Resources #8 - The Hammer Zone

Hammerzone.com is a great site for detailed information on DIY projects. I refered to a number of the articles here during the kitchen remodel.



The article that came in most handy was one on installing a garbage disposal. I could have figured it out on my own, but I would have likely made a couple of errors that I would then have to fix. The article provided me with a ton of detail and pictures, which allowed a "first time" install.

Here is an example of the level of detail the author provides...


If you need more detail than this, I suggest hiring a contractor for that phase of your project.

Finally, the web link page is fairly good. I did not look them all up, but a few of ones I did had good information.

Resources #7 - This Old House Online

TOC has been a standard for me for number of years. I like the show, the magazine and the web site. They have created a very high quality site, with a number of photo galleries that can provide ideas.



For example, the photo below from the TOC site shows a lot about a kitchen island. You can see the green color, the overhang required for the stools, and how black stools go with the green. All these are basically incorporated into our design.


I don't expect the photos on the site to give the exact ideas, but help us gain ideas. You can sit down for a few hours and grab the photos you like. I use the freeware program Screenhunter to capture and gather images.

Resources #6 - The Lite House

At the beginning of our kitchen remodel, lighting was a bit of a mystery. How many lights? What spacing? What kind? I knew generally what was required from our last house, but I wanted something a little more concrete to make decisions. Unfortunately, many of the "resources" on the internet are add sites, or very general. TheLiteHouse site was a nice find...


It actually provides some ideas and technical discussion to help you make lighting decisions.

Resources #5 - PDX Street of Dreams

Online resources and books can help out immensely with design ideas, but nothing compares to actually touring a few kitchens for the hands-on experience. The PDX Street of Dreams has been a great place for my DW and I to do just that.


The homes are very high end (and often over the top), but you can get a real sense of how various designs, materials and gadgets would work. One of our guidelines was to have a few high-end features in the kitchen, and this is the place to get exposed to them.

For instance, our back splash design came from this kitchen:


Here is ours...


Not exactly the same (wouldn't want that) but definitely a spin off.

We were willing to go with both painted and stained cabinetry, because we saw it here first - now it's obviously everywhere.

Now were working on our home theater, basing our design on pictures we too while on touring a number of them at PDX.

Resource #4 - Black & Decker Books

The best reference books I have found for remodeling are published by Black and Decker.


They are very comprehensive and contain a large number of step-by-stop photos. The plumbing and wiring books were particularly helpful. I found most of the ones I needed at the library, but ended up buying them to keep as reference guides.