Here is a link that might be useful: freedom bracket

There are a lot of buttons to press, and the learning curve is slow: the book they send is the worst manual I have received for anything ever. Still, I have learned more about using the thing and I do like it. It's a second oven for me; my other is a 36" gas. That's a large cavity so I like sometimes to use the smaller. I don't actually know how to compare energy consumption - apples and oranges in so many ways.

The 24" Miele cavity is very large for some reason. I've cooked two chickens in it a couple times, believe it or not. What I love about the electricity is, of course, that you can set the oven to come on and cook for a given amount of time: in you walk to a cooked, ready-waiting dinner. So wonderful! If I've put meat in to cook later on I've first stuffed the oven with ice packs to cool it down so as to be slightly less scary having meat sitting around uncooked. But I digress....

I haven't used the Advantium so can't comment. I was set on it until I learned that it cannot go under-counter. This is apparently something you cannot slip with with so we were stuck with the more expensive Miele.

A good piece of advice I received here is to plan cabinetry right next to the speed oven to hold its racks. You will be changing them out, probably, with some frequency so having something to hold this nearby is very helpful if you want to avoid an expensive unused box. I built a 4" drawer right underneath the 24" Miele, which just slides right into a 24" box - very easy. Underneath that I have another drawer for MW (i.e., glass pyrex) containers -- it all works out very nicely, all tucked underneath the counter.

But I still have a toaster oven out on the counter and it gets used every time anyone toasts something. You might be able to get the Miele to make some toast-facsimile but it would take vigilance and probably turning of bread, etc... a real pain. I'm definitely not willing to go there. I like that my toaster oven has a timer and shuts off appropriately. But I have enough counter space to afford this inefficiency.

If you're tempted by the lower end Miele, try to see a real live one; it seems significantly different from the high-end one though I've never seen them side-by-side.

Cabinets- existing cheap Merrilat builder quality cabs (not solid wood)- painted a creamy white.
I put two wood carvings in the glass doors of the two cabs about the sink to add some texture and element of interest.

Counters and Island- Danby Marble- White Mountain- MUCH more stain resistant that carerra. Ive had it almost 3 months and zero stains! Chipping is another story. I would highly recommend bull nose edges. My ogee edge on the island has not chipped but my perimeter counters with the standard edge have chipped when a ice tea jar fell and hit it:( I also had a few sample tiles propped up against the backsplash while I was deciding on tile and a couple fell and scratched or lightly chipped the counter. This is am bummed about, but much I can do.

Isand- 3 new base cabinets from Home Depot- ordered the Thomisville line in chocolate. My handy man spiffed up the island with some nice thick moldings and trim.

Wall color- Revere Pewter BM

BS- Devonshire 4X12 marble tiles from The Tile Shop

Sink- Kohler apron front sink
Faucet by Jado

Thank you GW's - I could not have pulled this off without you. The advice I received on this site helped me SO much..Thank you!

onelady1dog2girls, I used "regular" grout in my master bathroom and kitchen. I'm really disappointed with the floor grout in the master bath. It stained immediately. In the second bath that I just did, I used epoxy grout on the floor (Spectralock) and it's fabulous. But it was a bit hard to work with, and I didn't want to have to do it on the walls and shower area. There, I used Tec Accucolor XT (the "XT" is important if you're looking for it) which is a highly modified grout. More modified than other modified grouts, if I understand right. It's alos a little harder to work with, but not too bad. And so far, it's been a breeze to keep clean.

Of course, white grout is harder to keep clean than darker colors. I used regular grey grout in my master shower floor and it hasn't been too bad, although that awful pink stuff does grow in it. That pink stuff hasn't touched any of the grout in my daughters bath (with the two grouts listed above) and they get the same amount of use and cleaning.

Terri, there are some photos of my master bath during the renovation here:
http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/bath/msg1207570323032.html

and here:
http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/bath/msg0108091815115.html

and here (this one has the most finished photos, at the top and halfway down the thread):
http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/bath/msg010946331466.html

Here is a link that might be useful: staceyneil's master bathroom

winter

I think if you used 1" dividers it is possible to get 4 lockers in 5' but would also think about switching the lockers to your longer space.

