I hate the layout of this kitchen. Fridge door doesn't open all the way because it is too close to the wall
The flow is awful...The big blank wall across from the island I would love to build out and put a pantry in because storage is really needed in here! Our pendants are new and I love them and I also have a new range because the other one was not conducive to cooking, lol...

I posted pics of it a few weeks ago and was told to post a bird's eye layout.

So here is my awful drawing. Sorry if it isn't really proper. The kitchen is about 14 x 17. Not sure if we want a complete over haul or just spruce up, but I think moving appliances counts as complete over haul! Right now everything is builder grade bottom of the line. Our kitchen was a two story space that we closed in last year, so the pics will reflect some of what it used to look like.

I will add the pics in, too.

doorway to foyer and front door:

Here is a pantry I saw on Pinterest that I want to copy for that blank wall...thoughts?

thank you for any and all ideas and comments.

Well, we've finally got a (mostly) finished kitchen! This kitchen's been in the planning stages for 8 years and I've been in and out of this forum for just about that long-- wow, time flies! Whether I've posted or just lurked, the information I've gotten here has been INVALUABLE.

I can unequivocally say that my kitchen would not look anything like what it does without this Forum, and for that I offer my profound gratitude-- there is, quite literally, no way I could have done it without all of you, past and present.

So, here are the photos of the finished result:

From 2010-0818

From 2010-0818

From 2010-0818

From 2010-0818

From 2010-0818

From 2010-0818

From 2010-0818

For the entire album with detailed photos, just click on the link below any of the photos above!

Here are the details:

Cabinetry: IKEA Lidingo White (with glass uppers) for the perimeter, Tidaholm Brown/Black for the island
Island Knobs & Pulls: Anne at Home Farm Collection and Lewis Dolin Glass Cup Pulls (from Myknobs.com)
Perimeter Knobs and Pulls: Anne at Home Horse Collection, generic polished chrome knobs, cup pulls, and bar pulls (from Myknobs.com)
Wall Paint: BM Revere Pewter
Trim, Hood, and Fireplace Paint: Valspar Bright White (from Lowe’s)
Perimeter Counters: IKEA Butcher Block, stained Black with India Ink and sealed with Waterlox
Island Counter: IKEA Butcher Block, sealed with Watco food safe butcher block sealer
Main Sink: Whitehaus 36" farm sink (from Vintagetub.com)
Island Sink: IKEA single Domsjo, undermounted instead of the usual overmount installation
Faucets: IKEA Hjuvik
Refrigerator: Because we grow a lot of what we eat (so we don't need to store much) and have a large fridge in an adjacent laundry room, we chose a generic small undercounter fridge (Home Depot, off the shelf)
Wine chiller: Sunbeam (Home Depot, off the shelf)
Dishwashers: Kenmore and Hotpoint, both existing and 5-7 years old
Microwaves: 8 year old Kenmores
Island Oven: IKEA Datid 30"
Hood: ProLine 36" range hood (from eBay)
Range: IKEA Praktfull Pro A50
Backsplash Behind Range: Handthrown Williamsburg brick (local brickyard, left over from another project)
Flooring: Lumber Liquidators, Hand Scraped Teak
Island and Sink Pendants: IKEA Ottava
Cabinet lights: IKEA Grundtal single puck lights
Chandelier over the Table: Progress lighting, black 5-light chandelier (Home Depot, off the shelf)
Fireplace: Style Selections 36" Vent Free LP fireplace (Lowe’s, off the shelf)

A few notes about the remodel, just to hit some discussion points I see come up a lot in this Forum:

Our kitchen lives in a big old 1840 farmhouse, which has been part of a working farm since the day it was built. Originally it was soybeans, but now it's part of a gentleman's farm (horses, heritage gardens and poultry), so everything has to be hard wearing and practical. It needs to stand up to heavy traffic, mud, hay, tools, and the occasional chicken (though usually when they wander in, they don't go much further than the family room, because they like the television). That definitely informed our choices for surfaces-- they needed to be hard cleanable, and ultimately easily refinished or replaced down the line.

Because the entire house already has strong architectural elements (huge moldings and built-ins), we worked within the style we already had-- all the kitchen moldings, mantels, panels and cabinets match (or are closely styled after) what already exists in the house. We definitely didn't do a period kitchen (we wanted a 2010 layout with all the conveniences), but we wanted the kitchen to look like it belonged in the house.

The big thing for us was budget-- believe it or not, the entire kitchen was done for UNDER $20K. Four big things contributed to that:

1/ We DIY'ed the ENTIRE project, start to finish. The only thing we hired out was the gas line install for the fireplace and range, because state law requires it. Other than that, all planning, demo, sourcing, and construction was on us. Might be why it took us 8 years. . .

2/ We reused what we could, and scrounged a lot, especially construction materials (which could have been buckets of money, considering all the custom work we did in the space), and kept what appliances we could. It was also a great way to be environmentally responsible on a project that, let's face it, has a lot of non-necessities involved.

