It's going to be gorgeous! What counter material did you choose?

Love your home, enjoyed all the photos!
Your new kitchen will be so beautiful! Your
hood came out so nice, can't wait to see it
when its complete, congrats!

Wonderful choices in your cabinet stains. So rich looking. Who made them? Great pendant, too  will really reinforce the quality of "richness" in the room. Please promise to take a pic of your view outside your sink area windows! WhatÂs the material on your range hood? I so-o-o love your brick walls. Yes, the former cabs did "look" good, even if they were falling off! Oh! Was that the view where your corner sink will be? I wanna be there! Wonderful choices in knobs and pulls, theyÂll look terrific with that deep burnt cabinetry. Same with your gorgeous tile accents. The last-minute change in crema marfil backsplash tiles will be a knock-out combination, and your granite was the PERFECT choice. I knew I was gonna love your new kitchen Âcause I loved your space before you even began. I like the first stool you posted in the pics.

Lynn, your new kitchen will be incredibly beautiful, as is your wonderful home in that idyllic setting. Hurry and finish so we can all enjoy the final results with you. IÂve been fairly preoccupied with all the last few details in our remodel and have mostly just been reading and not posting these last couple of weeks, but I couldnÂt pass on your fabulous pix without congratulating you on some really wonderful choices.

Without sounding like an idiot, can I say, it looks cozily rustic yet polished all at the same time? It really does so far!

Oh, I forgot how much I love, love, love your space and view - your colors are totally what I lean towards - love it all and cannot wait to see it "done"!

Looks Gorgeous!!

oh that is gorgeous! Your walls are divine !!!!!

Thanks for your support! It really helps to have that when I'm surrounded by chaos still ;~)
cspinto: the counters are going in today (yipee!). They're Silestone's Dark Canyon in their regular finish. This particular color doesn't come in the leather finish and, after reading negative comments here on that finish, I'm now very glad we didn't go with it!
Vicnsb: To me the hood looks very unfinished, but thank you! I'm still trying to decide whether to leave it as is or add a border (pewter listello tile or hand-painted) to the edge of it.
Oofasis: Thank you! You've been so supportive and full of good advice for me during this reno. I really appreciate it. The cabs are Brookhaven and the stains are Mocha and Bistro. The hood is a lath and plaster one. Totally done by hand with some special plaster finish; there's no paint on it. I love all the hand-troweling lines on it, although you can only seem them up close. I'll try and take a pic of the view from the new sink for you today after the new counters (& sink) are in. BTW, you still loving your own gorgeous counters? I'm so glad that the fires out there didn't touch your place. I was really worried about that!
Cat Mom; yes, that's exactly what we were going for: a polished but rustic look. I'm happy you picked that up! I hope it looks as good when I get my art pieces back in there. I may have to do some editing.
Buffettgirl: thanks regarding the walls. You do know though, that the exposed brown adobe bricks (and more) will be covered up with the tumbled marble backsplash tiles, don't you? I know many people here seem to like the exposed, brown bricks, but it's not for us.
Susan & MNhockeymom: thanks!

Gorgeous! I can't wait to see the final photos. What a wonderful space. And it's all coming together so nicely.

Lynne it's shaping up nicely! I think it's hard to say on that hood issue (border or not). In the picture I'd agree that it looks a bit unfinished to me as well, but then I can't see all that fabulous hand work...which is kind of what finishs a great plaster job :)

I think a border would be lovely, or you could even rest a small iron piece on the ledge to polish it off....but it will be fun to see what you do in the end :) I can't wait!

I can't wait to see it completely finished. I've been thinking all along that I wanted white cabinets until I saw everything you picked out and it was just so pretty that it made me question what I want my kitchen to look like. Can't wait to see the new tile you picked.

Laurie

Oh I love the exposed brick but I agree, its not a look everyone loves. How about the top brick??

The Silestone guys just left and I have counters! Gosh, it's starting to look like a real kitchen finally. The Dark Canyon is flat-out gorgeous and fits the room, the cabs, the adobe walls perfectly. (Sigh) I am one happy gal tonite!
Buffettgirl, most every wall inside our home here is exposed adobe brick. Exposed, meaning that you see the outline and irregularities of every brick as opposed to having a smooth finishing coat over it, as we have on all our outside walls. All our inside walls are sealed and painted a nice warm cream color.
So now, all we have left to do:
* faucets put on
* appliances installed
* DW and fridge cabinet doors put on
* backsplash tile installed
* feet put on cooktop cab
* brick floors refinished and sealed
* buy new counter stools

Is this the Lynn from MX that met with the CA gals at Wendy's several years ago? And was a member of the GI forum? I always wondered what happened to you, Lynn.

Not on GI anymore, but soohappy(Lisa)has a site that I have to admit I haven't been on in a very long time~it seems i'm always on one of the forums here. LOL

I loved your kitchen before, and i'll bet the new one is going to be gorgeous! It's looks to be even bigger. When did the re-do start? How's your little girl and son?

I've sold my condo in San Diego, and am moving to Austin~can hardly wait! I'll be building a new house!!!!

If this isn't the Lynn I 'know', i'll just admit to making a big a$$ out of myself. LOL

patty_cakes(Trish)

Trish, yes, it's me! I'm still active on GI and yes, Wendy is a good friend of mine. She came here to my house, though. All's well with us. DS is in grad school now and doing great. In fact, we're leaving tomorrow early AM to visit him for four days. Our GC will be here to watch over this place for us. DD is 13 y/o and doing fine, as well.
As for our reno, the tear out (gut) started almost 6 weeks ago, although the final kitchen design started in May.
So you're moving to Austin? Sandra (from GI) just moved back there with her family. Did you know that TB (Erin), who was also in Austin, died unexpectedly earlier this year? You should reapply to GI. Pretty much everyone else is still there and doing well. Renie is over here some, as she's redoing her kitchen now, too.

