NPR article: Designer Kitchens and Why We Think We Need Them

[kathyd]

I haven't really looked at the quartz, but agree with you on the granite. I don't especially like the look of it. I won't need much countertop when I redo my kitchen, but I will be looking at the quartz and some formica also.

[nezwick]

We are going to be looking into soapstone when the time comes to replace our current 80's or 90's countertops. Yeah, it's not "period appropriate" for our mid-century kitchen, but we really like how it looks.

[selvatico]

I admit, I drool over books like Bungalow Kitchens from Jane Powell like they were porn... someday I'll have a perfect 1920's kitchen too.

Screw granite and Wolf Stoves... give me hexagon tile and a 1920's Hotpoint... too bad what I want is just as expensive as a "trendy" kitchen though...

[mross_pitt]

admit, I drool over books like Bungalow Kitchens from Jane Powell like they were porn... someday I'll have a perfect 1920's kitchen too.

Screw granite and Wolf Stoves... give me hexagon tile and a 1920's Hotpoint... too bad what I want is just as expensive as a "trendy" kitchen though...

Why do you think that? Sure, there are dealers selling "restored" old appliances for thousands of dollars but you can find them in great condition in lots of places if you look around. Hexagon tile is plentiful and usually budget friendly as well.


I'm also not sure how granite isn't durable enough versus quartz earlier in this thread? There's a lot of marketing competition that influences the buyers. Like most things online, you'll find people and companies exaggerating the greatness of their product and the poor quality of the competition. There is a difference in quality for kitchen use between stones based on where they come from, the color, etc. Both stones can chip and crack fairly easily if something heavy is dropped on them, but for everyday use, both should be equally low maintenance.

[eclecticcottage]

admit, I drool over books like Bungalow Kitchens from Jane Powell like they were porn... someday I'll have a perfect 1920's kitchen too.

Screw granite and Wolf Stoves... give me hexagon tile and a 1920's Hotpoint... too bad what I want is just as expensive as a "trendy" kitchen though...

Why do you think that? Sure, there are dealers selling "restored" old appliances for thousands of dollars but you can find them in great condition in lots of places if you look around. Hexagon tile is plentiful and usually budget friendly as well.

I agree on the appliances, both of ours came from craigslist. We paid $60 for a 30" 1950's gas stove. It's pretty plain, low end of the line type though. I WAS going to spend about $200 for a Tappan Doughboy range with the light-up knob rings in perfect working order (it also had the chrome lined oven and the drawers on the side). Man what a stove! But it was too big for our spot. I also looked at a 1920's Marlboro that was supposed to be in working order for $300. Again, like the Tappan, it was too big. I picked up my Norge fridge for $100, it works fine. There is a little "crackling" of the paint near the fridge handle, a few dents and dings and it needs new seals, but otherwise it's in good shape.

Tappan Doughboy:

[csnyder]

I'm also not sure how granite isn't durable enough versus quartz earlier in this thread? There's a lot of marketing competition that influences the buyers. Like most things online, you'll find people and companies exaggerating the greatness of their product and the poor quality of the competition. There is a difference in quality for kitchen use between stones based on where they come from, the color, etc. Both stones can chip and crack fairly easily if something heavy is dropped on them, but for everyday use, both should be equally low maintenance.

Durability-wise, I think that quartz and granite are fairly close (i.e. very durable). The difference is maintenance. Granite requires occasional sealing, which quartz does not. The showroom we visited deals with just about every countertop surface, so they weren't trying to steer us towards quartz.

[mross_pitt]

A lot of granites don't need sealers. Some won't even absorb a sealer. There are ways to test to see if your granite needs sealed. For those that need sealed, it's about two minutes of work once or twice a year. It's the same as waxing a car. Wipe or spray it on...wipe it off..and done. Unless your kitchen is one of the $125,000 versions, most people probably don't have enough granite for it to be a maintenance decision versus another stone. I've just used a product called "Gel Gloss" which is available at Home Depot. It's not even marketed as a granite sealer, but a cleaner and sealer for marble. It also works great on claw foot tubs, anything stainless, chrome, porcelain... basically everything in the kitchen and bathroom. I do think there are a lot of specialty sealers that require way more work than necessary without doing anything better.

As far as overpriced remodels, I remember recently on one of the HGTV shows where they used marble tiles that were hundred of dollars per square foot. They were supposedly rare and the whitest of the white marbles. Basically, it looked exactly as if they had just used a plain white ceramic.

[eclecticcottage]

I too had heard granite needed sealers. I'm more weirded out by the radon thing with it though. Well, and I don't really care for how it looks anyway.

[RosemaryT]

Oh, definitely agree...I can't imagine where some of that money goes...some put more money in their kitchen than we will in our entire house.

How do they spend $80,000+ on a kitchen? Are the counter tops made of pressed/fused $100 bills?

My thoughts exactly. What do these people do for a living that they can spend so much money on a kitchen? They spend more money on their kitchen than I paid for my house in 1979. I made decent money as a teacher and have a comfortable retirement, but even if I was a little better off I wouldn't be spending that kind of money.

And then they also spend thousands on bathroom remodels![/quote]

I've wondered about this, too.

I knew a guy who did spend $75,000 on his kitchen remodel, and this was in 2004. I was shocked then and I am still shocked.

It's an obscene amount off money. Just obscene.

You wonder, are they really that rich, or is their credit just *that* good?

[nezwick]

In 2008-ish, my parents spent about $13,000 on their kitchen remodel. It was a complete gut job and that price included everything from design consultation to demolition to finish (except the flooring which was already in place). The cabinets and trim are solid white oak, done by a great local craftsman, counters are a mid- to high-end composite, tile backsplash, nice plumbing and lighting fixtures, new sink and dishwasher, etc. It is a VERY nice kitchen, and I still have a hard time wrapping my head around a kitchen remodel costing any more than that. But they don't have stainless steel or granite, so it must actually be a terrible kitchen.

They also had a downstairs bathroom added in 2003, but it was part of a larger project so I'm not sure what the cost of that was. That whole addition has mostly builder-grade finishes so it probably didn't cost more than a couple thousand overall.