My first words when I saw the pics of new kitchen were "Oh how pretty." I love how the wall color, cabinets, and granite complement one another. The space looks inviting and fun to work in.

I am sorry you were laid off. I hope you get back to work soon. Darn economy.

Wow, beautifully done! Sorry you lost your job! On a high note though, don't be so concerned about a tiled backsplash...

Some say (that would be me!) that using the right color paints, and shades of those colors could be just as beautiful. Do a little bit of research on the different types of color schemes, and I'm sure you'll come up with something beautiful!

Justin

Here is a link that might be useful: Kitchen Color Schemes

Very nice! You must love all the storage you gained by ditching the cooktop/wall oven combo and going with a range. Smart move.

(Fingers crossed for a job for you soon.)

You did a WONDERFUL job. It all looks spacious and warm and so pretty. I am sorry you lost your job and hope that things turn around for you soon.

On a separate note I have a painted backsplash area ...on purpose. I would never change it and am glad to be able to scrub it at will and change the color of my kitchen whenever I please. There are a number of us on the forum who have chosen to have the advantage of art work and other deco items instead of tile. Hope this helps you rethink the expense and permanence of your original choice. BRAVO on your new space. c

so sorry to hear about your job...

but wow, you didn't just get a new kitchen... it's like a new home! really lovely and fresh-looking, open and light.

it looks so much more functional to work in as well. i can't wait to get rid of my otr mw, but after seeing how nice yours looks in your upper cabinet run, i'm not so sure anymore! (and that's not a small statement.)

enjoy your new kitchen... it looks like a really great place to be. :)

Very nice kitchen. Are the upper cabinets 36" ? Looks nice with the crown molding. I myself have a smaller kitchen and after seeing yours, it makes me see that a smaller kitchen can look nice as a large one.

A really thoughtful re-do, katsmah! The relationship between the three rooms is much more clearer and their function is probably working very well. Nice work! You can consider this finished. Finé!

The pass thru and wall down changed everything! I love your colors and how light and airy it all feels.
Fingers crossed, you will get a new and improved job asap.
In the meantime, your kitchen is lovely and does not look unfinished at all. The colors flow and are so cheerful. I'd hate to change the look you have going already!

Wow fantastic transformation. I love our marshmellow
cream cabs and the caramelo granite counters. It looks
perfect with the green paint.
Lovely space.
~boxer

hi kats...

I love your cabinets..very pretty. And the whole remodel really looks like it made a huge difference in the function of your kitchen. It looks nice now even without a backsplash...but I look forward to seeing that when you get to it...

KA:)

Beautiful kitchen - love a granite. What a huge difference and I didn't even notice no backsplash. Enjoy.

Thank you all. I lived with that old kitchen for 17 years and this is such a pleasure to work in, heck I even like cleaning it. Even with the job loss, I don't regret doing the renovation. The timing just stinks.

Aries, the cabinets are 36".

ironcook, I know that an OTR microwave isn't the best option, but in a small space I couldn't give up any storage. It beats having to cross the kitchen with a hot dish like I had to do previously. With a small space there are trade-offs.

Really nice, very classic. The colors are great! I also think moving the fridge made a world of difference! Enjoy your kitchen, it looks like a good investment to me .... and best of luck with job hunting.

LOVE your kitchen! We just were at the cabinet guys' place discussing cab height and crown. Do you remember off hand how tall your ceilings are (floor to ceiling) and how many inches your crown turned out to be? I think it looks awesome, and that is what I would like as well!

wow what a transformation! I wouldn't have even noticed about the back splash, everything else is so pretty!

one question - I noticed you said your range oven is convection, and also your microwave is convection. Is there an advantage to having them both convection? I am looking at a new convection range, and will probably get a new OTR micro so it will match, but wasn't planning on spending the extra $$ to have it convection also. I've never had ANY convection before, so having one will be good enough I think? thanks for sharing!

