rhome410 - it can be exactly what you mentioned - the great way in which the new space functions. That was one of the things that we considered when designing our new space. We had 27 for Thanksgiving dinner last weekend (Canada) and everything flowed so well. Lots of real estate for turkey carving, sisters making salads, nieces/nephews/kids hanging out.

I like my colour scheme. Several of the "pros" I worked with tried to tell me that no one is doing blue kitchens. Oh, like, is it a rule posted somewhere???

More than anything, it's the function. I just love having so much storage, a layout that works so well, and appliances that do what I want (for the most part).

But if you're talking about that little frisson of happiness that comes when you espy that certain something, I'd have to say it's the frogs. I have a few tiles in my counter with frogs. People thought I was nuts, but those frogs (they're subtle) are just too wonderful. Even my mother likes the frogs and they're so not her taste!

Well, cooksnews...I'm glad you 'broke' the rules - your kitchen put a smile on my face :)

LOVELY! It must be such a dream to work in.

plllog - frogs? Pics please! :)

I absolutely love my new cabinets with drawers in the lowers and sliding shelves in the peninsula. My back and knees thanks me every time I need a pot or pan.

I've been in my "new" kitchen for 6 1/2 years and the things I like the most are the peninsula and gas cooktop. They still make me happy. These were the two big additions that I specifically wanted. My peninsula is my primary work space now. The gas cooktop is such a pleasure to use, I waited 30 years for it.

I'd have to say my granite and my pendant light/sconces. I keep finding new interesting things in the granite and marvel at what geological events must I take place. (I'm a weird sciency type :)

The lights were a splurge that I didn't budget for, but they were the only ones that both of us really liked.

cooksnsews, we also have blue!

Of course, I have to go with the Big Chill fridge. :) Really need to get some updated pics.

byronroad,
Please post a picture of your floors! I am looking at flooring for our new home and please tell where you purchace them from. Thank you!

my 45' Stages sink and double Karbons for sure - I came from a "vintage" double bowl that nothing fit in and old white plastic faucet (that leaked under the cabinet) with a nonfunctioning spay - I am in sink/faucet heaven!

gsciencechick, I LOVE the fridge!
Pilllog, I echo Melaska, please post pics of the frogs!
Surprisingly, my favorite thing so far is my laminate counter top in Wilsonart green soapstone! It seems that everyone I know tried to talk me out of laminate, even my husband who likes to save money. My rationale was that my favorite colors and patterns in other materials were in the highest price groups whereas laminate is pretty much all the same price. It looks really nice with the cabinets and is so easy to keep clean - since it's in between light and dark not much shows up on it. It's also very inexpensive so I won't feel bad if it's damaged and has to be replaced. That's a very real possibility with teenagers!

Oh there are many things I like a lot but funny enough it's the extra 15" of cabinet and countertop on side end of sink area that I'm so loving. In old kitchen there was no counter or cabinet there, it just dropped off...

I love the layout--I love the counter space I have, the room on both sides of the stove plus the long peninsula.

I love the pendant lighting over the peninsula.

I love the crown moulding over the cabinets.

I love the over cabinet lighting.

I love my corner walk-in pantry with the automatic lighting.

I love the raised counter area of my peninsula--it's perfect for buffets at parties.

Without a doubt it's the AGA.

Second would be the Miele coffee machine

Third would be the layout. We reversed the range and sink locations and removed the wall separating the kitchen and family room.

Everyday, something different makes my heart sing! All in all, for sure, the stone counters! We splurged, and it was worth every extra minute I have to work to pay for it! They are the most beautiful thing I've ever seen! Like God made them just for our kitchen millions of years ago and held it just for us until we were ready for install! Today, it was the first pot of meatballs in the new kitchen! Yesterday, it was the first pot roast in the new kitchen. The other day it was watching the Yankees win a playoff game on TV while cooking and washing dishes. Having a special place for everything in there. Having enough room to put everything away! Being able to find anything I'm looking for in there! Every day a new reason to be grateful! The whole space is a heart song!

cienza--what a great post! Most of my wishes are contained in your reply!

My kitchen is functional but not completely done--but can I play too?? :-)

Yesterday morning my daughter and I each made some scrambled eggs--at the same time, standing **right next to each other** at the cooktop. And nobody was crowded or annoyed. :-) My son came home on Friday afternoon from school and whipped up his favorite custom Chex Mix. It makes my heart sing that my kids are loving the new kitchen and are comfortable wandering in and making whatever they feel like making--sometimes, while I'm in there cooking, too! I love to cook, and it makes me happy that they love it, too. And when it's time to clean up there's enough storage for everything to be put away. I love that it's so much easier to keep it looking tidy, though I'm not by nature a tidy person. If we're talking prettiest feature, the one that makes me smile when I walk into the room, it's the natural cherry cabinets, full of beautiful graining and changing daily as they darken to their full, rich color. All in all, the space is pretty and functional and a joy to work in. LOL, I'm positively giddy....

