More appliances: home, home with a range

In the world of kitchen appliances, the second one in importance and price to the refrigerator is the range. Most people refer to them as either a stove or an oven, but in appliance land a stove is something that burns wood and heats a cabin and an oven is the compartment where you bake or roast things. The whole appliance is called a range. Ranges come in two primary styles, a free-standing and a slide-in.

A free-standing range has finished sides and functions independently from the counters and cabinetry to either side of it. The easiest way to identify one is that it always has a riser on the back of it, and the appliance's controls are located on that riser for the most part. Free-standing ranges are the traditional design of an American range, it's what most people grew up with and already own. There are gas and electric versions of every model sold by the major manufacturers and they stick to the free-standing and slide-in general styles.

The primary benefit to them is that they cost less than their more contemporary brethren, the slide-in ranges. The downside to them is that they have a riser on the back of them. If you're renovating a kitchen and you want to feature an interesting mosaic backsplash behind your range, a free-standing range shoots you in the foot because it covers such a large part of that space. The cooktop on a free standing range sits at or just above the counter tops to either side of it and they leave a gap between the appliance and the counter.

So far as I know, all electric models sold in the US these days have a ceramic cooktop. The old "eyeball" burners have all but disappeared. As an aside, those cooktops everyone refers to as glass as a ceramic product called Ceran and Ceran is made by one company in the world. Never let someone try to tell you that brand A has a better quality cooktop than brand B because both brands bought their Ceran from the same place.

The newer alternative to a free-standing range is called a slide-in range. A slide-in appears to be smaller than a free-standing range when you see them side by side. To an extent that is correct. However, the oven compartments in both appliances are the same size, the cooktops hold the same number of burners and with no riser the control knobs get shifted to the face of the appliance. So far as function is concerned, both appliances are the same size.

A slide-in doesn't have finished sides and is designed to "slide in" to a gap in the cabinetry and counters. The height of the appliance keeps the cooktop at the same level as the counters and there is no gap between the cooktop and the counter. This makes for a neater appliance. The counter extends underneath the cooktop itself by around a half an inch on both side and on the back. This means that the appliance is not the full depth of the counter and that counter top material extends behind the cooktop.

As a practical matter, replacing a free-standing range with a slide-in in an existing kitchen set up will require that you get new counters at the same time. Fitting one of these things can be tricky, even in a new kitchen. They have zero tolerances for the variation in counter heights. The old rule of thumb in kitchen design was that the top of a kitchen counter stood 36" above the floor. Back in the day, this was a nominal dimension. All homes have uneven floors and there was always some flexibility regarding that 36" height rule. Not since the dawn of the slide-in though. They HAVE to be at least 36" off the floor or they don't fit. Talk about a heartbreak. Imagine spending $40,000 on a kitchen renovation and on the last day, when the appliances are going in you find out that your $2000 slide-in range doesn't fit and that you can't fix it. Oy, that's the stuff that keeps me awake at night.

Every consumer-grade manufacturer out there that I know of makes four versions of the same range: free-standing electric, slide-in electric, free-standing gas and slide-in gas. Most differences between slide-in and free-standing ranges are aesthetic. Free-standing ranges look better because they appear to be smaller, they don't dominate the back splash area and they are more contemporary.

Just as you have to select a refrigerator, so to you'll have to pick a range. If it's up to me, you'd get a bottom-mount, single-door, 36" refrigerator and now a slide-in range. Next up is dishwashers and microwave ovens. Woo-hoo!

Again, both of the appliances shown above are from KitchenAid http://www.kitchenaid.com/

An introduction to appliances: refrigerators

A lot of times, people call me in the very early stages of planning a kitchen renovation. Most people have an idea, even if it's a vague one, of the way they want their new kitchen to look. For most renovation jobs, the largest expenditure will be for the cabinetry that ends up in their kitchen. The second largest they're going to write is to the place where they buy their appliances.

Kitchen appliances aren't really so daunting and learning about them is pretty easy. Most folks end up with the four primary, basic appliances that go into a kitchen. A refrigerator, a range, a dishwasher and a microwave oven. So for kitchen appliances 101, I'm going to concentrate on those four things. And tonight's going to be a run-through on home refrigeration.

