really lovely! I especially love the shiplap, the combinati0n of marble and end-grain walnut cutting board, the subtle palette and great mix of materials -- wonderful to think of all that will go on in this kitchen! Wishing you many happy years...
Lynn

Your kitchen makes me smile... Love it, congrats!

It's beautiful! I think my favorite thing is the window. I love the floors too. It's all stunning. What a great kitchen!

Fabulous, always one of my favorites. The deep chocolate and the snow white. I know we can't say it but it sure feels imeless-tay.

I too miss the pretty kitchen image of the little one feeding the "baby". It could have been a Goldfish commercial. (Don't you feel a little bad when the new baby comes and you have to stop calling the other one "the baby". I had my last two 54 weeks apart and it seemed the older one got robbed of "babyhood'!)

I also love the idea for hanging kids artwork "framed". Can you explain how the clips are done?

So nice and the finishes work so well together. Love your island pendants. Enjoy!

It's just beautiful. The details are extraordinary. Congratulations and enjoy.

i love it! i've been waiting to see the big reveal and it was worth the wait! congratulations on your new little one ...and your beautiful kitchen.

and if i could bother you with a question: how deep is your drawer with the slide out shelf (9th picture)? i'm working on my inserts and am wondering if my shallow drawers are deep enough.
thank you!

Beautiful kitchen! Wish I had it! :)

Add me to the others who are drooling over those pendant lights! Too bad they stopped making them.

Alabamamommy -- I have loved your kitchen since the first time I caught a peak at it. It is so fun to see the big reveal. Your kitchen is so gorgeous and so original. I'm glad to hear you are enjoying your unique Boos end of your beautiful island. Thanks for sharing your kitchen with us.

Alabamamommy-absolutely gorgeous kitchen. I have to keep going back over and over the pics to take it all in. I applaud your attention to all the unique details.
Sooooo beautiful :)

Oh, oh my! I remember when you were pulling the details together, now. I knew it would be beautiful, but wow! That island, the marble, the lights. And love the counter stools, too. Sigh.

Oh, my gosh. It's stunning.

Absolutely Stunning!!!

This one's in my top ten list of favorite kitchens! So much meticulous attention to detail, so elegant and beautiful and yet clearly it's well-loved and well-lived-in. Hope you and your family are enjoying it every single day.

I have been waiting to see this! Your kitchen is one of my absolute favorites. Gorgeous.

Simply stunning -- and so many practical features! Thank you for sharing! This is definitely going in my folder of favorites!

Nice kitchen, everything looks cozy and convenient.

I like your built-in cutting board. Cooking in this kitchen would definitely be a great pleasure.

Love it. I pinned a pic of your end grain walnut cutting board, if that's ok.

You did a great job.

Simply stunning! Enjoy, enjoy, enjoy - you and your DH did an amazing job.

Oh, pretttyyyyyy!!!! I love that window, it's gorgeous! And that butcher block... and that shiplap.... and the artwork, especially!

Oh my, it's so lovely! I've been waiting for your reveal, and everything came together so beautifully. It is obvious how much thought you put into all the details. I especially love the walnut trim on your cabinets, and the arch-top window with the cornice echoing the shape. I am not sure from the pictures, but I think the perimeter counters might be Caesarstone Pebble, as Raven is pretty dark.

Just "Faboo!!!!" :-)

You were smart to make your kitchen so family friendly while you have little ones. You have many years to enjoy a job well done!

I have no idea how I missed this thread yesterday???

That is one amazing kitchen, alabamamommy!

Adding to Favorites... :-)

Thanks for posting!

I'm in love... what a beautiful space. You've done a tremendous job of creating something cohesive, personal, unique, and... has anyone else mentioned... stunning! Seriously, I'm envious you are able to take this lived-in picture with 3 young kids. My kitchen was completed this week and I'm beyond overwhelmed with how I'm going to clean and unpack enough to take any decent photos! Kudos to you and your DH... amazing job!

Well done! That is a fabulous kitchen! As others have mentioned, all the details and finishes are beautiful. I am always a sucker for marble, walnut, and (recently) white kitchens so I have nothing but love for your beautiful space. Again, I say well done!

So much attention to detail, yet a result that comes off so wonderfully, refreshingly simple. The ship lap is GREAT, and really helps accomplish this.

I've said before how much I love the perimeter counters, and the heft of your exceptionally gorgeous island countertops. I still do!!

Wow. CONGRATULATIONS!!!