Cj

"Oh, like, is it a rule posted somewhere??? "

good for you! I don't care much for blue myself, but yours looks blue grey on my monitor. and your kitchen is LOVELY!

the important part is that YOU like it!

Cooksnews, your kitchen looks great! And of course there's no rule! A warm blue like yours is a classic kitchen color! There is something of a rule around here that tile counters are awful, but I think that's absurd, and I'm thrilled with my tile counters--which are very easy to clean, even the grout. Let's band together and stamp those danged rules into submission!

Acceding to popular demand, frogs (excepted from my tile tour):

Everyone's favorite frog, however, is the little one below. It's a small tile cut from a circle between the dark round tile with the leaves and the dark triangular one with the bamboo. It doesn't show well in the picture, but there's a single frog there.

That is hands down the coolest countertop I have ever seen. Great job plllog.

Looking ahead, my greatest anticipation is the DH reaction. He hates change, and his vision is the same kitchen with an extra 2 feet of counter. I am building him a beautiful workspace with a window, more room, and some back savers. I just want him to be happy cooking for me. (And not have cans and jars piled on the floor.)

plllog, did I miss your kitchen pictures? Please can I see more? Pretty please? Are you painting any walls in your masterful artist way? Can't wait for the viewing. That cool counter is leaving me in suspence and I do not do well with suspence.

I can't pick one thing, but my backsplash for sure, the Bianco Antico granite, and my choice to use the same crystal chandy over the island and table but with 2 different shade-treatments.

*Honed carrara marble counters
*CB2 victory pendants above farm table
*white cabinets with weathered nickel pulls
*painted high gloss blue beadboard ceiling in kitchen and screen porch
*subway tile backsplash
*standing pebble tile backsplash
*bar height (two-tier) island with sink

Plllog, your countertop is so cool! I especially love that you put darker green tiles AROUND THE WINDOWFRAME, that is SO COOL! I was just visiting the parents of a friend of mine, and they live in a beautiful old brick Craftsman, with all the glorious woodwork that implies. Their kitchen has tile windowframes and doorframes, with the tiles--like your windowframe tiles--shaped so they have a neat profile, like wooden molding. I'd never seen that before, and it was SO COOL, and now I see it again in your kitchen! It's a really cool idea.

Our kitchen remodel isn't done yet, but we already have the stove and that's what makes my heart sing. It's sitting in the dining room waiting to be installed, and I smile (or even... call me crazy... say "hi" to it) every time I walk past. It's a burgundy double-oven Fratelli Onofri Royal Chiantishire and I just love it.

Not just my vintage O'Keefe & Merritt range, nor the tiled backsplash and hood, nor the copper countertops -- but rather the fact that I worked so hard for 3 years learning how to fix/create/install all of them. Now that I finally finished the hood last week (yay!), I can relax and sigh and know it was a labor of love I'd choose all over again. Mmm.

Plllog, I love your frogs! I've seen your kitchen pics before, unsure how I missed those.

Gsciencechick, that 'fridge is fabulous.

Cj

My marble backsplash for how it looks.

My Silgranit sink for how it functions.

Mine has to be my giant pear. I surreptitiously had my pantry wall alcove built specifically to accommodate my mother's giant ceramic pear, which I had coveted for years and had hoped to inherit some day (Ugh--does that sound morbid?).

Well, I lucked out when, last December, my mom moved in with us and brought her giant pear with her! It's in its home where it belongs now, and I smile every time I look at it.

I love the morning sunshine coming through the high windows to illuminate the kitchen. My handmade tile backsplash makes me smile. And I love to run my hands over the leathered Antique Brown center island. Most of all, what a joy it is to cook in a well organized space!

It's hard to pick out exactly what it is that makes my heart sing. I love everything about my new kitchen. So, it's the warmth of the wood (maple cabinets, maple countertop with black walnut edging, red oak floors), the sun shining in on all that wood through the original kitchen window and the extra little window that was in the hallway, but is now part of the kitchen, the extra 3 feet of counter/cabinet space next to my stove instead of having the stove butting up against a wall, and my induction range. Most of all, it is fun to play in and I find I'm cooking far more than ever before :)

plllog...WOW! Now that is SOME gorgeous never-woulda-thought-of-doing-that counter! Yours will be the exception to the 'tiles are evil' rule :)

How did you come to pick the little frogs? They are so cute! Did you know you wanted frogs or did you see them & had to get the little guys?

Do you have pics of your entire kitchen up somewhere? It's not in the FKB. Would love to see it in its entire context :)

This is a tough one--for one, we aren't quite finished yet.