3/ IKEA, IKEA, IKEA. If you're anywhere reasonably close to an IKEA, and you're on anything approaching a budget, go check it out. The cabinet quality for the price can't be beat (except for a few pockets of custom cabinet makers), and there are a lot of great accessories, appliances, lighting and other things to be had for a terrific price. As always, you have to pick and choose your items for quality and value, but at least in our experience, it is definitely there to be had for the buyer with a good eye.

4/ We didn't go for major appliance upgrades. Our whole family LOVES to cook (and eat!), and we wanted a great looking, functional space to do it all in, but we just weren't convinced that we needed more than the basics right now. If we want to upgrade down the line, it's easy enough to do, but right now our Wolf budget is standing in our barn eating hay, and our LaCanche budget is steered towards this Show Hunter prospect I have my eye on . . .

So there's our formula for a great kitchen that works for us considering the (kind of odd!) parameters we had. Hope you all can take at least something useful away from our experience.

I've submitted the kitchen to the FKB, and I'll answer whatever questions you've got. . .

Thanks again, everyone!

The funny thing is, the kitchen seems bigger to me now, that it isn't an endless expanse of 'air' in the ceiling.

Here's the before:

and now, with our new ceiling:

I adore these pendants we chose:

We also closed off the two story foyer and catwalk above to make a loft at top of the steps that will be our home office/library.

The bedroom is still sparse; I need to go shopping now that I have a color scheme and much more room.

I did them as collages to make the uploading a bit easier... Thanks for looking:) ( I have new kitchen pics in the kitchen forum, too, if you want to see it with the new, lower ceiling)

thank you!

Right now it is our office area but we are relocating all that up to the office we are adding on. So I will have a blank wall once again. We have an island with seating so I don't need a kitchen table...

Ideas?

Now for the details (if I can remember them all!)

The cabinets are custom cabinets from a shop here in Atlanta called The Town Carpenter.
The cabinets are painted Sherwin Williams "Creamy White" with all of the black removed. This became known as "custom creamy" at the cabinet shop and they sold several more jobs of this color while my cabinets were being made.
The walls are painted Benjamin Moore's "You Are My Sunshine."
The floors are white oak from the trees we cut down while clearing the lot to build with multiple coats of tung oil - no stain.
The library ladder was made from the leftover floor boards with the same tung oil treatment.
The perimeter counters are honed Crystal Pearl Quartzite.
The island countertop is honed Virginia Mist.
The range is a 48" dual fuel Five Star (one gas oven one convection).
The hood is a Ventahood with a custom cover.
I have two dishwashers. One is a top of the line Kitchen Aid and one is a Miele.
The clean up sink is an Ikea Domsjo single bowl undermounted.
The prep sink is a Kohler stages 36" mounted wrong ways about.
The refrigerator is a SubZero and the freezer is a Thermador Freedom Column.
The warming drawer is a Miele.
The microwave is my old countertop model given a spot under the island. I'm not a fan of built in microwaves.
Behind the range is a sheet of brushed stainelss steel.
The other backsplashes are beadboard painted to match the cabinets.

I think that about covers it. I'll be happy to answer any questions and thanks again to the gardenweb community.

So, we are adding a bedroom onto our house by closing off our two story kitchen. (yeah, sorta weird, but that's what the house came with!) It is a 16'10" ceiling and obviously I will have a standard ceiling in my kitchen after they do the work.
I now have 6 pot lights and a center ceiling fan. They need to put new lights in the new ceiling when it is built.
We are not doing our kitchen reno yet, but hopefully will soon. I want to try to think ahead as far as the ceiling/lights so I don't have to re-do them in the future. Does that make sense?
We now have a big center island and I want to put in pendants over it. I just don't want to have a 'why didn't we think of that before??' moment when we decide it is time to do the kitchen.

Any tips/ideas would be great:)

here is an old pic from before we moved in...we now have an island in the space in front of the sink. It is 3' x 5' with an overhang for three stools.

For those of you who have worked with kitchen designers, have you seen a list of things to go in cabinets/drawers? Such as pots, pans, lids, silverware; but also things like birthday candles, serving platters, etc.?

I'm hoping for a checklist so I can make sure I'm not forgetting something big.

Thanks!

Carla in Sac

We now have a big center island and I want to put in pendants over it. I just don't want to have a 'why didn't we think of that before??' moment when we decide it is time to do the kitchen.

Any tips/ideas would be great:)

I have a large kitchen with a big blank wall opposite my windows/sink. This wall is L shaped. I have limited storage so was thinking of bumping out the sides and building a pantry along the length of the wall. (basically turning the L into a U and adding a front with doors on it.)

However...the almost entire 'L' of the wall contains baseboard heating. Is there any way to deal with this? Do we have to move it? relocate it? leave it and build pantry around it?

I would love to make my blank wall a usable space...I hope someone can offer some suggestions! thanks!