I'm dying to see the silestone. Take pictures as soon as you get a chance!

Laurie

Laurie, I'll take pics on Tuesday for you. As good as the Dark Canyon looks in the evening, it looks ten times better in the daylight. I can't stop admiring it, although I do know that after a while it'll fade into the background of our new kitchen. Still, I'd highly recommend it to anyone. It looks fab with our cherry cabs!

Your kitchen is really gonna be great!

I have to ask you a few of questions...

What type of finish do you use for your brick floors? I'm also in NM and have brick floors in my kitchen and living room. I have so far stripped the wax off my kitchen floor and was really not sure as to what to use on them.

Other question is who is going to install your backsplash as we still have to find a tile guy. Tiles is already picked out just have not purchased yet.

And finally, who did your cabinets? See my Lowe's rant earlier... We had gotten a quote from the Branch cabinetry but I almost fainted at the price! We have a small townhome in the dowtown Albuquerque area, so great property value but no way could we justify 20g in cabinets!

Your HOOD! Oh, it's just PERFECT! The whole kitchen is heading for "amazing," but that hood made me catch my breath. It looks exactly right for your space. I love it! I'm looking forward to more pictures.

Vjrnts: thanks regarding the hood. I'm still trying to decide what to do on the mantel edge of it ~ leave it plain and prop a painting up on the mantel there; tile with the pewter listello tiles; have an artist do a stencil design in pewter paint. I'll wait until I get the kitchen totally done with the art work back in there before making a final decision.
Dflood: sorry I didn't answer you sooner, but we're in Oklahoma now visiting our DS at grad school (OU)at the moment. We use only Ring Brick floor care on our floors and they (usually) look gorgeous. We get it at the True Value Hardware store in Bernalillo. I would never use anything else; it's that good. We do wash our floors with water & vinegar first, BTW, but never any detergent or polish.
For our tile backsplashes, we're using Tile Specialties (owner Ken Louden) to do them. Got the best prices on tile at Interceramic, which is over next to Arizona Tile off the I-25 frontage road. We also looked at Lowes for cabs, before settling on Branch Cabinetry. Lowes people were alarming me because they seemed to miss so many things just in the planning stage. I was afraid what they'd miss in the ordering, fit or design. Plus, I was hearing about VERY negative experiences with their installers. Branch was a bit more money, but we liked their Brookhaven cab quality and got great reviews on their service and KD (Marc Coan) from good friends who had their entire new home done by Marc . . and it's gorgeous!Branch is with you through every stage of a reno, and it shows. Good luck with your own reno. I'll be anxious to see how it turns out.

So happy for you! Everything is looking so beautiful and perfect for the space. It's going to be stunning when it's finished. We're at the 80% finished stage, too. Couldn't you just burst with excitement?

What is GI?

Lynn - It's Tuesday!!! Can't wait to see pictures!!

Laurie

bump

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the hood. Don't change a thing! What is it exactly?

Also love the exposed brick. Will you keep that and tile elsewhere?

I also love the idea of a brick floor but would worry about the wear on your back from standing on it and the toll on glasswear and dishes over time. But perhaps you're quicker and less clumsy than I am. ;>

Thank you all! Msrose: we're back from our four-day trip to OK, but my camera's battery is now dead and I can't find the darn recharger cable! Am hoping that I didn't accidentally pack it away with the kitchen stuff. The appliances are all in now and working. I'm itching to take more pics . . . if only I could find the cable! I'll keep looking.
Imrainey: our brick floors are wonderful . . . very forgiving for dirt, but very UNforgiving on backs and dishes. But . . . they go well with the architecture and surroundings. We've had Mexican tile, which is too high maintenance for us and (a PIA!).To tell you the truth, I'm terribly clumsy and break way too many dishes and glasses on these floors.

I love your kitchen and am especially crazy about your hood. Are you planning to use the same tile trim on the hood as your backsplash? I like the idea of a painting - you can change it out if you tire of it in that spot. Would you mind sharing the source of your pendant? Can't wait to see this great kitchen finished!!

Niineta, I got our pendant light at affordablelamps.com
It was the best price I could find on this one, which is the Randolph line from Hudson Valley Lighting. The light came very promptly,was packed wonderfully and I think that I even got free S&H. I also liked that it came with an optional bottom disc, which is a frosted white and diffuses the light. It's great for me, as this is right over my sink and very easy on the eyes. It also comes with 5 stem lengths. Since our ceilings are 11-feet high, I wanted to make sure that I had enough stem to place it exactly where I wanted it . . . and I did.
As for our hood, we're not using the same tile on it as we're using on the backsplash areas. There, we're using Interceramic's 4x4" tumbled marble tiles in a cream color (Crema Marfil) with 2x2" metal accent tiles every three courses. On the edge of the hood, I'd planned on using a gorgeous pewter colored tile listello, but we ran into problems as the hood is hand done and the edges curve. For now, we're going to wait until everything else is done and see what ideas we come up with then, although I still have my heart set on the listello tiles. We have several paintings to choose from to prop up on it's ledge/mantle, so we'll decide then.
BTW, I just want to say that owning many original paintings out here in an artist's mecca like New Mexico, is NOT unusual at all. Out here you can get originals for what the rest of you would pay for a framed print. I just don't want anyone to get the wrong impression.

I was just wondering if you had any pictures of your countertop yet?

Laurie