“How come it costs that much?” That must be one of the questions that I hear the most often when I submit price quotations for kitchen cabinetry to homeowners. Although it is true that cabinetry can be designed to be low-budget, middle-range, or high-end, there are so many factors involved that can easily push an intended low-budget project into a higher price range.

The place to start when designing kitchen cabinets for a specific budget is doors. There are more door options available than most people realize, and each option will affect your over-all budget. From least expensive to costliest, door styles are available as follows:

1)Melamine. These are flush doors (no panels or profile details), and are available in a wide range of colours and patterns, from solid colours to imitation wood, and countless others. The newer “thermo-fused melamine” doors have a very thin layer of melamine paper applied to a substrate panel-style door. They are inexpensive and not very durable. These should not be used near sources of water or heat, or where frequent washing will be required.

2)Wood veneer. These are flush doors made with a thin layer of wood over a substrate material. Birch, maple, oak, and ash are all in the same price range, while any exotic or more rare woods (mahogany, cherry, walnut…) will increase the cost. These are often found in modern style kitchens.

3)Wood frame with veneered panels. These doors have frames made of solid wood, and recessed flush panels made of a veneered substrate. A common style among this type of door is Shaker. The wood species chosen will affect the price.

4)Plastic laminate. Looks much like melamine doors, but of higher quality, and much more durable. Wider range of patterns and colours available. Laminates have a dark brown core, so depending on the colour of the laminate chosen, you may see dark brown lines at all the joints - at each edge of each door, and so on.

5)Wood frame with wood panels. These have frames and panels made of solid wood. The panel usually has a raised detailing. These are often found in traditional style kitchens. Again, the choice of wood affects the price.

6)Wood or lacquer painted frame with panels of another material. These doors have wood, or lacquer painted, frames and another material used for the panel. The other material can be anything, and it is this other material that will greatly affect the cost. Common panel materials include glass, painted finishes, plastic laminates, metal (perforated, brushed, hammered, etc.), cork, and even wall coverings (such as grass-cloth) applied to a substrate.

7)Thermoplastic. These doors are not manufactured by the average cabinetmaker; they are factory-made. Thermoplastics come in a variety of colours and finishes, but the most common are still the glossy white, and the imitation wood. More durable and more attractive than melamine. About the same price range as wood doors. Some manufacturers are now advertising “thermo-fused melamine” - be careful because the two are not the same at all.

8)Lacquer painted. These doors are usually lacquer painted MDF, but it is the lacquering work that increases the cost because more labour and specialized painting equipment is involved. These are not “painted” cabinets. Lacquer is applied in the form of a spray, over a sprayed-on primer, and no brush marks or other irregularities are visible at all. If you choose a special finish, such as glazing, the cost increases a bit more.

9)Stainless steel. These doors are usually not made by a cabinetmaker’s shop, but are subcontracted out to a metal shop. They are, without a doubt, the most expensive of your door options.

Because the finished sides have to match the doors, your door selection affects the cabinetry itself. So the cabinetry for lacquered cabinets will be costlier than for melamine. The finished side panels to match any wood doors are veneered; solid wood would not be as dimensionally stable (it would warp or bow), and would be astronomically priced. Then you have to consider the interiors of your cabinets. The standard is white melamine on the inside of cabinets, unless something different is requested. The most economical choice, if you do not like the idea of white, is melamine to match the doors. Using a more expensive material inside the cabinets is not advisable: why spend money on wood veneer or lacquer that is more likely to be damaged by pots or dishes being scrubbed against the surfaces? And why put a pricier material that you would then want to protect with shelf-liners, so you would then never see the wood or lacquer anyway?

The countertops are the other major price-affecting selection. The truth is, there are really only two price groups for counters. The plastic laminate counters are the economical choice, and not a bad choice as they are very durable and are now available in some amazing textures and patterns, plus they can be dressed up with wood or solid-surfacing edges. All other counter materials tend to be comparable in cost - granite, solid surfacing (Corian, Silestone, etc…), concrete, and stainless steel. Concrete countertops are quite expensive because of the fact that they are still relatively uncommon, and therefore a specialty-item - you cannot go purchase these just anywhere. Ceramic tiled countertops are the only real mid-priced option. They require a high-quality tile be used, otherwise chips and cracks will be unavoidable. The grout also has to be high quality and safe for food preparation areas, and it must be sealed. Marble, which tends to be a bit less expensive than granite, should not be used in kitchens, as it is porous and prone to staining.

What people find most surprising is that the final touches can become very expensive as well. Handles and knobs range in price from about $2 each all the way up to over $30 each. Kitchens commonly require about 25 handles, so that creates a price difference of $700 right there. A reasonable amount to plan on for handles is $5 to $8 each. The other “budget buster” is the accessories. Built-in spice racks, garbage cans, drawer dividers, pull-outs, and the like tend to be quite costly. Some of these gadgets are incredibly practical though, so try to determine which you would need and which appeal to you mostly because they are just really neat add-ons.

