Starting your home project, whether a kitchen, bath, home office, entertainment center, laundry room, or even a powder room, it’s always a good idea to do a little research and figure out what your style might be. Also, it is important to consider your budget. It is hard to know how much a kitchen or a bathroom model might cost. Therefore, we are here to help you and guide you through that. Sometimes it’s good to talk to a neighbor or contractors and designers.
A lot of things that affect your budget are cabinets, countertops, and flooring. Another part of your project that we will be going over is the timeline. We will also give you a bit of incite on our July specials to help get you started.
Finding Your Style
One of the most important things when approaching a project, aside from how you need the space to function, is figuring out what style you like. Sometimes that is a response object. A direct response to the existing architecture of your home, or if you’re going through a massive home transformation, it could be a response to something you saw in a magazine, and you want to change in your house. When you start to search, you realize there are various styles such as modern, classic country, transitional, and cottage. All of these can make you overwhelmed. Yet, your designer will guide you to a style that will fit your home and make you happy. People use Houzz or Pinterest to find what they’re looking for in their home style. As we mentioned previously, you can look at pictures and websites to get inspiration. On our website, we have a huge area of photo collections for you to choose from. If you don’t feel like getting lost in Houzz or other websites, you can go to ours and see our completed projects. We encourage you to go ahead and sift through these photos and let us know if there are any in particular that makes your heart sing.
Understanding Remodeling Budget
Occasionally, people are shocked because of the cost of a bath or kitchen remodel. That could happen if you watch home remodeling programs on TV that are televised and broadcast from the Midwest and other areas in California because the cost of living is different. So it is not unusual to tell someone that a bathroom remodel can start at around $30,000. We put that number out there, not to shock you or deter you, but to keep people informed that a full bath remodel can be over $40,000. That is because a lot is going on to get everything done. Even though bathrooms are a small space, it’s a very detailed process. There are over five inspections. These days kitchens are larger, yet aren’t as complicated with the inspections. You’ll find a lot more cabinetry, more lighting, and more electrical work needing to be done. That is affecting the cost are cabinets, countertops, installation, lighting, plumbing flooring, and backsplash. There are a lot of different factors. Your designer can guide you to work realistically within your budget.
For example, when we price a kitchen, we can reduce the cabinetry cost by 20%. Not by changing the layout or sacrificing the function of the cabinetry inserts, but by changing the door type. We moved from a painted door to a beautiful laminate door, and we made some adjustments to the cabinet construction.
There are many different door styles, such as a flat panel or a raised panel. The flat panel is very popular with the shaker style homes, while the raised panel is more traditional. You will see that in traditional kitchens and baths that the slab seems to be trending. We are here to guide you as there is a lot you can choose from. There are other selections, such as a partial overlay. A partial overlay is something you might have seen in the 70s, 80s, or even in the 90s. It is often used for builder series cabinetry, and it’s a less expensive method of cabinet construction. Also, there is a full overlay. A full overlay means that the door lays fully on top of the cabinet box, so there is barely any space between the doors and drawers. Also, we have a lot of wood cabinetry with a huge array of stains right now. We’re still seeing a lot of great kitchens trending. Lately, we’re seeing more and more gray stains on wood. If you need something with a little more depth, because our doors are a little more detailed, then you would add a second layer of color to your wood stained door, which is called a glaze. A glaze helps highlight any articulation in the door. We have great examples in our showroom to help you see what that means.
Every cabinet line that we carry offers a huge array of paint colors. Most of the cabinet lines that we carry cater specifically to your needs. If you happen to have an emerald green that you love from Sherwin Williams or Benjamin Moore, let us know the color number. Most of our manufacturers can make those doors for you in the color you like.
We also have another detail called a rub thru, and that’s for rustic or traditional kitchens. We’re not seeing that as much as we did ten years ago, but it’s still a nice look.
There are many different wood species to choose from for your home. The first is cherry, which is a very beautiful wood with lovely figurings. It’s one of the few kinds of wood that over time will lighten. Maple is a fun, clean, and easy wood. It is very light and highly figured. You’ll find lots of pinks, grays, and greens. Red oak has a lot of character, and it’s making a big comeback right now, especially with a gray wash stain. Knotty Alder is great for the rustic look. Alder takes a huge array of colors, and it’s very lightweight. It’s one of the most lightweight woods out of all cabinets that we use. It takes a huge array of Saints Quartersawn Aak. The term quartersawn has something to do with the way that the oak is cut from the log. There is also a stain ribbon look. It’s very elegant. We’re seeing that more and more often, not only in flooring but also in cabinetry. Lastly, one wood species that is super popular right now, especially among the mid-century modern fans, is walnut. Natural walnut is similar to cherry as it gets lighter over time unless it’s stained. It also has some blonde streaks.
Another trend that has been going strong is the quartz countertops. There are many manufacturers out there. All quartz countertops or engineered stone countertops are 93% crushed quartz and 7% polymers. One of the beauties of this type of product is its low maintenance. You’ll never need to seal it because it’s so hard and solid that it won’t absorb. It is also so hard that you will ruin your knives if you cut on it. Thus we recommend that you use the cutting board. We’re seeing a lot of grays and whites and a lot of marbles and Calicut. It’s a very strong trend right now.
