Remodeling the Kitchen and Bath

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Shannon V. OKeets
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Remodeling the Kitchen and Bath

Post by Shannon V. OKeets »

It has taken a full two months to complete the renovation of our kitchen and second bathroom. Along the way, we replaced the entrance hallway carpet with tile.

This is a picture of the 3 new bookcases for that hallway (two 84 inches by 36 inches with the third 48 inches tall). I’m still organizing the bookcases. The one in the foreground is dedicated to history books. The top shelf holds WW II books, but I have dug out another 20 hardback books on WW II that need to be added somewhere. The third shelf holds books on the American Civil War and the one between has both WW II and American Civil War books, with additional oversized books on warfare in general. The fourth shelf holds books on Napoleon and other wars involving the British empire. Beneath that shelf are more miscellaneous history books. The last visible shelf in this picture has books on the Vietnam War. The bottom shelf (not visible) has history books on Rome. Most of these books had been sitting in boxes in a closet for the past 10 years - now I’m selecting various ones I want to reread.

The top shelf of the middle bookcase has my Artificial Intelligence reference books, covering the gamut from probabilistic reasoning, induction, and machine learning, through to rule based systems - heavy reading.


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Steve

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Shannon V. OKeets
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RE: Remodeling the Kitchen and Bath

Post by Shannon V. OKeets »

This is a really boring picture that reflects a lot of work. The intersection leads to 4 rooms: the living room (where I was standing when I took the picture), the kitchen off to the right, the second bathroom straight ahead, and the second bedroom off to the left (not visible). This had been a carpeted area which saw a lot of traffic and was rather beaten down - like the entrance hallway carpet. The floor tile is more durable and also ties the kitchen and bath together.

We removed the shoji sliding doors that had covered the electric panel, since they were never used for their primary purpose to isolate the kitchen. We’re going to hang a picture over the electric panel. By the way, all 28 circuit breakers in the electric panel were replaced with new ones. The previous ones were 40 years old, and while they still worked, the new ones are up-to-date with current city building specifications.

We also replaced the doors to the bathroom and the bedroom, making them 3 inches wider. That is why the light switches for the bathroom are on the outside - there was no longer any room for them inside, what with the wider door frame. Those switches control the lights to the bathroom ceiling and sink. The soffit next to the ceiling leading to the kitchen is new. It let us run a 220 volt line to the south side of the kitchen for the range. Equally important, it let us tie the lights under the wall cabinets together, so the two light switches for the kitchen control the ceiling and countertop lights. The latter are on both the north and south walls. We also ran a line for the phone through the soffit and the bathroom walls, then into the second bedroom. While we can run wires through the walls, we can’t touch the ceiling or floor, both of which are rebar reinforced concrete. The condo association rules don’t permit messing around with structures that bear the weight of the building (picky, picky). Note that the height of all the doorways are a full 96 inches, from floor to ceiling.

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Steve

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Shannon V. OKeets
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RE: Remodeling the Kitchen and Bath

Post by Shannon V. OKeets »

Everything in the bathroom was redone. The accent stripe tile for the shower surround was discontinued after we had selected it, but the architect found some remnants in California. We bought that in January, 2013 and had been storing it since then. The shelves are my invention, providing a place for soap and shampoo. Partially that’s because we wanted a large grab bar for when we get older and more decrepit.

The curtain rod is curved which I have found to be a real improvement when taking a shower, because it provides an additional 10 inches of width at the shoulder level. I also selected the 4 foot long sliding rod for the shower head. The one in our master bathroom (to be remodeled this fall) is so short that I can’t stand under it unless I crouch down. Note the new Toto toilet with full and partial flush buttons. It has a sealed water reservoir so we no longer have to “jiggle the handle” to stop the toilet from ‘running’. The toilet itself is wall mounted, making it easy to clean under.

