Ruddy Turnstone - 520 - Kiawah Island - ResortQuest
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RTA Kitchen Cabinets - What Are They And Why Are They So Popular?
RTA or Ready-To-Assemble Cabinets have been around for quite a while, but because of manufacturing improvements over the past couple of years, there are now more and more companies manufacturing and selling Ready-To-Assemble Kitchen &
Bathroom Cabinets (RTA), with higher quality standards. Lets face it, the kitchen is one of the most expensive rooms in a house to build or renovate. Other than your countertop selection, kitchen cabinets are going to be the most expensive part of your kitchen remodel. Custom kitchen cabinets can cost anywhere from $10,000-$100,000 depending on the type of wood, brand name, and amount of detail you are looking for. With the current state of the mortgage industry, and slowdown in the housing market, most people are looking for a way to increase the resale value of their home without a huge financial investment that they may or may not get back when they sell their house. Is there such a thing as budget kitchen cabinets?
RTA Kitchen Cabinets are the solution. RTA stands for Ready-To-Assemble. This category of cabinets includes everything from the particle board cabinets you find at Ikea that you assemble yourself, to the pre-assembled cabinets you find at Home Depot or Lowes, or the RTA cabinets that you find on-line that have plywood sides and come ready-to-assemble in a box. As you can see by the descriptions, there are different levels of quality and material used in Ready-To-Assemble (RTA) cabinets. Some of the RTA cabinets that you find on-line end up being stronger and sturdier than the name brand cabinets because they are using a solid plywood cabinet box for their construction. When looking at the structure of the cabinet, always make sure that they are using solid wood for the cabinet face and stiles, plywood for the cabinet box itself, and a plywood or solid wood back for a strong connection to the studs in the wall.
The key to a high quality (RTA) Ready-To-Assemble cabinet is how the cabinet is held together. Some of the lower end RTA cabinets use wood glue and staples or screws to hold the cabinet box together. These types of kitchen cabinets have a tendency to separate or split apart where the staples or screws connect to frame. For a high quality RTA cabinet, make sure that they use a cam lock assembly. What is a cam lock assembly? A cam lock assembly is simply a locking system that you turn using a screwdriver to interlock the cabinet panels in place. It comes in two versions: one is a hidden assembly that uses a combination of pegs and rotating locks, while the other one is an exposed cam lock which also uses rotating locks. Both systems are simple use and do not require any assembly experience, which makes it a great option for home owners and/or novice DIY Handymen.
Availability is another huge advantage to using RTA Cabinets for your kitchen or bathroom project. One of the biggest problems with custom cabinets is the lead time required to order and get your cabinets in time for installation in your house. Most require 6-8 weeks in order to produce and ship your cabinets. With RTA cabinets, you can walk into a home supply store and buy them as needed, or most RTA Importers/Distributors traditionally ship with 1-2 weeks (some even faster). This allows you to adjust to the inevitable changes that will occur in your project, plus it doesn't slow you down in the event of miscalculations... a miscalculation with custom cabinets could delay your project for an additional 2-3 months.
What it ultimately comes down to with (RTA) Ready-To-Assemble Kitchen Cabinets is the cost. A full kitchen of ready-to-assemble cabinets can cost as little as $2,500 whether as the same kitchen built with custom cabinets could be 5x, 10x, or even 20x that cost before installation. With Ready-To-Assemble cabinets, you could easily assemble and install the cabinets yourself and avoid the high labor costs associated with custom cabinet installation. If you are interested in finding some simple design tools to get started on your kitchen, check out some of my other articles at Squidoo and Hubpages under Nealon52 for step-by-step instructions on how to measure your kitchen, along with step-by-step instructions for installing them.
I have been installing RTA cabinets in all of my rental and flipped properties for years. I have been able to save thousands on each kitchen by shopping around. If you want to find out my secrets for saving thousands, check out some of my other articles.
This Old House 29x14 (1/3) Newton Center Project Part 14 of 16
This Old House 29x14 (1/3) Newton Center Project Part 14 of 16 The prep and painting of the dining room and built-in bookshelves for the living room are featured. The Official Site can be found here: www.thisoldhouse.com
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2Y8_nf8LtA&hl=en
Tips For Country Kitchen Decor
The kind of décor you do in your kitchen as well as the whole house, depends upon where your house is basically located. This is especially true for houses that are situated in a rural setting. Except in cases where the entire house has been essentially done up in urban styles, it becomes important that you set up the kitchen with the same country look, right from the shelves, to the color of the paint and the tapestry used.
The most important aspect here is the coordination of the pieces and accenting required. It is just not enough to get pieces and other items of the kitchen bearing a rural or country look. It is crucial that you ensure that the pieces match each other properly and fit well into the entire look. For instance, if the whole of your kitchen has a country look, but bears a greenish tone, it will look odd to add in replicas and decoration items in the brown or wood color, beyond a certain extent.
Tips and Ideas
There are a lot of useful ideas for completing the country look to your kitchen. Though granite countertops may not fit, You can begin by looking at the walls and the decoration pieces you have used. You can add in items like chickens and roosters and a few ceramic pieces that will give your kitchen a nice and coordinated look. In addition, putting up a couple of your own or family photographs, along with a few wildlife pictures can add a pleasant ambiance.
In addition, you can also use the appliquéd towels that go well with the throw rugs. These items make for wonderful decoration pieces, at the same time giving your kitchen that required country look.
The Other Requirements
Apart from the above, you can also accentuate the look of your table, chairs and other pieces of furniture. If you have a large wooden table in your kitchen, use minimal amount of decorative items on the table. On the other hand, if you have a normal and small dining table, you can use a huge country-style tablecloth that will also effectively cover any damaged area. Pay careful attention to the color you use in the entire process as these can greatly influence the look your kitchen carries.
To top it all, choose the curtains you use carefully. These should look well coordinated with the rest of the kitchen, in color as well as the fabric you use. Whatever look you might want to give to your kitchen, it is always helpful to place a bunch of fresh seasonal flowers in the dining area to add an overall pleasant look.
Joseph Paul - Red Wooden Beads (John and Mary cover)
www.josephpaul.org I will never forget the moment I first put Victory Gardens in my little boom box and this song came on. Red Wooden Beads (John Lombardo and Mary Ramsey) Marika stamped her feet saying hey hey listen to me A face she'd never meet, saying hey hey listen to me Sitting in the kitchen light, prism crystal glass The banging ledger overdrawn A silent prayer as if to make it pass Marika's days were spent thinking hey hey listen to me Her nights in argument thinking hey hey listen to me Running down the alleyway to catch the last Guignol Calling names of cities and a life that she would never know Late in the evening, sorting what to keep The boxes in the bedsit, her clothes all in a heap Marika free at last singing hey hey listen to me All through her autumn past singing hey hey listen to me Moving towards the telephone, dinner on the run The spiral cord wrapped round her wrist, the table sold A brand new day begun Later in the evening, she found the missing key the lock turned in her jewel box And there some red wood beads for her to wear
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ujIX3HLOCq8&hl=en