Kitchens

Q&A: When remodeling a kitchen, who ya gonna call?

<p><a href=”http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/.shared/image.html?/photos/uncategorized/2007/07/23/butlerkitchen.jpg” onclick=”window.open(this.href, ‘_blank’, ‘width=717,height=562,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0′); return false”><img alt=”Butlerkitchen” title=”Butlerkitchen” src=”http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/pardonourdust/images/2007/07/23/butlerkitchen.jpg” width=”350″ height=”274″ border=”0″ style=”float: right; margin: 5px 5px 5px 5px;” /></a><strong>Question</strong>: Help! We plan on remodeling our kitchen and opening it up to the family room, which will require removing a wall. My question is where do I start? Do I contact the architect, the…

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Green alternatives for countertops

Green alternatives for countertops

Astute eco-reader David sends in this helpful missive: “We just found a great posting on green alternatives for countertops. The list includes Richlite (used in a new green house in Claremont, pictured at left) and others. It also talks about why other materials are not so eco-friendly.” The list is at Get With Green, which…

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Street tree coming down? It could be your new breakfast bar

Street tree coming down? It could be your new breakfast bar

What do you think happens to the trees that come down in our neighborhoods? Last year, I had three pines taken down because of the aggressive topping by the electric company under whose power lines the trees were growing. I was left with several piles of logs, which I finally persuaded a firewood seller to…

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A tiny Westwood kitchen in a New York state of mind

A tiny Westwood kitchen in a New York state of mind

Can a kitchen be really tiny and really cool? Like it’s so cool I feel envy? Designer Enid Harris accomplished that very thing when she remodeled the kitchen in her Westwood townhouse. And here’s her story: (But first, a word from me. Do you want to show off your remodel on this blog? Study what…

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How I helped my parents remodel their Eagle Rock kitchen — Part 4

How I helped my parents remodel their Eagle Rock kitchen — Part 4

New to my story? Read Part 1 • • Read Part 2 • • Read Part 3 Sean here for the final post. Here is the finished kitchen, minus the backsplash, which I’m sure will add a lot of color and interest. As with most projects, it’s the last details that tend to get put…

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How I helped my parents remodel their Eagle Rock kitchen — Part 3

How I helped my parents remodel their Eagle Rock kitchen — Part 3

New to my story? Read Part 1 here Read Part 2 here Sean here. The kitchen remodel I’ve been helping my parents with is done. Well, sort of. The backsplash tile is not installed, and it will be some time before we do that. Ironically, while I have been pushing my parents toward more-dynamic, less-bland…

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How much does a kitchen remodel cost?

How much does a kitchen remodel cost?

I’d like to respond to the question above — which I’ve been asked a lot over the years — with a question of my own: How much does a car cost? I just bought a car so I just happen to know: Cars cost $19,958.01. Oh, wait. That’s the cost of my 2007 VW Rabbit…

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How I helped my parents remodel their Eagle Rock kitchen — Part 2

How I helped my parents remodel their Eagle Rock kitchen — Part 2

New to my story? Read Part 1 first. Sean here. We are almost done with my parents’ three-month kitchen remodel. That’s a long time for people to be without a kitchen. It’s been hard on my mom. What made it more challenging is that we (mostly me) decided to put new flooring in the kitchen,…

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How not to paint your kitchen cabinet doors

How not to paint your kitchen cabinet doors

There’s a cute and savvy seven-point tutorial over at the Becoming Home blog on how not to paint your kitchen cabinet doors. Here’s tip No. 2 from the author: Don’t Use Pure White Paint: You probably know this already, but no one (except me apparently) paints anything pure white — and with good reason. There…

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Two siblings, two identical kitchens, two totally different approaches

Two siblings, two identical kitchens, two totally different approaches

When Kathleen Schaaf and her younger brother Kevin bought a 1923 duplex together, their outdated kitchens — one downstairs, the other directly above it — were identical in one respect: “It was time to gut both of them,” Kevin Schaaf said. There the similarities ended. Kevin, a flight attendant, moved into the lower unit of…

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