The old GW gang saved my kitchen! Miss those kitchen mentors! As well as the other GW groups....not the same now.

I remember you Boxerpups, your kitchen and your color sense. You did a great job with the names....wonder what happened to that "blog" or section...of all the finished kitchens....

@beachpea3 I remember you too. I remember that wonderful section. It helped everyone in all budgets to look at kitchens and get ideas for their own space. Thats what was nice about the old GW. The were inclusive. Sure you had some snobs but you also had the average person making their space beautiful with a budget or creative solutions. I miss that group of supportive people. There are still some wonderful people today but its not quite the same vibe.

http://finishedkitchens.blogspot.com/

It is still there. Not sure if they are adding any, but the site still functions. My 2003 kitchen shows up.

The old GW was an amazing and very thoughtful, fun, and welcoming place. When I told people about it they would either "get it" immediately or give me a blank stare like "it's just a website, right?" It was so much more than that.

Has any body seen the "male version" of Kelly Ripa ?

Nancy in Mich:

Sorry, I missed your previous post. Thank you for the encouragement about a BELATED REVEAL! Below is our mid-2005 kitchen that was the result of many, many reads on the old GW Kitchens and Appliances threads. Mid-2013 when we knew we were relocating to the Midwest, my husband created the range hood for our SoCal kitchen reno. I loved the shape and proportions, but the epoxy finish he experimented with never was to my liking. Also, I should have gone with a soft green subway tile, instead of the bright white, which was the recommendation of a wonderful GW old-timer, Wilda, whose GW moniker I have sadly forgotten (she created a beautiful classic kitchen with soapstone countertops. Do any old-timers out there remember her?). But the kitchen was a great workhorse in a compact footprint, featuring Ikea European oak cabinets and 'matching' white oak trim and moldings, courtesy of my woodworker DH + my British Racing Green Lacanche Cluny range:

In significant contrast, our newly-built MW home (which also benefited from GW / Houzz input), is espresso-stained walnut cabinets from trees cleared from our wooded lot + Mid Western Wolf/SZ appliances + a range hood built by DH with Indiana limestone trim (handled in a woodworking fashion, as it is a soft stone) BEFORE our move-in (hallelujah)! DH also built all of the faux beams on the driveway of our temporary home and installed them w/ our finish carpenter (Sorry photos are so dark):

Was that MamaGoose? She made her range hood out of a chicken feeder she found out in the barn. I think some of her counters were old high school science lab counters - impermeable to all chemicals. She routed a drainboard into the area next to the sink. One side of her kitchen was an old cupboard, maybe from a school, with soapstone tiles she honed herself.

You had the good fortune to be able to create two beautiful, but very different kitchens! I have to ask, having used both, do you like the big honking gas stove better or the (I must assume) induction one at the newer house? I love the practical towel rods and how the windows go all the way down to the counters. It makes the kitchen flow with the outdoors

I remember the name MammaGoose and that someone made their kitchen counters out of slate lab tabletops, but no, Wilda had a very classic kitchen w/ traditional cabinets, beautiful soapstone counters, no DIY items.

I loved the Lacanche gas burners and enjoyed the central "traditional French hot top": a big burner under a very heavy cast iron covering that could be used in various ways. The two smaller ovens were gas and electric, and I enjoyed having both - did meat in gas and baked in electric for the most part, but they were less full-function than the larger convection ovens in the new kitchen. The range was 39" wide, so big, but a good bit smaller than American 2-oven 48" ranges, and it was a beautiful appliance (hidden too much by the island). I believe Lacanche is producing ovens with more features now.

