I am going to change the wire shelves to wood shelves in my remodel, and make the shelves only 12 inches deep. I would like to have pull-out shelves on the right side, that take advantage of that 24 inch deep space. Would you recommend that? I have a custom cabinetmaker so I think I can tweak the size of the pull out drawers.

Any advice you have on how to reconfigure the pantry is appreciated. It will not be as wide in the remodel, probably 1-2 feet less wide.

Here is the current chaos, I mean pantry:

This post was edited by tl1969 on Tue, Jan 15, 13 at 17:18

My feature wall cabinets have arrived and been installed. They are Shiloh inset in "vintage" cherry with their Sundance finish. Flush toe kick since this isn't a prep or clean up space. The countertop is 2" thick walnut with an eased edge and oil finish. The rear of the glass front cabinet will have a mirror installed. Eventually, these cabinets will have unlacquered brass knobs and long bar pulls from Colonial Bronze.

The fridge is an Electrolux Icon and I will tell you, it's a big step down in quality from a SubZero (which is what it is replacing) but I really needed to resize the fridge to improve kitchen function. On the bright side, we do have chilled water again. And ice.

So far, my contractor has been a dream and the project actually looks and flows like it is being handled by a professional. I am so pleased. It is such a relief after all the awful contractor experiences I have had. I can't wait til the beams and ceiling are painted in. Also, we have to blend in the floor finish since these cabinets aren't as deep as the "custom" cabinets they are replacing. Once that gets done, we can install the shoe molding and the bottom fridge grill.

Before in all its oak and cranberry glory ~

and after ~ We pushed the refrigerator back into part of our front hall closet and turned a G into a galley. New 42" uppers and (almost) all drawers. I love the new layout!

The details:
Cabinets: Cliq Studios Tea Leaf lowers, Painted Linen uppers
Counters: Black Pearl Granite
Sink: 30" Kohler Whitehaven in biscuit
Faucet: Kohler Simplice in stainless steel
Ceiling Light: Rejuvenation Jefferson in black with glass shade from ebay
Sink Light: Hi-Lite Manufacturing Warehouse Shade 8" in Vanilla Cream
Undercabinet Lights: ProLED 1.5 watt strips
Peninsula Legs and Apron: Osborne Wood Products St. Simons Island Post and beaded apron painted by me to match
Hardware: Cup Pulls are Thomasville Garner 2 3/4" Cup Pull in matte black, Knobs are Liberty P40005C in flat black, both from Home Depot
Stools: 24" Saddle Seat Stool from Walmart
Flooring: Original maple with a little repair/replacement done
Wall paint: Sherwin Williams Compatible Cream
Trim paint: Sherwin Williams Creamy

I think its helpful to have a budget breakdown especially for lower end kitchens so I thought I'd include that as well:
Cabinets, crown, peninsula legs and apron: $5,500
Granite Counters: $2,200
Other Building Materials: $550
GC's Labor (including installing cabs, framing new closet): $1,600
GC Fee: $400
Lighting: $310
Plumbing Fixtures: $1,200
Hardware: $170
Plumbing: $1,285
Electrical: $1,200
Drywall: $1,100
HVAC: $100
Paint: $50
Accessories: $150

Total: about $16,000 which was pretty much the total budget we started with. Some things shifted back and forth - more on lighting, less on electrical sub, more on drywall, less on plumbing fixtures.

I will get into why at the end.

We got the idea from Fine Home building magazine. It's basically like installing electric underfloor heating. Uses the same elements.

Built a base of 3/4" plywood. Over that a layer of metal bars and plywood, 1/4". Then a 1 1/2" decorative flexible strip was put around this base. Then heating elements wires were laid and then covered with thinset up to the edge of the trim. The granite was laid over this.

Here are some photos.

This is the base under construction.

Base in place.

Heating element.

Outlets and thermostat.

Finished.

Could not get the thermostat in black.

DH tells me that Thermosoft has a new product that would have made this even easier.

Also note, our base had to be designed to support the granite. Talk to your granite fabricator/installer to see what support you would need for the granite and the heating element.

We plan to sit alot at our island and eat some meals. We find unheated granite too cold in the winter for comfort. The heat is completely adjustable. We have it programmed for different temps at different times of day. You can override it up or down at anytime.

I am not concerned about bacteria as I don't keep food directly on my counters. Spills are not harder to clean because they get "baked" on. Due to the granite pattern I find stuff everday on my granite that has been there who knows how long and everything wipes up easily.

We love it. If this granite could not be heated we would have done a wood top instead.

We want a suitable, functional kitchen for a large family and multiple cooks. We also want to increase the pantry storage (the small existing closet pantry is all we have now). Finally, we want to keep the sink in the corner by the large windows. We realize that a better layout might be possible if we moved the sink from the corner but after much consideration, this has become a non-negotiable.

Any and all feedback is welcome, but specifically we could use help on determining:

1. Isle spacing around island: is 42" enough on work side and 36" by pantry?
2. Is 48" adequate spacing from island to table?
3. Microwave drawer placement...in island or between fridge/DW?
4. Prep sink placement?
5. Awkward corner to left of range...ideas?

Thanks for all your help!

We still need to finish painting and Window Treatments (why do these need to be so expensive), new front porches and update our heating system. We already put in all new windows (both units), new electrical (our unit), new floors, 2 new bathrooms, new insulation, kitchen.... an so on.

This forum was a great help in deciding what we needed, wanted and great for resources. There are quit a few things that we did that are direct result of all the research and threads on GW. Thanks:

photos on a cloudy day, much brighter when it isn't so gray out:

looking into the living space from kitchen:

into kitchen from living space:

saved the old dining hutch:

Living space:

My office tucked away with door to front porch and DD easel, my desk is tucked away on the other side as well as a closet.

Pantry/half bath/laundry off the kitchen on the right of photo:

Close up of quartzite:

Anyone that lived in the city might understand why I am so excited about this "room" our half bath/laundry/pantry. To not have to walk 2 or 3 flights of stairs to the basement to do laundry has been awesome (especially since I have a new baby coming end of January). This room needs to be painted and I think I will hang a curtain or fabric to close of the w/d. This was an old useless unfinished 3 seasons porch:

Thanks for looking, sorry if it is so long.