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The Big Picture

A successful remodeling project is the sum of its parts. And the biggest part is all about you! What do you like? What don't you like? What do you need? Are you ready?

What's the best way for you to answer those questions? Create a scrapbook all your own! Collect photos of kitchens that appeal to you… friends' kitchens, pictures in brochures, magazine photos. Oh, they don't have to be complete kitchens. Maybe the idea of a cookbook shelf sounds practical to you. Maybe it was a backsplash that caught your eye. Maybe you saw a picture of a drawer pull that's elegant, or whimsical, like the pulls in shapes of fish and fruits. It may be a small thing that inspires big dreams!

Our Designers

Our professional designers are all ears! They'll be listening to help you discover why a particular kitchen photo appeals to you. Is it easy on the eyes, overall? Well, it may be the wood tone, or the design of the doors, or the welcoming look the photo represents. It may be just the two-tier island that strikes your fancy. Or a spice rack placed in just the right spot!

Reasons for Remodeling

Of the countless reasons customers make changes to their kitchens these are probably on the list:

  • Safety
  • Lack of counterspace
  • Slow flow
  • Poor storage
  • Space issues
  • You know your cooktop is too near a window or door if the curtains have had a near brush with fire! Oh - do you have a spot for the fire extinguisher?
  • You know you need separate prep, baking, and meat carving stations when your blueberry pie tastes more like onion and roast beef!
  • You know your work triangle needs improving when your family forms a relay team to get a filled pot from the sink to the stove!
  • You know you need better storage space when the 40-pound bag of dogfood is always underfoot! Just because it fits there, doesn't mean it goes there!
  • You know things are cramped when there isn't enough seating for your whole family and the kid from next door! He always shows up on spaghetti nights!

Whether you want to think long term for your own use or prepare your home for sale, our experienced designers will assist you in creating a kitchen to fit your needs. Do you want to REFRESH, REPLACE, OR REMODEL?

Oh, you've heard this on our ad? Well, not every budget is ready for a full-scale remodel, but we're always ready to work within your budget! Cabinet Discounters can work with you on less costly dress-ups to projects of palatial proportion! We offer product lines featuring "Good, Better, Best and Beyond!" But we assure you, our services go even beyond that!

Refresh

To refresh your kitchen, maybe you'd like to have a new countertop installed, with plumbing fixtures that meet your needs. How nice a new, engineered stone countertop would look in place of the well-worn surface you've been staring at every day! With a deep sink and a pull-out faucet with a spray! New, attractive hardware! Maybe a new floor! Oh, and a fresh coat of paint in a color you saw in a magazine!

Replace

Is it time to replace your existing cabinets and countertop? Replace the old with cabinets from our selection of quality products. Why, one line, alone, offers more than 700 combinations of door style, wood and finish options. We can work in the existing space and shape of your kitchen and bring it completely up-to-date with rollouts, drawers and doors to make your kitchen convenient and comfortable. There's no such thing as a self-cleaning floor, but maybe there's one you can have installed that'll be easier to maintain. New lighting will put a glow in the room and on you!

Remodel

Now if you want to go from drab to fab and transform your home, consider a full-scale remodel. This may involve moving a wall, removing soffits, or borrowing space from an adjoining room. Reshaping the room will give you an opportunity to paint with a broader brush… add pantries and party stations, replace old appliances with the latest technology has to offer, mix counter heights and cabinet depths and work surfaces! Oh, the possibilities!

Important Information

There are a few notes to be added to your scrapbook… just a few questions to which your partner-in-design will need answers:

  • How old is your house?
  • Is there a second story over the kitchen?
  • Is your house on a slab, crawlspace, or over a basement?
  • By the way, is that basement finished or unfinished?
  • What materials are the interior walls of the kitchen?
  • Do you have soffits in the kitchen?

More Questions

And there are lifestyle questions… we're not being nosey… knowing your lifestyle will determine how much space to allow for certain activities, which products are better suited to daily use, and what expectations you have of the design. A full questionnaire is provided, but just for a taste:

  • How many in your household… three adults, two kids and three dogs?
  • Do you host formal dinners, throw football parties or have jazzy jam sessions?
  • Do you watch the evening news on TV while preparing dinner?
  • Do you require height adjustments to work comfortably?
  • Do you need a home for all the kitchen gadgets you bought from late-night infomercials?
  • Do you require more than one sink? More than one dishwasher?
  • Do you pay bills at the kitchen table?
  • Are you a baker? A canner? The family caterer?

What Inspires You?