Home refrigerators are sold in three primary sizes. And those sizes are their nominal widths. By that I mean, that they aren't really as wide as their sizes suggest. The manufacturers round up the dimension to the nearest size. The sizes are 30 inches, 33 inches and 36 inches. A 30 is the size that would normally end up in an apartment. They are too small for a family to use and unless your home is tiny, it's best to avoid them. 33s aren't very common, though there are a few manufacturers who still make them. I think that the 33 is an endangered species frankly, and they won't be around for much longer.

The 36 is the size where you'll find the largest selection of models and the widest assortment of features. Even if you don't buy a 36 at the time of your renovation, leave room for one and float a smaller-sized fridge in the space for a 36. That will allow you to upgrade later without destroying your cabinetry.

The side-by-side model is probably the most popular one sold in the US. Most of them come with an in-the-door water and ice dispenser. I see a problem with this design though. The freezer side is too narrow to fit something wide. Even though most people don't stockpile a lot of food in the freezer any more. But on at least one occasion a year, you'll buy a great big turkey only to find that it won't fit in the freezer. Ugh. It's sad, but true. The freezer side is too narrow to handle stuff like that. A lot of people who have these realize that keeping an auxiliary fridge with a wider freezer in the garage is a life saver on holidays and other occasions.

The side-by-side pretty much took over the place that top mounted freezers once held. Back in the day, all refrigerators had top mounted freezers, or so it seems to me. Then they went away to be replaced by the side-by-side. So in response to the skinny freezer problem, wider ones are back. But with a twist. Now the freezer is on the bottom. Freezer on the bottom designs makes more sense when you think about it.

Cold air sinks for starters, so it would take less energy to keep colder air low rather than forcing it to an upper compartment. Most people spend more time in the fridge than in the freezer anyway, so it makes sense to keep chilled things at eye level. The bottom mounted freezer is always a drawer, so when you pull it out, you look down at the contents of the freezer rather than having to dig through a compartment as in the days of old.

The newest innovation is what everyone calls a French door fridge. They look good for now but I don't see them adding any real function that will make them last. Most of them have a moveable gasket that locks the doors into the closed position and I always worry about moving parts on something that's going to get used a lot. They are new to the point where no one really knows how long that seal will hold up, but they do look good if only because they're new.

In later installments, I go through the basics of ranges, dishwashers and microwaves. Whether we get into the honors track stuff that covers built-in appliances, drawer freezers, ice makers and the rest of them remains to be seen. I love interesting appliances, I need to find a way to make them interesting though. Hmmmm.

Oh, the refrigerators ion this page came to us from our friends at Kitchenaid. Spend some time on their site, http://www.kitchenaid.com/, they make beautiful and long-lasting appliances.

Budget jobs

Everybody has a budget for a project. It may be $20,000 or it may be $150,000, but in the end there is a limit to how much someone wants to spend. Believe it or not, fitting into a high-budget budget can involve more squeezing than fitting into a lower-priced job. Folks at the higher end of the market tend to have higher expectations and much longer wish lists.

I'm thinking about budgets because I have a meeting tomorrow morning with a very nice couple and their builder. The Very Nice Couple are in their mid-thirties and they have four kids, and I think the oldest is about 12.

These fine folks aren't wealthy, but they seem to be doing on the better side of OK. They seem pretty typical of most of the people who populate the endless suburbs. They are truly interesting and their children are their number one priority. Mom and Dad's vanity is not why we're having this meeting tomorrow morning. Rather, they live in a typical Florida block ranch house with its also typical tiny kitchen. They are out of room and they need to do something.

My job is to give this pretty cool young family a kitchen and a pantry that will make their lives easier, look great and not prevent the kiddies from going to college in a few years. Also typical for them and the house they live in, there are a bunch of mid-80s "innovations" that need to be undone, hence the presence of a contractor at tomorrow morning's meeting. They are buying their cabinetry and counters through me and I can control those costs somewhat, but I have to go easy on the construction demands I put on the contractor. I would love to remove the popcorn ceilings in the whole damn house, but that's just not in the cards. So we're going to move a doorway and remove a soffit that's hanging from the ceiling in the existing kitchen. We can't remove a bunch of interior walls, but we can get rid of one of them. Tearing down non-bearing walls in a ranch house can transform them.

