Completely and totally awesome, manicotti. LOVE that modern aesthetic, the light grey color, the minimalism, the ingenious use of every nook and cranny. Love the open shelving! Bravo! Just had the holiday for my family as well-- what a good feeling to finally be able to do it with style!

Cool, modern kitchen. Great job!

I Love your new kitchen! It is so sleek and stunning! And that backsplash is too cool! So did you get a better review from the Easter dinner or kitchen?
We debuted our kitchen at Easter dinner too. It was like a new kitchen party.

Beautiful! So restrained and yet lush. :)

So how did you get the Varia people to return your e-mails? I can't even get them to return an e-mail request for a freakin' quote! I've sent it twice, second time receipt requested--the rep. sent the receipt and never replied! What attitude. I love their product but am being forced to look elsewhere for our bathroom and bedroom panels because of their complete lack of attentiveness. HOpe you had a better experience. Did you deal with them directly?

jennybeth, Easter went great and everyone loved the kitchen (or lied convincingly). My mother, who has seen the kitchen evolve as my father, brother and I did the work, commented on how pleased she was that the layout facilitated several of us cooking at once without bumping in to one another. (That's pretty amazing given that the kitchen also qualifies as "small" on this site: it's only 14'x10'.)

On the down side, it seemed like the meal was a bit rushed. I think that having dual-ovens all but eliminiated the usual "digestion" time between the first and second courses. Also, to "keep some veggies warm," my mom put them in an oven that had been turned off 30 minutes prior. She didn't realize how well the Gaggenau ovens hold the heat and didn't warn anyone that the bowls had been "warmed" to 303 degrees. (Hilarity ensued... ;-)

For those interested, those courses consist of the following home-made items:
First course: meatballs, sweet and hot sausages, and gravy; ravioli and manicotti (of course). (OK, you caught me, the sausage wasn't homemade.)
Second course: two turkeys; one ham; white and sweet potatoes, broccoli rabe, and string beans; bread, pineapple, and meat stuffings.
Dessert: Italian run cake (store-bought for a cousin's birthday); vanilla, chocolate, and ricotta cannolis (bought from the same store); maple, lemon, and Amaretto pana cotta (I made those); and ricotta and rice pies (from my mom).

flyleft, 3Form doesn't seem to like to deal direct. They work with independent firms to represent them in different cities and who handle sales and quotes. I never met my local rep in person, but we spoke several times and exchanged email a lot.

I can tell you that the panels that we got (which were the longer 10'x4' size) cost almost $900 a piece plus a few hundred for shipping across the country.

Wow - beautiful! The materials all work together so nicely. You have many appliances on our short list, so would you mind saying what you like best and least about the following. Gaggenau ovens? GE cooktop? Electrolux fridge?

Does the surface of the Electrolux show scratches a lot? Do you have trouble opening the freezer drawer all the way in that location? I am so worried about an awkward refrigerator situation that we may be planning for too much space to the left of it and giving up on counter space by the sink in exchange.

thanks and again, nice job!

Beautiful!

gunderson1909, there's nothing that I don't like about the Gaggenau (except its cost ;-).

The GE cooktop is fine, I'd have preferred something more substantial, but the Scavolini cabinets are only 22.9" deep and won't fit most cooktops. If I were replacing my appliances, this would be the first to go even though there's nothing at all wrong with it.

The Electrolux looks great, but I all but hate the ice maker (our old one was great, this one sometimes doesn't realize that it's full and makes extra ice that overflows the bucket) and it's a bit louder than our old one.

We have 6" to the left of the refrigerator; when the freezer door is opened, it stops just short of banging in to the frame of the doorway to the living room. This is far enough to slide out the bins to 3/4 (maybe 4/5) of their length. To get more than that would require sliding out the refrigerator, but we haven't found that to be necessary.

liz_h, thanks.

wow oh wow!!!! beautiful gorgeous kitchen!

You are the only other person I've heard of that makes their own manicotti! Do you make the shells from scratch in small cast iron pans, too? I inherited my mom's pans when she passed away (They were orginally my garndmother's). I made 120 shells and it was barely enough!

Oops, I forgot to answer the scratch question.

There are only two of us and we haven't had the Electrolux long enough to "field test" is scratch resistence. I do sometimes notice what I briefly think are scratch marks on the door handles. The handles have a rougher finish than the rest of the unit and apparently they have a slight ability to "file" my fingernails when I reach for the door with bleary eyes some mornings. The marks brush away easily and wouldn't be a problem for someone with better nails, hand-eye coordination, or lighting. ;-)

namabafo, everything is from scratch, but the pan is only a year old. However, the pasta machine for making the raviolis was my grandmother's and my mother just gave me her rolling pin.

Hi Manicotti, I have to say, I am in LOVe with your new kitchen. I'm a huge fan of Scavolini. The most interesting thing about your reoovation, to me, is that you have the exact kitchen lay out as my kitchen. The door to the right of the ovens is exactly where our door down to the basement is. Our kitchen is SO OLD, there is a ton of space just wasting away and we have no storage, no bookshelves, it's just old and needs an overhaul. It's great to see how you laid everything out... you really seem to have used all the space very well and I am going to use your pics when the time comes to reno my own kitchen! Do you think you would be willing to tell me how much you paid for all the Scavolini cabinets? A ball park figure would be great. I just don't know if the cabinets would be too much for the house we live in, but I want them badly!!!!!!! Thanks!! Evever

Manicotti, I don't know if you are still checking this Forum, but I am anxious to hear what you think if the Electrolux fridge now that you have had it for awhile. I was really considering buying a sxs with ice in the door, but was concerned about the ice after reading your entry.

Thanks so much.