There is one aspect that you should never scrimp on just to save a few dollars, and that is installation. Imperfect installation of even the best-made cabinets will result in doors and drawers that do not close properly, or that look poorly constructed. A good rule-of-thumb is that you should have anything custom-made installed by the specialist that fabricated the item.

Cabinetry for the average sized kitchen can cost anywhere from about $7,000 all the way up to significantly over $30,000. It is often said that a home’s kitchen (including appliances, cabinetry, flooring, lighting, labour, and more) should cost about 15% of the value of the house, so a $250,000 home’s kitchen should cost about $37,500 if you want to go by this method of budgeting. There are a few things to consider with this: the size of the kitchen plays a major role in determining the budget - of course a larger kitchen will be more expensive to redo than a small one; a home built in the 1900’s will likely be costlier to renovate than a home built in the 1970’s; your preferences will affect the budget; and this is a figure that was developed as a guideline to some extent - it is not necessary to follow it. Based on projects handled by Idealspace Design, we have seen that the cabinetry (including countertops, handles, and installation) usually equals about 30% of the total renovation budget of a kitchen. These figures are to help you develop an idea of the budget range you should be expecting, they vary greatly from one project to the next.

Karen S. Weiner is the owner and principal interior designer of Idealspace Design. Established in 1997, Idealspace Design offers a full range of interior design services to home- and business-owners alike. Serving Montreal (QC) and surrounding areas. http://www.idealspacedesign.com

Brendon Sawatzky is the owner of Pointe-Claire Cabinets Inc. and has over 13 years experience in the kitchen and cabinetry industries. Pointe-Claire Cabinets offers custom-made cabinetry for kitchens and washrooms to home-owners in and around Montreal. They also manufacture custom entertainment units. http://www.pointeclairecabinets.com

Discount bathroom vanities can be found in many places, some more unusual than others. You first must decide what discount means to you and how far your budget will stretch.

Buying used from an individual is often the cheapest way to acquire a discount vanity, but the possibilities are endless. Large sellers of bathroom supplies often have popular clearance sales. These sales can be found in the newspaper, over the Internet or in the pages of home improvement magazines. It’s also worth looking for a less expensive bathroom vanity at larger chain stores that sell home improvement items. There is often a wide selection of complete bathroom vanities. Most of these vanity sets include a simple mirror, often attached to the vanity, a sink/top combination and a basic wood veneer finished cabinet, and some will include plumbing supplies as well. Almost all of these kinds of unites require assembly, so if you are not handy, you may want to pay the extra cost to have it done at the store.

It is also possible to piece together discount bathroom vanities separately. With a clear design concept and a realistic budget, anyone can shop successfully for a bathroom vanity mirror, lights, sink, top and cabinet. The least expensive option can often be to purchase used bathroom vanities from demolition companies, or from a company warehouse that specializes in used fixtures for the home and office. Used sinks, mirrors and cabinets are sometimes sold separately.

Just remember when assembling a bathroom vanity yourself that everything has to match. Bringing a picture of those items you have already purchased and their basic measurements is helpful when shopping for additional pieces. If you live near a manufacturer occasionally, you can go to the factory or warehouse and get a deal on discontinued models, seconds or damaged goods, but these opportunities are usually not advertised and will take more effort on the part of the homeowner. Finding the discount bathroom vanity is easy and can be a lot of fun so let your imagination be your guide and explore.

Bathroom Vanities Info provides detailed information on discount and contemporary bathroom vanity cabinets, sinks, tops, mirrors, lights, and more. Bathroom Vanities Info is the sister site of Shower Curtains Web.

It’s a fact that most of us will be spending a third of our lives in our bedrooms. We start the day inside the bedroom, and we will end the day sleeping in our beds. Why not make the most of it and make our bedroom furniture as comfortable and durable as we can.

Shopping for decent bedroom furniture can really become a difficult and expensive task. By knowing what and how to choose for your bedroom, shopping can turn out to be really fun and entertaining.

It is highly advised not to sacrifice quality for affordability. However, that case may be that you cannot sacrifice affordability. Therefore, you must set standards when you’re shopping for your bedroom furniture. Be wise in choosing your furniture; you don?t want to clean out your savings account just for a couple of pieces of bedroom furniture. Be warned that there are plenty of furniture manufacturers out there who will easily convince you to buy a very expensive, but not so durable piece of furniture.

It is important to remember that in choosing bedroom furniture you must take into consideration good craftsmanship. Because of the fact that bedroom furniture will be used more often than any other household furniture, it is only practical to buy furniture with the highest craftsmanship to ensure durability. By doing so, you will be able to save money on repairs or buying a new set.

In looking for bedroom furniture, remember that you can find both good quality furniture and bad quality furniture being sold under the same roof. It is highly advised that you inspect every piece closely to ensure that both good craftsmanship and quality materials are used. Quality materials go hand in hand with good craftsmanship in making lasting furniture.

Remember, you’ll be spending a third of your life using bedroom furniture, so it’s advisable that wherever you decide to buy your bedroom furniture, make sure that it is of the highest quality and craftsmanship.

