Kitchen and bathroom remodel advice

Another detail for the bathroom ~ a light in the shower. I had them installed during our bathroom renos and we love them.

Yeah, we did this when we remodeled our master bath, just a few months ago. It was an unplanned renovation--the shower leaked into the wall, causing thousands in damage, so while our budget was still reeling from the kitchen--surprise! We had to re-do the family room and master bath, as well.

Our master bath is ~14'x30', with no natural light. It was hideous when we moved in, but not a priority (until the stupid leak), and I had envisioned adding a skylight or two. Well, that wasn't in the cards for the surprise remodel, but now we have the main light, one for the closet, one for the shower, one for the tub, one over the toilet, and one (2 separate lights) for the vanity. When everything is on, it's like you're walking into the sun! But, you wouldn't normally have them all on--just the main one with either the shower or vanity is more likely. We figured, like the PP, that you'd want light in the specific areas for short periods of time.
 
What about cabinet construction? MDF? Plywood? How thick? Does it make a difference?
 
My father is a retired carpenter/project manager/kitchen designer. When we remodeled our bathrooms, he suggested putting an outlet on the wall below the countertop so I can keep a hairdryer plugged in without the cord all over the countertop. I just pull it out of the drawer to dry my hair and put it back. I never would have thought of that and it was a great idea. In the summer (humidity) I keep a straightener plugged in too. I'm very careful to turn it off but it has auto shut off after so many minutes which is good because I wouldn't ever want to risk starting a fire with hot electrical appliances shoved in a drawer.


a few years ago i got one of the blow dryers like hotels have-attaches to the wall adjacent to a plug. no longer clutters up space in my drawer and also has the added convenience of nightlight.
 
a few years ago i got one of the blow dryers like hotels have-attaches to the wall adjacent to a plug. no longer clutters up space in my drawer and also has the added convenience of nightlight.

That's a good idea, if you normally use a blow dryer. I don't, but when they re-wired the kitchen, the electrician put in a few outlets that have two "prong" outlets, then two outlets for charging cords. They're over by my computer desk. Very handy!
 


Another detail for the bathroom ~ a light in the shower. I had them installed during our bathroom renos and we love them.
Our designer included that, but for some reason I think it may be required by the building code. I love it. My wife, however, never uses it! LOL
 
That's a good idea, if you normally use a blow dryer. I don't, but when they re-wired the kitchen, the electrician put in a few outlets that have two "prong" outlets, then two outlets for charging cords. They're over by my computer desk. Very handy!
Yeah, blow dryers are kind of out of fashion these days. We left outlets in the kitchen to the designer. We went from 8 to 14 in the kitchen. Not sure I'd want USB outlets since those seem to be constantly changing. USB -A has given way to USB-C. We just use the ac adapter cord.
 
All of our cords, including the phone DH got this week for work, use the same input, the 1/2" or so rectangle. I'm not worried about it going out of style any time soon. You still need to plug the cord into the wall--the other end, that goes into the device is different for my ancient iPad, my old phone, and now my new phone, but the wall end for all three works fine.

OTOH, our house still has a few wall phone jacks that mystify my kids.
 


All of our cords, including the phone DH got this week for work, use the same input, the 1/2" or so rectangle. I'm not worried about it going out of style any time soon. You still need to plug the cord into the wall--the other end, that goes into the device is different for my ancient iPad, my old phone, and now my new phone, but the wall end for all three works fine.

OTOH, our house still has a few wall phone jacks that mystify my kids.
LOL. Still have my landline and phone jacks in all 4 bedrooms and the kitchen. And they are now also my Internet plug in.
 
I finally bit the bullet (after almost 3 years of waffling) and hired a contractor. Now I have to pick fixtures, cabinets and floors, etc. I need advice. I like the "coastal look: with either white or gray cabinets and hardwood floors. DH likes a light wood cabinet, like something oak or maple and a tile floor. And most importantly, and to fit the budget board, it has to be something that will not look awfully dated in 10-15 years when I plan to sell my house. Also, budget-wise, there are a ton of cabinet choices in different quality levels. What's important to spend on and what is fluff?

Not oak. Never oak.

A white shaker style in maple will be classic and durable.
 
What about cabinet construction? MDF? Plywood? How thick? Does it make a difference?

Check out the websites for the major cabinet brands to get a sense of what is offered and the various choices. When we recently built our new house, we found the cabinet construction/features/options are grouped into categories. A higher end cabinet will have better quality wood construction and things like dovetail drawers with hardwood sections. You don't typically pick these separately since the cabinet companies have already figured out what features to group together. Cabinets come in many styles so it is mostly a matter of your budget along with the particular styling features you prefer.
 
Not oak. Never oak. A white shaker style in maple will be classic and durable.
The shame is that the overuse of anything trendy (such as oak in the 90's) leads to that material be out of style for many years to come. The white shaker style of the last few years is already tiring to see as it seems every home show on HGTV has used them. Now we're seeing mixing of cabinet colors (which will be a quickly dated style) and colors other than white. I've even seen a few that use wood finishes again. People were taught to loathe brass finishes for decades until the designers decided gold tones were needed to warm up the spaces. If trends don't change frequently, designers wouldn't have enough work to keep them busy because people would wait until things actually wore out. Unless someone is changing a kitchen for a quick home sale, they should get what they like, not what the trends say they should have.
 