Yes, I went with an induction cooktop in the new home because we did an all-electric home via geothermal. I am still getting used to induction, after 40+ years of gas... While you have great control with induction, and it is much healthier (no unhealthy fumes, as w/ gas), it performs differently. Water boils extremely quickly, for example, but I have to keep the setting higher to remain at a low boil w/ pasta or veggies (maybe it is dependent on mass in the pot?). And it takes longer to get to a steady simmer and keep it there. And there is vibration through your pot, so to keep a lid ajar over the pot, you have to rig a silicone tool to balance the lid and keep it from vibrating off. But super-easy clean up, compared to a gas cooktop or range top! Because we anticipated living through retirement here, I did a cooktop and wall ovens at a more ergonomic height. Long-winded reply! I probably prefer the new set up because it is easier to care for and the ovens are more flexible, but I wouldn't feel the need to change anything in my old kitchen if I lived there again.

The practical towel rods are Ikea, always a source of good finds!

I take the windows at counter height for granted now, but it is a great feature that I had in the previous kitchen and made sure we had in the new one. It is a contemporary approach, but we mixed things up in the new home, trying to capture a bit of Tudor, Med. Revival, contemporary, and traditional/transitional with distinct rooms (not open plan), but with wide door openings and pocket doors.

More than you wanted to know!

Hi, everyone! I never did get the farmhouse remodeled, but I'm still living on the farm. We got so busy with all the outside work (and my writing) that I haven't had time for much else. I hope everyone is having a safe and warm winter! ((Hugs))

Lavender Lass you always had such interesting plans and pictures....maybe someday....!

Hi Lavender Lass. So good to hear from you again. I agree with Beachpea3 your contributions were always interesting and I loved hearing about your farm.

I left NJ for California on a job transfer in 2013 right after I finished my kitchen remodel (which I never photographed) and spent 8 years there. Wonderful memories come flooding back to me of a time when this group from the kitchen forum allowed me to try new ideas in my 1930s kitchen. I guess it's time to post ..right?

I managed to create a brand new kitchen on a budget without a Kitchen designer in site. I had my handyman and the caring advice of this amazing group.

Posted by GreenhouseMs

I‘m back too. Was also on the old gw forums and still in touch with good friends from the cooking forums. I am working on a kitchen remodel and would love help from anyone who wants to give me advise. So nice to see so many familiar names here... @mama goose_gw zn6OH @Lavender Lass @kitchengirl @Boxerpal @Nancy in Mich and a few more

Hey loves2cook46! Nice to see you here!

Hi everyone! I was clafouti on gardenweb. I received really good advice about a proposed kitchen remodel, but I ended up creating an addition for a kitchen instead in the end. There were so many inspiring ideas, so much creativity and thoughtfulness. Of course I incorporated Tapmaster, NeverMT, kick-open trash drawer, etc. into the new kitchen :) I sold the house in 2016, but I really loved that kitchen...

If anyone wants to help me with this go round, I would really appreciate it. Here's my thread... https://www.houzz.com/discussions/6090163/need-creative-remodeling-help-and-suggestions#26658717

Hello, @clafouti, so nice to see another familiar name

I’ve been here since 1998, and there has been far more bootings for no reason at all in the last year than the entire time that Spike owned the place. Spike was an amateur compared to Houzz. You can’t even flag SPAM anymore.

Sophie being booted was the beginning of the end. This will probably get removed as well. And another account disappeared, with another ISP ban. They don’t want to be a repository of knowledge, or to have any continuity of posters with history.

I was lovemrmewey on the old GW. I loved the recipes I found there!

I remember the tremendous surge in the popularity of the Gardenweb in the late 2000s, after which the community seemed too large, with too many people coming and going to maintain "friendships" easily. But what a fabulous resource!

I am Cotehele ~2008 -2010. I have wondered what happened to my GW friends from that era. The group was extremely helpful in designing my kitchen and bakery. After the project was completed in 2009, I hung around a bit to answer questions and to help others. I found this thread from searching my screen name.

I want to use some of the (Kline cabinetry) cabinet plans in the bakery. But I cannot find them. I posted quite a few of the final plans as people requested them. But I cannot find the posts now.

To any of my old friends, I hope you are doing well. Those of you who joined after 2010, I hope you find the old GW kitchen threads as helpful as I did.

