Do It Yourself Kitchen Remodeling!

Apart from possibly the bathroom, kitchens get more traffic from more individuals in most homes than any other room. And, unlike bathrooms, they're one of the most visible. Make your kitchen functional and beautiful on a budget with these simple ideas.

For decades, despite their rectangular floor plan, kitchen design planning was based on the idea of a triangle. One person, usually a woman, performed most of the kitchen tasks. Designs centered on making work areas efficient for that one person.

Social and technology changes make that idea obsolete. Now, think round. Even when the floor plan is that same old boring rectangle, you can spruce it up by rounding the edges of countertops or adding an island.

Installing an oval island allows more than one person to work while providing multiple areas on the same space. And, despite what may appear a smaller workspace, the usable area can easily be larger. Corner areas don't make for good workspaces since you can't comfortably approach them. An oval allows working around the entire perimeter.

Open up the look of cabinetry and show off your crystal glasses by removing the doors on one or more side-by-side(s), or replace the doors with windowed versions.

Reveal your personal style by selecting from the hundreds of different knobs, handles and fixtures available today. If your remodeling is along the retro lines, select bright colors - yellows or reds - or bright ceramic or painted wood. If your look is more elegant sophistication, go for dark woods and bronze or black and chrome.

Once you've selected the kind of countertops and handles that fit with your overall look, match the flooring and paint - not the reverse. Walls and floors should be background surfaces, highlighted by the appliances and knobs.

With modern life moving at a pace that seems always to increase, kitchens need to be practical as well as beautiful.

Countertops, built-in appliances and cabinetry should be easy to clean. Fortunately, today that doesn't mean being limited to linoleum and plastic. Even stone surfaces now come in composites that make cleaning fast and effective.

If you're doing a major remodeling avoid nooks and crannies that will be hard to inspect and reach. Food and liquids, not only dust and grime, have an amazing ability to reach places you would have to in order to remove them.

Make it easy on yourself by eliminating that small strip behind the kitchen faucet or move the microwave to a place it's easy to lift up a couple of inches.

Beware electrical and gas connections when you redo the dishwasher area or replace the stove. And keep the entire area sealed with plastic draped from the ceiling when re-doing wooden cabinetry or plaster walls that produce dust and sawdust.

Plan for lots of storage by adding shelves to little used upper areas and placing a handy collapsible step-stool nearby that minimizes space used.

Be sure to allocate a sufficient percentage of the budget for quality sink, faucet and dishwasher components. One behind-the-wall leak can prompt repairs costing hundreds, increase insect invasion and leave you without a sink for weeks.

Create a personal and functional space and remember that all the effort and expense will payoff quicker than any other home remodeling job. Done right, you'll actually want to spend more time in the kitchen.

Installing Kitchen Cabinets

One thing professionals know that most others don't is what tool makes the job easier. With kitchen cabinets there are more choices than you'd suspect. Key to installing cabinets that are level and secure, with low hassle, is to use a support system of some kind.

Assuming you don't have two or three people who are willing to stand and hold the cabinet in place for an hour or more, you'll want a support or jack. The people take up more room anyway and would just get in the way.

Everything from a standard car jack to specially designed jacks have been used. A simple wooden T-shaped brace will do for some jobs. The tool is nothing more than a horizontal member firmly attached to a vertical one. The cabinet is placed on top and the support wedged firmly underneath.

However, they can be subject to slipping, especially on slick floors. Also, unless you use several, the cabinet may wobble or tumble off. But they're inexpensive to make, tall and useful if the base cabinets have not yet been installed.

If base cabinets are already in place, take advantage of them and use a couple of short jacks with wide resting areas to support the cabinet while you work. Even tall, metal stain buckets topped by a thick phone book can serve, if you can make the system stable enough. With that problem solved, you'll next need to find studs (2 x 4 support beams) to screw the cabinets into. Never install cabinets into drywall or wood panels alone. Most homes are constructed with studs 16 inches apart. Use an inexpensive, commercial stud finder to locate the first one. Measure 16 inches down the wall and search for the other stud. Try to find the center of each stud for maximum benefit.

Mark the stud locations along a line on the wall with a pencil. For easier installation, it might be worthwhile to pre-drill support screw holes. Be sure to use a drill bit smaller than the diameter of the screw.

Pre-drill any holes needed in the bottom of cabinets before lifting into place. Those holes may be needed for wiring, under-cabinet lighting fixtures, microwave ovens, paper-towel racks, etc.

Make all the necessary measurements on both the wall and the cabinet and hoist the cabinet into place. Set it securely on the supports. You'll want at least 18 inches of clearance from the countertop.

Using 3 inch support screws fasten the cabinet onto the studs, through the trim or corners - not through the thin back wall, if you can avoid it. Depending on the size, type and location of the cabinet and studs that may not be possible.

For extra support, take a 1 inch thick x 2 inch tall strip of wood at least a few inches wide and place under the bottom at a stud position. Screw into place.

In theory, you could place the bottom strips first then set the cabinet on top, making support easier. The difficulty is, cabinet placement almost always requires fine adjustment after they're hoisted. Once you screw in the supports you're locked into position.

Install any needed door handle hardware last.

Congratulations! You just did it yourself.

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