Here is a link that might be useful: crepe recipe

This range was my "baby" and DH is going to expect it to work and work great and look great. If it comes damaged or broken I am never going to hear the end of it.

Also, any idea how heavy this thing is? We are doing a DIY remodel and I've whiddled the store down to a very small delivery fee if I have people on my end to unload it from the truck. So I am curious as to how many guys I will need there.

The standard is 18"...regardless of the reasons why, it's still the standard..

How this affects your kitchen....

• Refrigerator and other tall cabinet heights...Because wall cabinets are meant to be mounted at a standard height, cabinet manufacturers take this into account when designing tall cabinets. Tall cabinets are designed to be the same height as the installed wall cabinets so the tops all line up. When you change the height a wall cabinet is installed at, it affects cabinet top alignments. (Note: With custom and some semi-custom cabinets, this is a non-issue b/c the cabinetmaker/manufacturer can adjust for this.)
• With the refrigerator you can usually mount the upper cabinet a little lower OR order a shorter upper cabinet, but be sure you don't make the alcove any shorter than 72" tall b/c newer refrigerators are 70" to 72" tall (and seem to get taller each year!)
• With other tall cabinets like oven cabinets and pantry cabinets, they're a standard height and designed so they're the same height as the wall cabinets when those wall cabinets are installed 18" above a 36" high counter. If you have custom cabinets, this may not be an issue b/c your cabinetmaker can adjust the cabinet heights. But, if you are using stock or even some semi-custom cabinets, you cannot change the height. You can often get taller cabinets for use w/36" or 42" tall wall cabinets, but not shorter for 30" mounted lower. But, even those that are taller are also adjusted based on standard wall cabinet heights + an 18" backsplash height.
• Small appliance height...Small appliance manufacturers often design their products to meet this 18" standard...for example, my KA stand mixer (bowl lift) is around 17" and many coffeemakers and blenders are just short of 18". So, you need to be sure you have room under the cabinets + light rail to fit those appliances.

Small appliances...

Keep in mind that if you're using an appliance on your counter, you must be sure you have room under the base cabinets to move that appliance around easily. Don't, for example, tell yourself you're only going to use it in front of your upper cabinets so you don't need to worry about its fit. In reality, you will be moving things around on your counter while you work and most likely your appliance will be moved under the cabinets at some point. You don't want to tear your light rail off or damage it (or the cabinets).

Also remember that "standard" upper cabinets are 12" deep + 1" for the door...so they stick out 13" over your counter...leaving you only 12" or so of workspace in front of the upper cabinets...not much room to work in by itself! (If you have deeper upper cabinets...say 15", there's even less counter frontage in front of your upper cabinets...3" less, so 9".)

Vertical workspace...

Another consideration is vertical work space for you and your family. If anyone in your family is tall, you want to be careful not to make the backsplash area so short that it makes the work area cramped vertically.

Measuring for your minimum backsplash height...

So, how do you determine the minimum backsplash height for your kitchen and how high to install the upper cabinets?

1. Measure all your small appliances and anything else you'll be using on the counter, If they have a lid, measure with the lid open (i.e., the tallest the appliance would ever be). Not just what's planned for the space, but what could potentially be used....stand mixer, coffeemaker, blender, food processor, breadmaker, etc. For a stand mixer, measure when the head is tilted up as well.
2. Take the tallest measurement and add 1/4" to 1/2" (I recommend 1/2")

   Why did you add 1/4" to 1/2"? It's to give you some "wiggle" room in case everything isn't perfect...you may have slight differences in stone thickness or even how the cabinets and/or light rail was installed. It will also keep you from scratching the cabinets/light rail w/the top of the appliance (or vice versa!)

3. This is the minimum height you will need for your backsplash

   But wait, you're not done! To be sure you have that space, you need to determine how high off the counter to mount your upper cabinets...

4. Determine how tall your light rail will be. [Light rail is the molding that goes on the bottom of the upper cabinets that hides under cabinet lights, unfinished or differently-finished cabinet bottoms, and Plugmold (if you have it).]
5. Now, add this to the backslash height from #3
6. This is the distance above the finished counter your upper cabinets must be installed.
7. Usually, though, your countertop has not yet been installed, so you will need to do one of two things...
• If you will have standard height cabinets & counter, then add 36" to the distance in #6


• This is the distance off the floor the upper cabinets should be installed


• If you have lower (or higher) cabinets + counter, use the finished height you are installing instead of 36"
• If you cannot measure off the floor b/c your base cabinets are already installed, then add 1-1/2" to the distance in #6


• This is the distance off the top of the base cabinets (with no counter material) the upper cabinets should be installed
• Note: If you are using countertop material thinner or thicker than 3cm or so, you will need to adjust the finished counter height measurement by the difference b/w the standard 3cm or so and your height. [If you will have a thicker counter, add the difference to the measurement in this section; if thinner, subtract the difference.]