Cotehele, So nice to "see" you! I remember you and your kitchen project. Good luck with your bakery!

Houzz isn't the same. We had quite a cozy little group back then. I still miss it. Kelly aka KOMPY

Kompy ...I do too....

Me too. What a gift GardenWeb was.

It was like a kind of Utopia in retrospect.

GardenWeb was such a huge help to me over the years. I didn't get around to my kitchen remodel until 2017-18, but I had learned so much in the 2008-10 period that I was ready to go and surprised my kitchen designer with some of my GardenWeb-inspired ideas (she'd never heard of NeverMT before, for one!).

So thanks to all...this thread has been a blast from the past and it has been fun to recall so many screen names of contributors. I haven't seen anyone mention Buehl, who was so helpful to many and who inspired me a lot. Also trying to remember the name of the person from Florida who had that really cool antique cabinet that she wanted to work into her design...and the name of the soapstone guy from Florida....Florida Joshua? Those were the days! Enjoying my 3-year-old kitchen so much and am SO grateful that we completed it before the pandemic.

Tuckjp, that was Squirrel who used to photoshop for us. I miss her and all of you. I am glad I found many of you again on Houzz. This picture of me is about 5 or 6 years old. My Lynn2006 posts became SusanLynn2012. The wonderful members always helping each other with such great design flair and so many beatiful kitchens. Everyone was so kind to me and so helpful. I felt like you were all my friends. Thank you all for being there for me and for so many of us.

mama goose_gw zn6OH, Thank you so much for the link to the finished kitchens! I was not feeling myself tonight and I need sleep but I checked Houzz and this thread popped up making me smile and remembering all of you! So glad to you all here.

scootermom, Buehl is still giving kitchen design advice, but not as much as in the old days. She maintains the 'New to Kitchens' thread, and has her messaging enabled, so you can get in touch with her via Houzz.

I remember Elise (remodelfla) and her 'possum belly cabinet, and the great deal she got on her craigslist Subzero. Florida Joshua installed her soapstone, IIRC.

Good to see all of you again!

Thank you Mama goose_GW zn60H about where Beuhl is now. I will look for this thread. Good to see so many memberss that I enjoyed reading their posts and seeing their kitchen transformations and hearing their excellent advice.

susanlynn, here's a link: New to Kitchens? Read me first.

Does anyone remember Claredelune? She had a beautiful craftsman inspired kitchen. An so many great insights too! I miss her....

I stopped in to read everyone's names. You all have helped me so much and I can't thank you enough. Lynn2006 who is now SusanLynn2012.

Yes, I remember ClairdeLune. Didn’t she also have that great laundry closet with the machines elevated to sit on top of pull/tilt out laundry bins?

Just stopping by to say hey. I was around on the old Gardenweb forums from the early 2,000's helping here and there when I could with kitchen design layouts and such, particularly with the glitchy IKEA planner, lol (and it still is!) I came searching the last couple of weeks for information on appliances for my daughter and son-n-law's new house they are buying. Many of you were helpful when I had decisions of my own to make for not only a bathroom remodel in one house, but a kitchen renovation in another. Anyway, I miss the camaraderie we had. Hope all is well with all of you.

The gardenweb was really helpful in the past. And people laughed at errors and helped anyway. Miss it.

It was a fantastic forum of like minded people. It helped me do a kitchen remodel and new house build. Would love to read what everyone is up to these days.

Hey Everyone! Gosh, I sure do miss y'all! Every now and again I'll get an e-mail notification on a thread and it pulls my heart strings. I joined back in the day when Spike ran the place out of his basement. As best I remember you had to do something pretty nefarious to be sent to the "teacups". Anyway, my name was Riverrat1 and I miss this gift of Gardenweb that fell in my lap around 1997-98. It was a great help to me when I worked on a large addition to a country house. We no longer have that house and built a smaller retirement home in a wonderful little neighborhood.