Very few kitchens truly hit that sweet spot of simplicity, elegance, and function.

Just goes to show what an empowered homeowner can do (with a little help from friends of course).

This was a real treat. THANK YOU for sharing!!!

WOW WOW WOW!! this is my kind of kitchen!! love everything you did. I'm curious to know how long it took you to make all these decisions?

Hi A.M.

Still crazy about this kitchen after all these years. (Cue Simon & Garfunkel).
It is just stunning.

The Caesarstone is Pebble (kitchen stalker). I obsessed over my perimeter countertop choice and your kitchen photos were my Caesarstone inspiration. I ended up doing Danby marble and I just opened this post and had regret. Sigh.

So glad for you & your family that you're enjoying it. I have 3 under 5 and that "thwack thwack thwack" of the swing is familiar!

Congrats,
Katie

Your kitchen is stunning! Thank you for sharing.

Question about your kitchen table.......
What size is it?
Where did you purchase it?

It has been difficult to find a round table just the right size to accommodate my family of six.
Thanks!

Just gorgeous in every way, although I love the lights! Congrats on such a great space!!

Speechless - just gorgeous!

Always was one of my favorites!!! Glad I finally got to see it furnished too :)

I am so glad this thread came up because I missed it the past few days.
Holy Cow! That is a gorgeous kitchen! I love the mix of wood and white on your doors. The island lights really rock and your bs is spot on. I know people cringe, but I will say it here, this is timeless and classic! Hah!

I am with Dianalo!

I saw the other thread too but I personally believe in timeless kitchens, which (to me) means a good "marriage" of form and function.

Say what you want, but I would never tire of certain art pieces (Raphael or Kandinsky, anyone?). I think of a well-designed kitchen as a work of art. :-)

So, Alabamamommy, if you ever get tired of your kitchen, you can give it to me! I live not too far from you and can come get it the same day. (Wink)

Thank you so much for all of the thoughtful replies and questions. Sorry I had to wait for the weekend to pass to have a shot at sitting down and answering!

Kateskouros - That drawerfront is 4 3/4", the drawer itself is 3" deep.

Kayds - you are absolutely correct - the perimeter counters are Pebble Caesarstone. I could not remember, so thank you for being on it!

chrismo4 - We had the same problem. Round tables were either 54" or 72". Very few 60ish that hit the right design notes for us. It's 62" wide, and it's from Zentique. The top is reclaimed, unfinished elm, which does show the greasy whatnots of little hands, but it's not offensive. We ordered locally, but I saw it first on Laylagrace.com Can't say enough about the heft of the chairs - love them.

Lake Girl and Carp123 - I'm not a designer, just an obsessive researcher. Honestly, we knew we wanted a kitchen that felt like a commercial kitchen, yet homey. I bend a bit towards industrial and my husband towards traditional. One thing that forced our hand was that all of the rough ins were already in place when we purchased the home and we couldn't dig up the floors so we just worked from what we were given.

In terms of design timeline, it was about 4 months from the time we purchased the house until we placed the cabinet order. At the time, Lowes had a very attractive offer on Kraftmaid cabinets. I believe it was 25% off any order over $25k plus an additional $8,000 rebate. So we sat with a Lowes designer and roughed out our thoughts to get a ballpark. We then took that to the custom cabinet designer to see if they could match their quote - which they did and upgraded to insets as well.

As far as learning about the high end items, some I just picked up on over the years, some I learned about reading through garden web... but honestly the process went something like this. Search ebay for 48" ranges, see what comes back. Google the model numbers for retail prices. Search garden web for reviews. Start again with built-in-refrigerators. What cinched the Thermador range for me was seeing one in person at a showroom. Luckily we found an ebay seller that was within driving distance who had a number of items that we were interested in, as well as the range, they made a deal, and my husband rented a truck. (The same truck that carried home the marble for our bathroom from the quarry :)

As far as the process of narrowing things down visually, I just studied every home magazine, kitchen book and online gallery I could get my eyes on. After a while, I realized I was having the same gut reaction to white kitchens, though I felt like the classic white kitchens were a bit too formal for our personalities, though we weren't really quite country or tuscan either. I kept collecting photos of white kitchens that had something unique about them... a contrast here, a detail there, the shiplap siding, etc. I guess once we'd studied enough, we'd weigh our finds online against our visual criterias. Somewhere between cost, availability and design is where everything landed. That and a nightly check of gardenweb :)

I hope I answered all of the questions! I can't say enough how much this community helped along the way.