Hope this helps:)

We also have two other huge closets for coat storage but use the cubbies the most, it's my favorite part of our new home. :)

Sound levels are hard to describe but I'll try:

Lowest speed (this hood has variable blower speed) - on low you can't hear it

50% speed - our refrigerator running will drown out the blower but noise level of wind hiss is similar. So far it seems this will be the speed we used the most.

75% a bit louder than the refrigerator but only hear wind noise with air going thru baffles - loud enough to hear but noise drops off as soon as you back off from the hood, especially about 5 feet away. This speed so far is all we've needed when doing the most smoke producing cooking - using cast iron skillets super hot and blackening various meats. Tons of smoke and 75% power easily pulls everything out.

100% - a slight hum from the remote blower and a fair amount of hiss of air being sucked thru the baffles. Sound level probably about 3/4 way between the sound of a refrigerator running and a table top microwave (probably closer to the microwave). We haven't seen yet where this full speed has been needed - but good to know its there.

Our previous range hood had an 8 sones sound level and just for reference - 8 sones is similar (to us) as a jet engine running the the kitchen - or maybe even a lawn mower. 8 sones is very distracting and hard to have a good conversation.

We looked at many different hoods and every hood we saw with an internal blower was loud so we knew we really needed the external blower. With our kitchen remodel our kitchen will be part of a great room and we wanted the quietest possible blower setup we could get. We are 100% satisfied with the performance and noise levels.

With our remodel, we will soon have a different rangetop installed (already delivered), a 48" BS with 24" grill and we have no concerns about our range hood being able to do the job since it's already proven it can handle what we throw at it.

I would not hesitate to purchase the BEST products again - much cheaper than others and nice quality.

This is our kitchen layout with the sink included. Ignore the disparity with some of the cabinets, these are a few iterations of our kitchen plan and while the layout and the size of everything has remained static, we've made some changes in the aesthetics.

The size of our kitchen is 12'1" x 17' the island is 4'4" x 5'10" and we hope to fit three barstools at the counter.

Given the "distance" between the main sink and the stove, the veg sink seems to make sense. But as all things build related go it's an added cost and my husband is only lukewarm on the idea. Thanks in advance for any and all feedback.

Here is a link that might be useful: AboutToGetDusty's kitchen

I put a lot of GWers in touch with him after I found this great information!

Here's a link to the page, they have more than what is listed. But email him, tell him Karen V from PA "sent you". He is great to work with.

Bee

Here is a link that might be useful: Perlick's factory Seconds

Ok - here are all the details...
Cabinets - custom builder. Shaker style. Full overlay. Painted cabinets - Colored Lacquer used is same color as SW Impressive Ivory.
Wood cabinets - natural cherry.
Hardware - Amerock Highland Ridge in Dark Oil Rubbed Bronze. 128mm and a few 3" pulls on small drawers.
Countertops - Anasazi Soapstone from The Stone Studio in Batesville, IN
Backsplash Tile - Debris Tile from Fireclay Tile. 2x6 subways in Kelp Green with swirl accents.
Fireplace Tile - Modern Mythology Phoenix Mixed Stone Mosaic
Paint - Walls are SW Krypton. Trim is SW Impressive Ivory at 50% intensity
Floor - Historic Blend Hickory floor from Tennessee Wood Flooring with hand distressing and square nail holes. 3, 4 & 5" planks, mixed.
Range - Bertazzoni Dual Fuel 48" range in black
Hood - Vent a Hood
Dishwasher - Bosch 800 Plus
Microwave - Sharp 24" Drawer
Sink - Blanco Silgranit Super single in Anthracite
Faucet - Grohe Concetto in Chrome
Soap Dispenser - Elkay Deluxe in Chrome
UCL - Neutral White LED strips from Environmental Lights
Pendants - Kichler Sayre 12" in ORB
Chandelier - Murry Feiss Sullivan Collection in ORB

The old kitchen was not in a terrible state, it was just not functional for us. The double ovens wouldn't close and we'd been reduced to duct taping them closed. The cooktop didn't cook anything evenly and the tile was coming up. There was also a ton of wasted space, which just irritated me when I couldn't find a place to store anything.

I knew I wanted a traditional range because I have short arms and always worried about burning myself when getting things out of the wall ovens, so I knew that a layout change was in order. We also had a very dark space with almost no natural light. We opened up the room to the dining room and put in light colored cabinets with lots of great lighting. The room definitely doesn't feel dark anymore. YAY!