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Steve

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Shannon V. OKeets
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RE: Remodeling the Kitchen and Bath

Post by Shannon V. OKeets »

Here’s the new sink in the bathroom. The lighting kind of overwhelms this picture, but that is good. The previous lighting for the sink area was poor. The medicine cabinet is about 4 times larger than the previous one. Above the medicine cabinet is a new wall cabinet which provides additional bulk storage space. We had the plumber install cutoff valves for the bathroom water under the sink. That enables us to have plumbing work done without needing to ask the condo manager to shut off the water for all the units in our ‘stack’.

On the other side of the towel rack shown here, there is a closet which we had redone, replacing the louvered door (impossible to clean) with a slab door, and having an additional vent installed in the ceiling to keep the air flow through the closet. The 3 fixed shelves were replaced with 5 adjustable shelves.

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Steve

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Shannon V. OKeets
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RE: Remodeling the Kitchen and Bath

Post by Shannon V. OKeets »

This shows the entrance to the kitchen. The wall on the right was moved out 10 inches (into the living room) to provide room for the refrigerator. Originally we had designed the layout for our old/smaller refrigerator. When we bought this new one in January, we needed to add more space. It’s 36 inches deep, and 36 inches wide. It also needs 2 inches of space on each side for ventilation. In the foreground to the right of the refrigerator is a large cabinet, partially visible. That’s for the 5 foot step ladder plus mops and brooms. Storage space in a condo is always at a premium, since we don’t have an attic or garage.

In the corner are the clothes washer and dryer. We had to place them close to the corner ‘stack’ (the vertical shaft running the full height of the building for plumbing). More importantly, the dryer vent to the outside is on the other side of the stack. The recommended distance from the dryer to the outside vent depends on how many twists and turns are in the conduit. But regardless of how clever a design, in the end the dryer still needs to be rather close to that outside vent.

This picture shows off the tile design of the back splash and the LED strip lighting under the wall cabinets. Basically, every wall cabinet has strip lighting towards the front of the cabinet, which is hidden from view by a valence (wooden strip along the front edge of the cabinet bottom). The bottom drawer of the base cabinet next to the washer holds two trash cans, one of which is for recyclables.

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EDIT: there is a missing wall cabinet over the pass through. The original one was too wide (because of the new refrigerator) and its replacement is due "any day now".
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Steve

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RE: Remodeling the Kitchen and Bath

Post by Shannon V. OKeets »

Here is the south wall of the kitchen (the bathroom is on the other side). The hood over the range is the only new appliance we bought for the remodel. The top drawer of the two base cabinets to the right of the range are for cooking utensils. It is popular to have cooking utensils and/or pans hanging in the kitchen, but they can get greasy rather quickly, hanging about in the kitchen. The lower drawers of the base cabinets are for cookware (e.g., pots and pans). The small base cabinet to the left of the range was specially designed to hold the mixer - which is oversized and heavy. Shereen didn’t want it in a wall cabinet, where she would have to struggle to get it down and put it away.

The wall cabinets to the right of the stove are for food, with frequently used items (cereal, rice, pasta, flour, etc.) closer to the range while canned goods and the like are farther away. Notice the power outlet strips under the back of the wall cabinets. This provides a lot of flexibility for where we place appliances when they are in use, yet doesn’t interrupt the back splash design. As you can tell from this picture, Shereen likes to have absolutely clear countertops when she is not working in the kitchen. On the top left of this picture (difficult to see) is the combination spice and (old person) pill cabinet.

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Steve

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Shannon V. OKeets
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RE: Remodeling the Kitchen and Bath

Post by Shannon V. OKeets »

This is the last picture in the series, taken from the living room, looking through the pass through, and showing the north side of the kitchen. One of my main goals in this remodeling was to increase the amount of countertop area. We have more than doubled what it was before. Additional storage space was another major goal. To that end, we more the tripled what’s available. The wall cabinets are 40.5 inches high, and while the top shelves are difficult to reach (unless you’re well over 6 feet tall), it does give us a place to store rarely used wedding gifts and bulk storage of emergency power-outage supplies.

