Last Design Project for 2019

On a personal level this has been a wonderful year.  Between my design projects and my writing projects, I feel truly blessed.   

As a kitchen and bath designer, I'm not usually involved in remodeling either the bath or the kitchen toward the end of the year.  Everyone, myself included, is busy using the kitchens for family events and no one wants anymore stress, confusion or mess in the home.  So, I've been helping clients with other interior elements in the house like choosing paint colors, rugs, draperies etc.  My final design project for this year is the remodeling of a laundry room off the kitchen. The design is done, cabinets are on order but the actual install will not begin until the 2nd week in January.




Here's a picture of the cabinet I recommended to my client for the updated laundry room.  I chose white because a few years ago I was called in to help with her kitchen remodel and she has white cabinets in the kitchen, so white makes sense. White kitchens are classic.  They never go out of style because people love how clean the kitchen looks.

Usually I recommend a full overlay door styles but in this instance a standard door style is a better choice.  The difference between the two can be seen in the frame. A full overlay door means you don't see the door frame around the door, whereas, you can see the 1" of frame in a standard style. A full overlay gives you better access to the inside space but will always be more expensive than the standard style. Storage was not an issue in this remodel because the current melamine cabinets had plenty of empty space, but my client clearly did not want to go the expensive route with this make-over. One of the first parameters I try to establish in any project is the budget that I need to design within. This flat panel standard door style will meet her needs, give the laundry room a fresh and upgraded look and stay within the budget.

Another element in this design that can greatly effect cost is the countertop.  While granite and quartz are the norm these days, there are some very nice Wilson Art and Formica laminate materials available. As long as you choose a bevel, waterfall, bullnose or some other curved edging for the countertop, it will look great in a laundry room.

There is a top mount sink in this laundry room so we did not have a discussion about undermount sinks and laminate countertops. Whenever there is an undermount sink you need to look at a different material for your countertop than laminate.  Yes, you can install stainless steel and acrylic undermount sinks but it comes with a risk. The main issue is the strength of the adhesive to hold a sink full of water and not pull down or weaken the laminate.  Stone and Ceramic sinks can not be installed as undermount sinks on laminate countertops. The material itself is too heavy for the laminate product.  I do not recommend any undermount sink to be installed in a laminate countertop.

Life is too busy for both my client and myself so this install will take place in January.  However, the cabinets need to be ordered in December to make that happen.

Enjoy your holidays everyone.