Here's what we were working with before:

And here's what we have now...

Love the dog food storage. It makes feeding time a whole lot easier.

And my spice/knife drawer - thanks to Breezy for the idea!

It seems like just about every decision in our space has been touched in some way by you guys. Thanks for helping us create our dream kitchen!

Not done:
light fixtures
tile
knobs on uppers
pantry door handle
drywall repair around outlets
paint
stools
kitchen table, banquette, chairs
DR chandy
DR chairs

Excuse any dirt or mess you see in the backgrounds!

Details

Perimeter: Carrara marble, honed 4cm
Island: Black Walnut
Custom Cabinets: Cornerstone Cabinetry, painted BM Simply White
Hardware: Restoration Hardware Aubrey pulls, 4', 6' and 8'
Rangetop: 36' 6 burner Capital Culinarian
Hood: Rangecraft, Viser model
Fridge: KA built-in
MW: Sharp 24' drawer
Sinks: Blanco silgranit in metallic gray
Faucets: Hansgrohe high-arc

From the Dining Room.

Closeup of beverage serving area. (Wow, that's a lot of booze. We're really not alcoholics!) We entertain a lot so I plan to set up beverages, which end up to mostly non-alocholic, here. I rotated this in photobucket, but it shows here the other direction.

I bought these pendants on sale and plan to do a DIY mercury glass technique on them to see if I can cut the glare but not make them look cheap. If they don't work, then I'm not out much and will continue the hunt.

I'll put a link to my photobucket album with more pics. My flickr account was full so the album will only have pics since we moved back in.

Oh, and I said I'd post some pics of the new cats, too. That's next!

Here is a link that might be useful: more pics

To the right of my refrigerator is an oversized walk-in pantry. There are temporary shelves in there now... someday soon we'll have cabinets and nice shelving and I'll share those pics as well :)

It's been a long year, but we moved in a few weeks ago and we're so thrilled!
Again, I'm so thankful to all the gracious forum members here. I get so much great information and inspiration here and your encouragement with Round 2 has been so helpful!

This is a whole house remodel of a 1940's Cape that we purchased last Spring after selling our house. The kitchen is an addition. We still need to paint the window trim and wall above sink, but who knows when....Also, the black front and back door will have better handle hardware soon, just so you know...

I still seem to have giant pics from photobucket, apologies.

Information
Cabs~ Shaker, inset, BM White Dove, custom (same cabinetmaker)
Counters~ Danby Marble on perimeter and walnut on island
Backsplash~Walker Zanger Gramercy Park in Heirloom White
Sink~Shaw's 30 inch
Faucet~Perrin and Rowe, polished nickel
Pendants~ Circa Lighting Small Yoke, polished nickel
Hardware~All PN. Schaub (thanks kateskouros) for appliances, RH Gilmore pulls, RH Glass knobs, Rejuvenation utility latches, Cliffside Brass icebox latches
Stools~Cottage Maine
Fridge~Liebherr
Range~Viking (mistake, me thinks)
Pot filler~Rohl Swing Arm
DW~ Miele (I think Inspira?)
Fridge Drawers~Kitchen Aid (Love, love,love)
Microwave Drawer~Sharp 24 inch

Thanks for looking !!

Love the Liebherr fridge, thanks Marthavila.

Banquette. Will eventually have cushions, etc.

View from kitchen to front door

Here is mine:

I am so thrilled with all the help you are getting from GW.
Everyone is amazing. Rhome is a super star.
I just wanted to toss in these visuals so you can further
see how lovely it could look. And little details others
have done with similar window, range and space.

~boxer

HB Photo

Plum Builders

JD Design Group

Architect Oscar Shamamian

Kitchen Oliveaux

Have a Beautiful and Elegant kitchen blog

The cleanup sink is not under the window b/c your Prep Zone and where you will spend approx 70% of your work in the kitchen is now on the island. There's a secondary Prep Zone b/w the cleanup sink and range. (If the window were under the sink there would be too much competition for the floor and counter space on the left side of the sink b/w the Cooking Zone and Cleanup Zone.)

The trash pullout is convenient to both Prep Zones, the Cooking Zone, and the Cleanup Zone.

