Kitchen renovation: just beginning, and already overwhelmed

[Crankin]

We used a one stop independently owned kitchen and bath design/remodel shop. They took care of everything. Joe, our designer, served as our general contractor. We told him what we wanted and our budget. He drew up plans, made recommendations for fixtures, cabinets, etc, and then we went to the shop and looked through waaaay too many books and samples for my taste. My advice is get the best quality cabinets you can afford. My problem is that I like nice things, but have no patience for looking and choosing and I have little knowledge about this kind of stuff. It kind of annoys me. This is my fifth house and the first one I have been actively involved in, as far as picking out anything, except for the furniture. I made a huge mistake when we were presented the plans for our master bath remodel, which was a total gut and renovation; I really don't "get" something when I see it on a plan, so I gave a quick yes, and it was only when it was done that I realized that we had a (very nice) maple cabinet right in the middle of our sinks, sort of dividing my side from DH's almost all the way to the edge of the counter. Oh well. I am used to it now, but when I first saw it, I was upset. The kitchen, on the other hand and the powder room are perfect. But, our contractor was perfect and each job took 6 weeks or less to do. They hired and supervised all of the different workers, such as electricians, plumbers, tile guy. I would never want to be in charge of this myself. DH is very knowledgeable, but couldn't be home all of the time. He did the other 2 bathrooms by himself, learning what he didn't know from the people at Home Depot. But, our contractors also gave him some advice, as he was working at the same time they were.

[jessmarimba]

The mold smell could possibly be coming from under the cabinet or even under the condo if your plumbing runs into the crawl space there.

I'd try to keep the cabinets, if it was me (at least, if you can figure out the moldy mildewy smell)! I don't think new ones would add as much resell value as they will cost you.