There's no telling what has most influenced your wishlist. Maybe memories of your grandma's kitchen or the kitchen on the set of a situation comedy. We know this: When you're in the market for something, you suddenly start taking notice of things that catch your fancy:

  • Wow! Shelving for my family-size warehouse buys!
  • So THAT'S where I can I hide the towel rack!
  • Love those refrigerator drawers for fruits and veggies!
  • You mean you can mix colors of wood in the kitchen cabinetry?!
  • Hey, I want chop and drop counterspace… chop the veggies and drop 'em right into the pot on the cooktop!
  • Hmmm… Just a nook for a kitchen office, right THERE!
  • Keep the butler, but give me that butler's pantry!

What Are Your Preferences?

You have your preferences: Given a choice, there are things you know you like and styles you know you don't like… Like choosing vanilla over chocolate, or chocolate over vanilla, decide and mark in your scrapbook what stands out in your mind.

  • What style do you prefer: Contemporary, Shaker, Classic, Tuscan, Traditional, Transitional, Country or Craftsman?
  • Cabinet preference: Wood, painted, laminate?
  • Wood species? Oak, maple, cherry or hickory?
  • What colors are you considering for cabinets: light, medium or dark color? How about the countertops and flooring?
  • Countertop preference: solid surface, engineered stone, granite, ceramic tile or recycled glass?
  • Sink preference: surface mount, under-mount, integral bowl, double bowl, single bowl, corner sink, farm sink, stainless or copper?
  • Faucet preference: single handle, double handle, traditional, contemporary, chrome or nickel finish?
  • Appliances: standard, professional style or truly professional?
  • Flooring: laminate, hardwood, sheet vinyl, bamboo, cork or porcelain tile?
  • Lighting: ambient, tracklighting, tasklighting, pendants, fluorescent, halogen, incandescent or chandelier. Oh, the list can go on!
  • Door/drawer pulls: glass, metal, balls, bars or whimsical?

Go Shopping!

Yes, GO SHOPPING! How many times will you hear THAT in your life? To make your dream-kitchen scrapbook more complete, shop for appliances and special lighting, to get an idea of what's available to you and at what price tag. You will have these costs available to you when figuring your budget for the whole project.

Let's say you choose the refrigerator you just can't live without. Make certain it's available. Make sure you have the model numbers or the printed specs that tell the designer the amount of space it will require. Make sure you know how much it will cost as this will be subtracted from the dream-kitchen fund. As you consider new appliances and lighting fixtures with specific price tags, you'll be dipping into the dream-kitchen fund and be left with an amount with which your designer will work to create the kitchen you want!

Time To Begin

Try our Kitchen Planning Guide

Complete the Lifestyle Survey for use with your kitchen planner.

Pick a partner… one for each end of a retractable measuring tape! It's time to begin measuring!

Hold the tape at a comfortable, even height for you and your partner… somewhere in the space between the upper and lower cabinets… start in a left hand corner and measure your first wall in inches. Move around the room, measuring each wall and jotting down the measurements on a piece of graph paper, labeling "Wall #1" "Wall #2" etc.

Now return to each wall and if there is, say, a window on that wall, measure from that left hand corner to the outside of the window trim, then measure across the window, trim edge to trim edge. Mark these measurements on the paper. Then measure from the right edge of the trim to the right hand corner of the wall, and note this on your paper. Do this for any openings on the remaining walls.

Measure doors to the top of the trim and mark your paper.

Checks & Balances

  • Now let your partner 'take the lead' to do the measurement reading of the same areas while you hold the tape end in place. This way measurements are noted and checked.
  • Check that opposite walls are nearly equal in measure. In other words, the measurements of Walls 1 and 3 should be nearly the same, and Walls 2 and 4 should be nearly equal. If the measurements are way off, measure them again!

Measure and mark the points at which you find these items:

  • Sink faucet and drain
  • Dishwasher
  • Cooktop or range: Oh, and is it gas or electric?
  • Wall oven: gas or electric?

Review

It's that easy! Worried about smaller details? For your first meeting, our designers will work with the measurements you initially provide. But they'll schedule a visit to your home to get all the detailed measurements so crucial to a successful installation.

Now put your drawing with notations into your scrapbook. Let's review the contents and make sure we're seeing the whole picture!

  • You have pictures and magazine clippings
  • You're ready to tell why you want a new kitchen
  • You've decided on the scope of the project based on how much you’re looking to spend and how much you wish to change… refresh, replace, or remodel
  • You have a brief description of the house construction and existing kitchen
  • You've answered lifestyle questions
  • You've written down what you want included in the new design
  • You recognize what your style preferences are
  • You've gone shopping and have an idea how much your selection of appliances and lighting might cost
  • You've measured
  • It's time to give us a call: 1-800-THE DREAM

Don't Panic

If all these steps have you overwhelmed and shakin' in your shoes - just give us a call and we'll get you started 1-800-THE DREAM.

Although an appointment is not necessary, it will make the best use of your time and our professional design-consultant can give you their full attention.

Watch How the Process Works

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