Posts tagged &#8216;Kitchen Makeover&#8217;

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Thanks again to our Small Kitchen Makeover Contest Partners:

Feb 4

Kitchen Makeover: Finishing Things Up

We’re getting close to the finish line on our Kitchen Makeover project, making rapid progress on installing the fixtures and finishes that make the transformation complete.

The wine fridge (a major client priority) has been installed into the kitchen’s new peninsula, along with the new stove and range hood from Standard TV and Appliance. The gorgeous new Carrara marble counters from Oregon Tile and Marble have been installed by Wall to Wall Stone Corp.

The new grey undermount sink and faucet from George Morlan Plumbing has been installed along a new compact dishwasher that has been integrated into the existing lower cabinets (always a tricky process in an older home).

Below the sink you can see where the charming original doors have been saved and refreshed with a new coat of paint to match the new upper cabinets.

You can also see the beautiful new floors contributed by Emerson Hardwood Floors and installed by CZ Becker, creating an exact match for the existing flooring in the adjacent dining room.

The final touches will include installing the subway tile backsplash, a wall mounted pot rack for their pots and pans and two sets of floating shelves to display their glassware and dishes within easy reach.

We’re so excited to see the project come together and we look forward to sharing the results with all of you!

Explore More with these Previous Kitchen Makeover Posts:

Making Progress

Ready, Set, Launch!

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Thanks again to our Small Kitchen Makeover Contest Partners:

Dec 18

Makeover Kitchen: Making Progress!

We’ve got some great pictures from the field as our Kitchen Makeover reaches its midway point.

Here’s a quick progress update:

The demolition phase has wrapped up, with the existing upper cabinets removed and the walls opened up where necessary to add in needed wiring:

This is always a scary part of the process… when you start thinking, “WHAT HAVE I DONE?” and “WILL I EVER HAVE A WORKING SINK AGAIN?”

Sometimes during demolition we have some surprises!

It’s not uncommon to discover previously unsuspected dry rot or portions of old timbers that are in need of removal and repair.

Sometimes we discover water damage, and sometimes we discover that a wall has a more complex role in the weight distribution of the house than was initially estimated.

For this project, we elected to add in a stronger beam above the new pennisula to make sure the floor above had ample support.

While the walls are open, our electricians from Master Tech installed the wiring for the new light fixtures from Schoolhouse Electric.

Then the painters work their magic, making everything clean and white and bright.

Some cool details start showing up, like the elegant corbels (the curvy shaped bracket things you see above) that will hold up the Carrara marble counter on their peninsula.

Check out how the original heating register has been stripped and cleaned up and freshly painted.

Part of the fun of this particular renovation is the way we have been able to save many of the cool historic details (like the heating register) while improving the way the kitchen functions and fits in with the rest of the house.

This is also the time when we start prepping for all of the final finishes and fixtures get installed.

Above you can see one of our colleagues at Wall to Wall Tile and Stone creating a template that will be used to guide the fabrication of the Carrara marble counter top.

Did you know: In older houses, hardly anything is square and straight so each cabinet and surface needs to be carefully adjusted to compensate the various places where the walls or floor are a bit out of level or out of plumb.

When you are dealing with an expensive one-of-a-kind piece of stone, it is very important that the fabricators have an opportunity to create a template that will exactly fit the existing space (wonky corners and all).

Here’s a look at the template in progress.

Next up: Sinks, appliances, back splashes, light fixtures and cabinets get installed and the project nears the finish line.

We can’t wait to see the results of the generous contributions from George Morlan Plumbing, Versatile Wood Products, Standard TV and Appliance, Schoolhouse Electric and Oregon Tile and Marble when they get installed later this month!

Explore More with these Previous Kitchen Makeover Posts:

Ready, Set, Launch!

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Thanks again to our Small Kitchen Makeover Contest Partners:

Nov 6

Kitchen Makeover: Ready, Set, Launch!

Contracts are signed, designs are complete, and now it is time to for our Kitchen Makeover winners to get real about the fact that there is about to be a big hole where their kitchen used to be!

Before each construction project begins, Arciform Project Manager Scott Mumma (pictured, center right) likes to sit down with the designer, client services manager and the client to address some of their frequently asked questions about the remodeling process and how it will impact their daily lives.

For Makeover winners Darrick and Monica, the first question was about how they would handle their own daily routine with a hole where there kitchen used to be.

To address that, Scott recommends that the fridge, microwave and pantry essentials be moved to a nearby location out of the path of the construction team. Derek and Monica have elected to use a portion of their living room as their temporary kitchen. The team puts down floor coverings throughout the temporary kitchen area (and along every path from the entrance to the construction area) to protect the home from dust and damage during the renovation process.

Scott then introduces them to the Job Box, which includes a set of documents that will be used to track the progress of the job from beginning to end.

The job box includes reminders about lead safety techniques, checklists to ensure all necessary items have been completed at each critical stage of the project and a copy of the contract for reference by the client and the construction team as questions come up throughout the construction process.

One cool feature: The job box also contains weekly progress reports that give both managers and carpenters the opportunity to document issues, discoveries and concerns that may need to be addressed before the next week’s work begins.

Next Scott works with the client to determine how all waste material and chemicals will be handled during the demolition and construction phase.

