Author: mwcms

What Are The Seven Most Common Characteristics of a Broken Kitchen?

The shutdown in Denver from the COVID-19 creates more time in the kitchen for most people. Over the last 60 days, problems not noticed before are now more significant and irritating. Mitch, the owner of My Furnished Kitchen, says “that about 60 percent of kitchens are broken.”

What are the seven most common characteristics of a broken kitchen?

1. Workflow Issues – A well-thought kitchen workflow enhances the cooking experience. Ingredients, cookware, and utensils within reach allow a cook to prepare a meal efficiently. The paths between the refrigerator, stove, cabinets, and sink are the busiest in the kitchen. If these features are side by side, more effort is required to prepare food. If you do not cook much, the inconvenience is not a big deal but becomes much more noticeable with more time in the kitchen.

2. Installing Appliances Last – A kitchen remodel might look broken when the owner installs the appliances last. Since the cabinets go in first, more allowances are given around the cabinetry to make sure the range, dishwasher, and refrigerator fit. The kitchen does not have a finished look since gaps exist between the cabinets and appliances. The cook in the family might find this tiresome after cooking day after day during the shutdown.

3. Picking the Wrong Size – Do-it-yourselfers sometimes buy kitchen items on sale. Or they buy the wrong size because they did not measure or just “eyeballed it.” Ill-fitting fixtures, lights and furniture give the entire kitchen a sloppy look.

4. Owner Indecisiveness – Owners sometimes cannot make up their minds, and they do not give the kitchen remodeler a clear vision of what they want. Project uncertainty leads to delays, unexpected expenses, and frustration. The final look of the kitchen usually reflects the owner’s indecisiveness. An experienced remodeling contractor like My Furnished Kitchen understands that building a census with the owners on the final kitchen design and budget is key to a successful project.

5. Skimping on Storage – The frustration of a hurried cook goes up exponentially when he or she cannot find the things needed to complete a meal. Overcrowded drawers and cabinets point to skimping on storage. The Furnished Kitchen understands the importance of storage when designing a kitchen. Mitch incorporates Lazy Susans, roll-out drawers, tray dividers, and cabinet and drawer inserts to maximize every inch of storage space. Finding things when you need them dramatically enhances the cooking experience.

6. Forgetting About Finishes – Sometimes it is the small things that make a kitchen look great. It is natural to focus on countertops, flooring, and appliances when building a kitchen, but some forget about minor design details. It is little things like backsplashes, cabinet pulls, and finishes that make a kitchen pop and increase the enjoyment of the space. Fortunately, owners can add these items later to improve the look of a kitchen.

7. Over Designing a Kitchen – Sometimes, people avoid making decisions by incorporating all their ideas into their remodeling plans with little regard on how the kitchen looks when completed. The result is like an overdone beef roast – tough to swallow. The finished kitchen is not welcoming, comfortable, or functional. An experienced kitchen remodeling contractor like The Furnished Kitchen helps owners make decisions to create a space they love, and within a budget, they can afford.

Want a new kitchen? If you are on a tight budget, contact The Furnished Kitchen by calling 303-960-8151. We look forward to building your dream kitchen but with a balance between cost and quality.

Remodeling A Kitchen on a Budget

The Furnished Kitchen, known across Denver for its high-end kitchen projects, is an experienced kitchen remodeling contractor with many happy customers. However, we are just as proficient with projects where the owner wants to stretch the dollar and get the most value when remodeling a kitchen. In kitchen remodels, materials account for 45 to 70 percent of the budget. The Furnished Kitchen helps our customers build a budget for their new kitchen, and we supply them with a vendor list to purchase selected cabinets, appliances, flooring, and countertops. The owner adds each kitchen component to the budget, then adjust the numbers to what they can afford. Assuming the owners follow The Furnished Kitchen’s budgetary process and take our cost-saving recommendations, we are proud that the budget at the beginning of the project remains the same at its conclusion. Customers who want to avoid the expense of a total kitchen tear out should give The Furnished Kitchen a call. Click here to check out our blog on How To Hire A Kitchen Contractor.

Below are several kitchen remodeling tips that save money.

• Do not move any walls.
• Do not move the location of existing appliances, cabinets, hard surfaces, and sinks.
• Hire a contractor who is transparent with excellent communication skills.
• Hire a contractor who understands project management and the budgetary process.
• Shop for a balance between cost and quality.

