Kitchen Reveal
We redid our kitchen after a dishwasher leak led to mold. For lots of reasons, I had not planned on posting a reveal here, but Beachem's Week 156 Question inspired me to do so, so here it goes. I will tell you, remodeling is not really my thing and I found the decision making process challenging and agonizing!!
Cabinets - Custom Cabinet Maker - White Perimeter and Walnut Island
Counters - White Macaubas Quartzite
Backsplash - Sonoma Tile Penthouse Crackle. I debated between using slab and tile and ultimately decided to go with tile. I think I would have been happy with either. The plan was to use Fireclay Hydrangea, but they stopped making it just when I was ready to order.
Appliances - All Thermador except the drawer Microwave, which is by Sharp.
Floors - We kept the existing limestone floors. The floors are only ~ 7 years old and we have a lot of this floor in the house. While I might have preferred something different, it felt so wasteful to think about replacing it all so we kept it.
Table/Chairs. We kept the existing black granite table top and put it on a new metal base and then got chairs and barstools with the same finish on the legs. They were from Amisco.
Pulls - Emtek 6 inch in stainless nickel. After much debate, I think we used the same size pull everywhere.
Sink - Blanco Silgranite Super Single Sink in Metallic Gray.
Pendants - Alina Grande Pendants. I fell in love with the small Alina pendants which have a lot of glass on the top and then white glass on the bottom, but they were too small for my space. So we went with the Grande pendants. Unfortunately, they have more white and less clear glass and I don't like them as much. But they are what I have and I am going to love them for the time being. Because we put pendants over the island, we replaced the fixture over the table with a can.
Layout - The benefit of being the last one in a subdivision to redo your kitchen is that you can visit all your neighbors who have the same floorpan and see how they have redone their/your kitchen. Ultimately, we did not change much about the layout because we liked it as it was. Instead, we made some tweaks around the edges -- moved the microwave (which was on top of a double oven), added seating on the island, switched from trash compactor to trash/recycle pull out, etc.
The island is 46X105. I wanted seating on the island, but the seating is more for visiting, going through the mail, or snacks for kiddos than eating meals. We love eating at the kitchen table and have a dining room for those times when we have a larger group. I like having the barstools on two sides of the island because to me, sitting diagonally makes it easier to have a conversation or for my kids to play a game than sitting next to each other. It was hard to find a barstool everyone agreed on. My boys wanted swivel and backs. A lot of those types of stools were really bulky. These feel the right scale for the space, while also meeting the boys' requirements.
The wall on the left has pantry, fridge, and ovens. I know most people don't recommend fridge next to oven, but this is how it was before and we liked the placement. The fridge door has a block on it so you can't open it into the oven door unless you press a button.
I love the Sharp microwave. After they told me it couldn't be done, it took the cabinet guys about three trips to get it installed flush and I am really happy with it. (You can see the flooring was originally chosen to match the big dog so you wouldn't see all her hair!)
This was the stool idea I copied from Cheryl. Being vertically challenged, I love it.
We don't drink coffee, so did not need a place for a coffee station.
Our laundry room functions as our mud room and I have had visions for a while now of stacking my washer and dryer. But redoing the laundry room forces me to make a lot of other decisions related to the bathroom nearby and the hardwood floors that have been destroyed by my playful pups. So until I get the energy to make more decisions, I made a counter to go over the washer/dryer. Total cost was <$50 with Ikea materials and I am quite happy for the time being. (I am apparently out of picture space so will post laundry room photo in comments.)
Comments (27)
9 years ago
Here is the counter I built for the laundry room. Since the laundry room leads outside, we walk through the room a lot when taking the pups out. The little basket on top gives the kids a place to toss dirty clothes that come out of their backpack or sports bags so they don't end up on the floor!
Here is a before picture of the kitchen:
In the old kitchen, we had 6 drawers total. We have 14 in our new house, but three of them are still empty.Related Professionals
Little Rock Kitchen & Bathroom Designers · Keene Kitchen & Bathroom Designers · Eau Claire Kitchen & Bathroom Designers · Fort Dodge Kitchen Remodelers · Rockford Kitchen Remodelers · Plymouth Kitchen Remodelers · Kalamazoo Kitchen Remodelers · Cambridge Custom Countertops · Vicksburg Custom Countertops · Harrisonburg Custom Countertops · Platteville Custom Countertops · San Diego Custom Countertops · Stockton Custom Countertops · Santa Fe Custom Countertops · Cheyenne Custom Countertops- 9 years ago
@Cabinetix, Inc. - The controls on the microwave are very easy to reach. I find it super easy to flip open the control panel. (Of course, I have finger nails, but my boys don't and they have never had any problems either.) You will notice that there is a piece of wood between the countertop and the microwave. That wood is about 7/8 of an inch and then there is a little 1/4 inch gap between the wood and the microwave. This was planned by the cabinet guy who said he had installed this microwave in the past and said people had trouble accessing the control panel if the microwave was installed right under the countertop because of the overhang. Actually, the cabinet guy had originally planned for a 2 inch piece of wood under the countertop, but when they put that in I thought it looked silly so they made it smaller. (Our countertop has very little overhang so there was probably no need for any spacer between the countertop and the microwave, but . . . )
The overhang is one thing about my kitchen I didn't spend anytime thinking about -- I just assumed there was a standard and it would have the same overhang as my old kitchen. Then the countertop guys put the counter in and I was a little taken aback at how close it is to the cabinets. What I have learned is that while I might have preferred a wee bit more overhang, some people really like it close and it is the first thing they comment on when they come in. Go figure.
- 9 years ago
@Alex9179 - Once we adopted our big dog about 7 years ago, I suddenly realized why people name their dog "Shadow". My little dog is really part cat. This is her on my lap as I try and work in my office.
- 9 years ago
- 8 years ago
Cheryl Hewitt