The shame is that the overuse of anything trendy (such as oak in the 90's) leads to that material be out of style for many years to come. The white shaker style of the last few years is already tiring to see as it seems every home show on HGTV has used them. Now we're seeing mixing of cabinet colors (which will be a quickly dated style) and colors other than white. I've even seen a few that use wood finishes again. People were taught to loathe brass finishes for decades until the designers decided gold tones were needed to warm up the spaces. If trends don't change frequently, designers wouldn't have enough work to keep them busy because people would wait until things actually wore out. Unless someone is changing a kitchen for a quick home sale, they should get what they like, not what the trends say they should have.
Or just go for function.
 
I have a stacked door cabinet on each of my bathroom vanities. In mine,I have 4 plugs. My hot rollers are on the bottom, then hair spray/perfumes, etc.

Another simple thing I love is that my drawer fronts in the bath vanities and kitchen all tip out. In the bathroom, we store our toothbrushes. In the kitchen, small cleaning items.

Other things I can't live without -
Soft close drawers and cabinets. Drawers in my island for pots and pans. All door cabinets have drawers.

I have stained maple cabinets with a dark glaze in the kitchen, same cabinets, but cream with the same glaze in main bathroom, and another maple, more fancy style in the master bath. Don't forget to finish exposed cabinet ends with door fronts.
 
I do love the soft close cabinets! I have actual drawers in my cabinets, not the type where you open the cabinet door, then pull out the drawer. I don't know that one kind is better then the other, but the OP might want to think about what she wants aesthetically. One type might be cheaper then the other, I have no idea--we got our cabinet quote from a guy who's an artist. He'd custom-made our reading nook (utilizing the triangular space under the stairs) and is currently doing our coffee bar (was originally a wet bar, but we're not much for alcohol, so coffee makes more sense to us).
 
I do love the soft close cabinets! I have actual drawers in my cabinets, not the type where you open the cabinet door, then pull out the drawer. I don't know that one kind is better then the other, but the OP might want to think about what she wants aesthetically. One type might be cheaper then the other, I have no idea--we got our cabinet quote from a guy who's an artist. He'd custom-made our reading nook (utilizing the triangular space under the stairs) and is currently doing our coffee bar (was originally a wet bar, but we're not much for alcohol, so coffee makes more sense to us).
So what's a good mix of cabinets to drawers? And what do you use the big drawers for?
 
So what's a good mix of cabinets to drawers? And what do you use the big drawers for?

I LOVE drawers....for me - big drawers for pots and pans, water bottles and Tupperware...but it really depends on what you have in your kitchen.
I would use drawers for everything but cookie sheets if given the chance.
 
I have a two large drawers--the top one holds pots, the bottom one holds pans. They take up the space of a cabinet--maybe 3 feet wide? Then on the island, I have a trio of wide drawers--maybe 4 feet wide, that hold kitchen utensils and "box" products like foil and wax paper. Then I have a set of 6, smaller drawers over by my computer desk (built-in)--again, maybe 3 feet wide. One trio holds silverware, dishtowels, and then cleaning rags, the other holds office stuff, medications, and then batteries/cleaning stuff. I have a few more drawers over cabinets for potholders/trivets and a junk drawer.

Obviously, you set up your kitchen to suit you. The one intractable problem I wrestle with is the stupid plastic containers. My DH sets them up like Jenga--woe betide the person who needs a lemonade pitcher!
 
We have 4 pull out drawers inside a 5 foot tall cabinet next to the refrigerator. Very handy Also we have 2 corner cabinets that have lazy susans in them so you can spin those around to get things from the back. And we have what the designer called an "appliance garage". Your toaster oven, mixer, hot air fryer go in there, you pull them out, and there are plugs inside
 
In our home we put "real" wood flooring in the kitchen along with other areas. I hate it. It is not durable enough. Dropped canned goods and I get a small dent on the floor so I'd stay away from "real" wood. There are quite a few engineered woods or LVP (luxury vinyl plank) that look great and are supposed to be durable.

I have the same problem with my kitchen tile. One kid decided to take up juggling using billiard balls. I now have divots all over my kitchen tile (no, I didn't kill him but I did look into selling him on Etsy).

I love the luxury vinyl tile. We put it in our old house prior to selling to cover up some ugly ceramic tile. It felt soooooo good underfoot compared to the hard tile. Easy to install and, if you get tired of it easy to pull up and replace.

The one thing I'm going to do if we ever get around to reno-ing our current kitchen is copy what a friend did with her dishwasher. She had it installed 18" higher than normal so she wouldn't have to bend down to empty it. $75,000 kitchen reno and she will proudly tell you that is her absolute favorite thing of all. The older I get, the more I agree with her.
 

GET A DISNEY VACATION QUOTE

Dreams Unlimited Travel is committed to providing you with the very best vacation planning experience possible. Our Vacation Planners are experts and will share their honest advice to help you have a magical vacation.

Let us help you with your next Disney Vacation!





Top