We continuously educate ourselves about pricing, value, and quality of each component of a kitchen, which enables us to make good product suggestions. If the customer wants to save money and economize, The Furnished Kitchen is happy to help them achieve a new kitchen at a price they can afford. There are four areas to save money when remodeling a kitchen on a tight budget: cabinets, appliances, flooring, and countertops.

Cabinets

Painting The Existing Cabinets Versus Buying New

If the existing kitchen cabinets are decent and functional, why not paint them and save a bunch of money? There are many Do it Yourself videos available on how to paint kitchen cabinets. But, people because of lack of experience prepare the cabinet surface incorrectly or choose the wrong primer and paint. Also, applying paint and primer with professional-grade equipment improves the result. Repainting cabinets is a lot of work, so why not do it right the first time. The Furnished Kitchen has the expertise and paint equipment to get the job done correctly.

Refacing Existing Cabinets versus Buying New

Cabinet refacing, sometimes called cabinet resurfacing, saves money. Instead of tearing out the existing cabinet boxes, we discard the old doors and drawer fronts. We reface the remaining cabinet boxes with wood or other materials selected by the customer. The Furnished Kitchen then installs new doors and drawer fronts. After refacing, the cabinetry looks brand new, and the customer saves about 50-60 percent compared to purchasing new cabinets.

Combining New Cabinet with Refurbished Cabinetry

Soffits above the upper cabinets are common in older kitchens. The Furnished Kitchen removes the upper cabinets and replaces them with taller ones to gain additional storage. Another way to modernize a kitchen is by adding an island. The Furnished Kitchen refaces the remaining base cabinets without any changes to the existing countertop and appliances, saving substantial money because the existing plumbing, electrical, flooring, and backsplash are not changed.

Appliances 

Buying new appliances is expensive, but there are ways to save money and still get the desired cooking experience. The Furnished Kitchen has cultivated appliance sources for our clients that offer value, wide choice, and great pricing.

Buy Scratch or Dent Appliances

We educate the customer on brands, rough pricing, and the benefits of one brand over the other. We know which vendors in Denver offer these same models but with small scratches or dents. The benefits are:

• Scratched or dented appliances are a lot cheaper than new ones.
• Scratched or dented models come with the same manufacturer-honored warranty as new models.
• The damage is usually slight and cosmetic.

Buy Overstocked Appliances

Many home appliance retailers and manufacturers utilize liquidators to free themselves of their surplus inventory. It costs more to warehouse the appliances than it does to liquidate them in bulk. They sell the excess stock for a fraction of their original manufacturer price to liquidators, who then sell the appliances to the secondary markets or channels. Secondary channels are discount retailers, outlets, eBay, online stores, and wholesalers. Retailers like Walmart and Sam’s Club use B-Stock companies to help them build and manage their liquidation auction marketplaces. These marketplaces allow them to sell appliances to small retailers and contractors at a fraction of their original manufacturer price. The Furnished Kitchen helps its customers navigate the secondary market and connects the owners with vetted sources for overstocked kitchen products.

Keep What You Have

The Furnished Kitchen inspects the existing kitchen appliances. We suggest keeping any stove, range, or refrigerator that works well and fits the new kitchen design. The owner can replace any of these appliances later.

Flooring

If the existing floor matches the new kitchen’s design, there is no need to replace it. The Furnished Kitchen offers several cost-effective flooring options for replacement.

Luxury Vinyl Plank Flooring

Luxury vinyl plank (LVP) is an affordable, waterproof, wood-like flooring option that adds warmth to any design and is easy to install. Most high-quality brands are scuff and wear-resistant. The Furnished Kitchen has excellent sources for LVP, and we pass on any builder discounts to the customer.

Large Format Tile 

Large-format tile flooring looks great in modern style kitchens. Large tile floors require a smaller number of sheets, so installation takes less time and saves money. The Furnished Kitchen offers its customers reliable sources for tile flooring.

Repairing Existing Wood Floors

The Furnished Kitchen is an expert in repairing existing wood floors. First, we fix any damage and install new floorboards where needed. We prepare the surface, then add a top coat to protect the floor from kitchen spills and foot traffic. The Furnished Kitchen uses high-quality products to ensure longevity and beauty.

Keep What You Have And Repair Or Replace Later

There is always the choice of keeping the existing flooring and replacing it later.

