Oh blue.... so bluetiful!!

Blue, it is so peaceful and pretty, and the function rocks. Thermie is a handsome fellow and looks so well with your granite. Congratulations on your beautiful kitchen. I hope that now that you are finished you won't abandon the forum! Did you say you are doing a bathroom next?

Oh my goodness, how beautiful! Your granite is stunning! Can you tell me about your bin pulls? I've never seen any like that before.

You must be thrilled! Congratulations on your lovely new kitchen!

You're kitchen is just wonderful and I LOVE the granite to match the blue Thermie knobs. I hope you like your island and don't see it as a barrier. Our old kitchen had an island that we couldn't live without and we're having a slightly larger one for the new kitchen. I have a question on your recycle center. Would you mind giving me the exact dimensions of your bins? I requested a double trash center but I'm having problems finding bins that are small enough width without going to those short trash bins people use in bathrooms. I believe the space we have allocated is 14 3/8" x 21" and I really wanted 2 bins in there.

Very nice! The fridge and microwave look just perfect...Like they were planned that way. Love the island...The bookshelves, the lowered end for baking, and the little baskets I wanted, but ran out of room for.

I...LOVE your kitchen. It is outstanding. I love the blue granite, the blue walls, the beadboard island, the basket pullouts, the white subway tile with the pale grey grout (which I will try to mimick in my own kitchen). What I love most of all though, is that cute little strawberry knob!

you must be in heaven. That's beautiful!

It's wonderful--I love how you really made it yours. My sister did her kitchen a few years ago and loves blue, but couldn't figure out how to make it work in her space. I only wish she had found GW (and you!) at that time.

blue -- I have been following your progress and it just looks yummy! I, too, am a bit blue obsessed, but mine has to do with finding just the right shade of "colonial" blue/gray for my cabs....not there yet as it only seems to be in my head and not on any paint chip in the known world. Can you say "mix it for me, please?" The sweet guys at the paint store are pretty tired of my "add a drop of..." theory. We'll see, I haven't given up yet, but it is a challenge!

Your granite is spectacular! And Thermie is to die for! Enjoy!

Fabulous job! I love all the personal touches. I would think you are smiling every time you walk in there. I also enjoyed reading your post on the appliance forum about how much better your food tastes when cooking it with your Thermador. Congratulations on a job well done!

Gorgeous! You've done a wonderful job!!!

And LOL! You sound like me! I have a ridiculous number of cookie cutters as well....also used to be in overflowing shoeboxes! Now they're in giant zipper-style plastic bags labeled by season & size! (Christmas minis, Christmas Large, Christmas Favorites, Valentines Day, ...., houses, etc.!!!) They, along with the rolling pin, sifter, & KA Mixer's beaters, occupy one deep drawer by themselves! "All in my new Baking Center!)

With the exception of your "barrier island," I think you did a good job on the design! And those "mistakes"...you turned them into very nice design features....especially that trim piece above the both the refrigerator & MW!

Oh and tell Thermie I'm on his side....I won't let him be "traded in" w/o a fight! Thermie looks great w/your granite...I think a cobalt blue french hunk would be too blue and fight w/your granite. As it is, the knobs are a great accent!

Great idea for the pot holders...I wonder if I have a place for something like that...it would free up the top (shallow) drawer my pot holders are taking up right now.....

It's now time to sit back, bask in our adulation, and enjoy that kitchen! And don't desert us...stick around...please!

If I could (or should I say when I) completely start over in a new location I'm really going to try to have BLUE granite! I love it! You have done a great job.

I have always loved your granite and now that I see the rest of the kitchen (finally!) I love that too. What a beautiful job you did on it. It is perfect in absolutely every way. I would have never wanted blue in a granite until I saw yours. You have taken this "not blue" person and turned her into a blue kitchen fan!

I am so glad you went with those knobs. They are also perfect and adorable.

