Your kitchen is what I had in my eye's mind! We have an 1800's Victorian house and have started to think about renovating the kitchen. I can't go forward until I have the palette in place. After visit the granite and marble yards....I find I'm not crazy about granite. We did decide on soapstone and off white cabinets. It is so great to see your beautiful soapstone/cabinet combo. The floors are wonderful too. We have 40 year old linoleum. All I can Hope is that it turns out as beautiful as yours.

I enjoy the "Kitchen of the Month" feature in House Beautiful. The kitchens are often lovely and I enjoy reading about the details, even when I don't care for the kitchen. I wouldn't subscribe just for that feature, but, if you can find some old copies or get them at a local library, they have a varied and sometimes instructive content. I do enjoy that magazine, BTW, because the editors include many details about sources. Also, many of the featured projects use one of my favorite vendors: Chateau Domingue in Houston, Texas. A day spent there is the next best thing to wandering around in European ruins. I have stopped subscribing to publications that use mostly non-U.S. sources because, even though they're interesting reads, they usually have items that I cannot access readily or economically. World of Interiors is wonderful, though, if you want just one such mag.

Hi Mistergreen - I have also searched high and low for something similar - as I think a few others on this thread have done. I did call Lester Harry's and their price is around $800. That is just too hard to justify with all the other expenses for building a new home. I have found some similar items but most all are in the chrome/polished finish, not in bronze. I am not sure if that makes a difference to you....but if you want to check out Schonbek Geomatrix line, James Moder Tekno line, & Elk Lighting Optix line. There is a pendant by Quoizel - the Lisette Piccolo - which has the bronze finish, but it is 9 1/2" in diameter which is pretty large. There is a bronze finished pendant from Elk - Victoria line - it has red accents and can look great with a white kitchen (which is what we have). And, there is a beauty by Framburg - Empress Series 1499 - but it is about $500-$600. It has the bronze finish, but with amber crystals and it is round, rather then square. It took me a little while to try and warm up to another crystal pendant after seeing those Chandi beauties, but since they are out of my price range, I think there are some other alternatives which will give the same effect and look beautiful. Unfortunately, the Schonbek, Moder and Elk that are similar, don't come in the bronze finish and all our lighting and hardware are bronze. Hope this helps! Please let me know if you find anything else....

Hi 2meforester! I understand your physical limitations--I have rheumatoid arthritis. I'm doing a complete gut of the eat-in kitchen of the house I just bought, and ease of access is critical in my planning. Not just what is accessible today, but also looking 5, 10, 15 years out. I'm also a fan of having as close to nothing as possible on my countertops; it's simply a style/taste preference for me. The eat in kitchen and living room are one big open space, and that is about half my house. My house is a single wide manufactured home, so picture a big rectangle. The "great room" is the middle. Each end is bedrooms, bathrooms, and on one end is also laundry area. So when you walk into my house, bam! you're in the living room, but the dinette and kitchen are right there too. I hate clutter with a passion. I want the focus of my home to be the beauty of the interior design rather than the dish rack, the popcorn tin, and several small kitchen appliances that are sitting on the counters. There's nothing wrong with any of those things! It's purely a matter of personal preference. I occasionally help a realtor friend of mine stage houses, and just like your magazine photos, the first thing we do is de-clutter. Potential buyers can't picture themselves in your house if all your stuff is everywhere. It's all very minimalist. But as sushipup1 so rightly pointed out, most people don't actually live that way. Herbflavor pointed out how some warm, inviting things on the counters can make a house a home. But, as I said, I personally prefer clean counter space. For one, I have very, very little of it. Anything sitting on it is taking away space I need to prep and cook. Second, because it's such a tiny space, even a couple things sitting out make it look cluttered or messy. So here's a couple of things I'm planning to do. One, do a hood/microwave combo over the range. Microwaves take up a fair bit of counter space. Two, no base cabinets, all base drawers of various sizes, except the corner one. That will be a cabinet with a super susan. Drawers are so much easier to see what's in there and pull it out. No more crouching over with a flashlight and a yardstick trying to get something from the way back of the cabinet, haha! Three, I'm getting a farmhouse sink. Because they're totally cool, sure, but also because you don't have to lean over counter space to do anything in the sink; you can just belly up to it. That might be easier on your arms...just a thought. Four, I'm a sucker for drawer organizing systems. I'm doing an IKEA kitchen, but even if you're not, go on their website and look at all their cool drawer organizers. Besides flatware and knife inserts, they have things so you can keep all your spices in a drawer, plate stackers, etc. Also go on KitchenMaid's website; they have amazing kitchen organizers!! Five, I'm getting a portable dishwasher. This won't work for everyone. Because it's an eat-in kitchen, I actually have a space to "park" it unobtrusively when not in use. This means I get a whole other base cabinet drawers! Also, the one I'm getting intentionally has a butcher block top, creating a small but valuable food prep station! Last, You can also get cool pull out organizers for all your cleaning products; they're easy to pull out and then you're not trying to dig into a bucket under the sink. So, by creating as much useable space as possible, I can be totally, 100% organized in my drawers and cupboards and thus, don't need anything on my counters, with the exception of a shiny SS tea kettle on my cooktop, and maybe, maybe a coffee pot, if I find the perfect one. Oh, just to weigh in, other than toilet paper, I haven't used paper products in a couple of years. Microfiber cloths, cloth napkins, and handkerchiefs. And wash cloths and towels in the kitchen. :-) Hope this helps!