Please note that this recommendation has nothing to do w/upper cabinets that are installed down to the counter. Cabinets of this type have no backsplash b/w them and the counter, so the above does not apply.

Lowering wall cabinets/shorter backsplash...

If you lower your upper cabinets a couple of inches, how much more can you realistically reach? The depth of one or two plates? What makes more sense is to plan your storage so that frequently used items are on the bottom shelf (or in drawers in your base cabinets) and progressively less-used items move up the wall cabinets.

Another thing that will make it easier to get into upper cabinets is to make them a little deeper...say 15". Not only will it bring things in front 3" closer to you, but those 3" add a surprising amount of extra storage...and allows you to store platters and larger dinner plates in your cabinets when 12" isn't quite deep enough.

In the end of course, it's up to you and your family...do what will work best for you. But, if anyone is considering a shorter backsplash (or going against any other standard or guideline), be sure you're doing it with all the information available so you can make an informed decision.

Good luck!

kitchen

Pictures are below - please excuse the dust and dangling wires. I love the tall glass pantry doors. We will apply a Solyx film to the glass to obscure the contents. If I didn’t need room to store cereal and soup, I would leave the glass clear and just display china and other decorative items there, lol.

I have decided to go with the Top Knobs Princetonian pulls. They are available in the following sizes: 4-9/16”, 5-13/16, 7-1/8, 9-5/8, 12-1/8, 15-13/16, 19-1/16, 27-1/2, 31-1/16, and 37-7/8.” I was able to order a few of the 27.5” and 5-13/16” pulls quickly from Amazon. The 27.5” size looks good on the 36” drawers, but too long on the 30” drawers. I’m going to use the 19” handles on the 30” drawers, the 9-5/8” on the 18” drawers and the 7-1/8” on the 16” drawers, which leaves about 4-5” exposed at the ends of each drawer. I will probably use a 15-13/16” pull on the 24” dishwasher panel; not sure what to do about the wine fridge. I am still undecided on the size and orientation to use on the various doors.

For the drawers, I originally planned to put them 2.5” from the top edge of each drawer (which would be centered on the upper 5” high drawers), but now I am thinking that might be too far from the edge, especially if I also use horizontal pulls on the doors, since I want to be consistent with spacing. Maybe 1” or 1.25” or 1.5” from the edge would be better.

I am having a hard time deciding whether to use horizontal or vertical pulls on the doors. The north side of the island is especially tricky, since there is a false drawer front over an 18” door, then a 36” drawer over two 18” doors. I wish I had split that top drawer into two 18” drawers so I could just center the handles on both drawers and doors. If I use horizontal handles on the doors, do you think it looks better to center them on the panel, or place them next to the edge that opens? If I use vertical pulls, they will be in the 4-8” size range, as the vertical pulls that run most of the height of the doors does not feel right to me here. I almost wonder if knobs might look better on the upper doors (keeping horizontal pulls on the lower doors to match the drawers).

There are 30” wide x 10” high lift-up panels over the fridge and freezer. I have seen long pulls used on those before, so I could use the 19” pulls to match the 30” drawers, but think something smaller might look better. I wish I could just use a hidden touch latch on those, but think I will need something to pull on to lift them.
For the pantry, I originally thought I would use the 38” handles to mimic the 44” handles on the fridge & freezer, but now that those doors are in they seem kind of β€œdelicate” with the tall, slim glass panels and stiles. I am not sure whether to stick with the long pulls or go with a short (4-8”) pull or knob.

I have to get this all figured out quickly, so I would really appreciate any input.

Back wall with range & refrigeration columns (2 pairs of 14” wide upper doors):

Pantry & oven wall (waiting for steam oven install):

Sink run is hard to photograph due to sun coming in windows (2 18.5” wide upper doors):

North side of island (18” sink cabinet, then 36" top drawer over 36” double doors with pullouts):

Vertical pulls on doors:

Horizontal pulls on doors centered on panels:

Horizontal pulls on doors with pull toward edge that opens:

Minimal pull tabs on uppers:

WWYD?

In a gw kitchen thread called "Flawless Bluestar customer service", Buffolotina writes that she had good customer service from a woman named Mandy. Sayde also posted in the same thread that she had a good experience with Mandy. Here's Mandy's contact info; she's still with Bluestar.

mandy lopez 800 449 8691 ext. 2122
mlopez@bluestarcooking.com

Hopefully she will provide you with the backing for replacement; or whatever needs to happen so that you have a working Bluestar that you're happy with and have confidence in.

kitchen

Our home was built in the mid 60's and the kitchen used to be on the back side of the house, facing north west (never any sun). Our architect suggested relocating the kitchen to the front of the house, and came up with a very functional new plan, which included moving interior walls and adding a skylight dormer, mud room and pantry. We found a builder to perform the demolition and manage the construction. We built a temporary kitchen in our family room, moved the fridge in there with our camping gas burners on a card table, and started the long process of renovating. In the midst of this exciting and frustrating roller-coaster ride, my mom passed away. She was an amazing cook and would have loved watching the progress and seeing how everything turned out. This reveal is dedicated to her.

