My kitchen... well... its almost useless.
I knew I would need to work on it when I moved in, and I know I'll be making due until its done, but I'm trying to take complications out of the equation.
See, I've got baseboard hot water heat - it runs along the length of two out of my four walls, and its ruining potential cabinet space. I've considered under-floor radiant heat (expensive), a toe kick system with fans (I don't like air blowing around though), so I've now come to a new idea... standalone cabinets with high toe kicks.
The heaters are about 8.5" high. My current thinking goes like this...
I build out a typical cabinet, with the end result being a 34.5" cabinet (plus counter). The toe kick height though would be 10"ish... so a 24.5" tall cabinet. Instead of a regular toe kick though, I put the cabinets on some 10" legs - raising me up above the baseboards, allowing me to leave them in place - and let the cabinets be "freestanding".
My concerns are mainly - will a couple inches of space be ok over the baseboards? Would I need to protect the wood differently? Should I be concerned about warping?
I should also mention that since this is a traditional colonial home, I'm going for a more traditional, but simple look. I'm not sure if I want to go with a stain that will be a creamy color, then add a dark glazing to bring out simple accents (the doors mostly), or if I want to go with a natural stain on oak with a glaze. The doors would either be a straight raised panel (no applied molding) or a recessed panel - which I would probably buy from Conestoga or similar.
With regards to the build of the cabinets themselves, I'm thinking 3/4" plywood all around, and putting an 1/8" skin to finish the ends (note: cheaper). I would likely buy the drawer boxes also to get something with a nice dovetail (which I dont believe I would be able to do easily/effectively), and either salice or blum self-closer slides, hinges.
Since its not small (but not huge) at 13'x13', it will definitely mean a decent amount of cabinetry, but I think doable by myself.
So, amidst this brain dump of my general idea - any comments? Anything I should think more carefully about? Thanks in advance!
I knew I would need to work on it when I moved in, and I know I'll be making due until its done, but I'm trying to take complications out of the equation.
See, I've got baseboard hot water heat - it runs along the length of two out of my four walls, and its ruining potential cabinet space. I've considered under-floor radiant heat (expensive), a toe kick system with fans (I don't like air blowing around though), so I've now come to a new idea... standalone cabinets with high toe kicks.
The heaters are about 8.5" high. My current thinking goes like this...
I build out a typical cabinet, with the end result being a 34.5" cabinet (plus counter). The toe kick height though would be 10"ish... so a 24.5" tall cabinet. Instead of a regular toe kick though, I put the cabinets on some 10" legs - raising me up above the baseboards, allowing me to leave them in place - and let the cabinets be "freestanding".
My concerns are mainly - will a couple inches of space be ok over the baseboards? Would I need to protect the wood differently? Should I be concerned about warping?
I should also mention that since this is a traditional colonial home, I'm going for a more traditional, but simple look. I'm not sure if I want to go with a stain that will be a creamy color, then add a dark glazing to bring out simple accents (the doors mostly), or if I want to go with a natural stain on oak with a glaze. The doors would either be a straight raised panel (no applied molding) or a recessed panel - which I would probably buy from Conestoga or similar.
With regards to the build of the cabinets themselves, I'm thinking 3/4" plywood all around, and putting an 1/8" skin to finish the ends (note: cheaper). I would likely buy the drawer boxes also to get something with a nice dovetail (which I dont believe I would be able to do easily/effectively), and either salice or blum self-closer slides, hinges.
Since its not small (but not huge) at 13'x13', it will definitely mean a decent amount of cabinetry, but I think doable by myself.
So, amidst this brain dump of my general idea - any comments? Anything I should think more carefully about? Thanks in advance!