| Kitchen remodeling is a high stakes enterprise. It's one of the most expensive, intensive remodeling projects you can undertake in any house. A kitchen renovation involves important design decisions about cabinets, countertops, lighting, appliances, layout, and finish treatments. Excellent craftsmanship is also a critical ingredient. This is why it's important to learn from experts who know kitchen remodeling from start to finish.
Written by the pros who actually do the work, these article will help you to:
- Install cabinets.
- Assemble kitchen cabinets from factory-made components.
- Design and build cabinets on site.
- Make plastic-laminate countertops.
- Make solid-surface countertops.
- Install tile on a kitchen countertop.
- Select and install proper ventilation.
- Make minor improvements that have a major impact.
From the Introduction
The most important fixture in my mom's kitchen was never the stove, or the refrigerator, or even the sink. It was a stool. Early in my life it was a metal stool, yellow and chrome, with fold-out steps. Then later it was a wooden stool that I screwed together out of two-by-fours with a big maple cutting board for a seat. That stool was where my mother sat to drink her instant coffee, smoke her cigarettes, and write her grocery lists. It's where guests perched to acclimate themselves to our home. And it's where I sat after dinner to avoid doing my homework.
If my mother were remodeling her kitchen today, I know she would start with the stool. But kitchens are highly personal spaces, and other people would start with the restaurant range they've always wanted or the farmhouse sink. Eventually, though, everybody gets around to the functional heart of the kitchen: cabinets and countertops. Whatever else a kitchen might be - sanctuary, gathering place, status symbol - it is first and foremost a culinary workshop where food is stored and prepared. Try doing that without cabinets and counters.
In this book, which is a collection of articles originally published in Fine Homebuilding magazine, you'll find practical advice about building, choosing, and installing the essential elements of a kitchen. Well, most of them anyway; there's nothing here about stools.
-Kevin Ireton,
Editor-in-Chief, Fine Homebuilding Magazine
Table of Contents
Introduction—Part 1: Cabinets Kitchen Cabinets from Components, Hybrid Cabinet Construction, Installing Kitchen Cabinets, Building Kitchen Cabinets on Site, Faux Fridge Front, Installing Kitchen Cabinets, Simple Frameless Cabinets Built on Site; Part 2: Countertops Making a Solid-Surface Countertop, Making Concrete Countertops, Making Plastic-Laminate Countertops, Counter Act, Tiling a Kitchen Counter, Tiling over a Laminate Counter; Part 3: Planning a Kitchen Remodel An Inside Look at Kitchen Cabinets, Choosing Kitchen Countertops, Ten Ways to Improve Your Kitchen, Getting Appliances to Fit; Credits; Index. |