The refrigerator is on the periphery so it's easily accessible from inside & outside the kitchen without the "insiders" and "outsiders" getting in each others way.

Ditto for the MW, for the most part (if you use a MW drawer).

Ditto the prep sink...it can double as a drink sink if needed and keep outsiders out.

There's a 15" seating overhang. Only two seats. The island isn't wide enough for 3 seats (it would have to be 72" long) and not deep enough for a seat on the side unless you shortened up the island (so there's decent aisle space b/w the table & island with eating) and eliminated another 15" of cabinet space. You could move the seats on the long end all the way over, but there's still the issue of a decent aisle. 44" is pushing it for aisle width with seats on one side (I'd rather see 48" to 54"), let alone adding a seat on the other side to the mix.

Gotta go...basketball game soon (my DD is on the JV team).

You can handle the scuffiness of latex paint (which does in fact scuff more easily, and does break down more readily under the Magic Erasers), is with paste wax.

Wait until the paint is cured...latex dries faster but cures more slowly than oil, so ask your paint store what the curing time is for your paint. Then give the risers a coat of good quality paste wax. I like Butcher's wax for this, but there are other favorites. I do this on bookshelves and open kitchen shelves as well to prevent the scuffing they take.

The wax keeps the scuffing to a minimum, gives a little extra depth to the paint finish, and is much easier to touch up than paint. You just have to remember to strip off the wax before repainting, but for a smallish job like risers, it's absolutely worth the reduced maintenance, and in my experience means you hardly ever have to repaint.

Our house is a coastal farmhouse style in NE Florida. I dreamed of white shaker inset cabinets (Jbrodie's to be exact) so we gave our cabinet maker a picture of her kitchen. I was a little nervous because he had never built insets before, but I'd say he did a pretty good job! They are wonderful! (and ended up around $6,000 less than full overlays that were quoted from Kraftmaid)
The undercabinet lighting reads a little yellow, but the walls are a soft gray...we went with only a 4 in granite backsplash and it works well for us.
Please let me know if you have any other questions...I'm sure I left a lot out!

Details:
Cabinets- local cabinet maker, white shaker inset, BM Simply White
Hardware- Amerock Revitalize from HardwareHut.com
Countertops- Black Aracruz granite
Island Bar top- custom pine
Sink- Bella Lavello 30" Fireclay from designerplumbing.com
Faucet- Julianne Decor Design from designerplumbing.com
Wall paint- BM Edgecomb Gray
Refrigerator- Frigidaire Professional series
Microwave- Frigidaire Micro Professional
Wall Oven- Frigidaire 30" Professional
Gas Cooktop- Electrolux 5 burner gas
Downdraft- Broan
Dishwasher- Bosch
Pendants- Bronze dome pendants 76101-89 from Bellacor.com
Floors- 4 in. prefinished pine from Lumber Liquidators
Barstools- Target
Dining Table- Harvest collection Pottery barn

I want to thank so many out there for your help!!! I couldn't have done it without you. If you can believe it I really wanted the marble, soapstone and white cabinets kitchen, but this one really goes with my home beautifully. Some of my inspirations were Mamadadapaige, GGLKS, Erikanh, blakey, and so many others!
This was done on a budget since this won't be our forever home. We took down a wall between a small kitchen and small dining room. Everyone said don't do it and lose your dining room, but I am so glad we did. It really changed the way we live in this house. We have a relatively small island and it is the most used piece in the kitchen. We love it!

Some of the details-
Costa Esmeralda granite
Adelphi cabinets in eggshell
Kitchenaid french door counter depth fridge
Kitchenaid dishwasher
Kitchenaid wine fridge
DCS gas 5 burner range
Kobe Range Hood
Delta Victorian Pull down faucet
Kichler undercabinet lighting
Island Pendants- Kitchler Industrial
Insinkerater
Backsplash- Sonoma 2x6 tile in Krazy Krackle
Behind the range- Herringbone mosaic Krazy Krackle
Grout - Laticrete Antique White
Sink- Kindred
Harvest Pedestal Table-Pottery Barn
Parsons Chairs- PB
Bar Stools- 2 Schoolhouse and 1 saddle from PB
Drum Shade over table- Veraluz Tweed Shade
Floors- Oak with Minwax Special Walnut Stain
Paint- Crown Point Sand- Benjamin Moore

I have found my choice to be so easy to take care of. The granite hides things and doesn't show fingerprints. The stainless just needs a wipe with a wet microfiber every now and then followed by a dry one. And the wood floors have been fantastic...so much better than the white vinyl we had before.

