WOW! Can you please tell me about your floors?

Great job! I'd also like details on your flooring. I've never seen tiles like that. You should also post this on the kitchens under $20,000 thread. Only 14 days of actual work? Your wife must be more motivating than I am. ;P

That looks great!

Looks great. I would love to know what type of floors those are as well. Very different and attractive.

Very Nice! I reallllly like that backsplash. It's perfect!

Love it! Great "guidance" and great execution!

Beautiful! Lovely colors, and a fabulous kitchen!

What a great job. I love the combo of materials. I too would like to know about the floor! Congratulations on a great job and a great DIY!!!

Just perfect! what is the floor? love the glass backsplash. the white and black contrast is very modern.

Double kudos for DIYers...

gorgeous! you must be so proud!!

Love the kitchen especially the tile. Just beautiful. Great job! Congrats!

I love the combo of materials - the cabinets, the glass backsplash, and that fabulous floor. Everything looks great together. I can't wait to see the finished product. Seriously - only 14 days???? Amazing. I love it!

Oooh, I really like it!!! I love the backsplash and the floors (much like others above). They totally add a uniqueness to the whole beautiful kitchen! Congratulations and so impressive it was DIY!

Very nice. Big fan of the modern.

Very impressive...and even more so, that you did it yourself. Enjoy the fruits of your labor!

Very nice! Congratulations on a job well-done!

Sandy

Thanks for all the kind words and glad you like it. We were positive we wanted a modern, clean look to the kitchen this time around. I still kind of wish we went the other way with the black and white theme - White countertops and dark wenge-colored cabinetry.

The trick for getting it done so quick was staging just about every aspect of the construction beforehand in the dining room right next to the kitchen and moving it into place. The other big reason was since it's a DIY, I didn't want to spend every weekend working on it (with a family of 4, being out a kitchen can cause havoc) so I took 1 week off of work and worked 14 hours a day on it.

I'm surprised to hear how much everyone likes the floor tiles. They're from a company named Casa Grande. I don't have the name of this specific line but will update when i get home tonight. They're porcelain, 12 x 24, and have a slight texture to them. In direct sunlight they almost have a dark denim look. Oh, and they were pretty affordable - somewhere around $16/sf.

Thanks again for the compliments and let me know if i can answer any questions.

They're from a company named CASALGRANDE PADANA from Italy. Check out their site - they have lots of beautiful products.
The line is called Granitoker and the color is Carbonio in 12x24. I bought them from Sam's Ceramic & Stone in White Plains, NY (914-328-3030 or 1-888-709-7267). Hope that helps!

Here is a link that might be useful: Casalgrande

Love the look. Where did you buy the tile for your backsplash? What is the color. thanks!

Can you give us some information about the cabinets and countertops? Any tips for keeping costs down?

Great work! Simple and clean and perfect :) What did you do to bridge the height difference between the kitchen and the adjoining room?

Tanem,
Backsplash tiles are Crystal Glossy 1/2 x 2 in Water from Ann Sachs NY. Ask for Setta, she's the best.

Ruth,
All the cabinets, doors, and hardware are from Home Depot. They were relatively cheap since I had to assemble but with some wood glue, a few extra screws, and reinforcing 2x4s to carry the weight of the countertops they're not going anywhere.

The countertops are Absolute Black and from a stone place in Elmsford NY. This was the deal of the century. We fell in love with this type of stone and after looking around found the price to be around $92/sf. In a last ditch effort, I called a random place that had just gotten the contract to do the stonework for all the bathrooms, kitchens and main lobby at a new Ritz-Carlton. Part of winning the contract meant they needed the capability to bang out 12 granite coutertops per day with a water jet cutter. The owner told me they purchased the cutter and just finished installing it so I casually asked if he'd like to "practice" on my countertop and he agreed. Bottom line - $36/sf installed. It looks like a million bucks.

As for keeping the costs down, not having any labor fees was key. But even if you can't do all the work, most of it can be done by the average homeowner, especially demo. The other lesson I learned from this experience was EVERYTHING is negotiable. We did an exhaustive amount of research and found everything we wanted from the appliances to the faucet to the countertops and called around with specific measurements, model #s, etc. and always asked, politely, if they could do any better. In each instance the vendor came down by at least 15%.

I think if you talk to vendors as an educated, polite consumer you can save big money.

Flyleft,
I think i'll just cut a piece of the tile 2 x 24 and mortar it to the edges. Not the most elegant solution but the only one i've come up with so far. If you have any suggestions I'd love to hear them.