Kitchen 20/20 » Working With Contractors

Do you want to blog about your kitchen remodeling project?

martin — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 20:48:00 +0000

We’re looking for a few intrepid homeowners who would like to share your experiences during a kitchen remodeling project- good, bad, surprising, cool, etc. Photos would be very dyson* too. We’ve been through many kitchen projects but most have been as designers rather than our own, although we’ve done that too.

If you’re interested send us a note at sammy at supernaturalagency dot com. Tell us a little bit about your project, where it stands, your design approach, budget range, etc. We’re looking forward to hearing from you!

*There’s a movement afoot to turn the word ‘dyson’ into a replacement for the word ‘cool’, as in Dyson (vacuum cleaner) sucks- opposite of which is doesn’t suck= cool. Whatever.

Introducing Kitchen Design Insights

martin — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 20:07:14 +0000

We have just launched a sister site called Kitchen Design Insights that offers a complete guide to the entire kitchen design process from initial planning to finished construction. The site covers everything from cabinets to appliances, from contractors to architects- you name it.

Be sure to bookmark it as we are just beginning to add Photo Galleries, expanded Resource Sections and more.

Visit: www.KitchenDesignInsights.com

How to tile a backsplash, version 2

martin — Tue, 05 Jun 2007 23:36:57 +0000

One of our most popular articles here is about tile backsplashes. We took a look around for more information on how to tile a backsplash and found this decent article courtesy of Lowes Home Improvement. Tile is not a typical do-it-yourself project but a simple backsplash can be a great way to learn the basics of tile because it does not require the complex preparation that most tile jobs require. This is because backsplashes don’t have standing water on them, nor are they carrying loads like a counter that can crack if the substrate isn’t rock solid.
One of the great things about doing tile is what happens when you grout the tile and do the final step of cleaning the finished product. It’s very satisfying to see a messy-looking job turn into a beautifully finished tile wall almost instantly.

Problem Finders vs. Problem Solvers: How to double the cost of your new kitchen

martin — Mon, 04 Jun 2007 18:57:42 +0000

My brother recently spent 20 hours working on a kitchen design after extensive feedback from the client (wife side of couple) where they looked at how the kitchen is used (it’s a vacation home and they entertain a lot of visitors), its size limitations (it’s small), budget, materials, appliances etc. As a designer you take this information away, along with detailed measurements, and come back with draft design options. These are shared and discussed and a final version begins to take shape.
This is the point where having a third party jump in can mean significant cost increases and that’s what’s taking place. The spouse, who does not cook, starts to get into the details, after the design process is complete.
There are two kinds of people you typically run into during any kind of design process:

Problem Finders
Problem Solvers

Problem finders are critics who see their role as the keeper of the quality and/or the keeper of the vision. Unfortunately they often are only capable of finding problems not solving them. When they are unable to stop you have a problem because an entire design process can come to a screeching halt as more and more issues are ‘uncovered’.
Problem solvers are those who identify a potential problem and offer up potential solutions. Where they differ from the finders is that they can prioritize problems and then solve the real ones and let the other ones go- after all this is not nuclear powerplant design. A poor hardware selection won’t blow the planet up.
In my brother’s case an entire redesign done detail by detail derailed the original budget and timeline significantly as more and more ‘problems’ were found. This is where you start spending money you had not planned on: Hardware is upgraded, materials are found to be insufficiently immortal, appliance specifications become consequential (the refrigerator needs to have its compressor in a remote location- boom, add $4000), etc.
If you suspect this might happen with your project then make sure you engage any potential problem finders from day one so they understand how and why choices are being made. If they come in after the fact you may find yourself back to the drawing board just when you thought you were done.

Wall Paper Removal 101

martin — Wed, 11 Apr 2007 22:51:14 +0000

Once, long ago on a far away planet….I was a painter, specifically an interior house painter and sometime wallpaper hanger. Now I’m an advertising executive and an author, yet I cannot bring myself to hire a painter. That being the case (logical or not), I found myself this weekend beginning a kitchen remodeling project on our house and the first step was wallpaper removal.
I’m going to go on the record: I don’t care for wallpaper and I positively hate the idea of using it in kitchens. I know this will not make me popular with the country kitchen crowd (I don’t care for kitschy kitchens either) with their endless parade of ducks and sheaves of hay, stenciling, etc., but before you hit the back button please understand that there is logic behind my dislike of kitchen wallpaper: Kitchens are harsher environments than most other areas of a house with steam, heat, water, grease, etc., none of which help the cause of wallcoverings. So I happily set out to remove the French country kitchen wallpaper with its endless fleur de lis and peeling corners.

This time around I got lucky- it was vinyl and peeled off handily. The remaining glue was washed off with warm water and a dash of white vinegar, allowed to dry and sanded to remove the last bits. However there are many occasions where removing wallpaper is not that easy.

If you have the misfortune to be removing mylar (a kind of plastic), flock or layers of wallpaper glued on too thoroughly you may be facing the dreaded putty knife removal: one little strip at a time. Here’s some tips that can make a big difference:

Score the paper through to the wall surface. You can buy a tool for this that won’t destroy the wall (important for drywall which can get damaged if scratched) or just use the corner edge of your putty knife
Get a pump sprayer from a garden store. Fill with hot water and add wallpaper remover (from the paint store). If you don’t have it you can use a cup of white vinegar to 2 gallons of water.
Here’s the trick. spray all the paper until soaked (put towels or drop cloths along the floor). Don’t touch the wallpaper. Now do it again- soak it.
When the wallpaper starts to peel off by itself take your putty knife and start sliding the paper off. This should require no effort- if it does you need more water.
The key is to get the paper totally soaked through to the glue. You want the glue to dissolve and release the paper. That’s why you scrape coverings that are waterproof like vinyl and mylar- to help the water reach the glue.

Most people don’t use enough water and end up doing a lot more work. Once you’ve got the paper and glue off (a wide drywall knife works great for getting all of it), sponge down the wall and let it dry. Give it a light sand and prime it with interior primer. Don’t use normal paint, primer is formulated to create a bond between paint and funky surfaces. Be sure to have the primer tinted to the same color as the paint you plan to use to save yourself a coat.
If you plan to use wallpaper again use primer designed to go under paper. It will make the job go a lot easier and your paper will stay put a lot longer.

That’s it. Have fun and don’t hold back on the hot water!