Kraftmaid Outlet, Warren, Ohio

Early in July I was visiting my friend Michelle's house, she had recently had her kitchen redone and I was checking it out for ideas. While I was there, talking about my limited budget, there was a craftsman who worked for the company she hired to renovate her kitchen. He said something that changed my course & gave me hope. I had priced out cabinets at both box stores & the quotes were as high as $25,000 for cabinets only (no installation) of course those numbers made me think I was never going to redo my kitchen. So you're wandering what did he say...."Have you tried the Kraftmaid Outlet in Ohio?" What, I had never even heard of it! So that was a Tuesday and Saturday morning I was up at 4am & on my way.  Now, let's back it up, I spent three days on the internet doing my homework. I paid $13 for a guide, best investment ever. Here's a link to the website where I  bought the guide. The Cabinet Shopper  Now this guy actually makes money shopping for other people, this outlet shopping is no easy task, takes organization, patience and flexibility. I really prepared for the adventure & was willing to be flexible for the cabinet styles.

The address for the outlet is 3418 Elm Rd Warren, Ohio.

The outlet is only open a few Saturday's a month, I think the next one is August 10th. Buy the guide or do your homework if you think about going. You have to get a numbered wristband between 6:30 & 7:10 am. At 7:15 they randomly choose a number, for example 87, the numbers 87-237 are let in. Then the next 150 people are let in 30 minutes later. The first time I went I got in the first group, the next 2 times I was in the 2nd group. Now in the summer I hear not as many people go and not as much stock, but each of my 3 visits, no more than 300 people showed up so it only took 2 rotations. You must get there by like 7 to get your numbered wristband. Once your inside there are 2 ways to shop, one is by a large group of kitchen cabinets in the back, they are grouped and it's sort of like a silent auction, the price is fixed by group, but you put your name on a list at the main table, I was #3 on the style I picked and the first two passed & I got it.

Just to give you an example, my group was $1200 this is what I got for that...

3 12" wall cabinets

3 36" corner wall cabinets

1 36 x 94 pantry

1 9" cookie sheet base

2 27" wall cabinets

1 18" wall cabinet

1 above the refrigerator cabinet

On that trip I also got a 36" 3 pot/pan drawer ($95)

3 pieces of beautiful solid maple crown molding that matches the style, ($10/each = $30)

1 roll out tray for the pantry ($15)

Total for that trip including tax was $1427.11

Now one of the tips I learned from the guide was to tip everyone that handles your cabinets (about $1/cabinet), give them the tip first, they will handle with care. The guys are really nice. I tipped each time and they even helped to load, they're not supposed/have to do that.

Fortunately, one of my dear friends, Megan, had pity on me and woke up at 4:30 and came for the trip with me. It is really helpful to have someone with you the first time you go. I'll explain why soon. Shout out to Kristi for coming w/me the 2nd time & the third time I flew solo. I mentioned buying groups above. The guide gave me a floorplan and showed styles of cabinets by wood/style, by aisle. The first time you go make sure you have your blueprint/footprint, know your measurements and bring measuring tape! I had been to a couple of designers, knew my measurements and took a gamble. Once I bought that grouping above, I needed to come up w/a plan to make it all fit and fill in the empty spots. To buy individual cabinets you put your name on a label or painters tape. If I saw a cabinet I wanted, I put my name sticker on it, if I'm the first one there, I put a #1 after my name, if someone else's name is there, I put a #2 by name, and so on. They start writing tickets to purchase @9:30, if I'm ready to buy my stuff, they call the person above me's name on the intercom, they have 10min to show up & say if they want it, if they don't, you get it. The night before the first trip, my daughter made me like 100 strips of painters tape w/my name on it so I could peel off & just write my number. This is like the bridal crazy store where they run in, sort of, no one's knocking people over, but everyone's on a mission. Once I bought that first set, I had a purpose, to target that style, color etc. My cabinets are called IGM - Irish Glaze Mocha, Kraftmaid now changed the name to Biscotti w/Cocoa glaze, exact same thing, just new name. They are plywood on 3 sides and solid Maple on the front, no particle board, they are really solidly built. 

Here's a pic....

The 2nd trip I got 36" farmhouse apron sink base $95 and a 9x94 pull out can good pantry $110

Total $219

The 3rd trip I got 3 more crown moldings, 7 toe kicks, 2 more 36" roll out trays, 2 spindles (for in front of sink base), 3 boxes of brushed venetian bronze hardware, 1 onlay for a total of $232.1                                      The hardware that I got alone on that trip retails for $750

Ok, I'm being brutally honest about my costs so that if someone out there is interested in going this route, you can see how much you can save. Keep in mind, this route isn't easy, but for me, I couldn't have done it through traditional ordering.  Total for outlet shopping = $1878  Now I had to rent an open trailer for the first two trips, plus adding in tip money, buying food for my helpers, I'd put by total at $2200, now I priced my layout with the exact maple cabinets, style, color, etc...at the boxstores, now hold tight, if I would have ordered these from those stores, I would have paid about $17,500, yes you read right, I saved over $15,000 doing this work. 

Oh, I forgot to mention, to finish that side I did have to buy one corner,super susan cabinet, 3 doors that were missing from other cabinets and paint to match. I bought maple toe kicks, but I've got to paint them. I ordered those from a box store. I met a FANTASTIC designer who I could be honest about going to the outlets and she helped me make everything I got work within my footprint. 

My new kitchen will combine my old kitchen & dining room, these cabinets will be for the old kitchen side. More to come tomorrow about my plan for the dining room side.  And these aren't coming from the outlets, or any store, tune in to hear that story...

The renovation of Tina's Cucina

So my story goes... when I was contemplating college, I wanted to go to the Culinary Instittue of America in NYC, dad said get your college degree first then we'll talk, 22+years of teaching later, I'm still chasing the dream of wanting to cook for others. I have a traditional 3 bedroom ranch, small kitchen and I'm finally trying to renovate it. However, I'm a single mom, one kid in college and one more a year away from going to college, eldest studying abroad in January, needless to say - no real kitchen budget. So what's a girl to do? Well this girl decided to try and be her own general contractor. Yes, I'll hire people who are experts to do the things I can't, but I'm going to try my best, under the supervision of my 82 year old awesome father. Now keep in mind my dad was an accountant/auditor. Not your typical handyman, but over the years he has had wonderful teachers like my Uncle Ray and neighbor growing up, Andy. He's not afraid to read a manual and follow directions. Now dad's not in the best of health, he is supposed to just sit in the chair in the kitchen and give me directions, it doesn't always go as planned, but we're in it for the long haul and I'm blessed to have him here to guide me and as crazy & chaotic as it is, each time he's here, it's more time we're spending together. Above is a picture of the "Old" kitchen from what was the dining room. Below are a few more from the old dining room. So what happened to the dining room? It moved to a bedroom across from the kitchen. That's a story for another day.
I'm several weeks into the project, but I'll slowly ease you into the story, there's a lot of stories and adventures along the way including trips to a cabinet outlet in Ohio, to Amish country in New Wilmington & Valant, to hours upon hours to with kitchen designers, to me, yes me cutting out walls with a saw zaw, I am much better with kitchen tools like mixers, ice cream makers and bread machines. But if I'm going to make this happen on a tight budget, I've gotta dig deep, do things I didn't think I could do and as when I was a kid, listen to what dad says. :) Stay tuned for the rest of the story....

This pic is from the hallway looking into the kitchen.