Irwin's Kitchen Remodeling: Our Cabinets Are Coming!

 

Irwin Weiner ASID - I want to tell you that Jay and I are very excited with our kitchen remodeling project in our Bucks County farmhouse! We've been taking videos which we'll edit and post in the coming weeks, but at this point we've cleared out the kitchen and laundry room/back entrance area altogether and turned our dining room into a large storage area. We had our last breakfast in the old kitchen on Boxing Day (December 26). Shortly afterwards, our contractor Charles and his son made short work of the demolition phase with all old countertops going out to the dumpster. The cabinets will be reused and recycled.

As I write this, I'm driving to Bucks to receive the kitchen cabinet delivery from IKEA, many boxes that we'll store in our emptied-out garage until the installation around early February. The IKEA experience we had last month was fascinating, I must say! We hit the last day of a 20% off kitchen sale, and we stocked up. We selected the off-white Ädel cabinets because of their clean lines and overall simplicity (see photos above and below). IKEA kitchen departments are efficient assembly lines like in a car wash - you follow the numbered stations and make your selections.

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Irwin's Kitchen Remodeling: The Work Begins

Irwin Weiner ASID - It's not fair that homeowners have to remodel, refresh, and update their interiors periodically. Wouldn't it be grand, for instance, if your kitchen was always the empitome of cutting-edge kitchens and you'd never have to spend another dime on new appliances, cabinets, backsplashes, countertops, lighting, windows ... well, dream on! Jay and I are going through a complete kitchen and back entryway renovation. We just cleared out the kitchen this weekend - a complete haul of every last item, from utensils to cookware - after meeting with our NJ contractor Charles Lee here in Bucks County. We should be closing on our home refinancing on December 23, with demolition starting shortly thereafter. It should take six weeks to complete, so we'll be sealing off rooms for awhile as the work commences. Tonight we're mourning the passing of our original kitchen, which we've termed a "retro" kitchen. I love diners and Fifties dinette furniture, and we recreated a look for this kitchen. The yellow and red color scheme, venetian blinds, seafoam green Formica countertops, and gray linoleum floor were funky. The old appliances (except for a new dishwasher) were decided drawbacks in bad need of renovation. So we're making way for a new transition, and I'm closely identifying with my patient and perseverent clients whose homes are being constantly upended to make way for the latest design face lift. The following video shows me with Italian food expert and celebrity chef Maria Liberati, in the old days of our retro kitchen. Stay tuned for a weekly "Irwin's Kitchen Remodeling" update, complete with pictures and video. We'll show you our progress, and you can laugh and cry along with us!

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Weekend DIY Project: Wallpaper a Room

Irwin Weiner ASID - We're asked so many do-it-yourself questions, that we thought it would be a good idea to share with readers some of our favorite DIY videos each Friday, in a regular "Weekend DIY Project" feature. To begin the series, let's tackle one of the most popular DIY chores, hanging wallpaper. The first thing to realize is that you need to prep the wall first. I've been involved in some projects where old wall surfaces glaringly show every hole, blemish, and rough spot through beautiful wallpaper. So prep first. If you need to remove old wallpaper (not covered in the following video), look into that, then use this video to guide you through wall prep, measuring your rolls, matching patterns, applying paste, hanging the paper, and so on. 

As we say on Design2Share, "knock yourself out!" and good luck. And if your weekend projects are too much for you and your family to handle gracefully, by all means throw in the towel and call a professional to give you expert help. That's what we're here for.

RECOMMENDED RESOURCES:

Go to This Old House for How to Hang Wallpaper step-by-step advice.

Go to Ferm Living (from the folks who brought us this great DIY video), and check out their home goods ... and their bold Wallpaper collection.

And check out the huge assortment of imaginative designer wallpaper at The Wallpaper Collective.

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Summer Project: Do-It-Yourself Deck

Irwin Weiner ASID - Regular readers of Design2Share know that I am NOT a DIY kind of guy. I believe in hiring professionals to do what they're trained to do. But if you'd like to build your own outdoor deck or patio this summer, then knock yourself out! Go ahead, but as you'll see in this time-lapse photo video (with still pictures taken every 30 second during key parts of this homeowner's deck-building process), you're in for more than you bargained for. With that said, many people are much handier than me when it comes to the patience, time, and skill required to do it yourself in the deck department. Here are a few good resources to help you in your deck-building mission.

• DIY Network: Building a Deck

• The Essential Steps in Deck Design & Construction

• A Deck Building Blog

• And when your deck is built, watch our How Should I Decorate My Outdoor Spaces video!

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