Pretty cabinets and a great use of space. I love the idea of the stenciling. What a unique way of solving the backsplash problem!

Hurray, I'm so excited for you! The flow and use of space is terrific, it is going to be wonderful to cook in there. Love the purse shelf idea!

The stenciling looks great. I like the file drawers and lots of the details. What is your hardware?

Looking great! It's really coming together nicely! :) It's going to be a wonderful place for you to cook...warm and inviting.

Such a great idea doing the stenciling - gives some nice detail there since you are avoiding the "ABB club" by just not doing tile at all for now. :)

Love all the details that really make the area work for you - the purse storage idea...so smart!!! The spice rack (great that only the one side of the shelf is cut back to allow room for the spice rack, but then full storage depth on the other side. Altering the depth of the one pantry area to allow for more countertop area in a place you wanted it. All really great ideas.

Can't wait to see it all finished with your countertops!

Pulls are Bayport House, South Bay, in satin nickel. They are nice and heavy, and feel great! I got them at Knob Depot. I used 5" pulls everywhere except the little drawer next to the sink - that one is 3-3/4".

I was convinced I wanted all horizontal pulls - we mocked it up that way on our old cabinets, and loved it. I thought with all the vertical lines in a small space I'd want to break it up a little. But on the new doors, it just didn't look right. I'm very pleased with the way the pulls look. Of course the trash pullout and over the fridge got horizontal pulls, but I went vertical on the file drawers, so they matched the other side.

Speaking of which - the first set of doors for the file drawers was wrong. Doors have the grain running vertically on the inner panel, drawers run horizontally. These were made as drawer fronts, when they were meant to be door fronts (I wish I'd taken a photo). Jeff the Installer held on up and said "That's not right!" and had new ones made.

I loved Jeff! Apparently when they rebuilt my bottom drawers, he wasn't happy with the way one of the fronts looked, so he had that rebuilt as well. I had heard from others that he is very much a perfectionist.

Initially the cabinet with the spice rack had full shelves. When Jeff went to hang the spice rack and saw the problem, he called the shop to have them start on the cutout shelves. I think they were in place the next day.

Another little issue he fixed for me was the cutting board. It has a notch on the bottom so it can be easily pulled out, but because the drawer fronts are slabs, there wasn't space between the drawer and the cutting board to get fingers in. Jeff was here for the Cambria template; we confirmed that the overhang would be 1-1/2", then Jeff put a stop at the back of the cutting board so it extends past the edge of the cabinet frame by 1-1/4". Even his stubby fingers could grab the notch.

It's all about the little things, and I've been very pleased with my cabinet maker. Every little problem has been resolved quickly, politely, and well. Now let's cross our fingers and hope the counter install goes as well! I'm anxious to show you guys my new sink and faucet, and my 19-yr-old son is anxious to have the DW functional again!

Your kitchen is looking so nice! Can't wait to see the countertops, too...and so many great storage ideas :)

Do you mind if I ask, where you got your lovely stencils?

Love the clever use of pantry space! And now I think I'll get some of the Lee Valley organizers too. :)

Looks great - congrats!

Very clever organization. I love the notch for fitting in the cabinets on the door

I ordered the stencils and tools from Cutting Edge Stencils. Their instructions were great - I had never stenciled before, and it was easier than I expected. But then, I didn't have to line anything up or make anything level.

The ones I used were Reaching Branch and Falling Leaves - I scattered a few leaves around the kitchen.

Here is a link that might be useful: Cutting edge stencils

Ann your kitchen is beautiful and I love the idea of using stenciled walls as a backsplash.

Love your choice in hardware, it looks substantial and suits your cabinets.

Now you can breathe a sigh of relief until it's time for the counter install. You know I will have my fingers crossed on that one.

Best wishes for many happy years in your lovely kitchen. Hugs to you.

Holly

Your kitchen cabinets look awesome! You can tell it is built by people who take pride in their work. You wouldn't happen to be in the Long Island, NY area, would you?
So many nifty storage ideas-have downloaded many images. Hope you don't mind me incorporating some into my design. :-)
I look forward to seeing it fully functional. Enjoy your lovely kitchen!

Use whatever you like, vinudev - I take that as a huge compliment! I'm in North Dakota.

I've been working on the design for years, off and on. We've lived in the house for 24 years, so I knew what wasn't working.

Dan just called with our Cambria install date - September 4! Template was Aug. 9. I was really hoping to have everything done by Labor Day weekend, but we've waited this long, I guess I can wait a little longer. I'll bring the range in, which will help - if we were getting counters next week I would have waited.

The only glitch is that DH and I are leaving on a trip that day. It's a 7 or 8-hour driving trip, and we'll just have to leave later than planned. Dan said he'll meet with me before that to make sure he knows exactly what we want; he'll come over in the morning when the installers arrive, and he will come back when we leave. He's not a GC - "just" the cabinet maker - but he hired the fabricator, so it's his responsibility to make sure it's done right. And he knows I'm fussy!