Countertops

Painting and Resurfacing Countertops 

There are paints available that make existing countertops look like stone. The coating works on laminate, solid-surface, ceramic tile, wood, or cultured-marble countertops. The result is a seamless surface that transforms the look of the kitchen at a fraction of the cost of installing new granite or quartz countertops.

Buy Overstocked Countertops

In Denver, some distributors and liquidators specialize in overstock countertops. The Furnished Kitchen helps owners navigate the secondary countertop marketplace and offers vetted sources for these materials.

Select Common Countertop Materials

Installing natural stone countertops is expensive. As an alternative, we recommend using materials such as ceramic tile, natural stone tile, Formica, Corian, wood, and other solid materials to save money. These hard surfaces are long-lasting and brighten any new kitchen.

Want a new kitchen? If you are on a tight budget, contact The Furnished Kitchen by calling 303-960-8151. We look forward to building your dream kitchen but with a balance between cost and quality.

The Furnished Kitchen differentiates itself in the Denver marketplace by our unique consultative approach to remodeling kitchens. The owner, usually the husband and wife, are crucial participants in the design to conceptualize and approve a new kitchen construction project. The Furnished Kitchens’s budgetary process produces a kitchen our clients envisions at a price they expect. Our consultative approach consists of the following stages: discovery, education, budget, and quotation.

Discovery Stage

Typically, the kitchen is the center of the house for family and guests. The Furnished Kitchen creates cooking spaces that are intimate and engaging, but the skill comes with understanding what a customer wants for their kitchen. We clarify the design of the kitchen through a discovery process, starting with a meeting with the husband and wife decision-making team. We ask the following questions to get up to speed on what the owners are thinking about their new kitchen.

1. What kitchen design do you have in mind?
2. Are you just starting the process?
3. Have you talked to neighbors or friends to get kitchen ideas and contractor references?
4. Have you started to shop for materials for your kitchen? Cabinets, countertops, appliances, etc
5. Have you hired a kitchen designer?
6. Is this your forever home? If not, how long do you plan to stay in your current home?

Design

1. What are the most critical features each owner wants in the new kitchen?
2. Please describe your current kitchen. What do you like and don’t like about it?
3. What features or results would you like to see to get the best outcome?
4. What are your thoughts about appliances, cabinets, hard surfaces, and flooring?

Budget

1. Have you established a budget?
2. How can we help you create a budget for your kitchen remodeling project?

Education Stage

Our kitchen modeling approach is unique because of its project management focus. Exceptional project management is all about obtaining results and accountability. We take what we learned from the Discovery Stage and start educating the owner on how to complete a kitchen that they will value and love. The Furnished Kitchen strives for transparency, high customer satisfaction, and a finished kitchen result that meets their expectations.

The kitchen design process starts with defining where the owners want to cook. A well thought out workflow between the refrigerator, stove/oven, cabinetry, and countertop work area produces an enjoyable cooking experience. The next issue is style. Does the client want a modern or traditional look or an eclectic design that is a unique mix of the two? To help conceptualize the kitchen, we discuss the following design issues:

1. Kitchen aesthetics and functionality
2. Feel/comfort/flow
3. Design enhancing the value and enjoyment of the home
4. Storage at your fingertips

We encourage the customer to trust their visual senses to find a plan that meets their cooking needs and how they want the kitchen to fit into their home’s layout. The Furnished Kitchen asks them to visit showcase displays at appliance stores and go to Houzz and Pinterest to find pictures of kitchens they like. We encourage the client to collect their ideas in a scrapbook.

Budget Stage

Material selection accounts for 45 to 70 percent of the budget. The difficulty comes in making value judgments when pricing items like appliances, cabinetry, flooring, and countertops. Manufactures do the same with their entry, mid-range, and premium product lines by making material choices to achieve a particular price point. The options can be overwhelming. It is like going to a golf store to buy a putter. The golfer walks into the store, and there is a wall of a hundred putters. Where do you start?

