Name: Anita
Location: NYC
Favorite Kitchen Stores
- IKEA, Elizabeth, NJ – Best place to find cabinets that won't break your bank. My entire set cost less than 1k. With the right fittings, they can look just as great as ones that cost a lot more.
SINO CARPET, 169 Bowery Street, New York, NY (212-334-5046). Go to a larger showroom for tile selection and Sino can get the same at a more economical price.
Pitch:
I designed this kitchen with the help of my sister, built the cabinets with friends, tiled the wall with my fiancée, Ryan, and worked with local stainless steel fabricators to make the counter.
I love this kitchen because everything has its place and all the shelves in the cabinets pull out so I don't need to reach into the back of cabinets for things. I also like the colors and tiles, which make the kitchen cheery. I hope you like it too.
3 Compelling kitchen cooking/design tips:
- Pull out trays in the cabinets, IKEA lets you specify either shelves or these trays, but these trays work a lot better because hard to reach corners don't exist.
Dark tiles will hide grease and dirt well at least until you can find time to clean it off.
Soak your dirty pots in water once you are done with them for a few hours, it'll cut down on scrubbing time.
How do you like your Conserv fridge?
Do you mind if I ask if you used a contractor or installed everything yourselves? My husband and I have been thinking about renovating the kitchen and am wondering how feasible of a DIY job it is.
LOVE the kitchen!
Really love this. My kitchen is also dark countertops with lighter wood - find it is a nice balance of warmth and modern. And I second your advice about dark counterrops hiding dirt!
What a great kitchen!
Yes one could love IKEA, and I loooove the kitchen! I've been spiffing up my IKEA cabinets with hinges/slides hardware from Rockler.com
For an extra $20 more have cabinet doors open to 170 instead of 90 degrees. 14" full extension shelf slides that feel like a million bucks.
What's that on the tiles over the stove? Artwork?
I LOVE the apple tiles! It's a nice shot of color and organic image in a otherwise neutral space.
Love it! Especially the tiles and the wall colors. You did an amazing job; I'm really impressed with your DIY skills! One quibble-Cut the tags off those chair cushions.
Balanced, warm, used, simple--I would love to cook in it!
I do wonder about that sink in the corner though. I have the same thing in my rental and it drives us crazy, not to have two sections (but you have a dishwasher so that's not a problem), and not having the option of having more than one person at the sink, even reaching becomes difficult. Anita, what are your solutions?
I also love the window over the sink, so great.
I like it a lot!
Please lose the little striped rug -- I bet after all this time you don't even see it, but it's sore-thumb-like.
In response to the comments on this site.
1) The apple tiles are from home depot expo, they were about $8/tile, special order, so it took 4-6 weeks to get. Home Depot Expo has a wide selection of these photo tiles for sale to the general public.
2) The fridge is an AMICA, but it's 2'x 2', so it doesn't take much space and I have packed successfully a thanksgiving feast for 10 in it with space to spare. My only beefs are the plastic lens cap over the light that keeps melting (not sure why? maybe someone leaves the fridge open all night? but I've had it replaced once before and the second melted again). Also another issue is the freezer which is not auto defrost.. you need to defrost it every 3 months or so.
3) As for the DIY comment, I'm actually an architect by training, so I have contacts in the industry whereby I can get discounts, thus making it economical, but if you're just replacing cabinets or doors, doing tilework, it's manageable (about $1000 - $2000, depending on the size of the kitchen of course), just be sure to have an extra sink, even the bathroom sink to wash dishes in for a while... If you are changing stoves and installing new appliances, you might want a contractor. My contractor installed the stove, sink and dishwasher for me. But we did all the finishes and cabinets ourselves. If you want more tailored advice, feel free to email me. I believe that with a little guidance, everyone can do it yourself and be happy with the end result.
4) And last but not least, the corner sink, that was the most troubling thing about my apartment renovation, it is difficult to reach in that corner, but a long faucet can help fix this. I'm not sure if you can change the faucet in your rental, but a corner sink is definitely something I will probably not do in my next project.
5) I will be submitting my entire apartment renovation for the April contest, so please check back and thanks for your comments!
Beeyootifull. I love the apple green wall. On the whole, it's elegant, yet welcoming.
nice job,
Excellent work on the space
i ESPECIALLY like your kitchen counter.
it looks so comfy. great space.
very nice! This is an "inspire to cook" kitchen.
I really like the cabinets and counters...it's modern. it's comfortable. it's welcoming.
great idea on the pull-out shelves. Awwwwwesome!
I really like the art piece above the stove! It brings a gentle breath to the kitchen. Well Done!
can you tell me what fan that is above the stove. It looks very sleek and doable in a small kitchen.
thanks
i have a stainless steel sink that gets scratched up easily. i'm wondering if you are happy with stainless countertops
the vent hood is the ZEPHYR ZFIM90S. it's a bit pricey but with some good research and bargaining skills you might be able to bring it down to a manageable price.
as for the stainless steel counters, apparently there are different grades of steel, so my sink doesn't really scratch up, but the counters do... but maybe it's because i put a metal sink grid on the bottom? i got that at surprise surprise near 3rd and 12th street for less than $10. anyways i went to talk to the stainless steel fabricators on forsyth street and one of them suggested sanding down your counters with black sandpaper (important - sand along the grain), ask hardware store person for what grit, and a stainless steel cleaner made by companies like zep make the counters shine so brilliant, that I can forgive the scratches. in short, if i had to do it over again, i'd have to check the grades of stainless steel they were going to use to make it, and weigh the costs and benefits of other materials. i hope this helps.
I like the style and attention to detail of this kitchen. Stainless steel all the way!
I love your tiles. Great job!
I LOOOOOOOOVE IT!!!
SO ENVIOUS....
YOU HAVE TO BUILD MINE!!
proud of you.
I need to do a corner sink as well in my kitchen. What is the size of your corner cabinet and the sink you installed? I can't seem to figure out what will fit there...Thanks, Magda
I too am very interested in the corner sink. I've only seen corner sink bases with a diagonal front, but I notice yours is square. Did Ikea give you this option, or did you have to modify a base cabinet?
My kitchen is the same shape as yours. I want to install a cooktop and oven just like yours. Can you tell me the brand you have and also if the oven is gas? Do they sell special cabinets to put the oven into? I have a range right now so I don't know about installing these items. I also will be going with Ikea cabinetry.
Thanks for any info. You did a great job!
anita could you tell me what the name of the stainless steel fabricators is on Forsyth St in NY? And were they reasonably priced?
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