Trendy kitchens open up with large appliances

The look is big and bold. Homeowners want to cook on restaurant-grade stoves and keep their food in refrigerators that can store more than a week’s worth of groceries.

Today’s industrial-size refrigerators and ranges appeal to homeowners in the same way SUVs appeal to drivers: more power and more capacity.

According to local designers and contractors, upscale kitchens are busting through the walls, literally, to make room for super-size appliances.

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The professionals hired to transform traditional-style kitchens into kitchens with restaurant-style appliances face a special set of challenges. Bringing enough power in to run the high-capacity appliances is the most fundamental.

And when appliances get as big as they’re getting, it’s like trying to force a square peg into a round hole if the room that’s going to be holding those appliances isn’t made bigger as well.

Standard-size cooking stoves have for a long time been doing the job within 30 inches of space using main burners that pull 3,000 to 5,000 BTUs. A slide-in gas stove of that design runs about $500.

The big guys, on the other hand, use 15,000 to 18,000 BTUs. In addition, they take up an extra 10 inches, according to Jerry Myers, a designer with Boulder’s Thurston Kitchen and Bath.

Boulder Valley Appliance carries Viking- brand ranges that measure from 24 inches wide to 60 inches. The larger model includes six burners and a griddle, according to Mike Schildmeier, manager. Prices range from $3,289 to $10,999.

“Challenges come in when people want to put in an island with seating on one side,” Myers said, referring to the more massive ranges. “A big appliance needs more clearance than a small appliance. When it’s in an island, you have to use an island hood that has to overlap all the edges to sufficiently ventilate – about three inches overlap.

“A good hood can run $6,000 to $7,000.”

Once the seating area space is added, the island measures about four feet by eight feet – another reason why the kitchen area needs more space.

The shapes and sizes of refrigerators are keeping up with the ranges in their own way. Instead of the traditional 27- to 30-inch-deep models, people want to line up edges with countertops, which generally are 24 inches deep.

Update electrical, plumbing

To compensate for lost cooling space, refrigerators of that size come in widths up to 84 inches instead of the common 30 or 36 inches, according to Myers. They stretch up to 14 inches taller than standards and come with various door styles, including clear glass, frosted glass, stainless steel and matched to the kitchen’s cabinetry.
“Counter-depth refrigerators range from about $2,500 to $15,000,” Myers said. “Some are 1,000 to 1,200 pounds, and they are brought in by specialists.”

Boulder Valley Appliance carries the high-end refrigerator brand Sub-Zero. Store prices range from $4,189 to $11,999 beginning with models that are all refrigerator or all freezer up to those with glass or matching cabinetry doors.

Mark Levesque, president of KBC Remodel Service in Boulder, expanded his business by opening a showroom, Invironments, in August at 17th and Pearl streets. “The idea behind it is that there are so many new remodel products out there that people need to see them,” he said.

He credits the shift toward bigger kitchen appliances to the fact that people are actually cooking more. “We run into a lot of people who really love to cook, and they demand these kinds of appliances,” he said. “It’s also an entertainment thing. The kitchen is where social activity happens more than in the past. The party always ends up in the kitchen.”

Levesque estimates that the high-end appliances on the market today run about 25 to 30 percent higher in cost than the standards. “But the products require little maintenance. They’re very heavy duty. You get what you pay for,” he said.

“A challenge is in updating electrical, plumbing and gas lines while trying to keep the budget down. It can turn into a major renovation.”

Upgrading a kitchen in those areas and increasing the size of the kitchen space so it can hold the large appliances is the first step. Combining that with new cabinetry can cost somewhere in the neighborhood of $30,000 to $75,000, according to Levesque.

“A lot of older homes in Boulder County have to be gutted to the studs,” he added. “New kitchens require five or six dedicated electrical circuits compared to the usual one or two.”

Because the cost of larger appliances is higher, and they require renovations that also run up the bill, Levesque creates a step-by-step, line-by-line bid for clients. “It’s an excellent communication tool because it gives a clear picture of why it costs so much,” he said.

The wish-list bid, as he referred to it, helps clients see where they can reduce costs if necessary.