Stunning! Your beautiful cabs, the marble, stove and hood, sink, and floor--it's all so beautiful! And you've certainly stayed true to your home. I love the pattern of your tile floor, too! It gives it such a cozy vibe. Can't wait to see more--especially your island!

Your cabinets look fabulous! LOVE it!!

Sayde - It's just lovely! The gumwood and marble are perfect mates! I cannot wait to see the finished product.

You guys have come such a long long way and your DH has become quite the craftsman. You should both be very proud of what you have done with the space.

I'll race you to an end of June finish line :)

~ D ~

I love that you could keep the original cabs. It makes it all the more special! Your floor tile is made extra nice by the border around the edges... nice touch...
I can't wait to see the bs together with the hood and new counters. It sounds like a lovely combo.
I love your new old kitchen because it truly does fit your home ;)

Exquisite. The light coming in your window is great, and between opening the wall up and changing the counters, you have something that almost looks like Vermeer.

Sayde- what a difference! So pretty. Love your choices with the existing cabinets and your new layout. Can't wait to see more.

Oooh! So, so, so, so pretty! I don't think I've ever seen gumwood before. It's beautiful. The marble is wonderful with it.

Oh, those pix just made me do a low whistle followed by "I LIKE it!"

Looking good so far!

What a serene, beautiful kitchen! Some new inspiration for me :) Enjoy your hardwork, it's gorgeous.

I am LOVING what I am seeing so far! can't wait to see it finished. What a beautiful kitchen. Love how you are keeping your cabinets and making the kitchen even better with what you have.

It's going to be perfection. DH is a master. Give that man a martini and a steak! (Or I will.)

Thank you for all the lovely comments!

There was some interest in gumwood. It is a medium hard wood with a dramatic grain -- made even more so by the Waterlox we used on it. Gumwood typically was used as veneer panels because of the dramatic grain pattern. It was used extensively in this area of the country (upstate New York) in the early part of the century but it is now rare. I don't think it was ever a particularly upscale wood like walnut or mahogany. Many people have painted over it or torn it out of their houses. Even the salvage shops are no longer getting much in.

We found some some new wood that was labeled gumwood at a lumber shop but it turned out to be quite different from the old gumwood so we had return to using only old wood in gumwood doors that we bought at salvage stores.

In our main rooms all the gumwood was stained to look like walnut. In the kitchen and bedrooms it was left natural and looks a little like chestnut, a completely different and more rustic look than the dark stained rooms.

Thank you again -- I am looking forward to being able to show you the completed kitchen.

Sayde - just had to add my praise along with all the other positive comments. Your kitchen is just beautifl - you certainly have an eye for detail and how fortunate that your husband is such a wonderful craftsman. Please post more pics as you move along.

It is beautiful. I love your cabinets and I am so impressed when people get to do this themselves. I even like your before picture, it just looks like a warm, inviting space. But I love what you have done with the cabinets, marble and hood. Congratulations and again you have done a super job.

Love it! Love everything about it (but especially that copper hood, drool)! Your home is lucky to have you as its owners. I look forward to seeing more photos.

I am amazed that you were able to use the old cabinets that were original to the house. Often they are not nearly deep enough to work with modern appliances. You have done exactly what the house has asked you to do. It is so lovely to see a kitchen that belongs in the house it resides in. The house must have been built with a lot of care. The window and the cabinets have the same leaded glass detail.

i love, love, LOVE your kitchen! this is truly one of the most stunning wood toned spaces i've ever seen -and i don't normally go for stained cabs. wow, your husband does gorgeous work; i'm jealous.

please tell us what you have planned for the backsplash! i can't wait to see the finish!

OMG, Sayde. I can only ditto what everyone else has said. . . with the addition of many exclamation points for emphasis. This kitchen of yours is looking fantastic! Especially given all the trials and tribulations of this reno, your road to to completion is looking seriously sweet. Good for you and DH!! I'm truly happy for you. And, it goes without saying -- with a sneak peek this great, I can hardly wait for the big reveal!

Oh wow, Sayde!
N and I are drinking a Hendricks martini after a long day of tiling the backsplash (and tending to the garden, if one is permitted to mention such things here) and we thought we'd check in with the kitchen forum. Your kitchen is a stunner. It was lovely before, but the sneak peak is so wonderful. Now you have form AND function. We know you've suffered some headaches, but I'm sure they'll be forgotten with such a lovely space. It's wonderful, the way you reused your beautiful cabinets. The floor, the combination of wood and white, everything so far looks just beautiful. We just love it and admire it and can't wait to see your final reveal.

Very pretty. I love the rich colors of your cabinetry.
The hood and the fun stove look beautiful with the white
elegant countertops.
~boxer

Sayde, it is exquisite! Someone else mentioned the light coming in through the windows and that's when I realized what your kitchen, with the gorgeous wood, leaded glass and charming patterned floor reminds me of: a Vermeer painting. It is really a work of art, and one of my top faves of the many I've seen here. Can't wait to see it all finished with your WZ tile installed!

Sayde - I know we're sink sisters but hey - we're also "original cabinets" sisters! ;) I too kept ours - those we could keep anyway (the lower cabs weren't original so we replaced those). I LOVE you kitchen but frankly I loved the before, too! Was anything else original besides the cabs? What about the floor (I assume not but still thought I'd ask). I even like the wood counters - what's wrong with me?! But the marble is so pretty with the gorgeous cabs! I can't wait to see your backplash! And the floors are so great. It's nice to see something so different yet classic looking too. I miss the parquet (?) flooring which this reminds me of only yours is much more unique.

What did you do with the other cabs you took down? Repurpose them? Where are more pics? I want to see more of your house, too! :)

Thank you again -- have been sharing these responses with DH who is just tickled to hear them. He is mighty tired at this point but all of your praise has energized him to start thinking about that island . . .

Answers to questions

Kaismom -- you're correct -- when we moved in to the house the lowers were too shallow to house contemporary appliances so we had a carpenter pull them out but we didn't rebuild them in any fundamental way. Inside they were just big empty cubes. Now we have pullouts and more useable storage in less space.

Theresse, we totally dismantled the cabinets. We built the two class cupboards from scratch using old wood, and we reused the old leaded glass doors. You can see in the before photos that in the original uppers the cames did not align with the shelves. Just one of those little things that always bothered me. We fixed that!

We used doors from above the old cooktop to make the new lower cabinet on the far left-- these had to be taken apart and resized. The sink wall, not visible in this photo, is new build using old wood. For example, DH made a panel for the integrated dishwasher using a center panel (cut to size and framed) from an old door we bought at salvage. The doors under the sink are original but had to be made smaller to fit under the apron sink. So, most of the time even what we repurposed had to be remade to fit the layout and the appliances.

Only two of the cabinets on the other side of the room were left as-is, just refinished. We also took out an old doorway (door was long gone) and built an eyebrow arch that matches the contour of the arches in other rooms. We added crown molding and floor molding out of old gumwood as well.

We kept the Lightolier tracks but replaced the old cans with new MR16 fixtures. We kept the built-in refrigerator (we put this in about 15 years ago, building an enclosure) but gave it new steel panels. We kept the pot rack! We kept some of the original hardware (latches and hinges) but added new pulls.

Thanks again for all the comments! They are helping us gear up for the final spurt!

I absolutely love what you and DH have done. The materials you had in the gumwood are incredible and you have used it with respect and love and made an amazing space.
I cannot wait to see the finished project.

Then......when that is finished, can i borrow DH.
I can give him so much fun both building furniture and playing in the garden. lol

you can come too.

i really like the style of his work. Well done to you both