Thanks again!! Maybe I will post more pictures thru the seasons when I change it up. There are lots of pictures, I tried to add some befores so you can see the change!
Click on the album for even more.

From Positano's Finished Kitchen

From Positano's Finished Kitchen

From Positano's Finished Kitchen

From Positano's Finished Kitchen

From Positano's Finished Kitchen

From Positano's Finished Kitchen

From Positano's Finished Kitchen

From Positano's Finished Kitchen

From Positano's Finished Kitchen

From Positano's Finished Kitchen

From Positano's Finished Kitchen

From Positano's Finished Kitchen

From Positano's Finished Kitchen

From Positano's Finished Kitchen

From Positano's Finished Kitchen

From Positano's Finished Kitchen

From Positano's Finished Kitchen

From Positano's Finished Kitchen

From Positano's Finished Kitchen

From Positano's Finished Kitchen

Here is a link that might be useful: Positano's Finished Kitchen

For my nook I bought Holsag “Bulldog” custom stools which are very well made, sturdy and actually have a finish that is into the wood as opposed to a finish that sits on top that you can scrape off with a finger nail. They are on sale for $118, come in 7 different heights and I think 28 different finishes with a choice of 2 different metal cover foot guards. They also offer a seat cushion with more options there. I would highly recommend these if you want a hardy backless practical stool that will fit with all kitchen styles as they are a very good value and quality.

My peninsula stools I bought from Carolina Rustica online. They have a very nice selection of stools. I picked a Johnston Casuals stool (which I love); they come in 17 or so finish options, 2 height options and over 60 fabric/leather/vinyl seat cover options. They also swivel! These stools were priced at more than I wanted to spend but are well made and make a statement so I do not regret the purchase

Both of these picks will take at least four weeks to get.

The stool search was a big torment for me, if you do a search here in the kitchen forum there are a few posts with a list of online stool shop ideas if you do not find anything local. There are also quite a few modern stores as well.

Good luck!

they are actually NEW pine from carlisle wide plank floors (like everything, found through GW forums!). looked into reclaimed bc i loved the idea of re-use. but it was way too expensive.

i am thrilled and relieved with the way the floors turned out - i'd gone out on a limb with dh on selecting pine vs a dark stained hardwood. again, thinking of practicality first, i wanted flooring that 1) could take a beating from my kids and 2) wouldn't require crazy amounts of maintenance. on the one hand, hardwood is harder than pine and dings less. on the other hand, all wood gets ding-ed. i figured with pine, we could do a bit of pre-distressing, and then our natural distressing would just be part of the look. whereas with hardwood, the dings never look like you were going for that look - they just look beat up. *especially* with dark stains.

one year later, the floors are beat up. but they look great and have that aged patina. and they fit in perfectly with the antique timberframe.

i loved working with carlisle, as did our builder. they are the real deal. we did eastern white pine in 12"-16" random width planks (with two superwide runs of 22") in the great room, and 8"-12" random width planks in the rest of the 1st floor (smaller spaces: entry, hall, bedroom, sitting rm/library) - all 4'-16' lengths.

flooring isn't cheap, but i thought these floors were a great value for the quality and impact (nearly everyone who visits comments on how much they love the floors). we had a cost-plus agreement with our builder, and the builder pricing worked out to less than $8/sf. so of course with the builder fee, installation and finishing the total cost was more, but compared with other options i thought that was really money well spent for solid wood flooring that would have a very long life.

i also got some encouragement on the pine after i'd seen it looking great in the golf clubhouse of a course my in-law's used to belong in naples, fl. and a friend pointed out the pine floors at this gorgeous place:

inn at palmetto bluff - pine floors

figured if golf clubs and hotels think pine can hold up to their level of foot traffic, it ought to hold up to my active bunch.

btw, our stain is from carlisle and called bradford umber. the floors are finished with stain and tung oil. it's dark enough and very warm (without the yellowness of natural pine that wouldn't have fit in with the timberframe), but not so dark that you're always seeing dust on the floors.

hope that helps! also attaching link to carlisle:

carlisle wide plank floors

measurements of island/aisle/etc and more pictures next week!

cheers,
caoh

p.s. note to jsweenc - i'm sure your kitchen is fantastic! but i wish i'd posted earlier for you. =) you are funny and remind me it's probably a good thing i haven't been back to the GW forums since we finished our project. don't want any more ideas in my head now that it's done and money spent!