That looks like a totally different house! And very yummy with the marshallow and caramel....hmmm makes me want dessert!

You have improved the function enormously. Enjoy your new days off in such a lovely space. I add my wishes to the bunch that you get a new job soon. Enjoy!

Sooo pretty! I love the cabinet color and finish. The crown is really gorgeous! Congratulations!

so calming, so crisp, and how awesome to have that wider opening! Great job! Speaking of, all the best getting a new one and enjoy your new space in the meantime.

What a pretty new kitchen! I love your granite with your cabs--such a great combo! I didn't even notice you didn't have a splash.

You have made a very functional, yet lovely space to cook in. How wonderful for you! It is an amazing transformation to be sure.

Sorry to hear about your job,:^( but happy to see your new kitchen! Thanks for sharing it with us!

How beautiful! I think everyone who remodels dreams of such a transformation. It's just great that you showed us that it can be done!!!

Colorado_mom, I measured the crown molding, it's 6". The ceiling is 8'.

mountaineer girl, I opted to get convection in both the mircowave and oven because I live alone and usually its just me and BF eating here. While we mainly use the oven now, when it gets warmer we'll make more use the convection microwave to keep from heating up the kitchen with the big oven. I had thought of getting a 2 oven range, but didn't like how low the lower oven is. The timing of the reno was such that I bought the appliances at the end of the model year and got pretty good discounts on both.

You did a beautiful job, enjoy your space.

Nice!!!!

I wouldn't even miss the BS, your kitchen looks awesome!! I really love that granite and how open it is now with the bigger pass through and the missing wall. Great job!

Sorry about your job though, it's never really a good time, but this is really bad timing I'm sure. I hope something else comes along even better!

Really bright and calm. I think this kitchen will be timeless. Great idea with the bank of drawers on the dining side! Hope you find work soon, but in the mean time you can enjoy sitting at the table gazing at that beautiful room.

Thank you all for the job well wishes.

cjc123, having the bank of drawers on the dining side was one of the best ideas I got from GW. That idea came from Buehl's pet station. The drawers hold my good silverware, table cloths and my Christmas dishes. It is a wonderful use of space in a small house.

I think your kitchen is perfect as is. The painted backsplash ties the wall color in perfectly and is easily changed if you ever tire of the green, (which I love with your cabinets, granite and SS appliances). Great choices with the enlarged opening and getting rid of the DR wall.

WOW!

Good luck with the job search!

I love the changes especially that gorgeous granite with the perfect style and color cabinets! I love the new appliances, the bright happy space and the crown molding so the cabinets reach the ceiling. I also would like to know the height of the ceiling like someone else asked. I feel the painted backsplash looks very nice. What hardware did you use on the cabinets that looks so great?

Thanks for sharing and congratulations on a great space! I hope you find a new job that you like even better.

What an improvement! It's great. I have the same fridge you do, and don't let the "scares" of past posters get to you. Ours has been wonderful. Very nice job with this kitchen!

Wow what a great transformation. You did a terrific job reworking the space. It looks lovely and like it flows so much better with the adjoining rooms.

Thanks Katsmah about the convection/microwave. We are empty nesters now and I too had considered the 2-oven range, but I want an induction and none of them have 2 ovens (that I have found) but they ARE all convection ovens. Since I've never cooked with convection I hadn't considered a combo micro/convection but that certainly would be better than heating up the big oven in summer months. Also I guess I hadn't thought of that because I only use our micro for warming leftovers, melting butter/cheese/ and maybe popcorn.