Thermie is one gorgeous hunk of metal! So, when do we all get cookies?

Very beautiful and functional, too.

I adore your knobs, and I am so not into cutesy. They are not cutesy, they are like little works of art.

You did a fabulous job! I love the open baskets, among other things. Enjoy!

it looks great. you really kept things low-key and allowed your granite to be the star. nicely done.

Everything looks wonderful! My favorite parts are the upper open corner shelves with eye catching things displayed, the mix of hardware you used, and your beautiful sink and faucet : ) And of course, the blue granite

I'm so happy for you -- it has your fingerprints all over it!

Congrats, blue! I do loooove the coloration in that granite. Very jealous of your cookbook storage.

And since you let us peek in your kitchen cab and I know you're interested in greening.... check out Ecover dishwasher detergent next time you replenish. I tried a few green options but had to keep going back to good 'ole green Cascade until I found Ecover. It actually works better (for a price, of course).

Bluekit, I adore blue too. Navy blue, pale blue, blue-grey, grey-blue, charcoal, zuider-zee blue, azul macaubas ... you name it.

Now, please don't be offended by my comment here because know that it comes from my love of blue. I'm dying to see and appreciate your AM granite. & I can't because - and this is the part that might offend, sorry - your camera is rubbish. I can't enjoy/appreciate your gorgeous granite, or the lovely hard-wood floors even though they are imperfectly non-blue - are those hand-scrapped something-something wood? gorgeous! - because the camera (or is it a rubbish scanner?) pictures have this dot-matrix effect. I can't see your granite OR your deep wood flooring properly and it is driving me wild because I really want too! Waah!

What's the wall paint there? BTW? Marvellous light blue that.

I am sooooooo happy for you! What a wonderful space you have created! Congratulations! Those counters are to die for.

I can almost smell those cookies baking! Love the hardware :)

I love your blue granite. You did a wonderful renovation on your kitchen. I love the refrigerator and microwave also as well as your beautiful floor. Thanks for sharing.

Sooooooo lovely! You can just go swimming in that granite. Do you caress it every time you walk in, or are you past that point yet? Congratulations on creating a warm and welcoming space for yourself and your family.

You mean there is another color besides yellow??

bluekit - everything is so beautiful. I love the blue granite and seriously if I had another house to build blue would be its theme, it is such a lovely color. I adore your blue range knobs, they look smashing.

The subway, schoolhouse fixtures, darling cupboard knobs , all of it, perfect.
Congratulations, enjoy your kitchen.

Now what's the next project?

Quite elegant I think. I don't see the mistakes at all ...I think it turned out really well designed for you and how it sounds like you are going to use it, which is what is most important. Congratulations. c

A truly lovely and functional kitchen. Whenever I see pictures of your blue granite, I think most of us are so conservative (too conservative) in our kitchen choices! I love all the details, too. It's such a nice idea to have the beadboard above the hood mimic that on the island.

Bluekit - you did it! It's beautiful. I love that it's country, but not *too* country - it's still very sophisticated. And that granite - deep sigh.

Have to confess, thought, I'm not sure what I enjoyed more - the photos of your lovely kitchen, or your delightful commentary!!!

Good job. :-)

Blue, after seeing peeks and teasers, I'm so glad to see all of your gorgeous kitchen. All the details are perfect. I love the functionality of your island mixed with the fun of the knobs and your gorgeous granite. I'm a soapstone gal, but your granite takes my breath away every time I see it. I also have a gazillion cookie cutters in plastic shoe boxes organized by the 4 seasons plus 3 more for animals, transportation, and letters/numbers. Enjoy your beautiful kitchen.

Lots to love in this kitchen! But I think my favorite is how you mixed in all the different knobs and pulls, yet it all makes sense. Congrats on an awesome kitchen with so many little whimsical touches!

Looks like so much fun to bake in that kitchen!

Thermie,

Don't look at attached photo.

