Since the mid 90s the ideal kitchen has had stainless steel appliances and granite countertops, and for the past 15 years you'd be hard pressed a find a renovated kitchen that doesn't feature these two things. A high end kitchen from 2001 looks almost exactly the same as one from 2019.

Do you think anything will ever overtake this look? I admit that granite is very appealing and it's natural material, so it probably won't date like synthetics (formica) will. And I've heard quartz is becoming very trendy.

When we redid our kitchen, I really wanted quartz but we went with granite because it was cheaper. Who knew? as for stainless steel appliances, I HATE them and will NEVER, EVER have them. All of our appliances are white.


If you are REALLY interested: http://www.inthe00s.com/index.php?topic=48369.0

Yes, a shameless plug.  :D ;D ;D ;D


Cat

I don't get this stainless steel appliance trend. It's so unappealing looking. It makes a kitchen look like an industrial kitchen in a restaurant or factory.  8-P

It's customary now to laugh and scoff at the harvest gold and avocado green appliance colors of the 70s but I liked those tones. They had character  and warmth and a kitchen felt like a kitchen.

When we redid our kitchen, I really wanted quartz but we went with granite because it was cheaper. Who knew? as for stainless steel appliances, I HATE them and will NEVER, EVER have them. All of our appliances are white.


If you are REALLY interested: http://www.inthe00s.com/index.php?topic=48369.0

Yes, a shameless plug.  :D ;D ;D ;D


Cat


1865, that's pretty damn old. Nice house though. Was it expensive to renovate?

I wouldn't be surprised if the price of quartz does down if the demand for it continues to increase. I'm fine with granite though. I agree stainless is ugly, it looks cold and industrial to me. I prefer a kitchen that looks warm.

1865, that's pretty damn old. Nice house though. Was it expensive to renovate?

I wouldn't be surprised if the price of quartz does down if the demand for it continues to increase. I'm fine with granite though. I agree stainless is ugly, it looks cold and industrial to me. I prefer a kitchen that looks warm.



A lot of people thought the cost for the renovations cost more than they did-but we did go over our budget-by double. Our heating system alone cost half of our budget. But the fact that we got a good deal on the house from the git-go (it was a foreclosure), and we took out a loan on our other house and used some of our investments. We paid off the loan when we sold that house in Feb. and now this house is ALL OURS.

We are still doing work to the house (a house is NEVER done). We finally did the downstairs bathroom a couple of years ago-but I didn't do a video about it. This year we are going to have the driveway paved and insulate the basement with spray-on which SHOULD have been done before we moved in. We don't know why it wasn't done. Next year we may get the garage painted.

When we first bought the house, the town accessed it WAY high. We told them that it wasn't inhabitable at the moment-no heat, no plumbing, no kitchen. They came and assessed it for a bit more than what we paid for it. Carlos asked about repealing. I told him no because by the time the repeal came through, the work would have started and that figure could go up. Then they came back AFTER we moved in. We were trying to hide things from them-I didn't do dishes for days so they couldn't see my beautiful granite composite sink. We put a towel over the controls to the heated floor. We hid all the chandeliers in boxes in the basement. They even asked us about lighting knowing that we didn't want to leave everything as just one light bulb hanging from the ceilings. We said, "Someday."  (The electrician came the very next day to put the chandeliers up.) I don't know the exact figures off hand but I believe the house is assessed at what it was BEFORE we bought it or there abouts.

Even though we went WAY over budget, if we ever decide to sell (which I sincerely doubt we ever will), we should get our entire investment-plus some back.


Cat

When we redid our kitchen, I really wanted quartz but we went with granite because it was cheaper. Who knew? as for stainless steel appliances, I HATE them and will NEVER, EVER have them. All of our appliances are white.


If you are REALLY interested: http://www.inthe00s.com/index.php?topic=48369.0

Yes, a shameless plug.  :D ;D ;D ;D


Cat


Those red countertops are awesome.

Those red countertops are awesome.



They went bye-bye. We were going to keep that one cabinet for storage in the garage but I guess it went to the dump before we told our contractor that we wanted to keep it.


Cat

I had a beige kitchen with white appliances for 20 years in my old 80s house.  The new house was also built in the 80s and has golden oak cabinets/floors with white appliances but a black/stainless fridge.  One by one as they died, I've been replacing them with black/stainless versions.  I just painted my range hood black last weekend to match as that was the last piece.  I love the look as it is a mix of new and old, it doesn't look cold and industrial.

In '09 when we had our condo's smallish kitchen redone, we picked gray quartz countertops.  We have stainless steel appliances except for the 1995 refrigerator - its color is "almond" (remember that color? "cream beige" or "off white" would be a good description.  That fridge is on its last legs - but that's what we said in '09 when we redid the kitchen  ;D)  The cabinets are beautiful reddish toned wood, flat panel giving them a contemporary style.  We stuffed as many cabinets in the kitchen as feasible- including an awesome rolling island - and now have tons of storage.  Plus created a pass-through - doesn't sound that exciting, but it was a huge step up from the pony wall and we craved a more open look (still love it).  Plus a couple of the cabinets have glass fronts - great addition.

I still love love love the quartz.  (Glad I didn't go with my original choice of Corian - although I don't dislike Corian.)  One thing about quartz - it's really heavy in weight, heavier than granite, which factored into the design.  (It's possible newer quartz formulations aren't as heavy, but don't know that for sure.)  The quartz has stood up mightily to all the abuse we heap on it.

Even though it cost $$$, I don't regret that kitchen redo one bit - I still love it, 10 years out.  And we've had a boatload of great times in that kitchen...

In '09 when we had our condo's smallish kitchen redone, we picked gray quartz countertops.  We have stainless steel appliances except for the 1995 refrigerator - its color is "almond" (remember that color? "cream beige" or "off white" would be a good description.  That fridge is on its last legs - but that's what we said in '09 when we redid the kitchen  ;D)  The cabinets are beautiful reddish toned wood, flat panel giving them a contemporary style.  We stuffed as many cabinets in the kitchen as feasible- including an awesome rolling island - and now have tons of storage.  Plus created a pass-through - doesn't sound that exciting, but it was a huge step up from the pony wall and we craved a more open look (still love it).  Plus a couple of the cabinets have glass fronts - great addition.

I still love love love the quartz.  (Glad I didn't go with my original choice of Corian - although I don't dislike Corian.)  One thing about quartz - it's really heavy in weight, heavier than granite, which factored into the design.  (It's possible newer quartz formulations aren't as heavy, but don't know that for sure.)  The quartz has stood up mightily to all the abuse we heap on it.

Even though it cost $$$, I don't regret that kitchen redo one bit - I still love it, 10 years out.  And we've had a boatload of great times in that kitchen...


A picture is worth a thousand words.  I took this in '09 (as there are still empty boxes in the background):

https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/509x382q90/924/rGsz3g.jpg

As I mentioned, I'm still thrilled with the quartz.

A picture is worth a thousand words.  I took this in '09 (as there are still empty boxes in the background):

https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/509x382q90/924/rGsz3g.jpg

As I mentioned, I'm still thrilled with the quartz.


Is that your kitchen? I like it, quite beautiful. :)

Is that your kitchen? I like it, quite beautiful. :)


Thanks, Howard.    :)  It's our kitchen shortly after the redo.

Easy to clean and difficult (but not too difficult) to see dirt is all I care about.


A picture is worth a thousand words.  I took this in '09 (as there are still empty boxes in the background):

https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/509x382q90/924/rGsz3g.jpg

As I mentioned, I'm still thrilled with the quartz.




You did a great job! And a good job of keeping it clean, unlike me ;D