Notice that the table at the far end is cantilevered - I hate banging my knees on table legs. Under the table you can see part of one of the backless stools for sitting at the table. We now have full access to the window handles - previously they were difficult to reach. The microwave protrudes from one of the wall cabinets. We didn’t want to give up countertop space for the microwave. Where it’s currently located, it ‘s easy to read the controls and placing food items in and taking them out is also hassle free. We wanted the microwave on the wall opposite the range so both cooking appliances could be used simultaneously, potentially by different people.

Basically this kitchen design gives us four “work areas”: clothes washer- dryer, sink, range, and kitchen table. Even if there is a person at each of those locations, a fifth person can still enter the kitchen to get something from the refrigerator without getting in anyone’s way.

This has been a long haul from design to completion, taking us 3 years (sigh). Some of that delay was due to my health, some of it is attributable to me working on World in Flames, but most of it had to do with our architect quitting the business in the middle of the project and her replacement finally deciding not to complete the project after we had been discussing the details with him for 3 months. Our final construction company did excellent work, although we chaffed at the bit for 2 months we were without a kitchen.


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Steve

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WIF_Killzone
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RE: Remodeling the Kitchen and Bath

Post by WIF_Killzone »

Very nice Steve, you deserve it! You must be part British, I see a washing machine in the the kitchen :)

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Missouri_Rebel
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RE: Remodeling the Kitchen and Bath

Post by Missouri_Rebel »

Looks good. The glass tiles in the backsplash are particularly nice as is the counter top. The drop in sinks look great with it. That shower fitting cost a few Krackel bars no doubt.

Home remodeling projects. Slightly worse than moving.
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RE: Remodeling the Kitchen and Bath

Post by paulderynck »

But less stressful than flood restoration.
Paul
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RE: Remodeling the Kitchen and Bath

Post by Jones944 »

Beautiful work! Having just built a house, I know the amount of planning and work that goes into stuff like this. Renovations are worse in a way though, as I never had to live in the middle of the construction site!
"Cry 'Havoc,' and let slip the dogs of war" - William Shakespeare, "Julius Caesar"
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RE: Remodeling the Kitchen and Bath

Post by Joseignacio »

What I like the most are the excellent views.
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rkr1958
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RE: Remodeling the Kitchen and Bath

Post by rkr1958 »

Same skyline with Diamond Head and a faint rainbow. I took this picture 4-years ago from the Hawaiian Hilton (Waikiki beach) and on a family vacation . How far is your condo from there?

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RE: Remodeling the Kitchen and Bath

Post by paulderynck »

If you looked a little further around than straight over your left shoulder, and flew about 10 blocks, you'd be there.
Paul
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RE: Remodeling the Kitchen and Bath

Post by rkr1958 »

ORIGINAL: paulderynck

If you looked a little further around than straight over your left shoulder, and flew about 10 blocks, you'd be there.
I wish I was there now to look around over my left shoulder. What a beautiful place! [8D]
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RE: Remodeling the Kitchen and Bath

Post by bo »

ORIGINAL: rkr1958

ORIGINAL: paulderynck

If you looked a little further around than straight over your left shoulder, and flew about 10 blocks, you'd be there.
I wish I was there now to look around over my left shoulder. What a beautiful place! [8D]
I was stationed about 18 miles north of Honolulu near Schofield barracks a place called Helemano in the middle of a pineapple field. I learned to surf at Haleiwa on the north shore, well near the north shore [;)] My waves were usually no larger than 8 feet. At the real North Shore, Makaha, in Febuary they were as high as 30 feet phewww! No way jose!

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Shannon V. OKeets
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RE: Remodeling the Kitchen and Bath

Post by Shannon V. OKeets »

ORIGINAL: paulderynck

If you looked a little further around than straight over your left shoulder, and flew about 10 blocks, you'd be there.
Yes.
Steve

Perfection is an elusive goal.
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