Here is a link that might be useful: The competition

Really great, Blue! Congratulations...you've done a super job and have a fantastic kitchen to show for it!

Thank you all for so many nice comments!

Rosalita, the bins fit in an 18" base cab. My KD commented at the time that a 15" wide cab would accommodate 1 bin but if I wanted 2 bins, which I knew I did, I would need 18". The bins are 14" wide x 18" tall and they are stamped Rev a Shelf at the bottom.

The incredibly detailed island knobs and pulls are from North River Mint, and they are about $25/each. Search this forum and you'll find a prior rave from me. The other knobs and pulls (including the strawberry pull, which doesn't quite have the same feel as the NRM knobs but I adore strawberries and couldn't resist) came from coolknobsandpulls. They were relatively cheap -- $6 for knobs -- scrimp on this & splurge on that! Like many GW'rs, I posted many pix of possibilities, got many replies, thought about them all, and in the end did what I wanted. I originally wanted satin nickel cup pulls everywhere but as I progressed I thought I wanted something slightly offbeat for my slightly offbeat kitchen. You might not be able to tell with the crummy camera and lighting, but the 2 upper cabinets on either side of the sink are frosted glass, and the knobs & pulls pick up the same color. They are a very soft-colored accent -- pearls instead of diamonds, if that makes any sense. I ended up with a few bar pulls, mostly to keep two banks of drawers on either side of Thermie from looking like a pair of dice. Here's another pic:

The floor is Anderson Dellamano maple, hand distressed engineered hdwd in an Amaretto finish.

Wall color is Glidden Idyllic Blue (actually Dunn Edwards copied that color because my contractor and I both like DE). I went through 9 different shades before finding one that would, I hope, accent the granite without being too purple. I'm now having a hard time with accessories in the family room (open to kitchen) because a lot of stuff (rugs, in particular) available these days is greenish blue, while this is a purplish blue. It looks horrible with yellow, unfortunately. Acountryfarm, do not fear for me -- the rest of my house is a different, faded denim shade of light blue (you can see it in the pic with the phone book cabinet) that looks wonderful with yellow, and there's a lot of yellow-and-blue stuff elsewhere.

Things I still want to do/might do: buy a spoon rest! and a cuisinart mixer (my xmas present to my kitchen, I think). Originally I worried about the end panels looking naked and considered putting fake door trim on them, but it's fallen off the budget/priority list. I still think the above-sink light is the wrong height (depth?) from the ceiling light box, and may swap it for a slightly taller OR shorter one when I next order from Rejuvenation. I've got one ugly electrical outlet switchplate on the island, and when I next talk with a granite fabricator I'm going to have him make a nice one out of granite.

BTW, this pic shows a good idea that I hope to pass on: hiding an outlet in an island instead of making holes in beautiful granite. In that same category of bequests: the frosted glass cabinets, which don't show the bright red plastic sippy cups.

One thing I forgot to rave about in the original post: all 4 drawers in one stack of the island are completely empty! So are a 36" drawer and a 30" upper cabinet! That's a good thing! Really! It means that without enlarging the room at all or changing too much in the cabinet layout, I ended up with a LOT more space. I was also able to get the recycling and trash bins out of the pantry :) I had about 22 linear feet of cabinets in a 14 x 10 space and now have about 25 LF, which isn't a huge change, but it's far more efficient. I did not add any upper cabinets to gain that. The main things changed in the layout were: change wall oven + cooktop to range, thus widening drawers on either side of Thermie to the point where they can hold pots & pans; change fridge + menu desk wall to fridge + MW cabinet, and change peninsula (one sided cabinet) to island (2 sided cabinet). The menu desk, in particular, took up a lot of space (2', or nearly 10% of linear feet in old kitchen) without providing a lot of function, relatively speaking (clutter catcher!). The peninsula was okay function-wise (used to hold pots & pans) but the island feels positively jam-packed with usefulness. I have to credit my KD, not GW, but I hope this will be one of the many examples on GW of how you don't need to enlarge a room or make drastic changes to have more functional space.

I'm not very good with decoration and useless tchotchkes, and prefer to have functional things on display, but if you have some decorating ideas, I'm all ears. As long as it's blue :)

Alice, I am really looking forward to your right color of blue, when you find it. And you will.

Mindstorm, I'll see what I can do. Maybe by the time I finish the bathroom. Yes, it's true. I've moved on, sort of. You see, I have this great big leftover slab of granite and an ugly powder bath.... Now that I've learned so much from the kitchen, and am now so broke, I'm trying to do the bathroom myself and just hire subs for the hard parts. So far, it's been an unmitigated disaster: 17 year old demos floor by playing drum soloes with two hammers, breaks one drumstick-I-mean-hammer. However, I still like the kitchens forum best of all. Shh! don't tell the bathroom people!

And now a plea: I literally had no inspiration pix when I started this project because no one, at least no one normal :) puts blue granite in their kitchens. By early March, I'd already paid nearly $20K for cabinets on order but my KD still thought I was crazy, and I still couldn't envision the kitchen. Thus, many long hours searching the internet trolling for blue granite pix, which is how I found this website. Theresab's and cloudswift's pix were lifesavers! Drop dead gorgeous blue granite in nice looking kitchens! Hurrah! I was on the right track! Then I went to the FKB, searched for blue countertops, and still found nothing :( So, Starpooh or whoever maintains the FKB, can you please tag/post someone's blue countertops (I'm not so presumptuous as to suggest mine) for those once-in-a-BLUE-moon (sorry, couldn't resist) seekers?

Just a suggestion:
I had a spoon rest made out of a honed piece of my granite so that it would blend in with my countertops. So, if something's left over after the bathroom . . .

How beautiful! I love your blue granite, and I love your island, especially the pull-out baskets. Who made the cabinets?

You made your kitchen "all you" and thats what makes it so special!

Congrats on a great job, its so pretty and personal!

I absolutely love it bluekit!! I would spend all my time there. You might remember - I am a "blue kit" fan myself!! Congratulations.

The FKB does list granites by name...there are currently at least 3: Blue Eyes, Blue Mahogany, Blue Night

Is that what you mean/wanted?

You know, I love the molding around the windows. It really looks nice. You know, as I was looking at the pictures, I was thinking to myself, that's beautiful. But, when I came to the picture of the windows and you described the molding around the windows, I said, wow, I love that.

I think that is my favorite thing in the room.

I found it! Finally! I am so excited, Blue! Now I know for sure that my taste and yours are in sync. I love everything you did. I love Azul Macaubus and that just might be my exotic granite for MY island. All your ideas for the island are so nifty. Mine is going to be lowered, too, because I, too, am short. In fact, the island and my L shaped baking center are both lowered. I'm (hate this term) a 'senior,' so I am having my DW raised--hate to bend over. Like you, will have the open shelves and the basket storage in island. My eating area very like yours, too, though I don't have the bay window. Do you like blue china? I have so much; lots of it will go on plate shelves indicated on plan. so many similarities but must run meet with GC. I'm putting my kit layout again so you can see what I'm talking about!

What a wonderful space! I love your pull out baskets ( I really need those) and your granite is just gorgeous, seriously. Enjoy your new kitchen :)

wow love it! so glad you splurged on the azul macaubas- it looks fabulous.

What does it mean when people put "bump" in their follow-ups? Does that bump the string to the first page or something. One other thing I noticed, after viewing your pix for the jillionth time--love your schoolhouse ceiling fixtures, one more thing where my taste gibes with yours! I'm considering these, too. DH and I are going to Dallas this weekend as I mentioned and will continue the search for our blue granite there. Just checked my notes from former visit: Azul Macaubus was one we found at a smaller yard! Must return to it to see if it's still there; if so, hey, you might have a copycat in TX!