It would be wonderful to be there until they are finished, but I think it will also be pretty wonderful to come home to a finished kitchen (except for plumbing).

Lovely wood cabinets, pretty pulls. So many great organizational ideas. You're going to love cooking in this new kitchen. Looking forward to final reveal.

What a fabulous kitchen. So many clever storage ideas like the spice door, pantry drawers, pullouts, tray storage, etc. You are going to love working in that great space!

Your cabinet maker sounds fantastic. Mistakes will almost certainly happen in any large project and it's the response to them that separates the good from the great. And I think you have a great one there.

Can't wait to see the final reveal. Congrats!

Oh, so pretty and warm!

Beautiful cabinets. I have pantry envy.

Annkh- wow, your kitchen is looking great. Love you "purse" storage spot and all of your organization.
Nice job on the stencils as well. I lack the creative gene.
Love your hardware also.
I feel your pain. My Cambria was supposed to arrive but the truck had an avalanche - and then I couldn't stay for the entire install the next week. The company did an awesome job!
Hopefully they will come early and you can enjoy your trip!

Really, really nice. It's amazing to see so many gorgeous details done so extremely well. I love Jeff. I want a Jeff.

I also love your stencils. They're very subtle, but give texture and movement to your space.

I bought those Lee Valley things a (year) while a go and haven't done anything with them because I can't make decisions about where I want stuff! I notice you didn't put other, liner boards in? It looks like you applied them directly to your drawers. How did you pound in those tiny teeth without flattening them or damaging your drawers?

I love your space. Great job.

Love your kitchen! I think all of the details especially the great organizational ideas are fantastic!!!

Can't wait to see the final reveal with the counters in place.

This post was edited by rkb21 on Thu, Aug 22, 13 at 21:31

CEFreeman, I did put the Lee Valley things right to the drawer. The drawer isn't very big, and I didn't want to lose any space. I don't expect my flatware to change much, so I was confident making it permanent.

I drew a pencil line where I wanted the bracket, and pushed it in enough to start the points into the wood. I had a scrap of trim board 1/4" thick, about an inch wide - I slid that into the bracket and hammered it. I went surprisingly smoothly.

I want to do the utensil drawer too, but that one is going to take some careful thought. There's no hurry.

I have almost everything put away, and I still have empty shelves - whoo hoo!

Thanks to all of you for the kind words - it means so much to me coming from all of you!

Very, very nice. I really like the stenciling. It's different, but in a good way. I'm sure you will enjoy your kitchen for many years to come. Good luck with the counter install. Looking forward to the final photos.

Looks great! Love the stenciling.

Everything looks great! Was your Dura Ceramic installed with or without grout? And did you install it yourself or have someone else do it? I love the look of yours (what is the color?) and have been considering it for my kitchen. And the stencil work is beautiful! Since I am not going to be able to tile for a while (if at all), that would be a great way to dress up the wall. So happy for you!

Ooooh, can't wait to see it with the counters in a few weeks! So close!

mtpam2, it is Mercer Tile, fired greige. The grout color is Saraha Beige. I had it installed but the flooring store. It's only been in a week, but so far I'm very happy with it. It went in after the cabinets, then my cabinets guy came back and did the quarter round.

I am envious of your storage! Love the purse cubby! Fabulous idea.

I also like the hardware.

I've already done some rearranging. I had plates in the corner, but my sons convinced me that they needed to be in the next cabinet over. I also swapped out a miscellaneous drawer with potholders (closer to the range).

I have emptied every box, and I still have a few empty shelves! I used to store bulk purchases (cereal, soup, pop) on shelves in the laundry room downstairs - now there's room for everything in the kitchen. I finally have so many things that I wished I had! For example, a whole shelf for water bottles (we use them a lot):
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Knives are in a drawer now, instead of in two blocks on the counter:
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I built the drawer organizer for the utensil drawer yesterday:
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Potholder and tool drawers to the right of the range - and a peek at my Cambria sample:
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Love your kitchen and ideas , great job !! What Cumbria did you get ? Also where did you get the knife storage thing love that?

The knife insert is Wusthof - I got it an Amazon. Link below

Our countertops will be Cambria Somerset. DH and I fell in love with it early in the process, and basically designed the kitchen around it. I hope it lives up to expectations!

Here is a link that might be useful: knife insert

Thanks annkh for the flooring information. I will give the Mercer Tile a closer look. And I love your organized drawers! Will keep those ideas in mind when I get to move back into my kitchen.

Ah, I knew there was something extra special about your kitchen...my mom's from ND, too! :) This is a beautiful kitchen already, and the stencil is lovely, you may never do a backsplash!

I love all of you!

I have been TKO for 9 months, and I'd been working on kitchen plans for at least 10 years before that. I don't know many people who appreciate my efforts as much as all of you. All the positive feedback - from wonderful folks whose opinions I've come to respect - just warms my heart.