Natural stone is another trend. Going to a slab yard in the Bay Area and seeing how slab upon slab of natural stone is pulled from the earth and sliced is a wonderful experience. You can get slabs of turquoise, forest green, and all sorts of colors, some even with Amethyst embedded. There are a lot of choices out there.
Backsplash, Flooring, Accessories
When thinking about flooring, you probably want to consider how long you will be standing in your kitchen. A tile floor is a hard surface and will amplify sound. Due to this, your legs will feel a little tight and more tired.
Some people are concerned about wooden floors because of the maintenance and potential for disasters in the kitchen. Yet, wood floors in the kitchen are more common. It’s up to the homeowner to decide what they’re most comfortable with implementing into their home.
Subway tiles and glass tiles are still trending.
Sometimes people put a slab of granite as the backsplash behind their cooktop surface. As our vision, we are here to guide you with those decisions and create a beautiful palette where everything is well coordinated.
Remodeling Timeline
It is always a good idea to be well organized. A kitchen remodel could take twelve weeks. Yet, it might change between eight to ten weeks, as some projects could take far less time, while some take more. There’s a lot that goes on. As we mentioned, the inspection work that we do is permitted for the kitchen. It can run between $1,000 to $2,000. That is there to protect the investment that you’re making in your home. By purchasing a permit, you’re notifying your local jurisdiction that some electrical and plumbing work will be done at your home. That work will need to be inspected. Permits are there to protect you.
Getting back to the timeline, designing a kitchen or bath, and working with a designer involves a sight measure. You’ll see three to five design presentations where we go over the layout and different materials for kitchen appliances that help shape the kitchen. There’s a huge difference between designing a kitchen around a range or a kitchen that has a separate cooktop and wall oven. Also, another thing that helps shape the kitchen is the microwave. Is it going to be a microwave hood? Will there be a microwave on the counter? Will it be built into a wall cabinet or a tall cabinet? These things are also important.
Usually, we come up with a budget and go through the planning stage. After you sign your contract, your designer will send the order for your cabinetry. Cabinetry lead time can vary. It can be quick, such as four or five weeks. Yet, usually, we are looking at six, eight, or ten weeks for lead time. The time starts when your contract is signed. As soon as your cabinetry arrives at your home, kitchen cabinet installation is the next phase. That usually takes about a week, yet sometimes maybe less.
Then countertops happen after the cabinets have been installed. We template your countertops, then the template is taken back to the fabrication shop, and they’re cut. As the next step, they’re bought to your home and installed. There are a lot of other sub-phases, but your designer will be happy to go into detail with you.
Q&A
Which door type is the lowest in cost?
It depends on the manufacturer, but a slab door or the flat door with no detail very often could be the least expensive. Also, a thermofoil door where you have a preformed door made of the fiberboard. Sometimes the least expensive door in one cabinet line might not be the least expensive doorstop in another. So we recommend instead of trying to figure out the least expensive door to tell your designer what you like, and they will find a way to present to you the most affordable version of that door set.
How do you pick the countertop? Would you pick the kitchen cabinets first?
Every project is different. A countertop depends on how to lead the project and the homeowner. Some people want to have a white kitchen, while others love the color. A while ago, granite was more popular. Sometimes people would go to a slab yard and fall in love with a particular granite, and then we would work around that. If you don’t know where to start, your designer can help guide you with how to build a palette for your kitchen or bath.
Can the demolition wait until close to the delivery date of cabinets?
If it is a very simple removal and replacement of a bathroom vanity, there is a possibility of waiting.
The reason why the demolition starts so far before the cabinetry is delivered is that when they’re removed we can check to see if there is any dry rot and then repair it. It is the perfect opportunity to retexture the drywall and relocate the electrical outlets because the code will require that you have an electrical outlet every two feet on your kitchen counter. That is also the time to update your lighting plan and the ceiling. You can pull wiring for under cabinet lighting and maybe move electrical outlets if your refrigerator and your oven are going to be relocated. It’s also the time to upgrade your electrical panel as that is not unusual with a kitchen remodel. There’s a lot of work that is done. Sometimes people have the flooring installed before their cabinetry is installed. The reason why there is a ton of work before the cabinets are installed is that we want to follow a specific time frame.
Where to start a remodeling project?
There are many reasons why many people start a remodel of their kitchen or bathroom. Some people are tired of their kitchen, they don’t like the tile, they don’t want the trash cans sitting out, or they are tired of the grout on the counters. A good way to start is by calling Gilmans Kitchens and Baths and talk to a designer. You can bring in a few photos of your kitchen or bathroom and let us know what you don’t like about it or what you would like your new kitchen or bathroom to be like. Then we can move walls for you and install new windows with doors. We can transform the space how you want it. We have a great design and build department, which means that you can work with our construction crew and our designers together tediously under one roof. You don’t have to have a separate contractor and designer. It is a very efficient way to get your project done.
Would you remodel bathrooms as well?
Yes, we do. We can do a simple removal and replacement of your tub, shower, or any combination. We have a great design and build group that can remodel your bathroom for you.
If you are starting your remodeling process, then go to our website. We have an appointment widget there, where you can book your date and time. There are two options for meetings. Either a Zoom appointment or a showroom appointment, whichever is more convenient for you. We have four easy and convenient locations, so you can pick whichever is closest to you. We will meet with you in any of our showrooms or virtually. Online we will give you a virtual tour of our showroom.