It seems that back in the day, builders jammed a bunch of tiny rooms into these 1800 square foot wonders to make them appear to be larger. All those tiny rooms have the exact opposite effect though. So by breaking through one of two of the 20 I'd love to get rid of, we can give them the appearance of a bit more room.

The contractor will come in somewhere between nine and ten thousand dollars, I know that. He's going to cover the construction, painting, flooring, cabinetry installation and lighting. That's going to leave me with about the same amount for counters, cabinetry, a range and a fridge. Oh yeah, I have to get a microwave oven in here too. That is a tall order, but I'm remaining optimistic about it. We're just going to have to get creative and the homeowners are going to have to roll up their sleeves and take on some of the labor.

I've already started weed-whacking my cabinetry designs and I've taken out the obvious budget-busters like glass inserts in doors and cutlery dividers. Gone too are the ornate moldings that first brought them to me last June. We're using a builder-grade cabinet called Silverline from Medallion Cabinetry (www.medallioncabinetry.com). Another thing they won't budge on is their insistence on granite counters. Granite counters aren't the outrageously expensive luxury item they once were. But still, they will need a couple thousand dollars worth of granite for their job. The trade off for granite on the counters is cabinetry made from maple instead of the cherry we started with. Maple is a fine hardwood, but it costs more for a reason --it just looks better than maple does. Oh well. But there are some things I just can't get rid of. Four kids generate huge amounts of stuff and I have to find places to hide all of that stuff when it's not in use.

So after seven months of reevaluating needs and wants, we're just about where we need to be to actually start. Mercifully, The Nice Couple has stuck this out. They understood pretty early on that I was there to help them transform their home. I have been upfront with them all along about prices and comparative values, and they get it. I love working with people like this for a couple of months. I love it when we can get our interactions down to the point where they trust me enough to say, "Paul, we want to spend less than $2000 on a 36"-wide stainless steel refrigerator. Is that even possible?" I care about this job genuinely and when we say goodbye for the last time in a couple of months, they will be happy our paths crossed.

I'm looking forward to this job. A lot of times, I'm party to the construction of ego trips rendered in wood and drywall. So much of what I do seems like it doesn't matter very much in the long run. I talk about improving people's lives, but I wonder how much improving I do sometimes. In a case like this though, I have no doubt that the four kids who will be fed from this kitchen will be fed by a far less frustrated set of parents.

I'm not a sentimental man, especially when it comes to children. But the idea of those four kids doing homework on counter tops of my design warms my cold, cold heart.

Competitive bids

I sent out a proposal to someone who was referred to me a week ago. I did a proposal for a Cadillac-version of a kitchen renovation for them. They wouldn't tell me what their budget was, they wanted a lot of vague, nice touches and so that's what I gave them. I explained to them in a cover letter that what I had provided them was a proposal and that it was the beginning of a conversation. The perspective drawings I sent them showed what we'd talked about, and the price information I sent them was how much a kitchen containing the features I used would cost.

I received an e-mail back that they appreciated all of my hard work, but that they were getting two more "competitive bids" and they would get back to me.

A lot of people subscribe to the belief that they need to get three competitive bids before getting any work done on their homes and then they should go with the lowest bid. That sounds like a recipe for heartache to me.

Here's why: for starters, bids can only be competitive if your three bidders are pricing identical things. They can only price identical things if you write them a spec sheet and say; "Here, price this." If you don't know how to write specs for something you want to have done on your home you can either learn how or you can try a new tack.

Try this next time. Interview a bunch of bidders and go with the one who makes you comfortable. Or go with the one whom you trust. Or go with the one who has a track record he or she can prove to you through references. Construction stuff of similar quality costs about the same regardless who's providing them.

If the folks I wrote about at the beginning of this are getting bids and that's their prerogative. Had I known that all along I would not have invested the time in their proposal that I did, that's for sure. Had I known that from the start, I would have outlined the specifications I was planning to follow (since they didn't have a clue) and I would written that down and given it to them to use for their other bids. If I'm going to have to compete for something, I am going to do everything in my power to level the field, believe me. So now these fine folks have my proposal that they think is a bid. If they go to two other bottom feeders, they will get bids from them that are half the price of my proposal and I will look like I over charge. I don't over charge though. I sell a better product than what you'd find at a home center or a buyer's club.