Cabinetry quotes for all the new areas (kitchen, island, desk area, bookshelves, pantry, mudroom) ranged from $35,000 to $75,000, uninstalled. Long story short: in order to economize, we went with an online Conestoga reseller (Brian Long/theCabinetJoint), who sold a ready to assemble/RTA cabinet, for around $23,000. This included many custom pieces; 18" deep uppers, custom width upper cabinets, 2 custom depth floor to ceiling bookshelves, and custom drawer widths and heights. While we've been very pleased with the quality and functionality, I wonder what the final effect would have been with different cabinets and/or a different cabinet style. DH and I assembled the cabinets ourselves and our builder's crew hung them. DH installed all the appliances (several, multiple times), built a steel bar support system for the island, and did so very much electrical, plumbing and carpentry work. He is one in a million.

As you look at these pictures, I would welcome finishing suggestions. What did we, as DIY-ers, miss or mangle? What stands out as unfinished to your eye and what could I add to a punchlist for a finish carpenter or DH and me? I won't be offended, but to be totally honest, I am not posting any of the bad pictures :)

When it came time to pick a backsplash, I found I had too much white and disliked how the upper run of cabinets looked. With a ton of help from the forum, I picked a bold tile which draws the eye away from the cabinets. (Special thanks to Hollysprings for reminding me that I liked a lot of contrast in my inspiration pictures and to onedogedie, for introducing me to kj patterson).

Before
The kitchen was small and my countertops were always crowded. Still, I feel the need to acknowledge how many wonderful meals came out of that space.

We bumped out the front of the house 5 feet, replacing the foot print of the old covered porch.

We learned we could replace a structural post which would have been out in the middle, with an LBL beam. (Huge thanks to jeff_from_oakville, live_wire_oak, remodelfla, sjmitch, karen_belle and bmorepanic).

Assembling and installing cabinets. There was no magical truck pulling up outside and crews bringing in beautiful, assembled cabinets....

After

Desk area to the right, fireplace to eventually be replaced with gas:

Bookshelves flanking the desk - houseful, you gave me the idea of using 2 of these, to balance the desk area, and I love how this works. Nothing warms a room like books! We also keep the phone and answering machine here.

Birds'-eye view, skylight dormer:

We love our recycling center and the inset composter:

Custom wood hood built by DH. Upper cabinets are 18" deep.

Recycling center on island and shallow cutting board cabinet:

Tiled fire extinguisher niche. This is located behind the ovens; countertops are 30" and ovens were pulled forward by 6".

Upper cabinet knobs:

Baking Area with 30" countertops: (we keep things out on them and still have room to roll out a pie crust or make biscuits).

Top drawer: (note my new XMAS presents, my pink thermapen and my yellow lemon juice squeezer, thanks to zelmar and Breezygirl!)

Middle drawer:

Bottom drawer:

Next drawer stack over to the left, fun storage:

Bottom drawer:

I like the Rev-A-Shelf pull-outs (DH HATED installing these with a passion) but they are flimsy (wobbly) in comparison to my Blum Blu-Motion drawer glides.

In the upper cabinets, DH has built custom spice racks for us:

We were able to find a caulk which matched our grout. We dealt with a local metal working shop to create our stainless steel surround and custom hood liner:

Pantry:
Linen closet at left, eventually washer and dryer at far end. The base cabinet at the end has a single large pullout; this will be for clothes sorting bins.

Filing cabinets and beverage fridge:

Cabinets: Conestoga RTA Cabinets and Doors, Crystal White, Door CRP-10875, Cordovan stain on island.
Counters: Cambria Torquay
Bar stools: Carrington CourtDirect Mitchell 26" bar stools, with COM and custom stain.

Wall paint: BM Aura Vancouver Day

Tile: kj patterson, Fireclay Debris

Cabinet hardware
Upper Hafele Knob Clear/Polished Chrome - HAF-135-75-420
Lower: RH Bistro Pull

Lights:
Varaluz, Nevada (table)
LBL lighting monorail, Lava II
Undercabinet: Philips powercore profile LED strips

Appliances/Fixtures:
Kohler Karbon faucet
KWC Sin Faucet
48" Capital Culinarian
Solon Inset Composter
Sharp 24" MW Drawer
Hood: Prestige insert with remote blower
Franke Peak SS Sink
Silestone Silgranit Sink, Biscuit
TapMaster
Hafele Food Pedals
Miele Futura Dimension

This post was edited by oldbat2be on Sun, Dec 30, 12 at 12:43