Does anyone remember the gift exchange that AnnT orgaized for us? That really was a fun!

This is Kompy. I was around 30 when I joined Gardenweb way back when!! I turn 60 in June. Wow how time flies! Since then I got divorced, remarried, sent a kid off to college, had same kid decide to skip on college and start his career...but through it all have stayed a happy go lucky person...and I still love my job as a kitchen designer, going on 40 yrs! Me and new hubby are friends with old hubby. Stopped by his house yesterday with my son after the amazing OHIO Eclipse! I still come on Houzz everyday while I eat my lunch at my desk...which is what I did 30 years ago on GW! I've learned so much from all the pros here as well as the homeowners! I miss GW still...it seemed more close-knit and kind.

So nice to see your Post Kompy

Funny, I started doing kitchen design so young (20s)...and always felt like a newbie. I guess I'm a seasoned veteran now in the industry...lol. But every time an "older couple" come into my store, I think they are older than me. Often times I'm older! lol I still feel like I'm 20 inside my head.

So nice to see you all here, keeping in touch every now and again. Seeing all the familiar names warms my heart, and I love the life updates! My kids were young when I did my remodel, and now both are out of college and living their own dreams. They come home and enjoy cooking and baking in my kitchen and sit around the island to visit, exactly as I hoped they would when we designed it. I was so happy to be able to tap into the wealth of experience and knowledge here. My remodel is 14 this year and my kitchen is still my happy place. Some of the appliances are getting old enough for replacement! The Miele induction cooktop died this year and it was like losing an old friend. I replaced it with a new Thermador. :-D

I remember a whole lot of people. I did my remodel in 2007 and I'm still using the same appliances, but they sure are limping along. I tried to replace my fridge, but during the reno they installed the appliances, and then installed the counters and now nothing will fit through the doors between the counter corners! I really don't know what I will do when I have to replace an appliance. The soapstone countertops are glued down, not screwed. I'll figure out something I guess, LOL!

Vicki (AKA vjrnts)

I started out as a new kid on GW and i learned so much there i became a crusty curmudgeon at houzz 🤣 Some of my favorite kitchens are on photobucket! I mean they WERE on photobucket.

Remember when we used to have regional get-togethers? I remember one in Baltimore and one in NoVA many years ago!

I discovered GW around 10-11 years, so that is considered new compared to many of you!

I wondered if anyone knows what happened to Mamagoose? I miss her! I often wonder how she is. I have not seen her post in a really long time.

I was recently wondering the same thing, I checked her user profile and her last comment was in February of 2023...I hope she's OK. I sent her a message today to see if she's still around Houzz.

I was LENVT. I didn't post too much, but I joined in 2001 just as we bought our first house and needed a washing machine... and then a dishwasher, and finally a range. There was a person here, TJ something or other, who knew appliances like the back of his hand. I mean WOW. I knew from this forum that I wanted a Bosch dishwasher, convinced my neighbor to get one as well. He still has his, 22 years later. I bought a Kenmore Elite dishwasher. Because of TJ, I knew it was a rebadged Bosch! Quiet as the dickens, cleaned like a charm, Just replaced it a few months ago. It most likely could have been repaired, but I am finally renovating our kitchen after 23 years in this house. It is a full on 1980's dream kitchen with all the attendant horror. Hey, after 23 years, it's MY fault!

I knew so much about appliances, and the necessary CFM per BTU's for my range hood that I got offered appliance sales jobs --twice!

I always come here first step in any major decision for the house. I remember lusting after the kitchen reno threads like mad back in the day. Following them through to the reveals... Good times as I was recovering from a significant illness at the time. It is still a good place, but a bit less like a club, I guess.

Good ol' TJ, wherever you are friend, I thank you.

So great to see every one still chiming in on this thread. WOW! I can't believe I posted this 9 years ago!?! I agree, LENVT....it was more like a fun club back then. :-)

The Kitchen Place aka Kompy (GW name)