Building a stick frame house in the woods in 90 days

[s219]

Good catch Stu!

Yes, we purchased all the applicanes on Black Friday at Sears. It averaged out to about 50% off!

Heh, that's funny -- we did the same thing on Veteran's day last November. I now have a dishwasher, microwave, and washer/dryer sitting in boxes in the dining room of our current house. Good conversation starter when we have visitors -- looks like a warehouse in there.

 

[Gudor]

Not sure how I missed that...my post should have read: Consider recessing the fridge so it is counter-top-depth Funny, I think that may have been talked about already too.

 

[mjncad]

I don't know about others...but I love counter-top-depth refrigerators. They have their cons - more $$ (at least they used to be), less space (inside fridge), and less models to choose from...but I love how it keeps the fridge from 'intruding' into the kitchen space. Plus, it looks like you will have a walk-way in front of your fridge, and the doors don't come out as far as a traditional model, which would be nice in front of a walk-way. OR, you could achieve the same look by recessing a standard fridge into the wall behind it (kind of like some medicine cabinets in bathrooms). It can look perfect, especially if you box/frame in the fridge.

Lighting (both under cabinet and over cabinet) is AWESOME...very functional (at least under, especially with dark counter tops...great for young and old eyes alike), very nice for indirect lighting, they make great night-lights (your mom gets up for that late night glass of milk), consume next to nothing (LED strips), and are CHEAP if installed before the kitchen walls/cabinets are finished. An earlier post referred to this type of lighting for the stairways I believe. It is the same thing...as he said, make sure you get the right color (warm-white unless you want that hospital feel ).

Gudor

We have a counter-depth French door fridge and like it very much for the more integrated look and it doesn't intrude into the kitchen. Since it's only my wife and I who live here, the reduced space isn't that much of an issue. I also like that we don't have to reach as far to get something from the back of the fridge. I have no idea how tall your Mom is Pete; but we all shrink as we age and having a counter-depth fridge might be a good idea for your Mom. When my Mom's fridge gave out, we got her the same model that my wife and I have, and I know my Mom liked the shorter reach to the back. Mom was 5'-2" in her prime and was maybe 5'-0" when she died. My Mom had a small kitchen with eating space, so not having the fridge intrude into the limited floor space was a good thing.

I also agree with under cabinet lighting being a must. When we remodeled my Mom's kitchen around 2000, she didn't want it; but I told her she's getting it whether she wants it not. Mom hated cooking; but later on she told me glad she was to have the under cabinet lighting.

I also like that you're going with a light colored cabinet as that will make the kitchen feel bigger. We tend to gravitate towards more contemporary styling, so we have white thermofoil cabinets. Never again as my dear wife tends to be clumsy and they show every little stain. Fortunately they haven't yellowed with age. If and when we remodel, I hope we can find something on the lighter side that doesn't look overly traditional; but we can go darker as we have a large kitchen.

 

[Bigkrank]

When I built my last house, there was a hall with a linen closet behind where the fridge was in the kitchen. I sunk the wall behind the fridge into the closet. I can actually push my fridge back behind the counter to clean.

Lots cheaper than buying a more expensive counter depth fridge that holds less.

 

[pacerron]

When I built my last house, there was a hall with a linen closet behind where the fridge was in the kitchen. I sunk the wall behind the fridge into the closet. I can actually push my fridge back behind the counter to clean.

Lots cheaper than buying a more expensive counter depth fridge that holds less.

That might be a good idea since this plan has a linen closet in the mudroom right behind the frig. The slop sink appears to be in
some little base cabinet that could have the depth modified or a different dimension sink.

A standard depth frig needs about 28" of depth plus a couple inches for the plug, water line, and breathing. A standard counter top is about 25" deep from the wall so you have about a 5" protusion of the frig into the room beyond the counter top.

The problem here is Pete's frig is no small puppy and the slop sink would probably have to be eliminated to get enough depth.
Plus the cabinet that is in construction for over the frig would have to be modified in depth.View attachment 307931

 

[pacerron]

I said above that the cabinet over the frig was in construction, but hopefully not yet.
Most custom cabinet builders want the walls skinned, seams filled and sanded before making final measurements.

 

[Bigkrank]

I said above that the cabinet over the frig was in construction, but hopefully not yet.
Most custom cabinet builders want the walls skinned, seams filled and sanded before making final measurements.

My cabinet is standard but is mounted away from the wall so as not to be hard to reach. The wall behind the fridge is sunk in 7 inches or so just in the fridge area, not the whole height.

 

[murphy1244]

Why do people get these refrigerators that can sleep 6 in? I use a smaller side by side with a small chest freezer elsewhere.

 

[Dr Dave]

My cabinet is standard but is mounted away from the wall so as not to be hard to reach. The wall behind the fridge is sunk in 7 inches or so just in the fridge area, not the whole height.

View attachment 307944

I like your upper cabinet details at the top, Its nice to see something unique! Good idea for the fridge also.

Dave

 

[s219]

At least when we bought our counter-depth fridge, it was taller than normal so it had the same volume as the regular fridges we were looking at. I like that aspect of it, since I am a tall person and I can have stuff at eye level. Probably won't be as good for older/shorter folks.