I am trying to design the built-ins and mantle for my fireplace area in great room.

This is what the plan has for dimensions. About a foot on either side of the built-ins and about a foot between the fireplace unit and the built-ins..... the built-ins can be 9 foot maximum (not including the molding on top.) The wall they are on is vaulted and much higher.

I have not been able to find any photos online of what I want.

We will have a flat screen tv above the fireplace (we know the risk... the fireplace will never be on, though.) I like the look of a double mantle or something like this:

However, I do not like open bookcases.

Has anyone seen anything similar that has completely closed off cabinets as built-ins? I am struggling to find any examples to show my cabinet maker... I don't like the idea of filling up bookcases with clutter. I'd rather have storage and hide the items within....

Any ideas? THANKS!

I am mostly a lurker here, but received great advice from time to time on windows, doors and more. Just wanted to say thanks. We moved in around Thanksgiving & have a lot to do (paint columns, landscaping, etc) but we're so happy to be in. Good luck to those of you still in the trenches!
Katie

A few photos:

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Question: How much do your counters overhang the sides and back of your apron sink? What looks best?

Thanks! Camille

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!

Before pics: we moved the kitchen into the family room, the dining room into the kitchen, and the breakfast area into the dining room. (The living room turned into the family room, and the office will soon turn into the living room ... more to do around here.)So these photos are not exactly classic before/afters. (And it's a snowy day, so bright outside, not the best for pics. Oh well.)

Old kitchen

Corresponding view

Old family room:

Corresponding view

Old dining room (both visible walls are now gone)

Corresponding view

I was previously opposed to knocking out both walls, but I am glad we did. For the way we live, it works much better. Entertaining is a cinch now. Because the kitchen is vaulted but the other ceilings are low, it doesn't feel like a huge empty space (that's what I was worried about). And I liked my "other" house, just not the kitchen. It was awful.

I'll post details here, and more specific photos in a subsequent post.

-Cabinets-
Aspen Leaf Kitchens in Denver/Berthoud, CO; proprietary Primer White, BM Taos Taupe on island and butler's pantry, and custom-stained antique pine on breakfast hutch

-Appliances-
SubZero BI-36U fridge, pro handle
Wolf 48 DF range with 4 burners and double griddle
Viking 54 in. hood liner with heat lamps
Thermador DWHD64EP dishwashers
KitchenAid KBCO24RSBX three-zone beverage center
SubZero 700BCI refrigerator/freezer drawers
Sharp 0.8 cu ft microwave

-Counters-
Minas soapstone on perimeter cabinets and hutch
Calacatta gold marble on island and butler's pantry

-Hardware-
Restoration Hardware Gilmore cup pulls, Aubrey knobs and handle pulls, Clear Glass knobs in antique brass, and Season knobs and Hanson pulls in ORB

-Sinks-
Main: soapstone farm sink crafted by Terra Bella/Denver CO
Prep: Ticor S3650

-Faucets-
Main sink: Kohler HiRise bridge with sidespray
Prep sink: Kohler HiRise bar faucet

-Lighting-
Wilmette Clark pendants in ORB (breakfast nook)
Wilmette LaSalle wall sconces in antique brass (later photos)
Visual Comfort Classic Ring chandelier in AB (dining room)
Visual Comfort Four-Light Siena pendant in AB (butler's)

-Island stools-
Ballard Designs Dorchester counter stools in rubbed black (all other furniture and rugs previously owned)

the tile was in stock so it was just about a week to come from their warehouse to the tile store where I picked it up. I had the tiles butted right up to each other so the grout lines are as small as can be, maybe 1/8". I think I used TEC Birch for the grout... was going for a bit of a cream/gray combo to pull in the cream steaks in the counters/tile and gray in the stainless appliances. It is a fairly glossy tile with a crackle finish. I will post some closer up pics below:

Paint - Ellen Kennon Gustavian Grey
Vanity - Medallion in Knotty Alder wood, Walnut stain
Sink & Toilet - Toto Baldwin/Clayton
Faucets - Husdon Reed
Field Tile - Emser Classica in cream
Accent Tile - Walker Zanger Mizu
Floor - Walker Zanger 'White Cloud' marble, honed.
Countertop - Walker Zanger 'White Cloud' marble, polished.
Wall Sconces - Can't remember!
Fixtures - Kohler Bancroft

visuals to help you vote.