Managing your own bathroom remodeling project

This is the story of a friend of mine who decided to handle the project management of her bathroom remodel all by herself. She is a teacher and is well organised. She also has more time to be at home than most of us so she was well placed to handle the project, or so she thought…

My friend got herself organised by deciding what she wanted in her new bathroom and drawing detailed plans on squared paper. When she had researched the fixtures, fittings and accessories that she wanted and found the lowest prices available she turned her mind to hiring contractors to do the job.

Remodeling tasks to be managed

My friend was able to identify all the tasks that would have to be done before her new bathroom was complete. Her list included some or all of the items below.

• Ensuring compliance with any legal requirements.
• Remove and dispose of bathroom fixtures.
• Bathroom design and styling.
• Building works including moving walls and widows etc.
• Finishing off interior walls and drying.
• Electrical installation.
• Plumbing installation.
• Fit new bathroom fixtures.
• Tile and seal walls.
• Floor covering.
• Correct any problems.

That’s a long list and she knew that it was going to take a fair number of contractors to do it all. Before she could go looking for people she needed to work out what skills they would need. So she produced a list that looked similar to the one below.

Skills needed for bathroom remodel

• Carpenter
• Builder
• Electrician
• Glazier
• Plasterer
• Plumber
• Floor covering specialist

She could see from this that she would have her work cut out for her just phoning around for a couple of days. She used the phone book and the Internet to look for suitable workers to do the job. Then she visited her local bathroom showrooms and asked the staff if they could recommend anyone. This strategy turned out to be the best way to find good people to do the job as often the staff had personal contact with the contractors. She also obtained a few leads from friends who had recently remodeled their bathrooms.

The project management begins

This is where the fun started. She had to arrange for contractors to turn up at the right time and make sure that the new fixtures and fittings were delivered on time to be available when the appropriate contractors were on site. With so many people involved she found that it was quite difficult to get everyone to fit in with her plan. Her desire to get the work done during the school holidays only made things worse.

Finally she managed to get everyone to agree on a plan, they all knew what they were doing and when they should be doing it. My friend thought that she had done a good job but that was just the start of the problems.

The problems had begun

The Fitters stripped out the old bathroom furniture on time but the delivery of the new fixtures was delayed. The workers turned up on time to fit the new stuff but they had to be sent away and asked to come back when the delivery turned up. This had a knock on effect with the remainder of the project plan for the bathroom remodel and threw my friends carefully laid out plan into disarray.

Project management is much harder than it seems

The delivery delay was just the start of the problems my friend had to solve. The wrong washbasin was delivered and it was too big to fit into the space allowed. The electric shower was faulty and it had to be replaced. The plumbing sprung a leak, which wasn’t noticed until the plumber was well gone.

The problems went on and on and what should have been a 2 week project turned into 3 months and it still wasn’t quite finished even then. My friend was at the end of her tether and swore that she would never ever do anything like that again.

Get someone else to manage your project

If you are just about to start remodeling a bathroom you will be happy to know that you don’t have to do it yourself, no matter how tempting you might think it is. You can hire a project manager to plan, coordinate and solve all the problems for you or you can do what I did and find someone who is capable of doing the entire job by themselves.

You will find a summary of your options in the article Project management - Bathroom Remodel

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For a constructor, a house is a structure of bricks and mortar. But, for people who stay in that house means a home, a place one stays together with the family, a place that reflects the love and strong bond among the family members. Nobody wants to leave his or her house in any circumstances but deteriorating conditions of the house force one to move from one to another. Now, end all your worries and stay in the same home in which you live today by making improvements in your home which can be financed easily with home improvement loan.

Changes are an essential part of life. One needs to match pace with the development going around, make any minor to major changes in your home with home improvement loan. Home improvement loan as the name states is the loan tailored specifically for people who tend to make improvements at home.

The type of improvements that one intends to make may vary from person to person. Home remodeling such as new plumbing, water heater, flooring, heating system, new conservatory, new kitchen and rewiring are found to be the common purpose for which people take this loan.

Home improvement loan is available in two kinds - secured and unsecured to meet the needs of all. Major home improvements can be met easily with a secured home improvement loan as it offers a higher amount of loan and that too for a longer term. Secured home improvement loan accounts for collateral; your house, car or any other asset can work as security against the loan.

On the other hand, home improvements that involve small amount of investment can be easily met with unsecured home improvement loan. It does not have any collateral clause with it but accounts for a higher rate of interest.

When you start searching for the loan, make sure to make a thorough research, which will help you in getting the best deal that fits your budget. It does not matter whether you take the loan from; a bank, financial institution, online lender or through any other source, make sure to analyze each and every offer thoroughly to minimize loss; in case any happen in future.

Home improvements that you undertake not only help in enhancing the beauty of your home but also adds value to your home, which will be fruitful next time you apply for a loan, against your equity value of your home. Make the best out of the home improvement loan and remodel your home as you have always dreamt of.