Aah..takes my breath away..impeccable taste..enjoy it..

GORGEOUS! Love everything!

It looks beautiful. All the materials make for a very elegant look. And the mirrored doors are wonderful--good for you for insisting on them.

Beautiful!

Too many beautiful elements to mention them all... I especially love the fridge armoire and the really unique diamond pattern backsplash over the cooktop. Very interesting idea with the mirrored doors - I may investigate that! Enjoy.

Really beautiful...would love to see the cutting board/waste bin and the recycle area...you did great home work ! Caroline

WOW! Love your kitchen. You have so many beautiful details and it all comes together so beautifully. I love how you combined the wood and the soapstone. Please share with us all of the details, what type of soapstone, where you got your walnut counters, backsplash, hardware and faucet, etc... So glad you decided to post.

Love, love, love it!!! So pretty....

Really beautiful, sophisticated and homey at the same time. Beautiful job. Congrats on great choices.

It is beautiful. I would love more info about the garbage and cutting board and the lazy susan. Can you share pix?

WOW! Love your kitchen, love the soapstone, the walnut counters, the great refrigerator, the mirrors, the hardware, I can go on and on but you did a wonderful job. I hope you are enjoying all of the work that you can tell went into planning your kitchen. Congratulations.
I too would love to see the garbage/cutting board area and the 3 bin pull out recycle center. So clever.

I love the walnut countertop! Congratulations on your new space.

Where is that amoire from? I'm hoping to do a kitchen in MN in the next year or two :oP And that's exactly what we need!

Absolutely gorgeous!! Are you floors site finished or prefinished? If they're prefinished, I'd love to know the brand.

Laurie

Beautiful - I'm a HUGE fan of walnut (have it in my kitchen too!) - it gives such a warm, inviting feel to the whole space. Would love to see more of the features you mentioned. Who did your cabs/counters? I've done 3 kitchens in MN, worked w/ some great people.

The Armoire = your refrig's - yes? Very cool (okay, just caught my own pun :-) not intended!)

igloo - what's new w/ the MN house...is that still on?

Thanks for all your kind remarks, we love it, too. I will try to get more photos taken and posted tonight of the garbage can and sink area. In the meantime - almost every decision made in getting to this kitchen came from help found on this forum, plus a few magazine photos. So to all of you in the planning stage - keep reading here and flipping thru every magazine you can get your hands on! It'a all about planning and getting out there to see what's going on. I visited a ton of show rooms, parade homes, also visited alot of friends' kitchens and talked functionality, favorite items, etc. It seemed there was always one good idea from each onsight visit.

In the meantime - for those who wanted more details on mine, here goes:

Walnut countertop was fabricated locally. I personally finished it with Waterlox, because the fabricator wouldn't. And I wanted WATERLOX after reading about it on GW. See my comments/updates in woodworking section of GW for more details.

Soapstone - came from Teixeira. ( www.soapstones.com )
Mine is Python. It was installed locally - they didn't do a great job- be sure to look for a GREAT installer. I love that it is stain and heat resistant. But, I will warn it does scratch and chip fairly easily - so you have to like the worn patina look. Which is the look I was going for in my older Tudor home. Maintance on the soapstone was a bit of a drag in the beginning until my dear GW friends Mimi & Joshua recommended Bee's Oil -- a mix of beeswax and mineral oil. It's a must for anyone with Soapstone! Mineral Oil just doesnt' get it done like the mix does! Thanks J & M!

Sink and Faucet, both by Kohler. Faucet is Fairfax in brushed nickel. Sink is Kohler's Iron/tones Smart divide in seasalt (not yet available in stainless)...love it's finish and love the functionality of the smart divide. (Divider in the sink is only 4" high in a 9" deep sink. I did the sink with one small side (1/3) and one larger side (2/3) - it's just right for me! I'll post better pictures tonight.

Also, I love just having ONE thing at the top of the sink.
I debated on the soap dispenser and the button for the garbage disposal - but in the end I opted for less is better from both a clean look and a maintence perspective. I'm especially glad I did since you occasionally need to oil the soapstone.

On that same note, you will note I don't have any outlets on the back splash. I did all outlets in a strip up underneath the upper cabinets. Love that too, leaves the backsplash with clean/uninterrupted lines. Unfortunately, I did end up with the light switches on the back splash - but, I later found photos/examples on GW where they could have been put underneath as well - DARN. And I opted to put my garbage disposal switch beneath the sink (like in the old days!) rather than clutter up my backsplash or add it to my countertop. I truly don't regret that call either - despite my plumber going - ARE YOU SURE about a zillion times.

Floors - original to the house, just had to refinish them onsight.

My wastebin is a 54 quart. When you see photos later, you will see it is a tilt out cabinet - I needed to do that so it and the DW could be open at the same time. (Key for clean up time in my mind.) You could do the same cutting board hanging over the wastebasket concept with a pullout cabinet and use an even Taller/BIGGER wastebasket. The tiltout requires a shorter can than the pullout would, because of the room needed for the angle. I'm not sure I'd recommend the cutting board concept over a wastebasket with a drawer above the garbage can, unless you're a good shot at hitting the garbage can. It's a farther drop to the can and I could see onion peels going everywhere as you swiped them off. The key is to get the garbage can tall and close to the cutting board. So, if you are willing to give up the upper drawer, as I was, this is wonderful! I simply hated emptying smaller garbage cans every day! I only need to empty mine about 2x per week now. My recommendation - go to Walmart and get the biggest/tallest kitchen wastebasket you can find and give it to the cabinet maker and tell him to build around it (assuming you have the room)!

