wow, what a wonderful difference! your layout is alot like mine was. ihad that peninsula too and now have an island running in the same direction as yours now. doesn't it really help the traffic flow and feel so much better in there now? l love my layout now. that darn peninsula that every 80's kitchen has was such a mistake wasn't it? Looks great, enjoy.

So bright and fabulous! I love lighter granite on white cabinets. I especially love how elegant yet "unfussy" your fireplace looks. You must feel like you're relaxing somewhere in the Caribeaan! Congratulations and enjoy.

That is fantastic! Your kitchen is GORGEOUS! It looks light and airy. I love the granite and all your details. You should post close ups of the backsplash. Your floor adds a lot of warmth. Congratulations - I am sure you're enjoying this!

What is the paint color in the kitchen? I like it - it's really warm. Can't believe the window treatment isn't sewn - I've been to that website, but now I'm really going to check that out. Kris

I'll try to post close-ups of the backsplash - it wasn't photographing as well as it looks in person, but I'll try again. It has a lot of bling to it with the polished marble.

The paint color I blended myself. Honestly, that was one of the hardest decisions of the kitchen, and I just couldn't get it right - so finally I just took a bunch of half-used sample cans and mixed until I had a color that I liked and complimented my counters.

Here is a link that might be useful: Window 'mistreatments' blog link

Oh, my goodness - it's BEAUTIFUL!! What a difference! I really like how you handled the second oven, and I like the blue wall in your family room. You must be loving your new space!

alaskangirl- I was sure you were going to say Tobacco Road. Great job doing your own mixing.

What an amazing transformation! I just love every single thing you chose, from the pendants to the cabinets to the window treatment over your sink ... everything! It is so open and light-filled and airy.

I have to say I'm so jealous of your high ceiling and those cool columns. You did a fanastic job and I know you must be pinching yourself every time you look at your gorgeous new space!

P.S. Ok, this is a little spooky because our kitchens must be long lost twins or you and I are! Your layout is almost exactly the same as mine. Your stove, sink, fridge, dining area and French doors leading outside are in the same place as mine! We both have light blue paint on the walls. My family room is also directly off my kitchen and I have bookcases flanking my fireplace which has a flat screen TV over it. I saw your starfish and did a double take because my family room is also decorated in a beach theme.

Erika

Krissd- One of the main colors in my paint mix was Tobacco Road! Good eye! It was too green by itself to work with my granite, so I just added some other tans to it.

Thanks for all your very kind comments!

Has to be one of the most amazing transformations I've seen. I was thinking that I'd certainly seen 'worse' befores, but the after really does put the whole before space to shame. What a good plan! So pretty and light. Nice choices. I really like the Kashmir Gold.

Awesome transformation! You shouldn't feel bad at all about what you spent-- you got so much for your money. Love how you added your own trim to the cabinets, and love the kashmir gold with the cabs. I bet your family is loving it.

WOW! You have done an A M A Z I N G transformation! I love how light and airy the space is!

Just stunning transformation! I think you should be proud of what you spent, you obviously "INVESTED" in this and the pay off is certainly more than monetary! It says - "come, sit, stay and get comfy with us"......just wonderful!

Am wondering if you would share some details about your table, chairs and benches with it? I am looking for that set up and really like yours!

Now that is a dramatic transformation. Love the brightness of it. The fireplace is so much better too.

Beautiful!!! Great job! Thanks also for posting the picture of the fireplace and cabinets. Love your color choices and spectacular wood floors. Your home looks gorgeous! Enjoy!

WOW!! I don't even have words to describe how pretty your kitchen is! It took me forever to post because I kept going back up to look at the photos :) I honestly can't believe that window treatment is just fabric and safety pins - I am so going to try that!! Of course my eye was immediately drawn to that since I've been thinking about window treatments (and how it's going to be ridiculously expensive since I need them for 5 windows, as well as the rest of the house - ugh!). I can totally relate to mixing paint - I've done that so many times now due to being so disgusted at not being able to find what I want!

You've obviously put a LOT of time and effort into the kitchen and deserve to relax and enjoy it now!

oak cabs - gone
vinyl floor - gone
soffits - gone
laminate counters - gone
black appliances - gone
fluorescent operating lights - gone
refrigerator clutter - gone
CRT TV - gone
w-2-w carpeting - gone
80s halogen uplamp - gone

Instead you now have a GORGEOUS great room! wowwowowowowwww...
I love it all and that too in alaska in the cold with far fewer choices than we have in LA.

It looks so spacious, clean, well designed, well built.

I love every aspect of it. The choice of colors, materials, shapes is just perfect.

It does not even look like the same house!

It is clean, bright and beautiful!! Those pendants work really well in your kitchen.

I remember your posts from months ago. Glad that you were able to come back and update all of us!!!

Oh, well, dang, just today I decided to leave the cooktop in the island - and then I see your gorgeous kitchen with its beautiful island, perfect for prepping and I'm second guessing myself!

Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous!

