It has been exactly 2 years since we completely gutted and redid our kitchen. My DH and I identified what we wanted in a kitchen that we had complete control over remaking. The things we wanted were better lighting, better kitchen flow, and finally more storage space. The one thing that I would recommend is not to go cheap on the cabinets. Our walls are 8 feet high and we were able to remove the soffits to accommodate 39-inch upper cabinets.
Before the demolition begins, you must isolate the kitchen from the rest of the house because there will be lots of dust all during your project - iow, close off the other rooms from your kitchen - plastic draping,cover furniture, protect rugs and hardwood floors, etc. If you are holding onto your appliances make sure you know where you will place them (as near to the kitchen as possible).
Day#1 - demolition of the kitchen (if you can do it it will save you some money, but trust me it is better for someone else to do it and haul it away.) Cabinets, soffits, countertops, backsplash.
Week 1 : old tile floor removed by flooring contractor, subfloor checked and underlayment put it and they began to tile. (We went with 18" tiles set on a diagonal) We tiled the entire floor rather than just up to the cabinets. I think it looks a great deal better this way and really did not add that much to the total cost of the floor. It took 2 days to tile and 1 day to grout. Lots and lots of dust with the removal of the old tile.
Week 2/3: Electrical work - new outlets and we installed recessed led ceiling lights which we put on a dimmer switch, electrical for microwave, under cabinet lighting, and peninsula outlet. At the end of the week , the upper cabinets were put in and the following week the bottom cabinets. Crown molding all around the upper cabinets, some other decorative trim, and we installed under cabinet molding on the upper cabinets with undercabinet led lighting.
Week 4: under cabinet mount sink installed and then granite countertop (countertop sealed the same day) Last thing installed was the backsplash, The final touches were a new fridge, microwave.
The following week, the installer came in to replace a cabinet door that was warped and installed
We set up a temp kitchen in the basement using a toaster oven and microwave. Our kept our old fridge in the garage during the remodel and donated it afterwards. We were also able to grill outside and ate a lot of pizza and sandwiches. We have a sink in our mudroom and used that to wash utensils and plates, though I heavily used disposables.
Our old kitchen had an island which we got rid of and created a peninsula instead. We were able to install wider cabinets and have a peninsula that is longer than the island we had and we no longer walk into one another in the kitchen. We did not move any plumbing, keeping our sink and dishwasher in the same place. We did redesign a corner so that we could install a counter depth french door fridge which we love. Microwave with vent/and lighting over the range.
I have to say that I love my kitchen more than any other room in the house and am happy that we did it. I absolutely love the undercabinet lights and use this more than the led ceiling lights. I have 3 corner cabinets with lazy susans, adjustable lower cabinet pull outs, and a pantry with lower pull out drawers. I have a vent kickplate under the pantry. Also put in a narrow lower cabinet for storage of baking pans, pizza pans, large cutting boards.