Simplicity Kitchen 1107

ReclaimedHomeblog

From WhiteVortex

Okay this matte looks BEAUTIFUL. Maybe I need to rethink
my vote. This image is from Oldhomenewlife

Quick history - this was a total inside/out renovation of a 1870 Victorian cottage. It's tiny. We didn't have much room to expand things, we were stuck with the original house footprint for various reasons. The inside ended up being totally gutted, every interior wall removed, staircase relocated, 1/2 bath added...it was QUITE THE ULCER MAKER. haha. We had drama with the cabinet glaze - we hated it so we ended up having the brand new cabinets painted. But it came out beautiful. We're happy. :-) The deets:

Thomasville cabinets, painted with BM Cloud White. Island is BM Castle Walls.
Wall color BM Gray Wisp
Julia Soapstone (hasn't been oiled in 2 months)
Liehberr fridge
BlueStar stove
FP dishdrawers
Grohe Bridgeford faucet
Schoolhouse lighting fixtures
Meridith Art Tile 2x6 subway
Ikea shelf over stove
Vent-A-Hood hood
Crate and Barrel stools
Floors are quartersawn oak with walnut border - just poly, no stain.

Before: Dh is standing in mudroom b/c there was no other place to put the microwave.

Other direction -

We knocked down the DR wall

After, almost the same shot:

I have heard it called White Piracema, White Beaches, Wave, and I'm sure there are lots of other names. I looked at granite for months and months and it was amazing to watch the slab colors and variations change. Some are super swirly with lots of blue and green and some have more rock and stone look to them with lots of gray and white. All of them were white piracema but new shipments would come in and the look would totally change. Anyway, I love it. The color is great in my home and flows with the rest of the house. We live by the beach and I can't tell you how many different aspects of this granite remind me of different parts of the beach from the sand, to the blue/green pieces that look like sea glass. Everyone has different taste, and for me, this is my perfect granite.

I also want to let you know I think this granite is bullet proof. I know it's not but I tell you the babying stage left quickly as you saw in my other post ("my granite is stressing me out") and now myself, my husband, and my two kids are using it like it was the old plywood counters. We finished the kitchen and summer hit and we are using the heck out of it. I have left things on it overnight by accident...even RED WINE! I get busy putting kids to bed and don't clean off the counters good before going to bed. I have found pizza, tomato sauce, coffee stains, a pile of cut lemons and limes from a cocktail party the night before, and no stains. I'm a stay at home mom and my kitchen gets its use. It was sealed and I will continue to seal it as directed becuase it is working great. Also, I think the colors variation and the colors in this granite are just like camouflage. I don't see crumbs or dirt. I wipe off my counters thinking they are clean only to find coffee, sauce, and all kinds of crap on the paper towel. It's unbelievable how great this granite is at hiding stuff. I wish I had known how easy it was going to be so I wouldn't have stressed over it so much. I can't recommend it enough or tell you enough how much I love my granite! :) I really like it...can you tell? :) Here are some pics...

You can email me with anymore ?'s or for more pictures.