I keep opening this thread just to take another look. So gorgeous.

oh ugg... the picture I posted was a big pink heart to show how much I love your kitchen. (It was right when I previewed!) Now it is different and I look like a spammer. My apologies. :(

But I will reiterate... I love your kitchen!

Sounds like you met Ben at AL Surplus! :)

I echo what everyone else said!!
Then add, I LOVE how you broke up the all white with the wood, the wood door, legs on the island, all of it. It looks so *different* and that is just what inspires us all to think out of the box and dare to be unique! You are the new trendsetter!
Do you mind me asking, did you order your BOOs end from them or off ebay? I've seen several on ebay but didn't know if they might be seconds. I love your spice pullouts, do you mind telling how wide they are?
And one more! Please, did you do your gallery wall yourself, the door, the framing of the art work? I have many things from the grandkids and would love to frame them the same way, it's perfect.
Enjoy, Enjoy, Enjoy!

Congrats... your kitchen is awesome in every way.. I keep going back for another look. What are the dimensions of the island?

It's absolutely beautiful. Every part of it. Yes, I'd like to know the island's dimensions too.

I've been doing a lot of thinking lately of reno vs new build. And your kitchen and my old kitchen hammer home the point that if you are doing a reno (especially when sourcing everything yourself) you can take your time, gather the things you need at great bargain prices. There is no real pressure to hurry up and "decide". I think that everybody who has gone through this really appreciates the story that their space tells. With our new build, I feel that I have to rush all of my decisions. I don't have time to "stare" at my space and think what would look best. Don't you just love that when people come in and they ask about something you can tell them how/why you picked that particular thing? I keep thinking of the new homeowners in our old house. The kitchen doesn't have a story any more.

I think that your kitchen is surely going in the GW Hall of Fame. Congratulations on such a great space to enjoy with your family.

Bee

Rosegarden1 - yes! I didn't, but my husband did. They were great!

susied3 - We didn't order the Boos from ebay - I don't remember seeing the size we needed. I do know that we ordered from whoever offered the best price + shipping :)

The gallery wall was an idea I got from Pinterest. My husband was bummed that the giant stainless fridge doors weren't magnetic, while I was secretly relieved! It's the one space in the kitchen that's never cluttered. I picked up open backed frames at Michael's (on sale, of course) and tacked the back side of the binder clips to the back side of the frame, and then mounted the frames. The clips allow us to rotate out the art until I can file it. The door is something we picked up at a local shop already done. What a fun way to showcase your grandchildrens' art!

The spice pullouts fronts are 5 3/4", the pullouts themselves are 5".

The total island is 10'9"x4'2". With the wide legs, we had to find narrow counter stools, though I wouldn't have gone any wider because it's a reach for my short arms to wipe the counter now.

Beekeeper I know exactly what you mean about the decision fatigue of building. My husband and I have both commented that we "eased into building" because the walls were in place. But it is really hard to enjoy the process when there are so many decisions to make. i.e. Doorknobs... something that would be fun to research on it's own. Pile it in with 600 other design decisions like closet lights, stair rails, light switches, outlets, and stinking drain hardware and it's exhausting. Godspeed on your new home!!!

Wow, your kitchen has really inspired me to move forward with some layout changes to my semi-updated kitchen! Love your island, your butcher block, and well-everything!
I have two questions for you-
what are the dimensions of your room, including the breakfast area?
and, where is your pantry?

Thanks for the info. That's a cool idea that I will try with the hanging art. I love that door, it looks so versatile.

You did good. :)

I have HUGE kitchen envy and am adding this one to my faves!

Not sure if you have answered this yet, but what color are your walls?

Congrats on all of your research. Man, it paid off in spades!

Also, your placement of the dish drawer next to your dishwasher is genius. I am stealing that idea too! :)

Beautiful Kitchen!

Just curious what you store in the baskets next to the fridge?

Also do you find that the fridge is too far away from the sink? or are you happy with its placement?

I don't know how I missed this before as we are considering doing a piece of butcher block at the end of our island too, because our island is 144" long - too long for a single slab of stone.

Can you share where you found yours? It looks like it may be too thick for us, I think we're going to need a 5 or 6 cm piece of butcher block, and I'm a little flumoxed on where to start looking for this piece.

Not sure if you're still around or just off enjoying your beautiful new kitchen, but I'd love more info if you have it!

Thanks!

Love it..so pretty. Even the kids artwork.love it....

Gorgeous kitchen