posting these pictures was harder than the reno!

15 years ago

Behold.... My new kitchen! I knew when I was duct tapping the drawers back together that I had had enough!

We tried to keep it to 25,000 plus appliances (which for micro, range, fridge, DW, & compactor Jenn Air came to 5500) we came in about 3,000 over. The lighting was an expense that I had not really thought enough about and we added a lot more than my contractor allowed for but was really needed

We went through Home Depot for the cabinets and the granite. HD was great, but like all things in life you really have to know what you want and follow up on each detail. We went to about three KD's and used all the ideas we liked and then put it all together at Home Depot.

The design inspiration was the state park that we walk the dogs in. I wanted the elements of my kitchen to remind me of the natural beauty of the woods, further I wanted the feeling of the kitchen to "blend" with the view out to the woods.

A final thought - you'll see pictures at the end of the slide show that show the insides of my pantry cabinet. When I first found this web site I posted a thread as to how people store their big bags of dog food.

This was my solution: we took out one of the roll outs and put it in the upper cabinet (which by the way was shipped with no shelf- so now we can get to stuff in the back of that cabinet. I bought a container with a flip up lid to store the dog food and snacks - yes it does take up storage - but when you have, and love, a big dog you gotta deal with their stuff !

Some other things I learned

Plan to be on site as much as possible

If you want your micro to be flush with your cabinets you either need a small micro or it needs its own cabinet

We did integrated cabinet panels for the DW and compactor and so we put our hardware on them - In a moment of inspiration I had my wonderful contractor hang the handle that came with the DW as a towel rack that hangs out of view of the rest of the kitchen

We went with Instant Hot which I love and water on the door for the fridge - those French doors were tempting but chilled, filtered water on demand is a pleasure .We kept the old fridge in the basement for Costco shopping

And yes I got myself a never MT!!!

Ps. The job took 4 weeks Â demo to door knobs !

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Comments (12)

kitchen1921
15 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
That is a gorgeous backsplash! What is it?
alice462
15 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Wow - what a transformation! Just beautiful!
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My ongoing goal in life it to keep it empty. I have more counter now than I did but I also have more storage area. And I seem to be the only person who sees the clutter. I had a cubby built for my microwave/toaster oven away from the counter area and now they live there. My coffee pot is always out. I keep two cutting boards on the counter at all times on opposite sides of the room. I have several marble and subway tiles as trivets. I stuck those little rubber cabinet door bumpers on the back of tiles I bought at Menard's for the trivets. Pretty. Cheap. Doesn't scratch/stays put. Works perfectly. Right now I do have a very few almost antique do-dads setting out just to break up all the white. White counters, white backsplash, white walls. I'm still working on the best place for everything but my goal is to have a place for everything that used to occupy the counter. I've not put the papertowel holder up yet.........I chase the roll around. I want it attached somewhere but I don't want to put holes in anything. AND I don't like the roll of paper towels being a focal point. That really narrows the places to put it where I would need them. The best way to see how it looks is to take pictures. Then look at them. When The Blob starts growing, you'll see it.
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katmandu_2008
15 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
It is really beautiful! I love that backsplash too, and all of your elements look really great together. Love the dog food solution!!! I am always trying to figure out what to do with the huge bag!
busybme
15 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
earlygirl, your kitchen turned out beautifully! I also was going to ask about your backplash! lol You'll have to give us the details.

Congratulations!

Sandy
PRO
Window Accents by Vanessa Downs
15 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Earlygirl,

Your kitchen is beautiful and I think that was a FAST remodel job! I love the cabinet color with the granite. I really like both of your kitchen rugs with the roosters/chickens. Where did you find them?
pluckymama
15 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
4 weeks and you were able to do an amazing transformation! Really love your backsplash and that hutch! Beautiful kitchen!
jb1176
15 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Please, details, details, details
cotehele
15 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Wow, what a change! The hutch is gorgeous. Enjoy!
mustbnuts zone 9 sunset 9
15 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Beautiful! Nice warm colors and beautiful granite and backsplash. I love that hutch! Who makes it? Just gorgeous! Are you breaking it in on Thanksgiving?
earlygirl44
Original Author
15 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
The hutch was bought in Rockport MA in a gallery that is no longer in business . Can't find the reciepts and nothing is stamped on it anywhere ! It was made by a Canadian Co.
We bought it in two stages first the bottom as a side board and then a year later commisioned the open top for display, storage,. It really was the starting point for the whole project - we wanted to do distressed black BC with Hickory UC but it just got too expensive who would have thought that Cherry would end up being cost effective ?
As for thanksgiving ....we always travel to my cousins - We have x-mas eve here so that will be its first big event !!!