At contract signing or ASAP after:
1. Stone selection (exterior)
2. Fireplace selection
3. Window and door selection, color (Order early! It took a long time for ours to come in.)
4. Siding, fascia, soffit selection
5. Roofing
6. Tubs/showers. Fiberglass or tile? Shower curtain or glass door?
7. Insulation (fiberglass, foam)

During framing:
1. Finalize plumbing fixtures, sinks
2. Cabinet/vanity/island/pantry design
3. Flooring and counters (tile, granite, laminate, hardwood, vinyl, carpet)
4. Wiring for lighting/switches, fans, telephone, TV/cable, stereo, computers, home theater, security, and piping for in-house vac.
5. Finalize trim selections
6. Appliances (you have to know the exact sizes)

When drywaller starts:
1. Interior stain/paint colors
2. Exterior colors. Think about garage doors, what colors are available?
3. Lighting fixtures, indoors and outdoors

Later decisions include vent covers, outlet/switch covers, door hardware, towel bars/hooks in bathrooms, decking material, etc.

We found it VERY helpful to take photos of all of the walls while they were still open, but after the wiring went in. Inevitably, the drywallers cover up a switch or outlet. Having a photo to refer to helps in locating the phantom switch under the drywall. Don't forget to label the photos so that you know which room it is!! It's also helpful to know where all the plumbing is behind those walls.

Anyhow, below is a link to a similar, recent thread. Good luck, and don't forget to relax and have fun! Think about how lucky you are to have all of these choices.

Here is a link that might be useful: Checklist

Cabinets-Wood Mode
Perimeter Counters-Calacatta Crema-honed
Island top-Sapele Mahogany
Range-Wolf
Wall Oven-Miele
Refrigerator-Sub Zero
Dishwashers-Miele
Main Sink-Shaw's Original Farm Sink
Wet Bar Sink-Sink-A-Link Hammered Copper

Everything went very smoothly and I am so excited.
Thanks to GWers (stoners) who shared all their marble and soapstone experiences, pictures, and info-made me confident when I chose the slabs and I'm so pleased with the results (giddy......hugging the installers!)

Now we're waiting for the cabinetmaker to return from vacation & put in upper cabs... Excuse the mess.

Thanks for looking,
Katie

The first was a list of everything I had in my old kitchen plus everything that should have been stored in the kitchen but wasn't.

The second document was a "map" of my kitchen. First, I took a picture of my kitchen design and, in MS PowerPoint, labeled each cabinet & shelf/drawer. There were two pictures, one for each side of the kitchen. Then, I saved them as "jpg" images. I then inserted them into an MS Word document, each on its own page. I then created a table with one row for each shelf/drawer.

My last step was to map the items from the first document to the cabinets & shelves/drawers in the second document.

That document is now in our new kitchen and is used by everyone to remember where everything goes.

This process worked great!

Now, here's my map/list (sorry the pics are so big, but when I made them smaller they were illegible!):

HTH!

Bungalo Bliss

Erikanh suggested this kind and here it is in
a kitchen. I like it. Google image

jeanstofferdesigns

Higherground.com

wilsonart

Live Aux

I love these but this is my inspiration pic so I am
a bit biased. HB

covenantkitchens

harmonyandhome peacockdesigns

Another image of peacock designs

vanwaycabiets

Marinskitchendesigns

icecreamandboysblog

We broke ground on our new home in December & things are rolling along to the finishing stage. Great news-except it is very easy & fun to "clip" posts and tear pages out of magazines. But, actually finalizing and executing it in your (hopefully forever) kitchen? Not so easy for me. So please chime in:

Plan: white, inset cabs with soapstone on the perimeter & walnut stained island ( 8 by 5 with four stools ) topped with 5cm honed calacatta marble.

I love "alliern's" kitchen & it was one of my inspirations. My kitchen set up is almost identical to hers & my cabinet maker is basically copying her island (Thanks alliern!)

I am a bit stumped as to what stools I would use? I was planning on black all wood with an "X" back. Too dark with the dark island?

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This got me to thinking about doing the island in a color rather than the walnut stain. Maybe a french grey? Slate blue? What stools then?

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Floors are 8 inch wide heart pine.
Stools must be all wood.

Help. I cannot even ask my husband's opinion on this. He really won't care either way. He just wants me to love the kitchen & stop asking him to look at pictures of islands :)

Thanks as always,
Katie

Like many of you, I have a file of inspiration images for the kitchen, but, save for shaker style doors, mine didn't seem to have a consistency in countertops, colors, or materials.

But when I took the Sweeby test and pulled out the images I had squirreled away (and not just the images of kitchens), a few patterns emerged. I found I like:

1) classic, but graphic patterns
2) a contrast of textures
3) things that look like they have a history, or a life before I took them on
4) a little something unexpected
5) the idea of the kitchen as laboratory (to a point).

I don't think most of these photos are all that common, so I thought I would share :)

Thank you Sweeby! This makes it so much easier going forward.

Since my kitchen isn't that large I couldn't do much in the way of an unfitted kitchen like I would have liked, we just needed the storage too badly to have too many furniture style pieces but I did want to have at least one piece that looked like furniture so I had them build a small hutch to hold my decorative items and a place for my tea stuff.

I used my insta-hot, which was hooked up last night, for the first time today and it was SO nice to sip my cup of tea and admire my new kitchen! I am now heading out the door to an antique store to try and find a lovely little glass/crystal sugar bowl to hold my sugar cubes...as if I needed one more thing! I suppose that once the TKO is done when the kitchen is nearly complete it moves on to TDO (totally decorating obsessed?!)! Oh my poor husband will love that!

Kat :)

Closed:

Open:

We debated how to have the door open. We thought about using the Richlieu hinge system but it left the door extended outwards when open. We went with the garage door hinges that allow the door to be concealed when open, though we're aware that they tend to be finicky and difficult to keep in alignment. We'll see.

So, I asked a decorator to come over and help me finish the accessorizing, but I could still use your collective eye. I hope you're willing!

I'm going to post a ton of pictures. Please pay attention to accessories. I'm willing to move anything around the house. I'm not a photographer, so hopefully the mag's photog will have a better eye for composition.

**Living Room** Concerned that it's too drab in color. Decorator wants to move the flowered chair from landing (below) to this space and move the two brown chairs up to the landing. I think the landing is perfect as it is and don't want 2 OK looking rooms. OPINIONS PLEASE

**Stairs** Again lacking color!

**Dining Room** (OK so it's still the same room, but it's our dining "space" I suppose. Someday we're going to get fabric arm chairs for the ends of the table, but didn't find the perfect chairs for the photo shoot (one of the things I hired the decorator for). Should I set the table? I have great white dishes from PB that pop against the dark table ... perhaps I'll set the table and post a separate pic.

I will put some flowers on the hutch (red tulips in the mercury vase) for some color:

Should I put apples in the large vases on this sideboard and apples in the long white dish (didn't have enough apples on hand today), or could do apples in the vases and a flower arrangement here? Ohter ideas??

**Kitchen** I normally have stuff piled in the middle of hte island, but decorator says to leave the expanse empty with just the bowl of apples on the end. I do think that's a good suggestion. Do the accessories on the counter look good? How about the mantle ... looking OK?

**Laundry Room** One of my favorite rooms!

**Master Bed** OK, I need to get rid of the alarm clock and need to put some fresh flowers on the bedside table. Should I stage this with a tray, cup of coffee, little bud vase, etc on the bed?

**Master Bath** So, I KNOW I need to clean the shower glass and will do so before the shoot, so please overlook. For the photos, I'll set a glass of wine and a book on the tray across the tub. I need bamboo in the vases on the counter, but can't find any, so will just put something green in those. Anything else?

**Landing** (My favorite room ... other than kitchen). This is the chair that decorator wants to move to the living room and switch with the 2 big brown chairs. What do you think?

**Hubby's Room** So, this is the room where I let hubby have complete license, so it's full of Star Wars and University stuff, but he did a good job, I think.

I happily welcome any suggestions, as I want our home to present as best it can in the magazine. Thanks!

After, view of kitchen from family room

Before, overview of kitchen; entrance to dining room is in between wall ovens and refrigerator

After, overview of kitchen; former entrance has been closed up (is now my baking corner) and new entrance to dining room is not in shot but is in between refrigerator and freezer

Before, view of eating area

After, view of eating area with new wainscoting

Before, view of pantry

After, view of pantry, broom closet pull-out and freezer

primary flatware drawer

knife drawer

easy dishwasher unloading

doors around oven and refrigerator open

broom closet pull-out

Many (many!) more pictures are in my finished kitchen album.

I joined GW the v. first day I "found" it online. I was doing research on soapstone and a link to this forum popped up and I read it. If I’d had any idea the amount of time I’d spend here and the relationships I’d come to have, I never, ever would have picked as pedestrian a handle as "rmkitchen." But I thought I’d just be here on GW that one time. Nearly fourteen months later and ha ha on me!

Well, it’s still not "done": we’re waiting for roman shades to be made and I need to wash those windows …. But I’m feeling silly having a finished kitchen and waiting for some roman shades! So it’s not magazine-worthy, that’s okay. I had a really hard time deciding whether to attempt the vanity shots or how we really live. Because seeing everyone’s pristine, to-die-for kitchens hurt my self-esteem, I decided to do a warts-and-all. You’ll see fingerprints on the cupboard doors, smudges on the polished nickel hardware and crumbs on the floor: even still, I think it looks pretty good. Also, since my photographic skills are poor it made the choice really easy!

With the risk of coming across as gauche I am going to include approximate prices for our items. I was terribly naïve when it came to determining our budget and found it immensely beneficial when others here would give prices. (in all fairness, it sometimes made me feel bad either that we weren’t as hoity-toity as others as well as making me feel ridiculous for spending so much when others achieved fabulous kitchens for a fraction of our budget) It gave me a real-world benchmark, and hopefully it will help someone else put their own project into some perspective. I wish more posters would share their budget – I think it’s that helpful. Let me preface this by saying I'm in Boulder, CO -- prices will vary continent-wide. We are less expensive than the San Francisco Bay Area and more than RTC, NC.

Caveat: I absolutely believe and know our kitchen could have (and I’d argue should have) been done for significantly less. Like our gorgeous countertops / backsplash were ridiculously expensive and I could have had a white marble for less than half. However, every time I look at the marbles from which I could have chosen I realize I would have been v. unhappy and any amount spent on them would have been too much. So it was "smart" to spend more to get what I really wanted and what I LOVE. ("smart" having a v. fluid definition depending on my mood!)

Same about our sink, well, similar. We searched and searched for a stainless apron front single bowl sink, and the one we liked the best was the Bates & Bates. My husband insisted on a low gauge (thick steel). Only after our kitchen was complete did I learn about the Lavello. While not as thick as ours (ours is 12 gauge, the Lavello 16 gauge), I think for the >$1,000 price difference we could’ve lived with it!

We (I) shopped around like crazy (love the internet!) for our appliances, hardware, etc., and feel I did a fabulous job getting the best prices for these items—everything was either on special or purchased on sale or using some sort of incentive. But at the end of the day, the appliances were still expensive—exactly what we want / need, though. At the end of the day, the hardware was still expensive—exactly what we want / need, though. At the end of the day, the cabinetry was still expensive. (Although I actually have mixed feelings about this—for the level of detail I wanted and all the bells & whistles we got I’m not sure it was expensive. The semi-custom lines at which we looked [i.e., Cuisines Laurier, DuraSupreme] were coming in significantly higher. If we'd gone with framed we could have come in for less, but not gotten the exact door / hood I wanted. If there were an IKEA nearby [the closest is in Utah], we probably could have used their boxes and had doors made up elsewhere. But we went neither of those routes.)

Our kitchen is approximately 13’w x 21'l (not completely true, as only one side is 21' long; the other wall is 11 1/2'). Our ceiling is 9’ high (the upper cabinets are 47 ½" high with crown moulding running from the top of the cabinets up to the ceiling).

cabinets, ~$55K
custom frameless painted (catalyzed lacquer) a custom white, island painted BM Onyx
all drawers and roll-outs full-extension with Blumotion glides and all doors with Blum soft-close hinges
one Rev-A-Shelf wood drawer divider
one Rev-A-Shelf plastic double tier flatware divider
custom wood drawer dividers (five drawers)
steel pegboard "broom closet" pull-out (thanks to dianalo for sharing inspiration pictures)
three chrome pull-out pantry units (Rev-A-Shelf)
four spice pull-outs (Rev-A-Shelf)
pegboard with wood "divider" dowels in (three) dish drawers
foot pedal four-canister trash / recycle unit (thanks to lowspark and alku05 for the foot pedal instructions), Rev-A-Shelf
magnetic chalkboards (two)
hood (design inspiration courtesy of mwardlb’s lovely hood)
maple butcher block island countertop with bow detail
tempered, safety glass-front doors and glass shelves
delivery and installation of these cabinets and attached custom crown moulding (but not including cost of custom crown which was ~$350)

appliances, ~$22K
refrigerator: Thermador 30" Fresh Food Freedom Column T30IR70
freezer: Thermador 30" Frozen Freedom Colum T30IF70
oven: Gaggenau 30" BX281610 convection double oven, (thanks to the supportive folks in the Appliance forum who talked me through this decision & held my hand as we waited five+ months for its delivery)
cooktop: Thermador Professional Series PCG366E 36" gas, six burners
vent: Broan 900 cfm external blower 332H
microwave: Sharp Over-The-Counter R-1214
refrigerator drawers: GE Monogram 24" ZIDI240PII
(delivery and installation of above appliances was ~$700)
instant hot / cold faucet and tank: Mountain Products Little Gourmet MT1401
under-sink water filter: Culligan
sink: Bates and Bates S2133.SS stainless apron front
faucet: Pegasus Professional Kitchen, from Expo (thanks to susanandmarkw)
soap dispenser: Danze Parma
dishwasher: KitchenAid KUDS03FTPA
air switch for above-sink light: Mountain Plumbing, stainless
disposal: Insinkerator Evolution Cover Control

hardware, ~$1,100
pulls: Restoration Hardware 4" Gilmore Pulls, polished nickel
knobs: Restoration Hardware 1.25" Cut Glass Knobs, polished nickel
fridge / freezer pulls: Hickory Hardware Studio 13" bright nickel
broom closet pull: Hickory Hardware Studio 5" bright nickel

lighting, ~$300
undercabinet lighting: Pegasus Associates Microfluorescent T4 fixtures
lighting inside cabinets: line voltage (120V) xenon pucks, American Lighting

countertop & backsplash, material, fabrication and installation ~$19K
Calacatta Xtra (seriously, that’s its name), honed, 3cm, with eased square edge – thanks to mnhockeymom for the inspiration!), runnels and a dishdrain
backsplash: Calacatta Xtra, 2cm
island butcherblock countertop provided by cabinetmaker

painting, ~$1K
walls: BM 871 Pearl River, Regal Matte Finish
ceiling: 50% BM 871, Regal Flat Finish
wainscoting: BM Impervo, custom to match cabinetry
toekicks: BM Onyx (which I painted myself with "help" from our puppy)

floors, price unknown as bundled in with installation of hardwood for entire first floor and staircase
red oak, "popped" with water then one heavy coat of Dura-Seal Ebony Stain (thanks to my husband for finding out how to get the dark finish I wanted from red oak), three coats of Bona Satin Water-Based Sealer

construction, ~$16K (I think, as it was bundled in with a nearly-whole house remodel)
removal of old cabinets, closing up old doorway to dining room, framing new entrance to dining room, moving almost all electrical plus some new, moving all plumbing plus much new, drywall (inc. smooth-coating existing orange-peel), fabricating / installing wainscoting in breakfast nook and sink wall facing family room and new casing around sliding door and window, crown moulding installation and painting

kitchen designer, $3K
(we contentiously parted ways v. early in the process, but not until she had suggested moving the doorway to the dining room down the wall, and we love this change)

Things we love
or, what we did right
-Sans doute moving the opening into the dining room down the wall so as to make a U-shape kitchen was the smartest thing we did. It has increased the function / made better the ergonomics tremendously!

-Large, single bowl, apron front sink. Having all that continuous room for washing large pots / pans / baking dishes is so incredible! I love how the apron front eliminates any lower back pain– not far to reach into the sink. We also have no splashing, as opposed to what we had with a shallower, drop-in sink.

-Raised dishwasher. It just makes sense! I know many love their dishdrawers but as we run a full or nearly-full dishwasher nightly, it would not have made sense for us to have dishdrawers.

-Side-opening wall oven. I was on the fence a long time on this one: that oven set (the Gaggenau 30" double wall ovens) was really expensive, but oh how we love the side-opening mechanism! It just makes so much sense.

-Foot pedal trash. Hands full of broccoli remnants + foot pedal trash = genius.

-Magnetic chalkboards – my children adore them! My older son (four years-old) loves drawing his robots and writing; my younger son (two years-old) loves standing and "coloring." We love being able to keep our timer and grocery list in a central and easy-to-locate spot.

-Full freezer and full refrigerator: we wonder how we lived before with combined units. It sounds insane, but for our vegetarian family with little children we are absolutely utilizing these separate units to their fullest.

-Polished nickel hardware: it’s beautiful. It’s just beautiful, and it takes a lot of work to get them looking icky / dirty; plus, I have to say they are a breeze to clean (when they do get icky)!

-Getting our puppy one month to the day after the remodel started (and three months before it ended). It was such hard work – miserably hard, puppy-training and living amidst chaos (as we were doing nearly the whole house). But man-oh-man am I glad we did it all at once! I am so grateful to have had all the ick and dreck at once. (She’s a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel and we swear she’s part-cat: v. gentle, smart, affectionate. She’s never ever growled / been angry with our two little children, and our youngest is not the gentlest. He loves the puppy, but his love can be a bit rough. Cavaliers are also known for loving cats, and our youngest cat is the puppy’s best friend. They adore each other. But the puppy really really loves the children.)

-Not fighting. In our normal lives my husband I occasionally bicker – we’re married and we’re both strong, opinionated people. But for some strange (and miraculous) reason, we never had a fight during the entire remodel; we got along splendidly and truly were a team. Well, maybe not a team: I was definitely The Chief, but he was 100% on board and totally supportive. I wish I knew why that was because I’d like to bottle it!

Things we don’t love
or, things we’d do differently
(There are only two things we absolutely wish we’d done differently, things which we notice [and which irk us] on a daily basis. I’ll list those two first.)
#1 thing which drives us crazy
-Think about where countertop accoutrements (inc. countertop appliances) would live when planning light switches. I had one undercab light switch put, I thought, in an inconspicuous spot near the corner. I absolutely should have figured out where I’d be putting our toaster because, as it happens, the toaster now blocks the light switch. We’ve tried moving the toaster around but that’s just the spot where it makes sense. But yet it doesn’t make sense because it blocks the light switch. This is already frustrating and totally stupid on my part!

#2 thing which drives us crazy
-Pantry pull-outs. HATE them! Maybe hate is too strong a word (not really), but we realize now we would have been so much happier with standard shelves, not even roll-out shelves! (although those are divine) We have the pantry units from Rev-A-Shelf and find a) they are "adjustable" in name only, b) they don’t hold as much as you’d think, and c) a space-waster. If we’d had shelves we could have stacked cans or seen at one glance all our dry-goods. As it is, we have to pull out three separate units and honestly, we think it’s crap. Never again!

(These other things are things which we’d do differently in the future but which aren’t frustrating us daily.)
-24" deep lower cabinets. Too shallow! We didn’t realize until too late (as in, unpacking into this kitchen) that our penultimate kitchen had 32" deep lowers. What a difference! In all fairness to myself (as in, trying to make myself feel better), given the tight quarters of this kitchen we could not have afforded even 30" deep lowers; well, we could have, but then we would have lost our island which we are really enjoying. Next kitchen will be really different!

-Symmetry. I don’t know if it’s just for symmetry’s sake or for my husband’s, but flanking either side of the cooktop are spice pull-outs. Granted, he’s got them both filled to the gills with his goodies, but I could really use those 6" in my stack of baking supply drawers. Given the particulars of the layout of our kitchen the symmetry there would not have mattered.

-Having our microwave built-in. My husband was adamant he did NOT want a built-in microwave (the kind which have the trim-kits, I mean), so we found the Sharp over-the-counter microwave. Turns out there was some sort of "miscommunication" with the GC (so I guess I’m responsible). The "problem" is that the drywall behind the microwave wasn’t removed and reframed so as to accommodate the 1.5" the microwave juts out past its surrounding cabinetry. It’s already not bothering me so much, but when I do think about it I think "I wish we’d been clearer." Hopefully I’ll learn to live with it because I just don’t want to pay for the work!

-Double Ovens. We’ve always (well, in the US) had double ovens and I love to bake, so I never thought of a single oven. But so far, I’ve only been using one oven and as we’re the strictest of vegetarians it’s not as if we’ll ever have a turkey in one and pie in the other. I think how differently the space (& money) could have been utilized …. Who knows?

From the bottom of my heart I want to thank so many of you for your incredible kindness and support, both here in the forum and offline via e-mail. I’ve developed a genuine fondness for many here, and seeing your handles online always brightens my day. To a one, thank you. You are my community.

xo

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Here is a link that might be useful: Finished Kitchen Pictures

Please post if you have white granite with a small bit of black or grey.

I went to W.Zanger today and they only had one possibility.
It was, of course, one of their most expensive slabs. The color was called Seafoam green.
It looked more white outside in the sun, but when we went inside and cleaned a scrap,it got a lot greener than I would want.

The rep was very nice and told me they get a lot of people in who are looking for white granite, but there is not a lot if it around. The yard literally had rows and rows of slabs, but the whiites were absent, and the creams were very busy with lots of black or brown or gold mottled in with the cream.

Also, they are closed for the upcoming 3 day weekend. So, if you plan to go look at granite this weekend, you may want to call first.

Teaser pic...

http://s243.photobucket.com/albums/ff215/coleenmills/

I guess the question here would be to those who choose white... Why white and not creamy white? And for those that chose Creamy white...why not white? What made you pick the color you did?

Buffetgirl, when I saw the url's you posted, I knew exactly whose kitchens they were. I have them saved, also!!

Here are some more of my favorites. What to do....what to do??

What's not to like?

Sooooo cottegey

Love it!!

Oh, and this is very nice!

Well, we brought samples home and all the clear, true whites were just too bright, too blue for our space. We tried many different whites. Many.

It turns out that for our space a creamier white (not a white with a glaze, as you mentioned) is the way to go. They'll be Sherwin Williams' Dover White.

You might also want to check out this gorgeous kitchen. It's a bright white (Sherwin Williams' Pure White) and I think it looks great there, with their lighting conditions.

Have you brought the two samples home to see how they look in your space? I'll be interested in hearing what you think.

Good luck!

North40mom, I didn't want to post any shots of my kitchen until it is complete, but you asked so nicely...here is my backsplash:

1/16" grout lines.