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Wednesday, September 3, 2003 Cabinets for the Clevelands: Remaking their 1970s kitchen
by Ellie White-Stevens Peachtree City is not an old colonial town. Many of the homes are new and beautiful, but some subdivisions have been around for 30-40 years. If it’s your 1970s kitchen, with badly placed appliances and innefficient workspaces, you’d be looking for some solutions. “We had tried to work with a home store,” shares Peachtree City resident Sherrie Cleveland. “But we couldn’t get personalized service.” Cleveland called Cabinets 4 You. She and her husband sat down with designer Sherrie Starowicz and worked out their ideal kitchen. When the Cleveland’s saw that the remodel would be a bit over their budget, Starowicz gave them some cost saving options. This last Spring, Cleveland had her new kitchen. In the subsequent months, she added her own homey touches, until it was ready, last week, for finished pictures. “They did a great job. Sherrie Starowicz is wonderful to work with. She listened to us and worked with our ideas. Not only did she help us with the cabinets, but she gave me ideas for the other design aspects of the kitchen, tile, accessories and more.” According to Cabinets 4 You’s inhouse designer, Sherrie Starowicz, the Clevelands saved money by using Wellborn Forest stock cabinetry, rather than custom. But that didn’t sacrifice quality or look. The cabinets are wood with maple mitered door and drawer fronts, which have been glazed to highlight the details of the door. The drawer boxes are dove tailed and feature concealed undermount slides, shares Starowicz. In Cleveland’s 1970’s kitchen, the refrigerator blocked the dining room entrance. It needed to be moved, which opened up the accessibility of the space. Above the refrigerator, a deep cabinet gives a full 24” of storage space, doubling the average 12” wall cabinet above most refrigerators. Remember hard to reach kitchen objects hiding in the corners of the 1970s cabinetry? Gone. “All blind corners were eliminated for more accessible storage. A corner base lazy susan cabinet, a corner base easy reach cabinet and a diagonal wall cabinet created more usable storage areas,” says Starowicz. Several deep drawers were added to this kitchen for more functional storage as well as a pantry unit. It’s not all function in the Cleveland kitchen. Sherrie Cleveland’s favorite detail in her new kitchen is the customized crown moulding that Starowicz designed. Starowicz explained the features fully. “There is the beadboard back on the peninsula, the furniture base wrap around the back and side of the peninsula, the three piece crown moulding including the rope insert, the raised end panels, the antique silver hardware and the seedy glass inserts in the wall cabinet between the pantry and the refrigerator. These all provide great visual interest.” Cleveland chose to add undercabinet lighting, overhead recessed can lighting, pendant lights above the sink, new wallpaper and a tumbled marble backsplash with decorative inset pieces. New appliances were also purchased for this renovation and an ice maker was added. The Euro edged laminate countertops were selected as an updated alternative to the postform laminate tops and kept the costs of the remodel very reasonable. The end result? “I love the space. The cabinets are beautiful. They’re high quality, but affordable. Sherrie Starowicz was so flexible. She’s so excellent. She’s on top of every detail,” concludes Cleveland. To make an in-showroom appointment with Sherrie Starowicz at Cabinets 4 You, call 770-487-0763.
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