Hey there and thanks for checking out my kitchen sorry for the surplus of pictures DH is very thorough.and wonderful, that being said I wish the pictures were better , re larger they just dont so justice to the kitchen !
Im glad everyone loves the backsplash from the start I wanted a "white" backsplash I just like the clean feel of "white", but mother and DH said boring but when I came across the marble I knew I had found the solution. We have wonderful morning light and they way it comes in and reflects, and plays across the tiles is heavenly.

CABINETS 42" Thomasville cherry ,style-Plaza finish Brierwood. (about 8,000)
(most KDs and the guy who measured warned me against getting cabinets right up to the ceiling . But we had to maximize because of the small kitchen. I needed a stool in the old kitchen, now I just have a taller stool.)

HARDWARE right off the rack from Home depot knobs on the top pulls on .the bottom
I chose the bronze finish because we have so much stainless, nickel, chrome- I just wanted to tone things down a bit

GRANITE Home depot Platinum Blue 10% off , free sink, 15 year warrantee against staining (about 2,000)
I did go manage to check out the slab when you go through HD the granite they have is just standard issue , but this is just what I wanted the look was to match the granite that is everywhere here in New England . I had no problem at all- the template guy was very thorough and the install went great. But I was there for both , even though I have a great contractor DH thought I should leave it all up to him but heard the horror stories and I wanted a strip of granite in back of my range and a very short overhang on the extended cabinet , I got just what I was after !
Ps I love the granite , but is November and the counter is COLD.
APPLIANCES all Jennair =love em

FLOOR pre finished Oak. Despite my careful contractor and my diligence with putting down pads the floor took a beating during the reno . It had to go in when it did because of the appliances . Im glad we did it, because I didnt want tile, and now that the dust has settled I dont notice the little bumps and bruises

TILE on the floor rainforest blue
BACKSPLASH hand honed "Statuario" marble ($15 sqft)
CARPETS old oriental thats been kicking around and the rooster is Claire Murray

SINK Elkay 18" "D" bowl $, Faucet Kholer Forte in chrome($188) soap dispenser Kholer instant hot ($199)

UNDER CAB LIGHTING 6 lights at about 70 a piece DH just wrote the check and told me not to worry they look great and the task lighting is fantastic
*****NOTE****The electrician did not charge me to hang the pendant , or anything else that was considered "extra" (ie more outlets), until we started to add stuff later in the project (ie more recessed lighting) so try to think it all through , so he/she cn do it all at once
CONTRACTOR Steve Furbish SVF Homeworks in ma.

As for the 4 weeks he said he could do it in three! But the granite from HD take 2 weeks from template to come in I nudged the granite guys along and had it a little over a week
WORD TO THE WISE . I had everything for this job in my garage the day my contractor started , he was thrilled with me , I allowed him to come early or stay late I bought them a case of water and those small gestures , he later told me were greatly appreciated
lovetocook9
15 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
You have done a beautiful job! I too love the backsplash. What a transformation - 4 weeks! I'm going on 9 months! Very impressive. So many nice elements. Thanks for sharing all those pictures and information : )
petra_granite
15 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
looks awesome! All ties together! You did best with the splash idea in the end! Love the sink as well:
Hey: granite is cold most all the time & you can cool cookies and pies on it! LOL! (I only know that because we installed black granite in a bakery for that single purpose!)
Enjoy your beautiful kitchen!

posting these pictures was harder than the reno!

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kitchen1921

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posting these pictures was harder than the reno!

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