I love my blue pearl granite--especially at night. Those blue stones are amazing in the evening with just one of the overhead lights on. They just POP and sparkle. Sometimes I just stand and stare at it, like some love-sick schoolgirl. Ha!

The beadboard. I have always wanted a kitchen with beadboard. Something about a creamy white beadboard just makes my heart happy. So we have beadboard lowers and accents.

Full-extension soft-close drawers. One giant *sigh* there.

My sinks. Both the single-bowl deep apron front farm sink, and my round, deep copper prep sink with the embossed design.

OK, just the whole thing. Everything has a place, and there is no more "fight to death with an intruder" (at least that's what it sounds like) struggle with the pots and pans or tupperware, as they now have their own drawers, and it almost brings a tear to my eye that they are so ORGANIZED!

I could go on, but I'll just leave it there for now. I am absolutely delighted with my kitchen so far. I will be even happier when we finish it! LOL.

Circuspeanut, that hood came out SO well!!! It's perfect!

Thanks for all of the kind words, Summerfan, Jterrilynn, Ideagirl2, CJ47 and Melaska. My kitchen will be posted eventually. It's not done, and all of the pictures I have are carefully shot around the detritus. It's getting there, slowly, but I have a little more to do before I can get good pictures.

LOL, Melaska, I was happy with the plain white 6x6's that came with the house. Tile is a wonderfully functional, easy care surface. The trick is not having sanded grout.

The base color, the yellow-green was perfect with the bamboo. I loved the vines and ginkgo and waterlilies stencils (they also have acorns and other stuff that doesn't "go"). The frogs were just one of the available patterns--and totally charming. I knew I had to have some from the beginning and chose accordingly.

Ideagirl, all of the counter, backsplash and window casing tiles are from the same artisan (Architerra Northwest). She has a whole line of moldings and even does corbels. I lucked out in that my favorite molding was just the right size. There are 7 colors in my window moldings. Not everyone's taste, but I love 'em.

Jterrilynn, no painting in this kitchen. Just about ever bit of blank wall has a cabinet. But there is the laundry room backsplash... (Because you know I couldn't just leave it alone...)

And, yes, great tile makes my heart sing!

I agree Shelayne, this is a hard one. I read this post
this morning before work and had to think about it. If it
were not for Gardenweb, I am not sure I would have found
these treasures.

So for me...Ta Dah...
My Honed Virginia Jet Mist Countertops is the runner up to
my red/white oak floors stained in a dark Ebony mix with
Chestnut. I love the contrast. Together they make my heart sing.

Plllog-You already know I love your tile counters. I voted
for them ages ago. I am glad tile won.

Rhome, Of course it is a layout for you!! I could not
expect anything less. You are the layout Magician of GW.
I love watching your floor plan suggestions to others.

Cienza, God Bless You!!!!!

Doonie, Yes the buckets of sunshine light that filter into
any room make my heart sing. Great answer.

Gsciencechick, Hands down your Big Chill is a sweet sight.
Any ice cream in there?

Holligator, Giant Pear? Pictures? Pictures? And enjoy
your mother with you. Those long talks over coffee in
your kitchen are worth it all.

Thank you Byronroad. This is a fun topic. Everyone has
such great loves. Nice to share what we like!

I love that my kitchen makes sense to me...drawers are where I would want them, shelves are within reach, storage is plentiful. That's the practical side that makes my meal prep easier and that I love.

But my heart loves something ridiculous since I totally cannot use every square inch at once, but I LOVE my huge island. It's 9'x5' and I love to spread out all my ingredients and stuff when I am cooking. I imagine it makes my prep area more useful because I can prep 3 dishes at once and take everything out I need. Made sushi for 40 people the other night and I had so many ingredients and things out, the thing was covered! Hear my heart singing???

I love the dedicated drawer for all that stupid Tupperware.

It has to be the green paneled walls. The green walls came from paneling we bought to put up in the pantry. I thought it might be fun to have some peaking out of the open pantry. But after looking at the amount revealed when we parked it in the pantry - you literally couldn't see it. No bang for the decorating dollar.

We moved it out to an end wall. We tried to love striped pine - an easy effect to produce - but just didn't. So we painted it the accent color - pale silvery green. I stole the look from some british decorating mag. After we got over the decorating shock, we liked it enough to place it on the other end wall.

Our kitchen is this long, but narrow "L" and it visually shortened the length. The bowling alley effect is still present from the front door - the kitchen seems far away but the kitchen became a more intimate and friendly space.

Firsthouse - your kitchen still shocks me each and every time I see it. It is perfection!

Circuspeanut - I don't think I saw your hood before, but.... Wow-za! That is such a sweet combo of stove, hood and backsplash. I bet it is even nicer in person than what you pictured ;)

pllog - still loving your tiles and creativity. It looks like an artist's kitchen all the way.

cooksnsews - if you can make a non-blue lover like me appreciate a blue kitchen, then you know you did something amazing, lol.

