kitchen

Reply to: Here is a great ideabook on how to pick white - https://www.houzz.com/magazine/how-to-pick-the-right-white-paint-stsetivw-vs~416809 Atrium white by Benjamin Moore - sherwin williams closest internal color is pure white - both of these are excellent choices (nice casework!) and SW will match atrium if that is what you prefer. Good Luck!

Q

Reply to: Ok, these look to be 48" cabinets, they actually look quite nice, maybe because of the trim work on the doors? They broke up the height visually, so they don't look too long and awkward :) Click to see whole picture

Q

Reply to: Thanks aries61. Hopefully I can learn some things from those who have gone through this already (oldbat2be is great) and help those starting the process. There is a lot to know and maybe one hint can save someone a bit of hassle. Regarding your fridge: We also did a deep cabinet above frig (but as a part of a complete refrig cabinet from Conestoga). I also considered doing a separate cabinet with side panel. If I recall, the reason I went with the full cabinet is to get the seamless extended stile on the right hand side (which I scribed to the wall) and to avoid a gap between wall and Frig side. You could put together a Cabinet and sides (maybe a filler only on one side) but you will get the seams, which are probably not that bad. The disadvantage with going with Conestogas refrig cabinet is you have to stick with their frig opening size of ..I think 72" - 74" high...which means you will have a gap above the frig of 2" - 4". Which you could fill with a fill strip I guess. Perhaps one of those new slightly taller refrigerators would fit nicely? Samsung? We were trying to get as close to a built in look using a standard 36' wide refrigerator (need to buy a new frig sometime soon). The conestoga frig cabinet is 30" deep and comes out to the edge of the refrigerator box (not the doors, just the box) And It works well and allows the doors to clear upon opening. The above refrig cabinet is huge and should be fun to watch my wife get a stepladder to gain access to the rear portion. We will probably just store less frequently used items back there. I have 3 of the 15 cabinets installed as of now. Took my time the last couple days installing the Refrig cabinet. Since it is the first corner cabinet, it had to be set right and leveled, etc. It too some doing but since everything would depend upon that one, I had to get it right. Maybe I will do a separate post on my challenges doing so, but since I wanted to go with the extended stile (to the floor) look with not floor moldings - i could not just shim the cabinets up. It necessitated having to scribe (trim off the back bottom edges of the cabinets) A real pain to measure, test, measure again, test on and on. But I got the frig cabinet perfect and last night installed the 2 cabinets just to the left of it. I would definitely recommend laying adjacent cabinets on their back on a level floor and (using various thicknesses of plywood) joining them all together (the adjacent cabinet run) as one big cabinet and then setting in place and installing. It also worked well for me because of the design I ended up with they were supposed to look like one joined cabinet anyway. To join these together, I used plywood, GRK panhead screws (which I would definitely recommend) for inside the boxes and GRK Trim screws (along with cabinet clamps) to join through the face frames (see pictures). I layered up plywood between the cabinets in four side corners before screwing through them. This way, you aren't dependent upon just the face frames for holing together. The cabs together become one solid unit that prevent face frame movement/separation when the whole thing is moved. We actually had an installer lined up to do the job but his schedule changed. I was forced to start the install myself. I am actually glad I did. Installers would have come in and tried to rush through the job to get it done quickly and ended up shimming, and slapping shoe molding on, etc. That would have been done quickly (good) but maybe not the way I really wanted. It is more detail work than I expected and I am probably being anal about it - but hopefully it all turns out ok. There are probably 100 ways to do this but just wanted to share what seems to be working for me. This post was edited by goodguy2k2k on Mon, May 12, 14 at 10:11

Q

Reply to: Aries, I think you are making a good choice with designer white. I have attached a pic of the difference between a "brilliant white" (Home Depot Behr paint color) on the shown door jamb -and- my refrig cab in frosty white (refrig can just installed today so not finished). But I will say, in the picture, the frosty white may look a little more creamy than it would in a normal situation as the light may have played a part. But it may help to show the creamyist possible scenario with frosty white. I will say, the way I did this creates a lot of detail work (joining cabs, scribing can bottoms to make up for level, attaching toe board backers, toe boards, measuring everything twice, making sure things are joined together well, etc). So what I am saying is: If assembling conestoga cabinets is a medium task, joining cabs, leveling, installing, etc. is definitely advanced work for a pro installer -or- a very handy person with tools and patience. In other words, it is a decent amount if work to get it right. But I am doing it a hard way from custom face frame stiles (which prevents me from shimming) and requires me to scribe cabinet bottom edges to get level. Lots of measuring, testing, removing, testing again, etc. Also of note, inset conestoga requires some 3/4 inch blocking to be installed to attach drawer slides (and door stops in some cabs). Moving and setting cabs can take some assistance (especially if you join them prior to moving into place). Also: if you don't have a very high ceiling next to your kitchen, a refrig (or other tall cabinet) can will need to have some pieces cut off back corners to be able to stand it up under the celing. Nobody wil see the pie cuts though. I was lucky to have a 2 story family room where I am doing my assembly. I stand the refrig cab up in the Family Room and then slide it into the kitchen area. It is a big cab and I moved it myself but it was a but if a chore to stand under it and basically carry it.

Q