Ideas for Jimmy
That cut stone arch over the cooktop and the tuscan tile backsplash with the pasta water spigot is phat. It looks very cool and Old World, I think. Jury is out on the wood for the cabinets, it's a little much with that distressed stain they put on it. But love the arch. That granite would cost you a fortune, check out how thick it is. Geesh.
Having a big island like this is nice for storage and extra counter space, but it would be a pain to continually have to walk around it to get to the other side. That is why Jo got rid of ours altogether.
This is what I meant with how handy the pull out drawers are. I wouldn't put my plates in there like that, and the hardware looks stupid. But you wouldn't have to bend over as much and it is easier to get to things in the back.
This looks like a good idea but in practice it doesn't work well. It is hard to get stuff in and out of those little shelves and you would continuously be switching from side-to-side to get what you want. You can get organizer stuff from Target that has like theater seating levels to put spices and bottles on so you can see everything.
The open idea for this kitchen is good, I like the side bar area and there is a lot of counter space. All those can lights though look like Close Encounters of The Third Kind. Don't do that. Get some nice light fixtures that don't look like rock concert lighting.
This is what happens when you have a low ceiling and dark colors that go all the way up to the ceiling. It looks dark and confined. Our cabinets stop about 2-feet shy of the ceiling and the paint is a light color, which really lightens it up and doesn't make it look all forbidding. That backsplash is horrible.
This is similar to the color granite we have in the kitchen, and it has the bar area on the other side and is open to the living room. The bar area could be bigger, which would give you more space to either side of the sink. Those light fixtures are gay though.
Forget the miasma of colors and patterns in this picture, ugh! I like the double oven with the microwave on top of it. That gives you more room above the cooktop for taller pots and better ventilation. That is a warming drawer underneath the cooktop, which also has a grill in the middle. That is pretty badass.
Forget this gay bar idea that hems in the kitchen, but the color of the cabinets is what I meant by the darker colors. The dark granite top I like, the white granite not so much. It is hard to see water standing on lighter granite colors, so it makes it easy to put papers/mail down in it if you're not careful.
This looks pretty cool for hiding stuff that would normally just sit out on the counter. It doesn't look like it would be too expensive to put in or anything either. I don't think you need a TV in the kitchen since you're only going to be in there to cook your chicken nuggets in the microwave...bahaha.
We had this at our old house, which was nice for trash/recycle. We have a trash compactor now that we really like. Look into getting one of those that pulls out and you drop your trash into and compact it.
This would make a badass wet bar area. Pretty sweet. You could put a beer fridge next to the wine chiller.
I like the island and the cabinets here, the color is awful. I would go with a dark brown or chocolate like ours. The backsplash is OK, I like the pasta water spigot, (your sister would be jealous). No good spot for a microwave though.
I would advise getting all pull out drawers that come ALL the way out, rather than cabinets where you have to squat or kneel down.
Q