The Furnished Kitchen’s value proposition comes into play here. We are an experienced kitchen remodeling contractor with many happy customers. We continuously educate ourselves about pricing, value, and quality of each component of a kitchen so we can make pertinent product recommendations. We provide a supplier list (Mitch’s list) to the owners and ask them to visit showrooms to select the appliances, cabinetry, flooring, and hard surfaces they want for their new kitchen. The Furnished Kitchen has cultivated great sources for our clients that offer value, wide choice, and great pricing. The client can also expect to be treated well by these vendors. We start with the large ticket items listed below:

1. Appliances – We educate the customer on brands, rough pricing, and the benefits of one brand over the other.
2. Cabinets – We educate them on the different types of cabinetry and describe cost differences.
3. Flooring – We educate them about flooring options. In the case of hardwood floors, we discuss the correct way to finish the wood to maximize its durability and beauty.
4. Hard Surfaces – The countertop choices are wide-ranging from natural to manufactured materials. We explain each option and how to gain the best value.

By using The Furnished Kitchen budget process, the owners see where their money is going. They add each kitchen component to the budget, then adjust the numbers to what they can afford. By using Mitch’s List, they obtain any available builder’s discounts when they purchase the materials directly from each vendor. Assuming the owners follow The Furnished Kitchen’s budgetary process and take our large item and material recommendations, we are proud that the budget at the beginning of the project remains the same at its conclusion. At this point, there is no obligation to use our sources or to hire The Furnished Kitchen for their remodeling job.

An important consideration in deciding what to buy for a kitchen remodeling project is how long the client will be in the house. Longevity helps define what value the customer strives to achieve and the total cost of ownership of the kitchen. If the customer plans to stay in their home for over ten years, there is enough time to recoup a high-end kitchen investment. If their stay is less then three years, the materials selected for the kitchen should reflect a shorter time to recover their investment. After all the large items are selected, The Furnished Kitchen produces an initial design that hopefully gets at least an 85 to 90 percent grade. Then, all parties sit down, and we use software to make design modifications on the fly until everyone is satisfied.

Quotation Stage

The Furnished Kitchen uses the information gathered in all the stages described above to produce a budget and design for the kitchen remodel. We add the construction and installation estimates to the client’s efforts to define materials cost. Once the budget and plan are complete, we present the owner with a quotation to construct their kitchen.

The Furnished Kitchen takes great pride in this design and budgetary approach since the customer gets the kitchen they envisioned at a price they can afford. We limit the number of projects we take on to maintain the speed and quality of construction. If hired, we retain our unique consultative approach to kitchen remodeling by focusing on the following:

1. Professional design with excellent flow
2. Line item based budget
3. Outstanding builder/contractor pricing
4. Convenient large item selection and purchase
5. Care and pride in work
6. Customer satisfaction
7. Speedy installations
8. Trust
9. Open and clear communications

The Furnished Kitchen offers the owners a list of ten references before a kitchen project starts. We hope that after all the due diligence conducted by both parties, the owner chooses us to remodel their kitchen. Do not take our word for it, below is a video of one of our customers describing The Furnished Kitchen’s unique design and budget process. For more information on how to choose a contractor, click here to view our white paper titled “How To Choose A Kitchen Remodeling Contractor.”

Looking for a Kitchen Remodeling Contractor?

When you choose a kitchen remodeling contractor, think about how a company hires new employees. They do not pick the first applicant that walks in the door for the job. Instead, they collect applications from many candidates. The applications include samples of their work and a list of references. After examining all the resumes, the company hires the best candidate for the job. 

Homeowners hiring a kitchen remodeling contractor should follow the same process by examining each contractor’s project portfolio, requesting references, and asking for bids from each remodeling company before making a final decision. Hiring the wrong company could be a costly mistake. To avoid big problems down the road, we recommend the following these five steps to finding the best kitchen remodeling contractor for your project:
Step 1: Compile A List of Kitchen Remodeling Contractors 
Step 2: Compare Portfolios
Step 3: Follow-up on References
Step 4: Visit Finished Kitchen Projects
Step 5: Bid Requests and Contractor Selection

Step 1: Compile A List of Kitchen Remodeling Contractors 

It takes homework to find the best kitchen improvement contractor for your project. The first step is to create a list of 5 to 10 local kitchen remodeling contractors. Homeowners should hire locally since the contractor will be familiar with local codes required in Denver and its surrounding suburbs. Successful contractors are proud of their craft. They proudly displayed their work on a professional website and Facebook page. They get good ratings on popular referral networks such as Yelp, Google My Business, and Facebook. 

