Jess Dang Jess Dang is the Founder of Cook Smarts where she also wears the hat of Chief Kitchen Coach. She left the corporate world in 2011 to start Cook Smarts because she was passionate about bringing food education back to our schools and family dinners back into our lives. Follow me here
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I did my kitchen a few years ago and absolutely love it. But . . . the things I might do differently: 1/Wood floor (instead of tile) - tile floors are completely unforgiving if something drops and they are really hard on your legs; 2/bigger (but maybe a shallower) sink - be careful about using the stylish new deep sinks - if you aren't really tall they can be awkward;3/buy a refrigerator with bigger vegetable drawers - mine are not nearly big enough. What I'd' do the same: 1/get the smallest garbage disposal possible - we recycle food scraps anyway and this gives you more room under the sink; 2/buy a basic dishwasher - any decent dw is very quiet and cleans well; 3/install under-cabinet LED lights - I LOVE mine! So bright . . .
I agree with most of your "lessons learned" however, I disagree with #1 - wood floors instead of tile. While I LOVE the look of wood much more than tile, I have had a family member and a close friend both have issues because of water damage to their wood floors in the kitchen. One opted to replace the wood floor (which carried a hefty price tag)and the other replaced it with tile to avoid the same situation in the future. There is no doubt that tile is unforgiving if you drop something and hard on your legs. We purchased a gel mat for our prep and sink areas which helps tremendously. Just my 2 cents....
Good things to consider...regarding wood floors vs. tile. I have really bad knees and deal with chronic pain. We hope to go to do a major remodel of our East Bay ranch home in the next year and that is one the big decisions I have been struggling with. But Christy below makes some good points as well...maybe I should try one of those gel mats to see if they help enough before making the flooring decision.
I also live in the Bay Area and am shopping for an Addition/Remodel project.. We are adding about 300sf onto the back of our house.. I was curious (if you don't mind sharing) what your budget ended up being? We refinanced (to be able to do this project) without knowing the final number, I am hoping that the $75k we budgeted is enough.. I don't want the Taj Mahal so to speak, just more function and better design..
Hi Melissa, I'm sure prices vary some within the Bay Area and of course, the contractor you choose. We were told to expect anywhere between $400 to $700 / square feet + another 20% on top of that for soft costs. We are definitely on the higher end of that spectrum because of the firm we chose. I think it really depends on what you're using the addition for - if it's just a room (vs. not a kitchen or bathroom), then it should be closer to the lower end of that. I would just start with the steps I suggested and getting a list of folks to talk to and see if your budget is a reasonable one. I know with the housing crunch, contractors are quite busy and have their pick of work, which has definitely made prices go up unfortunately. Good luck to you!
Wow, sounds like you really did your due diligence! Good work!
Thanks Natalie! Definitely needed to for such a big investment.
We did a huge kitchen remodel in 2012. It was the best thing we ever did. I have the 'after' pictures on pinterest
https://www.pinterest.com/monadarling/monas-finished-kitchen/.
Our house was built in 1937. The area was full of tiny closets and too many doors. There was a trap door in the middle of the room to get into the basement. If you want to see it, I'm just in downtown San Jose, you're welcome to come over any time.
That kitchen looks beautiful! I'd love to stop by some time! Who were your designers / contractors?
Jess, do you have any blog entries to discuss budgeting for your addition/renovation? Not that I need your exactly numbers...we live in the East Bay and things are expensive. Hard to know how much it'll cost...what are the likely overrides that will happen. Seems like any renovation seems to always go over budget...I'd like to build enough buffer in the structure to begin with that we don't break the bank or have to end up taking an additional loan out for pay for the remodel. Thanks for your thoughts.
Hi Tamara, I decided to not even touch budgeting as a topic since it is so particular to the area you're in and as you know, the Bay Area is just extreme! It seems that contractor prices just keep going up since there is so much demand for the work now that it's so hard to move due to really high housing costs. We went into this project with what we thought was a reasonable budget and after meeting with several contractors, we realized we would have to increase our budget. I'd recommend just putting together a list and start talking to people and see if they think your budget is doable. I also am happy that we went the design/build route since there were no surprises between the two phases. We paid exactly what they quoted us. Clearly the downside is that you can't bid the project out but we felt like we were getting a guarantee from the company that their contractors would build what their designers designed for the price quoted, and they did! Hope that helps.