Lazy susan recycling - this is a operating mechanism that cabinet makers can order for installation in a standard lazy susan cabinet. Not sure from where - but, it is out there. And I'm telling you, with that in the kitchen by the sink, clean up is a breeze with all those bottles, cans and boxes! Now, I will point out one trade off - if you look closely at the photos, you will see a larger gap around the doors of the lazy susan than is around other cabinet doors. This is required to accomodate the thickness of the cabinet door as it spins inside the cabinet. If you don't like the look of the extra wide crack - you won't like it in yours. I think the extra wide crack shows up most in white/off white cabinets. I think it would be a non-issue in a medium to dark wood cabinet.

The Backsplash tile was from Sonoma Tilemakers. You can google their website and look at the MoSuprema and MoSupremaNOW Line. The field tile is a 3x6 LaCasa Field Tile. The Niche above the stove is Custom Blend Rhomboid Random Mix - I love it because if has a mix of metals, glass, texure, and stone.

Sorry for the length - But, I just remember how this kind of detail really helped me make decisions! Good Luck fellow GW'rs!

Looks MINNESOTA Nice!!!

Bye now!

Igloochic & MN Hockey Mom -
Cabinet maker did the armoire. Would be happy to share local vendor names offline - I'm in MPLS. southwest metro area.
Let me know if you want specifics.

thanks, dlspellman - I was asking more out of curiousity - I live in MA now but had some wonderful vendors that I worked with over 10 years of building 3 custom homes in the West Metro and was wondering if we'd used any of the same. I LOVE your choices - you did a great job!

Love the walnut counters! Who did them for you?

Newman Cabinetry in Montgomery, MN fabricated the walnut countertops (but not the cabinets) - I finished the walnut counterop using Waterlox (see my updates in the woodworking forum). Newman Cabinet wouldn't use Waterlox, and I desperately wanted that product based on my readings in the Woodworking section, so I did it myself. Very happy with Waterlox finish.

dlspellman,

I'm a MN west metro gal myself. I'm on the lookout for recommendations for cabinet makers and general contractors. I couldn't find your email address - but you should be able to find mine. I'd love any recommendations you could send offline.

Karla

Wonderful, wonderful! All of your materials are gorgeous.

I love the hutch to the left of the ovens. If you get the time, could you measure the top section for me? (height from counter to bottom of crown, width, and depth)

Thanks!...And enjoy!

Beautiful kitchen. I love the idea of the cabinets by the hallway. I love your floor too.

It's absolutely gorgeous. Thanks for sharing, and enjoy!

What a gorgeous kitchen! I love every detail. Is your window fixed? Can you post a closer pic of that? I really like the arch.

dlspellman, I love your kitchen; it's very similar to the initial idea we had but we haven't started yet and things seem to keep evolving. I'm curious about your comments about the Smart Divide sink...what is it that you love about that? DH is pushing for a divided sink similar to what you describe and I have wanted the one big sink. I didn't want guests to have to guess which sink to put the garbage in and want to be able to lay down my broiler pan or a cookie sheet to wash....but DH wants a "wash area" and a "rinse area'...so just curious what you are finding to be the positives to your Smart Divide.

I'm also wondering if you are cutting directly on the walnut and, if so, might be able to post a picture of what the cutting area looks like after 8 months of use? Also, looking forward to seeing the recycling susan in more detail...sounds neat.

Thanks so much!

Beautiful kitchen. I love your refidgerator. you did a great job. Enjoy.

Hi all, Here are some more photos on those areas requested. And a few answers.

Rhome 410 - the hutch measurements are:
Bottom is 33" wide by 21" deep (3" narrower than standard)
Top is 47" high plus 3" for crown, total 50", depth is 15" and width is 33". Counter top has 1 1/2" over hang on end and is at normal counter height.

Gailrolfe - I debated like you for ages on a single sink vs. divided sink... I mostly wanted the big large sink for cookie sheets, large frying pays, roasters, etc... but, I still feared I would miss a second bowl for when you have something defrosting or fruit in a colander draining and you walk by and want to pour old coffee or something else gross down the drain (and don't want them mixed up)...so I went back and forth ...then I stumbled on the Kohler smart divide and it SEEMED to be the best of both worlds. But, the question really is - is it in reality!??? And Yes, in my opinion it is. I did the smaller side, bigger side version for mainly the above reasons -- always a place to keep something on one side or the other you don't want mixed with other stuff.... I hosted last Christmas with 6 families and other females in the kitchen - all agreed it worked great with the big roaster, etc. I think its a smart compromise.

Here are some more photos! Thanks again for all your compliments!

Thank you for those measurements. DH says my dish hutch can only be 48" tall, plus crown and I was a little disappointed after planning it taller, but now I see how great it will look. And your kitchen is even more impressive after seeing these latest photos of the functional details and closeups of the finishes.

WOW! Your kitchen just keeps getting better! Thanks for posting the additional pics. Love all of it. The way you utilized the extra end space on the island for your spices is such an excellent idea. Love your cutting boards and their thoughtful placement. Your walnut countertop looks like it is still brand new. After all these months of use, it has no scratches. That waterlox must be very good stuff :) Beautiful kitchen.

Absolutely Beautiful! I live in the north metro and am in the planning phase of our kitchen remodel. I too, want to mix walnut tones and with cream/white. We currently have oak floors; I'd love to refinish them to match yours! Do you know what dye/stain your floor contractor used to get that beautiful brown? Thanks.

The floor guy was matching the existing floors in the rest of the house, so he was mixing a couple colors together to get there.. bottom line, I don't know what he mixed.

They are basically a medium brown with almost no red or orange in them. Hope that helps!

Beautiful & unbelieveable!! Awesome,so many features. A Great Job!! razenette

Hi- Your kitchen is lovely- I just wanted to thank you for easing my mind as I just ordered the smart divide and was second guessing myself- I love a double sink but was afraid the low divide wouldn't work as well- do you still love it? How is it holding up?