Here is a link that might be useful: carlisle wide plank floors

i'm more of a reader here than participant, so i actually have no idea how to post pictures here. but i just pulled together a bunch of kitchen pics for a post on a blog i started as a summer project, so i thought i'd put the link here for anyone interested. i always loved seeing people's final kitchens - such great inspiration (especially loved the something's gotta give kitchen - you'll see the influence).

** link to dream farmhouse kitchen **

i also put a link to this forum in my post - i'm always recommending it to friends and family who are remodeling or building. thanks again to all here! i love how it all came together but am now fervently hoping never to build again. results are great, but cost and process excruciating!

cheers!

Here is a link that might be useful: dream farmhouse kitchen

Island, I've posted photos of my kitchen in various stages in the past. But it seems GW doesn't "hold onto" old posts and photos anymore. So I'll repost some here. These photos are about a year old and show the project in various stages of not being completed, lol. I'm so happy we're almost done, actually once the crown molding is installed, our kitchen project is finally complete and I'll post photos in the Finished Kitchens Blog.

New mud room

Combination Beverage Center/Garden Sink/Egg Washing/Drying Station, lol.

BEFORE

DURING

AFTER!

A few of my favorite things... all thanks to GW.

Corner drawers

Vertical pan drawers

Spice drawer

Potato and onion storage

Pet station

Charging drawer

Swing out compost

Other favorite things

Induction cooktop. Especially love the ease of clean up.
Tapmaster. How did I live without it?
Fiber optic disposal switch.
Pull out trash and recycling.
Gaggenau steam oven
In cabinet TV
More windows!
Prep sink next to cooktop

Could live without
Servo drive for trash pullout. Kind of nifty, but could do without it

Wish I had paid more attention to GW
Double hung windows. Like the look, but they are very hard to open and close b/c of counter depth.

All in all though we're very happy with how it turned out. It is *so* much more functional than the old kitchen.

kitch

Hope I'm not putting too many pictures!

Quick description (feel free to contact me if you have questions)
-Soapstone: Julia
-Cabinets: Custom, inset/flush shaker style with single bead (waiting to see if we get some issues resolved before I recommend the cabinet maker)
-Bookcase and desk tops: walnut
-Sharp microwave oven drawer (love it!)
-GE fridge
-Shaw 30 inch apron sink
-Wolf range top
-Thermador double ovens
-Vent-a-hood hood
-Dal tile
-potfiller: Newport Brass
-hot/cold faucet Newport Brass
-Main faucet: Mico
-Door to garage: one panel painted with chalkboard paint...fun! The kids love this and it's fun to put messages to guests, each other, holiday wishes, etc.
-Pull out baskets (love these...I keep bread in one and potatoes, onions, etc. in the other)
-Wine shelf--love it!
-Bar stools from Sturbridge Yankee Workshop (love these and they were so reasonable!)
-What would I do differently? More than 12 inch overhang on seating area of island (maybe 14-16 inch). And I might skip the bead board in the backs of the bookshelfs and glass cabs.

Happy kitchen designing to all! Thank you again!

The thread fell off when this forum had technical glitches a few weeks ago, so I have taken the liberty of linking the post below, both for the benefit of those who haven't seen this great kitchen (it's amazing!) and also for the many who have looked for it for future reference.

What's odd is that there are very recent posts on this thread but it stil doesn't show up on the main Kitchens page. I think Julie must get the notices and reply, but I'm not sure if those who post see the replies...

In any event, here it is. Julie, I hope you don't mind that I'm putting you back in circulation :-)

Jbrodie's 99% Finished Kitchen Creamy White w/ Soapstone

Eliz

PS. Hope this loads okay - it was finicky when I tried it...

Here is a link that might be useful: Orchidluvr's kitchen