Gorgeous! Doesn't one thing ALWAYS lead to another? I love the legs on your cabinets! Everything is really beautiful!

Love it!

Great job!

Your kitchen is lovely. I really like your green paint in back. A perfect improvement. Seems like your before pic lacked warmth and now your kitchen is so warm and inviting. Fantastic job and great vision! Congrats!

Thanks for your kind words. That green paint has been in my kitchen since 1997 (we did repaint once), can you believe it?? Two questions - if I put corbels on the island, how do you handle the short end overhang?? Also, should I paint the red barstools another color? I bought them from someone, so I didn't actually choose that color. The chairs at the kitchen table are black?

Thanks again!

I don't think corbels are necessary. Your old island had plain panels on the back and so the corbels added some interest. You have already added some interest with the molding on the panels of the new island and the feet and baseboards have a nice bit of detail as well. I would leave it but I'm not a frou-frou type of person.

By the way - great transformation - the kitchen looks great. I always love stories that go along the lines of "While we're doing this, why don't we do this" and "oh,oh, now we have to fix that".

Good point, I see what you mean blfenton. Sometimes it's best to leave it alone.

Beautiful! While it seems like the changes were "small" (keeping the structure of the kitchen) the resulting improvements are amazing. Your new kitchen looks brand new and fantastic. I really like what you've done with the cabinets and especially the island. The details like the counter tops, cabinet feet, crown moulding, etc really make your kitchen looks beautiful. Thank you for sharing.

it looks like a brand new kitchen! and so warm and inviting. great job!

love this! Really amazing what a difference a few changes can make. Please share how you did the legs and dressed up the island. thank you!

Great job! I don't think you need to do anything more to the island. It's fine the way it is.

Great job! I like the island just the way it is. Raising the microwave really does a lot for the look of the kitchen too.

One thing leads to another... All these months later, we've ended up....

I'm still laughing! I'm taking a lunch break in a day when we're still working on where that "one thing" led.

Red stools: you could change the color, but you don't really need to. The green on the walls and the red of the stools play well together. If fact, I think they bring to room together.

scrappy - I wish my dh was here to tell you how he did the island and feet, but he's still at work. I'm thinking he used 1"x4"'s (which actually measure .75" x 3.5") for the trim around the island. He then finished the island and cabinets with a 1"x4" at the bottom with a piece of basecap on top. He cut the "feet" out of a 1"x4" and used blocks to attach it to the old toekick area. It left a little gap, which is covered up with that piece of basecap. Here's a couple of pics, one shows the block (which looks dusty-yuck), oh and this is down by the dishwasher. I hope this makes sense:) Bless his heart - I just think of ideas and expect him to figure it out;)

We mighta (I'm from the south) mixed a couple of styles together, such as the raised panel doors, and the recessed look on the back of the island, but when you DIY, you get whatcha get! (I mean you git whatcha git!)

Lake_Girl, awesome kitchen! Love your colors and cabinet hardware. Your island really transforms the look of the entire space. I have a DW in a corner like you do and would love to get a new one with a handle but am afraid it will impede the drawer to the right. What kind of measurements do you have there?

Thanks, Linelle. It's pretty tight in that area. The DW is just under 4" from the corner. Needless to say, you can't open the opposite cabinet in the corner. I can open that drawer though, which is good, cause that's where utensils are. It's a pain, but I'm used to it. (Ahhh....to be designing a new kitchen, using all the knowledge I have from GW:)

Great job Lake Girl! It looks "just right" to me! Well done!

Looks great! Even though you didn't change everything, it still looks like a whole new room! Those details make a huge difference. I like how the dark soapstone and new SS appliances contrast with the white and make the white areas more interesting. Great job!

Hi Lakegirl -- very nice! I
love the green walls with your white cabinets and walnut island top.

I see in the photo a tiny bit of what must be a dining or breakfast area. Do you have a photo of that area? It looks like you have a pretty bay window and I'd love to see it.

francoise - This is the only pic I have of that area in photobucket. It's when we purchased the butcher block and had it just sitting on the island, trying to see if we liked it before we cut it to fit. You can get an idea of the bay area.

Love the feet, the colors, the whole thing! Awesome job - you could fool anyone that it's an all-new kitchen!

What a great transformation! I agree with others, no need to add any other embellishments, it's perfect the way it is. I also like your paint color, gives the white cabinets a great pop! Nice job on the island too! Your DH deserves kudos! Lots more usable space! Enjoy!!!

It really does look new. I love the green! But I've yearned for a green kitchen for a long time, so am biased. You and your DH make a good team -- the island looks terrific! And I'll also put in a vote for leaving off legs and corbels. Great job!!

ok, keep the green, leave off legs and corbels (my dh will be thrilled). I meant to add that dh added a piece of trim under the upper cabs to help hide the ucl. It also helped the cabs look a little more substantial. Thanks for your sweet comments! It definitely makes me feel good:)

Love your kitchen and the green paint! How do you like your frigidaire range? I am considering the same one.

Hmm... We bought the fridge, DW and micro on craigslist. The stove we bought new at Appliancesmart. It was a great deal because it had a couple of scratches on the side. We sorta rushed into it because it matched what we had just bought. My only real complaint is how long it takes to preheat. It takes forever! I will say that these newer appliances, (mainly fridge and stove) don't seem as well built as my old Whirlpool appliances, even though the fridge is supposed to be "professional". But at like $550 (stove), the price was right! I hope this helps.

I love all the "little" changes that made such a huge difference in your kitchen! It looks brand new and so fresh and pretty!

You must be absolutely thrilled!

It looks great! I love the green! I'm not usually a green fan but really love it in your space. It really works to make your kitchen warm and happy. I love what you've done. It came out wonderfully!

Lake_Girl:

Beautiful job!!! What an amazing uplift! I love everything you did. I agree w/suzannes that the barstools look great in red.

What is the color of your soap stone? do you like it?

Oh babs - I want your beautiful kitchen!!

go figure - we used barroca soapstone from Dorado soapstone. It's really pretty, but very soft. I wish I had a harder variety. I'm thinking of taking it back to it's natural state with acetone, which is a medium gray. This is how it arrived, and I'm thinking it'll hide scratches and dings a little better. (But the dark is so pretty.)

Lake Girl-your kitchen is beautiful! Can I ask where you purchased your knobs and drawer pulls? Thanks so much.

Thanks, sis! I think the bin pulls were from Top Knobs, Dakota collection, and the knobs were off ebay.