4. Bamboo!

We decided the make a plunge for the bamboo floor.
You can't get a better deal than that.
100 pounds of stuff!

3.1 IKEA Selection (final?)

The black one is too contemporary. Here's one that's clean with a modest color. The Hallarum might be our final selection.

3. The IKEA Collection

A trip to IKEA reveals many selections on contemporary kitchen models. They have a very large color selections. All cabinets are all in standard sizes like Legos. You do your own measurements and design. They even have a software that lets you design the kitchen and view it in 3D.

The red color is probably too contemporary and we may have a problem when we sell the house eventually. Wing likes the black one, but it has a shinny surface that's a bit 80's look.

The floor section has something we like. They have a bamboo laminate called KVIST. It's on sale right now for $2.49/sqf. This is cheaper than we saw at iFloor Express the other day. We decide the choose it for the floor.

2. Home Depot

We had an appointment with Home Depot. We knew that the quote will be on the high end of budget.

The consultant was really friendly. She asked a lot of questions, and filled in a big questionaire. I am still curious on the purpose of some questions, like what time of the day do you normally cook.

Here's the lay down from the HD quote:

Cabinets: $4,250 -$8,500
Countertop (incl. install): $1,700 - $1,950
Kitchen disposal: $70 - $100
Countertop Install: $2,125 - 4,250
---------------------------------------------
Total $8,145 - 14,800

It didn't surprise us on the pricing. We are likely not to use their cabinet. But they have a good selection on countertops. We especially like the Quartz material from SileStone. They are durable and not require the kind of maintenance needed by real stones. Mont Blanc ($68) and Blanco Maple ($78) are the two colors we like.

Meanwhile, options from a familiar shop caught our attention.

1. Research - before Xmas

After months of thinking about it and eventually under persuation from a friend, we finally make the jump to start the project to remodel our kitchen.

We plan to replace all the cabinets, countertops and the floors as well. We have an old and small house and want to keep the budget as low as possible, without sacrificing the aesthetics of course.

Friend told us that a shop at south Seattle has very good cabinets and the price is right. G.S. Cabinet Supply at 2921 First Ave. South got their cabinets from China. The material is really solid, but they only have three colors. The darkest cholcate color seems to fit our taste better but it's a bit too red. We decided to pass on this shop. They have lots of stone countertops too so we might come back some day.

Across the road to the cabinet shop is iFloor Express. They have a great selection of floors: laminate, hardwood and even bamboo. The bamboo ones are priced at $4+. The sales guy is really friendly.