It's as if you went to a BMW dealer and said, "I want a car, how much for a car?" The dealer will come back with a bunch of questions and through those questions will figure out what you want. Then he'll look you in the eye and tell you that what you want costs $55,000.

Armed with that information, you drive down the road and go to a KIA dealer and go through the same thing. The KIA guy comes up with a price of $18,000.

Finally, you go to a Dodge Dealer and he's having a special on Neons and he can put you in a Neon for $14,000.

So now you have three prices, three competitive bids in a very warped sense of the term. They tell you nothing about the comparative value of those three kinds of cars. They are three prices for three very different things.

So with that off my chest, I have this to say: go get your bids if that will give you a sense of control. But tell the people you're getting them from what you're doing. Be sure you are pricing identical things if you're comparing prices. But be warned, when you're contemplating something as complicated as a renovation or a construction project, direct comparisons are nearly impossible. So find someone you trust, it will cost you less in the long run.

Lighting and its consequences

I had a meeting this afternoon with a client and one of the ways he wants to save money on his job is to buy cheap lighting. That's an understandable impulse. It's easy to lose control of a budget when you're building a new house, and there are sensible ways to get it back under control. Lighting is a logical place to look when you're trying to squeeze dollars in the final push to complete a project.

There are some things you don't want to cut out though and it's important to follow a lighting plan. Finding less-expensive fixtures is not terribly difficult and with some perseverance and a good eye, no one will ever know you cut some corners. Corners you cannot cut are the three kinds of lighting that every good room needs. Ambient, task and accent are the three primary categories of lighting. Ambient lighting is general illumination like that of can lights or ceiling lights. Task lighting is from pendant lights over a counter or bar or from table lamps. Accent lighting is light that draws attention to art or plants or architecture. Accent is exactly what it sounds like, an accent. Just as relying on a single ceiling light to illuminate a room is a bad idea, so is trying to light a room using nothing but a couple of uplights trained on your houseplants. You cannot have a single light fixture multi-task and do anything other than what it's intended to do. So don't cut the number of lighting fixtures and features, just pick less-expensive parts to do those jobs.

Good lighting is like good anything else. It's expensive and it's usually expensive for a reason. It's innovative, or beautiful, or it's a unique piece of practical art. There are lighting companies out there who specialize in this sort of fixture and charge accordingly. Artemide (http://www.artemide.us/) and Tech (http://www.techlighting.com/) come to mind when I think about this kind of lighting. As a designer, the offerings of these firms and many others like them make my mouth water. When somebody tells me "I want a really gorgeous pendant light." I am going to specify something from Oggetti (http://www.oggettidev.com/intro.html). Oggetti makes what I consider to be gorgeous light fixtures and they start at about $500.

I may be a designer whose eyes are easily drawn to expensive, shiny objects. But I'm also a realist and a notorious cheapskate. I may specify $500 pendant lights all the time, but it will be a cold day in hell when I spend that kind of money on a light fixture for myself.

So what is there to do? Put simply, what there is to do is study the high end of the market and pay attention to what's making those expensive lights unique. Is it the glass in the shade? Is it the patina on the metal accents? Are they really sleek? That sort of thing. Try to home in on specific features about that stuff that you like and then go find a knock off. Lighting snobs like me will be able to spot the fakes from across the room, but no one else will.

There are surprising knock offs of the good stuff that show up in the lighting aisles of Home Depot and Lowe's, but they are few and far between. Most of what's in those aisles is as graceless and poorly-designed as it can get, but every once in a while they hit on something good. I was in a Lowe's this afternoon in fact, and I was struck by the sheer ugliness of most of the lighting department. The two or three acceptable pieces were made acceptable by comparison only. It was a bad selection day at Lowe's. Ugh. A better bet is to dive onto the internet and go see my friends at Faucet.com (http://www.faucet.com/).

Faucet.com's offerings are extensive and priced across a wide range. They also sell some decent stuff there too, so you can find originals and knock offs on the same site.

The lesson? Stay out of home centers and listen to people like me.