I simply cannot wait any longer to have something to add to this type of post. For now, pictures of my vintage stove (hidden wrapped in blankets) and samples will have to get me through until it is put together as a real life kitchen.

Thanks Byronroad for posting this and to everyone that has shared their personal perspective on their kitchens. Even more enjoyable than leafing through photos of kitchens is to read how my GW friends are loving their kitchens after witnessing all their hard work.

What I love most about my kitchen is the layout, how people just feel at home. When we have friends over they just pull up a chair at the island or find a corner and just get to work. My in-laws were visiting and the last night they had spread out on the island to assemble a fantastic apple crisp from the loads of apples we had picked the day before. We couldn't quite imagine how dramatic the transformation would be when it was sketched on paper.

Ascetically, I love the grain of the natural red birch on the slab drawers. I had insisted on shaker style cabinets not understanding how gorgeous the flat slabs of natural wood would be. It swirls blush, gray, slightly green, caramel - wow. And how the calm, light feel of the kitchen brings my blood pressure down when I walk in.

I also love that my kitchen is not quite done so I have an excuse to continue be part of GW and enjoy the design process again!

firsthouse...I LOVE your island and the little I could see of your kitchen. Do you have pics up anywhere? I'd love to see the whole kitchen :)

circuspeanut, I didn't think it was possible to improve one of my all-time favorite kitchens, but you managed! That hood looks fantastic.

pllog, your kitchen always makes me smile. I love the beauty and creativity.

gsciencechick--fantastic fridge!

cooksnews and firsthouse, your kitchens are also beautiful. I could easily see loving working in them every single day.

holligator, definitely, we need pictures of that wonderful pear!

I expected to feel ho hum about our kitchen after 5+ years and I can't believe that my heart still sings when I'm in it or when I look at it as I head up the stairs at night.

If I had to pick one thing that gets my heart singing it would be the hutch-style cabinet we used as a separator between kitchen and table. The upper portion is glass on 3 sides and I adore it every time I look at it. I'm not big on ambient lighting but I love the way natural light (or even the light from the ceiling fixtures) streams through it and the privacy the hutch allows the 2 rooms while keeping them connected (I love separated rooms rather than open plans so this helps satisfy that desire.)

The things I STILL often actively tell myself that I'm so glad we have/did are the much improved layout with lots of storage, prep sink (a biggie for me), 48" wide range (I love the room it allows for a 2nd cook--but I still really appreciate the expanse when I'm cooking alone), the warmth of our wood cabinets, lots of windows, and local stone counters. I also still really appreciate the way our dish drawer dw functions...and I still smile when I tuck our little tv into the cabinet over the fridge. And our improved mudroom, closets and powder room are also still well appreciated. It's great when things work out the way you hope.

This is a fun thread. All the kitchens look great. Love the hood, circuspeanut. Can't wait to see the finished kitchen, plllog.

For me it's the copper apron sink and the new faucet. It's been 6 weeks and I still smile every morning. There's a long way to go yet, but progress is good.

I also have to say the layout and function. I also have to give credit to so many people on this forum that made my kitchen this good.

I love the look of the distress black cabinets with the granite. After nearly 2 years with it, I still love to go in and rub my hands across the island and stare at the cabinets.

Here is a link that might be useful: Evil Monkey Kitchen

"I love the dedicated drawer for all that stupid Tupperware."

Yea, I have one of those also. I'm rather disgusted that I seem to need sooooo many of these storage containers, but at least they are out of sight, and sort of organized.

Firsthouse, if I had your island (heck, your whole kitchen!), my heart would not only sing, but it would do a 7-act opera in octaves never before attained by any human.

Instead, I hear "If You're Happy and You Know it". Ah well, at least I get to clap. LOL. ;^)

That's a sweet island. I was going to say continent but it really is a nice size

I love not cooking in a shoebox anymore. And ample drawer space.

This is a great thread! So many great ideas for those of us still in the planning stage and it makes me sure I'm right to take my time in the planning stage so that my heart will sing when I'm finished with this.

CircusPeanut--love, love, love your kitchen, and your range hood is beautiful!

"fight to death with an intruder" Oh Shelayne, that is so funny--and so true!!! I love having drawers for things now, so that stuff can be put away in it's own spot, not just where there's room at the moment. Ah, to simply reach in and get what you need without a fight...

Firsthouse, I love your island. Mine is 7.5 X 5, and the guys laughed at me when they brought it in (they called it a submarine!) Yours is even bigger and more functional! Like you I adore the space to spread out, and because it's so wide, people can sit there while I prep and not be hit by a flying carrot, or splashed by water from the prep sink. Love, love it. I like your paper towel holder that's built in. Great idea!

Cj