META 2008 Award Winner Residential Kitchen Under $30,000

META 2008 Award Winner – Residential Kitchen Under $30,000

Award Entry Description:
The customers wanted to update and enhance their dysfunctional kitchen on a tight budget (because they had two daughters in college). They had a large kitchen area but wanted to remove an existing 91” wide closet-like structure adjacent to their sink and integrate that area more effectively into the kitchen design with increased storage. Their existing cabinets had been previously refaced and had obvious wear and fitted poorly. But keeping them was necessary to maintain budget targets.

The customer wanted to replace their refrigerator, range, install a hood over the range in place of the ceiling mounted vent, and update the lighting.

Cabinet modifications were needed to mount the new hood at the appropriate height and to ‘fill in’ space on both sides of the range. The existing opening for the range was 42” wide and they had a 40” range to install. The wall cabinet right of the sink was modified to create a microwave shelf and a trash- drawer pullout was installed in the base below it.

New cabinets were needed which matched the reface material, from two different suppliers. Factory finished natural maple Shaker door style was chosen to maximize the color and style match from the two vendors. The new 24” deep cabinets consisted of a broom closet, a ‘pantry’ cabinet with 4 rollout shelves, and a cabinet over the refrigerator, plus a 3⁄4” panel for support and refrigerator enclosure.

The “closet” walls were removed, the electrical was updated for the refrigerator, microwave and lighting were updated and the ceiling and walls were repaired. Then the new cabinet were installed between the existing cabinets and the wall.

At the same time, the existing cabinets were modified and refaced with the natural maple veneer and doors. The ceiling lighting was updated with recessed 26 watt compact fluorescent lights positioned near the countertops and new storage cabinets.

The result is a seamless appearance of a custom kitchen with increased functionality and storage. The customer saved enough on this phase of the project that they subsequently installed prefabricated granite countertops.