I think it's just wonderful and even nicer that you care enough to post it for your Mom and are happy for her excitement over the configuration on the new range.

Beautiful space. I love the double fridges and can only imagine that she's the kind of mom that likes to feed a crowd. Wishing her many happy years of crowd pleasing in the new space.

Congrats!

I couldn't find your layout post in a search, but it's possible you didn't get much feedback, because there wasn't much to change. It's a pretty nice layout. As you say, it's a little sad the island got so far from the stove, but if you and, especially your mom are finding blessings in how it turned out, that's great! It's lovely and looks like a great place to work with and feed a crowd! :-)

Oh I can see she is going to love cooking for "the" crowd in that kitchen....looks so warm and cozy! You're a wonderful child to do that for her....

Thank you for your kind comments.

remodelfla - Yes, she is so excited about that center grate! This will be her first new stove since her original one with the current house from the late 70s. It will take her a bit of time to get used to the different output burners, but at least she will have that center section ready to slide a pan over to. Twice a day she makes tea in a pan on the stove. She won't use a tea kettle and has her own special combo that uses about 3 different sizes and brands of tea bags. She will bring the water to a boil with the tea bags in it, then remove it from the heat and let it steep/cool. Then she will pour it into a pitcher and add water. Now she won't have to worry about finding a place to set a hot pan or tying up a burner - she can just slide it to the middle!

kris_ma - Honestly, not too many crowds around here, but if you ever came over for a holiday or birthday, you might wonder where the rest of the army is that she has prepared enough food for! On those occasions, she cooks up extra just for leftovers. There are normally 6-8 of us at Thanksgiving, and there will be a fried turkey, an oven baked turkey, and a ham. She will also have separate pans of dressing that she undercooked slightly ready to send home with my sister and I. She only makes dressing once a year, so she knows my sister and I will eat turkey and dressing every day for the next week or so and then be good for another year!

rhome410 - It was back in December and it was more a question about the DW location. http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/kitchbath/msg1210150712446.html You actually commented on it and kind of stood up for us having two trash pull outs. Others before you questioned it. It seemed like it got a bit off subject and I didn't really push it any further. For comfort wise, I think one person being able to open the fridge doors fully while standing out from it and not get in the way of someone prepping at the island will be nice.

**As to why I have such a vested interest in all of this = my husband and I are moving into their old house when they move into this one. They are both located on the same piece of land. I already cook with her a lot now, and once we are within walking distance, I see that increasing even more. Already told them that I would do the cooking if I could leave the dirty dishes at their house!

As for price point...we live in a county where the median income in 2009 for a household their age (55-65) was around 50K. Although they make slightly more than that (but not a lot) the house is being built from savings - no mortgage. Budget is really what leads certain decisions, but we are also limited based on availability some. She's done very well though - taking advantage of sales and rebates. The backsplash was a last minute addition, but if I remember correctly, it was only around $500 since they kept it simple.

The only change I see happening will be to swap out the island counter top. They told us the laminate went up to 5' x 12', so that is why we increased the island back to a larger size. Well, they didn't mention that didn't apply if you went with an ogee edge. So, the island has a seam down the middle of it. Although a costly mistake, it would be the easiest part of the kitchen to replace. (And we know this because they have already redone it once!)

LOVE that stove-top configuration. Who makes it? (I don't need five burners...but I like the idea of the middle grate.)

mjsee - It is a Maytag they got at Sears. Model is MGR7662.

Sears link

Maytag link

There weren't any reviews on the SS, but there were a few good ones on the white.

And this is where we looked at most of the reviews.

Actually, that last link goes to a single bad review. It should go to this:

18 reviews

Beautiful, beautiful job. You asked if the back splash should go up around the window, IMO, yes it should. The way it looks now it appears to me like you ran out of tile.

Thanks, advanced. I will pass that on to my mother. I guess one thing that might also effect the look is what kind of window treatment she had planned on going with. If it would mostly cover that area, no point in doing it, but if she went with a clean look, it would look more finished.

Wow they have a ton of space! I am loving the island and the pantry. It looks great!

It looks great! I'm very jealous of all that fridge space. It looks like the perfect kitchen to leave lots of dirty dishes in. ;-)

Thanks for sharing!

Thanks aa62579! I've bookmarked the range.

I heard back from my mother on tiling the rest of the way around the window. She doesn't think it is worth it to buy more tile and get another appointment with the installer. She does plan to have a full window treatment there, so it won't show as much. What we did think about doing, though, is to paint it a darker color that matches the tile a bit more. I don't think it would stand out near as much then.

What a wonderful kitchen. Love the double refrigerators and the cabinets all the way to the ceiling. Everything looks really beautiful. It will be great being close to your mom and dad and being able to visit (and cook) with them often!

What a beautiful and functional kitchen. I agree about painting the area around the window darker - perhaps one of the colours in the backsplash tile would work.

Thank you all again for your kind comments. It has always been function over form, but I have been very pleased with how things are looking as well. I wondered how overpowering the cabinets would be going all the way up to the 9' ceilings, but I really like the look now. My mother was very adamant about not having a "dust catcher" space or paying extra for a large crown.

We were quite impressed with the cost of everything including stain and install. This quote has the bathrooms also included, but everything was still under $13K. (We nixed the light box, so you can take almost $800 off this quote.) I know it's not a fancy design or paint/stain treatment, but they are nice, substantial cabinets that will last. Actually, had they not pissed my mother off about the island countertop, she would have used them for other projects in the house instead of having the contractor build them. But, she holds grudges... And, since it is her money, she can choose who she wants to give it to. :)

I thought I might post some pictures of the pantry, but I wasn't very good at taking them. I just couldn't get far enough back to get a good angle. As you can see in the full house layout, the pantry is around the corner. It has a section of shelving that is about 8" deep where she is supposed to keep 2-3 of commonly used cans in one row so you can quickly see your supply. Then on the sides are shelves that are around 18" wide, and they are 24" wide on the back wall. Another full size refrigerator and chest freezer will go in here. The spaces left for the fridge and freezer are larger than the actual units she will be using, but we did not want to be limited too much by size when those needed replacing.

Here is the basic layout. We used a double set of pocket doors here because we wanted at least a 4' opening. I see the doors staying open most of the time, but it will be nice to be able to shut them if company is coming. We didn't want to sacrifice hall space to doors that would stay open most of the time.

My mother wanted the contractor to stain these shelves instead of painting them as she thought it would hold up better to sliding canned goods.

Here is the small shelf that will hold 2-3 of each type of canned good and the 18" shelf on the side. They needed to go above the height of the door to get a good place to anchor the shelves since it is hollow where the pocket door slides in.

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The shelving wraps on around to 2' wide before leaving a spot for a fridge.

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Similar layout on the other side with shelves above the freezer area.

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And, a bit off topic, but here is my mother's shoe closet in one of the spare bedrooms. We had a shallow closet due to the 2nd HVAC system so the contractor put her in some shelves to try to take full advantage of the leftover space.

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There is a regular sized closet next to it. The doors were kept at one end to allow a small table/chest to go in between the closets.

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And, if you want to see any other pictures, I have been taking pictures at almost each step and keeping them in an album.

Construction Album