Locations are identified for where trash and recycling materials will be stored and picked up (check out the orange dumpster in front of their entry stairs) and where paint equipment and other materials can be safely rinsed and cleaned at the end of the work day. Arciform routinely re-captures as much of the waste stream as possible, with each week’s debris sorted into re-useable, recyclable, compostable and burnable subcategories and returned to the Arciform shop for appropriate storage or disposal.

The last step is to identify what elements of the demolition will be the client’s responsibility before construction begins.

In this case, our contest winners have taken on the removal of the existing chimney stack and the demolition of the drywall from the wall that is being removed. You can see the results of that demo above.

Already, the whole space feels lighter and brighter!

From there, the project is off and running- literally. The whole team is looking forward to getting a great workout running up and down those entry stairs during the project.

Next Up: Surprise! Expecting the Unexpected During Construction

Explore More with these Previous Kitchen Makeover Posts:

Explore the Arciform Photo Galleries | All About Arciform | Schedule a Design Consultation

Thanks again to our Small Kitchen Makeover Contest Partners:

Oct 7

Kitchen Makeover Update: The Devil in the Details

In every successful renovation project, the day comes when all the plans, goals, dreams and priorities have to be tied to some hard costs. That’s when the wish list gets vetted to see what’s practical, what’s affordable, and what needs to be deferred to a future project.

Whatever the scale of a renovation, this final balance between what would be ideal and what the budget will bear can be an instructive but challenging stage in the life cycle of a project.

For our Kitchen Makeover Contest winners, the budget for many of the items on their wish list was outlined by our contest collaborators… from the sink and plumbing fixtures provided by George Morlan to the cabinets provided by Versatile Wood Products to the tile provided by Oregon Tile and Marble.

Other necessary aspects of the project were not included in the original contest contributions, and important decisions had to be made about how to best meet the client’s needs in those areas at a cost that will work for them.

Thanks to generous additional contributions from some new contest collaborators (like Advanced Heating and Cooling, Mastertek Electric, Power Plumbing, Eclipse Drywall and Building Specialites) and the contribution of some elbow grease by our makeover winners themselves, the end result is a beautiful and practical renovation plan that begins construction today!

Here’s how we got there:

The Dining Room/Kitchen Transition

The Dream: To open up the north wall of the kitchen to the dining room, removing an obsolete chimney and adding some counter/eating space in the pass through area. Open shelving would be added along the wall to increase storage. A sleek low profile range hood would be added to maximize the new open feeling between the kitchen and dining room.

The Challenges: The cost of demolition can be expensive (especially for the chimney), and the changes to the gas supply lines and venting ducts for the new range hood would require modifications to the HVAC system. The original contest parameters did not include an HVAC partner, a drywall partner or a new range hood.

The Revision: Thanks to a generous contribution from Advanced Heating and Cooling and Eclipse Drywall, we were able to pull the cost of the HVAC modifications and the wall removal down significantly. The client has offered to take on the demolition of the north side of the dining room wall and the deconstruction of the chimney as a DIY project, reserving the more technical aspects of the wall modification for our experienced carpenters.

The Result: The client’s most important goal (to open the kitchen up the the gorgeous views of downtown and the river) has been conserved thanks to contributions from the client, their community and our project partners.

The Cabinets

The Dream: To maximize storage potential in a small amount of square footage by replacing the existing cabinets with new cabinets that have a vintage look but increased storage and functionality.

The Challenge: The combined costs to remove and install complete new upper and lower cabinets will blow the budget available for that line item.

The Revisions: If we keep and refurbish the existing lower cabinets and match them with new full inset upper cabinets that will reuse the existing hardware, we can dramatically lower the cost of the cabinet portion of the project, freeing up budget for other areas. Other small cabinet elements (like a planned spice cabinet for the east-facing wall) can be deferred to a future project stage if needed after the client has had an opportunity to settle in to the new space.

The Result: The client will get improved storage and functionality in their upper cabinets while reserving some of the charming elements of their existing kitchen with improved function at a more practical cost.

The Pantry

The Dream: An expanded pantry area with built in storage and recycling options, a new slimmer fridge and an integrated nook for the microwave to make the most of a tight space.

The Challenge: Adding a microwave nook would require the re-routing of pre-existing plumbing lines that were tucked in the walls behind the pantry area. This is a common issue that can drive up the cost of renovation in older homes: uncovering what is lurking behind the walls can make what seems like a simple design solution surprisingly complex to execute.

The Revision: The microwave will stay housed on existing shelving units, which will receive a fresh coat of paint. The client will reserve the addition of new recycling station furniture for a future phase of the project.

The Result: A slimmer fridge and coordinating microwave from Standard TV and Appliance will add space to the pantry and a flexible temporary shelving solution will buy the client time to plan for a second phase of updates to the pantry storage area at a later date.

With a firm focus on the client’s most important priorities, increased generosity from new and existing contest partners and some sharp pencils from our design, construction and estimating teams, we are thrilled to have arrived at a kitchen makeover plan that will work well for everyone.

What’s Next: Construction Begins!

Later this week we’ll take a look at the job site as it launches and discuss some common questions that come up during kitchen renovations, like: Where will my existing appliances go? How will you keep the construction mess to a minimum? How will I know who to expect in my home each day?

We look forward to continuing this journey with you and we want to thank our contest winners Monica and Derek for opening their home to this big adventure!

Explore More with these Previous Kitchen Makeover Posts: