Hope you don't mind me putting this here. It's just too beautiful not to share but if you don't want it here, just change the name of the photo in photobucket and the link will break.

Main faucet; Kohler Vinatta
Hot/cold filtered faucet- Everpure everhot/evercold --LVH600

See website below for more info.

Here is a link that might be useful: Superwater

Before:

Dh and I were squashed both working in the corner between the sink and stove. Had to climb over the island to get to the fridge. no where to sit. Dated!!!

Details of new Kitchen

Cabinets custom built by Atr Cabinetry out of Nappanee Indiana (they ship country wide). They're a mix of maple and Cherry with walnut accents. A shameless plug for them - they were FANTASTIC to work for, nothing was impossible and I don't have a single filler or wasted inch in the entire kitchen!

*All new custom cabinets (slab doors) in 3 finishes (maple, cherry and walnut) with mortise-and-tenon cabinet frames and French dovetailed, hand-fitted drawers and catalyzed hand wiped finishes. All cabinet backs are 1/2" and all shelves are 3/4"

*Custom color finishes to match (eyes downcast) laminate chips whose colors I liked together

*Boxes are all maple and the inside stain is the same as all the other maple even where the doors are cherry

*Nearly all drawers in the base cabinets except for corner units, under the sinks and trash. Drawer depths were 100% customizable to fit the contents. (HD could not accommodate this)

*Panels for the fridge, freezer and two dishwashers

*Two way trash pullout accessible from both sides of the island (HD could not accommodate this)

*Pullout pantry tower with toe kick release

*Angled pantry cabinet with two doors

*Angled base cabinet and angled upper display cabinet

*Angled corner cabinet

*30" deep cabinets in the base and ALL the space is usable as custom made drawers go all the way back

*15" deep upper cabinets

*Spice drawer with "hidden drawers" above to maintain line of drawers visually

*Bread drawer with Plexiglas cover

*Glass inset doors on some of the uppers with glass shelves in those cabinets

*Wine glass rack in upper cabinet

*4 Toe kick drawers

*Custom-made can storage drawers

*Soft close Blum blumotion drawer guides on every drawer

*Soft close on all the doors

*5 Custom cherry/walnut intarsia doors

*2 Magic Corner II units

*2 tilt outs under sink

*Tray storage above ovens deep enough to hold trays in double depth

*two hidden cutting boards that pop out - one next to the fridge and one above the microwave

*Instead of a cabinet filler, I also have a small area where I store a step stool. The door from the trash cabinet was made wider to cover this storage area.

*3 cm granite – Marona Cohiba - gorgeous, with floating bar and custom stainless steel corbels

*Plugmold which we installed on angled trim

*GE Monogram all refrigerator and all freezer - changing to Miele within a month

*Plumbing to move freezer water line

*De Dietrich induction cooktop from Salon Blue Ridge (fantastic to work with)

*Miele Double ovens with tray cabinet above

*Futurofuturo hood with 900 cfm,

*Relocated every appliance except fridge. Put separate freezer in butler’s pantry

*Relocated cleanup sink and installed prep sink,

*Ran water supply and drain for a prep sink,

*Built out a butler’s pantry into the garage space

*2 Miele dishwashers (one was our old one which we re-paneled and the new one is the Optima

*Sharp Microwave drawer,

*Kludi(prep) and eBay faucet (Cleanup)

*Blanco Sigranite sinks

*Water chiller and instant hot dispenser and tank

*Dual hot/cold water faucet

*4 built in soap dispensers Delta Brizo

*2 air switches

*Dual tapmaster works prep sink from both sides of island

*Tapmaster for clean up sink

*Recessed lighting as well as pucks in the upper cabinets,

Undercabinet lighting,

*Custom glass island light pendants,

*21 knobs and 60 pulls in stainless steel

*1 Soho Manhandle – a total splurge!!

*Moved and replaced the kitchen window

*Moved the sliding patio door and rebuilt the concrete step on the patio

Custom can storage (the two upper drawers are hidden behind the lower one so it lines up with all the other drawers)

Pot hanger

My absolute fav cabinet - the pullout pantry next to the ovens. It holds the Tupperware containers perfectly and when I pull it out I have EVERYTHING I need for baking right at my fingertips

Cab above the ovens. It's 30" deep and holds SOOOO much

Pot drawers

New Dishwasher

Corner unit closed and open

two way trash pullout

toe kick drawers

Cleanup area and fridge

We love our kitchen. It ended up costing 50% over our original budget and that figure will be going up with the purchase of the Miele Fridge and freezer units.

One surprise cost came about because the KD had the wrong measurements and we had to move the sliding door to accommodate the cabinets so MEASURE and then CHECK the blueprints!

Here is a link that might be useful: Container Store Pot rack

I would change the majority of pullouts & fixed shelves to drawers, including under the oven. Reasons:

(1) Economy of motion (one motion to open/close drawers vs 2 or 3 motions for pullout shelves)

(2) Drawers have higher sides so things don't fall off even when pushed to side while looking for something or when trying to cram all you can in a single drawer!

(3) Aesthetically, drawers usually look nicer than doors (JMHO!)

BTW...If you have a tall area for tray storage above the ovens, I would put a shelf in the bottom for platters, etc. and then then the tray storage on top of that. See the picture below for an example of tray space above double ovens. We used the cheap tray divider inserts ($5.99 each) from Wal-Mart...they work great! We were able to fit 3 across. Much cheaper than the Rev-A-Shelf tray dividers and no screws to "damage" shelves or cabinet bottoms.

[For those interested, base cabinet alternative for tray storage: http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/kitchbath/msg0716385727860.html]

Do you have a step-in or walk-in pantry? If so, I think that would be a better place to store the larger appliances...they can be stored waist-high and much easier to get out (or they can be stored on the floor or lower shelf).

Plates, Pots & Pans, & flour I would rather store in drawers in the appropriate areas, if I could. Flour in baking center, pots & pans under cooktop, and plates in dish storage.

Example of pot storage under the cooktop (frying pans, steamer, etc. in drawer below this one).

See the picture above for platter storage...I put all my platters over the ovens!

+++++++++++++

The only reason I can think of for adjustable/stationary shelves in a base cabinet is for open shelving.

I can't think of a single reason for fixed/non-adjustable shelves (especially those "half shelves"!)

[The MW, btw, didn't fit so it is not in the pantry as originally planned.]

Also, SharB once posted her measurements but the thread has long since fallen off. I saved them and here they are:

+++

[Sharb's] pantry measures 4 feet wide by 5 feet deep.
Starting at the top:

18" top shelf to ceiling (Things I don't need often or are lightweight.)
15" to next shelf (cereal boxes, etc.)
10" to next (canned goods, etc.)
10" to next (canned goods, etc.)
16" to next (small appliances)
20" from bottom shelf to floor (extra waters, heavy items)

The depth of the back shelf and the right side 12". The left side is 6" and holds my [SharB's] husband's hot sauces and other small items.

I have a 4 ft section that functions as my baking area, but most of my small appliances are on the other side of the kitchen. My baking area has Measuring cups and bowls, extracts and decorating items, my food processor, my scale and discs and mixing bowls in the uppers. The bases have my spices in one top drawer next to the coooktop (dividing them for baking and cooking wasn't going to work, so I overlapped them). I have 2 deep drawers that hold flour, sugar, cocoa, chips, dried fruits, and other baking goodies. The other stack has a couple of shallow drawers with pot holders, wraps and baking parchment, some utensils, and my smaller baking pans in the bottom. The sheets and racks are above the ovens and the roasting pans and wok are in the drawer below the ovens (range didn't work for me either ---that was a big IF in my last post). My mixer and a utensil crock stay out on the counter.

That space works for baking because everything is right there. I can pull out a drawer and scoop flour or sugar -- it often never hits the counter. I also have an island to turn a round and work on if I need more space. It would be hard to work a lot there without the island. It would also be hard to work there without most of my supplies right at my fingertips. I'd actually like to have 2 feet more, but I'm very happy I nixed the drawing my KD came back with and that had only 3 feet there. I'm not sure that space will do what you want for you.

I've adjusted to the problem by continually replacing my glassware and using only one cycle that is supposed to be "cool" enough to "prevent" etching. So lots of $$ spent for a top of the line dishwasher with extra cycles like china/crystal that I will never use. It looks nice and sounds good though!!

Here is a link that might be useful: pizza slideshow

I originally posted pics of our 98% finished kitchen last March and I thought I would share this updated photo. We love our finished product and hopefully this will encourage all of you who are in the middle of your remodel to keep the faith! You too, by next year, will be enjoying your new kitchen.

Melinda

Here is a link that might be useful: Double Undermount

Here's the pot drawer:

My cabinet maker includes glazing without an upcharge (yeah! They do distressing and sand through too for "free"). I want an heirloom feel, but I have never had painted cabinets, and I could not imagine what the glazing would look like. I'm not going for Shaker or Farmhouse--think Colonial Williamsburg tavern.

Thanks!

Here is a link that might be useful: Hood that will be mine...

1. We currently have an electric stove with downdraft. I know we will now need a hood above the stove with plenty of power. When I look at pictures I notice some kitchens have only a hood over the stove, and some have a hood with a cabinet above. Are those cabinets cosmetic only hiding the ducting, or is there room for storage also? If there is storage room, what types of items do you store there?

2. We use cast iron to cook a lot. My husband would like to hang some of it for easy access. Since our ceilings are 7’8" (and he is 6’4") I am thinking the only place we could hang it would be over the rangetop. Does anybody out there do that? If so, does it interfere with the ventilation? Do the pans tend to get "ucky" from cooking?

3. I want a pull out 6" or 9" pantry base cabinet with two shelves immediately to one side of the rangetop to hold bottles of cooking wine, oil, etc on the bottom and spice jars on the top shelf. I saw this at a demo kitchen and loved it. It seemed so handy to have all those bottles there. Does anyone have this? Does it work for you?

4. On the other side of the rangetop I want a base cabinet with 4 drawers to store cooking utensils, hot pads, trivets, etc.

5. Under the rangetop I would like to store pans and lids, as well as our large strainers. My first inclination is to have two deep drawers? Are drawers sturdy enough to hold this much weight, especially if it includes cast iron? Or do you recommend shelves? Or cabinets with pull out shelves? If the rangetop is 36" do I use a 36" cabinet, or slightly larger?

What else should I have in the cooking zone? (The way I am thinking I also have prep, baking, cleanup, breakfast, and snacks.)

Thank you so much for all of your help. I am learning SO much here.