Below are sources to find contractors:

1. Ask your neighbors for recommendations. They will probably know someone nearby who recently had their kitchen remodeled. Quality kitchen contractors tend to do several jobs in a neighborhood as word spreads about the quality of their work.
2. Search for kitchen contractors in Google or Bing. Take the top five contractors on the search result page. Then use your favorite referral network, such as Google My Business, Yelp, and Facebook, to check each contractor’s online reputation. 
3. Ask for a recommendation on Facebook or NextDoor for a kitchen remodeling contractor. Follow-up on any suggestions, and if they make the grade add them to your list. 

Red Flags
Take any kitchen remodelers off your list if they are shy about their work, do not have a professional website, or do not possess good recommendations. 

Step 2: Check The Contractor’s Kitchen Remodel Portfolio

The easiest way for an established and successful kitchen remodel contractor to show their work is to display their projects on a website. Their gallery should list at least ten completed kitchens. Even better, ask the contractor to take you to an ongoing project. While on-site, be sure to review blueprints, sketches, or other plans to get an idea of how a contractor approaches a project.

Red Flags
New kitchens are expensive and complicated projects. It is not best to be a contractor’s first project. Avoid hiring contractors whose websites list only a few projects. Look closely at the pictures of their sample work. If it is below your standards or you do not see anything you like, take the contractor off your list. 

Step 3: Follow-Up on References

By now, your list is down to a hand full of contenders. It is time to start checking references. Any reputable kitchen remodel contractor will expect you to ask for a list of clients. It is a good sign when asked they immediately email you a list of at least ten references with name, address, telephone number, and date of completion. Once you receive the recommendations, sit down and contact them. Below is a list of questions to ask and be sure to take notes. 

1. How do you like your kitchen?
2. Was the kitchen completed on schedule?
3. Were problems addressed promptly?
4. Was the contractor punctual for appointments?
5. Did work crews show up when promised?
6. Was the project completed within the budget?
7. How has the work held up?
8. Why would you recommend the contractor to a friend or family member? 
9. Is it ok for me to drop by and see your kitchen?

If a reference is positive and forthcoming about their experience, keep the contractor on your list. If their experience was poor, the homeowner might be reluctant to answer your questions directly since they do not want to be unkind. Eliminate any contractors that get bad or ambivalent reviews. 

Red Flags
The most apparent flag is if a contractor is unwilling to supply references. The next red flag would be too few references or significant time gaps between projects. Ask questions. The contractor’s openness and willingness to give you more information is a good sign.

Step 4: Visit Finished Kitchen Projects

After the reference review, you are probably down to two to three contractors. Now it is time to see their work. Choose kitchens that are similar in design and scope to your project and completed within the last 18-24 months. During the visit, check if the work has held up and ask the homeowners if their kitchen needed servicing or repairs. 

Red Flags
Here are a few red flags to look for:

1. Shoddy work
2. Use of substandard materials
3. Poor flow between the stove, refrigerator, cabinetry, and sink
4. Inferior lighting
5. Inadequate storage or counter space
6. Crooked tile work
7. Tile or grout cracking
8. Sloppy grout or caulking along edges
9. Unlevel countertops with rough transitions between surfaces
10. Cabinetry installation not straight or true
11. Flooring issues

Step 5: Bid Requests and Contractor Selection  

Ask for bids from the top contractors on your list. Each contractor will present you with a detailed proposal and an estimated cost to complete the project. Take particular attention to the following: 

1. Does the flow between the stove, refrigerator, cabinetry, and sink match your cooking needs? 
2. Does the proposal include a timeline for the project and an estimated completion date?
3. Is there a detail list of materials, appliances, and labor costs needed to complete the project?
4. Does the proposal include a total cost to complete the kitchen project?

You will select your contractor from these bids. Do not necessarily pick the lowest bid. Remember that you will be living with this kitchen for some time. It is best to select the proposal that best fits your family’s needs and budget.Once selected, the kitchen contractor will draft a contract that finalizes the timeline, materials, appliances, and labor needed to complete the kitchen. After the contract is signed, the homeowner will write a deposit check and agree to a payment schedule. Your project will start on a mutually agreed date. 

Red Flags
Quality contractors who stand by their work know this is a significant investment, and they will give the homeowner time to review their proposal. Reject any kitchen contractor that tries to apply pressure or say their prices are accurate for a limited period.

Congratulations, you just started a journey to build your dream kitchen. If you would like to leave a comment on this white paper, click here to access our Facebook page.