You are all so wonderful and kind! Thanks for all your comments. Yes, we totally love the space. We have 5 kids, and they hardly leave that floor of the house. It's even shocking for me to see the before pictures - it amazes me every time and I have a serious physical reaction to them.

As far as my table/chairs/benches - the table is from Pottery Barn - they make really nice long ones. I got this one at an outlet a few years ago with the chairs. The benches - sorry, those used to belong to my parents and were bought like in 1979 or something. I've refinished/repaired them a couple of times, and LOVE them so much for my little kids. No scooting in chairs.

PAINT - I was thinking that if anyone was dying to use the paint color I mixed, that I actually have a few sample cards with the color on it - I knew someone would ask eventually. I could mail a card to you, and then you could get a paint store to match it. OR, if you have a Columbia Paints store near you, that is where I had them color match my mix to get more of it, so I could post their formula.

alaskangirl - thanks for the info. about the table/chairs/benches. The benches are what caught my eye, b/c I love them for our children and haven't come across any that have that nice wide base like those you have. Less tipping backwards! Thanks for the info. re: Pottery Barn.

Wow, that is just amazing. Take a bow.

Absloutely fabulous transformation. From dark and closed in to bright and wide open. Congratulations on a terrific job. Enjoy!!!

I don't post here often but like to check out the links. I love what you did, great job!

The before pics always put things in perspective, don't they? I can honestly say I have never seen that door style before now. It looks awfully distracting! Your new kitchen is fabulous!! No wonder it's your family's favorite area to be. It certainly is homey and cozy yet elegant too! Love your color choices and hope you do get around to closer backsplash pics :) I am struggling with that decision and would love to see it. Thanks!

This is one of those times when I'm so glad I clicked. There are no words; it's not the same house. You get an e-medal for a transformation "above and beyond the call of duty".
Casey

alas girl -
Unbelievable transformation - your efforts, attention to detail, great floorplan and $ spent paid dividends big time! - You will enjoy for a long time.

Wonderful transformation -

? is the range vented

Enjoy your new space

I can't believe that's the same house! Great job, it all looks so airy and warm.

Amazing tranformation! I love how fresh and bright it looks, but not too bright. You must really be enjoying your space now.

Great job. The whole thing is beautiful.

Fabulous! I love white kitchens. Yours is stylish, warm, cheery, etc., etc. Great job. I love your new fireplace wall too. Awesome!!!

When you said you got rid of the old fire place my first thought was "Ohh how sad...a fire is so nice when it's snowing" (We use ours year round pretty much). But I see you didn't just ditch it, you upgraded from 80's blah to fabulous :)

I love the new kitchen. It's light and airy and still has a rich feel to it verses a cold feel you sometimes get in white kitchens (I'm studying them intensely since my next two will be white). Very well done.

Now from a local....how well does the flooring work with volcanic ash dust LOL (I'm SOOO SICK OF IT!)

Absolutely perfect. Such a lovely sense of space and air.

Oh, my goodness, Alaskangirl. WHAT an inspiration for blasting out those old dungeons. I could spend an Alaskan winter very nicely there. :) Are you sharing on the Finished Kitchens Blog yet? Funny to say, I remember when "before" was a genuinely nice kitchen. Our standards have definitely risen. Happy cooking!

Congrats on such a beautiful kitchen! You have created such a warm and cheery white kitchen.

May I archive it in the Finished Kitchens Blog?
If so please submit the FKB Category Checklist so I can easily categorize your kitchen.

Here is a link that might be useful: FKB Category Checklist

Just beautiful- can you tell me how high your ceilings are in the kitchen? We currently have a similar layout with soffits in the kitchen with a cutout in the ceiling and an attached family room with a high valted ceiling. We are debating if we just lower the kitchen ceiling to 8ft or keep the large cut out in the kichen to make it a higher ceiling in the middle.

drop dead gorgeous. what a great transformation!

Wow! I really hate the original cabinets you had! I usually find asymmetrical interesting, but those were awful!

The new space is absolutely gorgeous. I LOVE what you did with the fireplace, too--it's beautiful and so summery. Fantastic job.

I love the transformation!!

Lovely space. BTW, would you post a pic of your walk-in pantry please? I like the setup.

To answer some questions:

The ceiling height in the kitchen/living room is 8 feet. The height in the dining room vaults from 8 to about 9.5 feet.

I'll post some pictures of the pantry and backsplash pretty soon - my daughter left on a camping trip and took the camera with her. There are some more pictures on the photobucket slideshow linked in my original post, but probably not as close up as you want. I was being lazy and didn't want to clean up the pantry before I took pictures. :)

Our Jennair range is downdraft, so it is vented to the outside. We've used the vent like 3 times in 2 months. It definitely 'pulls' the burner flame a bit to the side, but I'm not one to use it much when cooking. I really wanted the pass-thru in my design.

Yes, the old cabinet door style was strange. They were custom cabinets when the house was built, and lucky for us, we have 3 bathrooms with the same cabinets! That's my next project......

I forgot to say that we DID have help on this project. I did all the design and choosing of materials, and then we hired a GC to implement it for us. They did a great job!