear is good. Is there anything better about custom in a kitchen that doesn't really require it? Quality of construction any different? I don't know but from the description, they appear the same. Real wood doors with plywood boxes. Both painted but ken machine and the other by person. One uses hard maple, the other birch. Not sure what else to look at as far as the cabs?
And then there is the added advantage of going with the same company for both.
Am I missing something? Is this a slam dunk for the cheaper option? Am I still crazy for replacing the cabs?
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