Your new kitchen certainly is beautiful. Enjoy it!

oh, katsmah... just making sure, but you did realize that i LIKE the way your otr mw looks?! hope it didn't come across otherwise. :(

we were just talking about your kitchen last night. ours is even smaller than your original footprint, so we are going through the trade-offs, too. it's reassuring that the otr mw CAN look nice. i think it's because of the cabinet proportions and the way you flanked the ends with glass cabinets. so hopefully we can fit in something like that.

and what a VERY smart idea to a have the convection micro as a second oven. i was all resigned to one of those double-oven ranges, but i don't like the lowness of the second either. so we will consider a convection micro, too.

thanks again for sharing your kitchen. it's not just kitchen eye candy; it's been helpful to us, too! :)

lynn2006, the ceiling is 8'. It's amazing the extra space once the soffits are removed. The cabinet hardware is Lion Nail pulls from Lee Valley Hardware
http://www.leevalley.com/US/hardware/page.aspx?cat=3,43520,43521,43532,57782&p=57782
Another great resource for well priced hardware I found from GW.

mountaineergirl, convection is a bit of a learning curve. I hosted both Thanksgiving and Christmas this year and the convection cooked turkey was amazing.

ironcook, I'm glad that my posting has been helpful. Small kitchens have so many trade-offs and compromises. GW Kitchen forum was so extremely helpful to me that I'm glad to pay it forward.

Beautiful! I love how open and airy everything feels! Congratulations and enjoy!

Beautiful kitchen remodel! Excellent layout, storage and color choices.

I do have one question... The LG frig you chose is one that I am considering and I have hunted high and low on the internet but cannot find a picture (or even a decent description) of the freezer. The LG site makes it sound like the freezer drawer is just one big space with no smaller drawers or compartments. Can you either describe the freezer space for me or post a picture?

Thanks so much!
VaBeachGirl

VaBeachGirl, here are 2 pictures of the LG freezer drawer. I don't know why manufactures can't put good pictures of opened appliances on the web. I had the same frustration.

The bottom drawer is solid plastic (I saw some freezers where it wasn't solid) and has a movable divider. Its about 11" deep at the deepest part. There is also a wire top drawer, about 7ish" deep. I wish the top drawer pulled out a little farther.

Overall, I'm happy with the refrigerator. I've only been using it for a few months but it handled everything I stuffed into it for holiday parties. A big selling point for us were the bins on the doors. A lot of refrigerators I looked at had curved bins that didn't hold that much. The LG door bins appeared to be larger than most.

The bottom freezer takes a little getting used to. We don't use much ice and the ice bin takes up a lot of room on the upper drawer. I am going to see if a smaller bin will work with the icemaker, without ice spilling out of it

Thank you Katsmah!

I agree about appliance web-sites. It's almost like they don't want you to know what the interior looks like.

The addition door bins in the refrigerator section are definitely a plus for me as well. At this point, I am deciding between the LG CD FD and a KA CD FD. I really like the freezer on the KA. It is similar to the LG - but the ice section pulls out separately from the 6 or 7" top basket and under both of these is a shallow full width wire drawer with two plastic bins in the bottom. (The divider between the bins is fixed, unlike the LG.) The actual frig capacity for the KA is listed as 1.6 c.f. more - but it has 2 less bins on the doors because the full width drawer is deeper than the other drawers and shelves.

I really need to make this decision soon. Perhaps I just need to flip a coin...

VaBeachGirl, I also was torn over both of those refrigerators. I liked the full depth drawer in the fridge and the separate freezer drawer that the KA refrigerator had a lot. I think the top drawer of the freezer pulled out a little bit more on the KA than it does on the LG. I don't think you could go wrong with either one.

In the end, it came down to money for me. The KA was about $700 more than the LG and the little bit extra the KA gave wasn't worth the extra cost. I haven't missed those features the KA had. YMMV.

Good luck with your decision.

Katsmah, your kitchen is really beautiful. Love your stone and your ceramic tile floor. The colors are gorgeous.

Katsmah,

The photo of your pantry/fridge surround is my inspiration for what I'm wanting to do at my house! Can you please tell me the dimensions of your upper cabinet above your fridge and the dimensions of the pantry unity next to it?

Thank you for sharing this!!!!