I think it looks great and I like that you broke up the wall cabinet area in the coffee section. I'm guessing IKEA?

Nope; semi-custom cabinets through Home Depot actually. the OCD part of me thinks that I have too much of a gap between counters and bottom of wall cabinets, and I could have ordered slightly taller cabinets. They are only 30" high now, and with the gap I mentioned as well as the 7" from the ceiling to the cabinet top, I could have gone with 36" or 42".

Overall, I think it's a great looking space. Love the cabinets. Love the slate tile flooring. It reads masculine but as a female, I'd be just as happy to work in that kitchen too. Well done.

Do the two backsplashes face one another? If they do, the two styles would bother me and I'd probably not tile the backsplash on the coffee station side, but just have kept the wall color there. In fact, that tile seems to be competing a bit with your counters compared to the tile on the work side of your kitchen.

However, it's your kitchen and if it doesn't bother you, (and you live in it so know better how it feels) then I say fabulous.

Looks like a nice kitchen to me!

What else do you want to do? Maybe some cool accessories and art work and at one point, replace the white fridge (or if it's in bad shape, pain tit with blackboard paint.)

Can you show us your lighting? And do you have to keep the blinds closed?

Thanks for the compliment. My roommate took the pictures and likes to keep the blinds closed. During the day, they're open if I have anything to say about it.

For general lighting, I have five 6" cans with LED bulbs (4000K temp). Three are focused on the long counter with two spaced evenly on the back. I do have Phillips Light Strips for under cabinet/accent lighting for both counters. There is a 3-light fixture above the breakfast bar with 4K LED bulbs as well.

The fridge, while it works fine, will be replaced next year with a stainless steel version. We will also be replacing windows (1/2 this year and 1/2 next), and I plan to go simple and modern with no casing and flush drywall/plaster.

Sounds like you have a game plan. Enjoy your kitchen.

It's very rare for us to say anything negative about a finished kitchen. Usually the collective view is that, once it's done, you should either be supportive or silent because it's not as if the person is going to change a newly-finished kitchen.

But you said you wanted constructive criticism? Does that mean you aren't entirely happy and are intending to change some of this?

If that is the case, I'm sorry, but I don't like either backsplash tile. I'd just keep the little 4" splash of granite and remove the tile (just have painted wall there).

The granite has a lot of pattern, and then the backsplash has even more pattern. Usually you just want to pick one of them to be loud, so they don't compete.

Then you add the fact that backsplashes don't really match each other or the rest of the kitchen, and they just seem kind of loud and discordant.

I also like the floor a lot, but I don't really notice it because of how much is happening at the counter/backsplash level.

Look here -- don't you notice the floor more?

with a stainless fridge and floor mats in a gray with geometric or circular design, everything will pull together and be just fine. You have moasics with the larger square on floors, but more stainless and gray mats will mute the difference a bit.....it'll be fine....it will look like textures more than competing patterns which is a little bit what is happening now. Beautiful deep color of cabinets anchors your space as well. I like it.

Thanks for both comments. I'm one of those that is constantly wanting to tweak and re-tweak things. Removing the back splash is something I hadn't quite considered, but it's a very interesting idea. I'll have to think about those suggestions.

If you do, look into backpainted glass. There are less expensive DIY options, e..g using tempered glass and installing with a track or clip system (like large bathroom mirrors). You can even look into IKEA read-made tempered glass panels (like glass shelves or dresser glass tops) if they fit your measurements. Or you can have them digitally printed with any design/photo you want.

Overall, I think you have a wonderful space! And for DIY, I can really appreciate all the hard work that goes in. I have similar thoughts that Jillius mentions. My general rule of thumb is, busy granite and busy backsplashes almost always clash (I'm talking 98% of the time) - at first glance your counters and BS sort of clash but then I study the colors and it doesn't bother me so much. Your second pic really shows the colors in the BS and those colors really compliment your beautiful cabinets - I barely notice the somewhat busy granite countertops (which are very nice btw) so what I am saying? I don't usually like busy BS with busy counters but your space pulls it off quite well. Overall I think it looks great. Enjoy your new space :)

I LOVE the cabinets, the handles, the floor, the layout.....the backsplash , I would leave plain like the other poster suggested.

The frig...I would suggest a French door stainless steel.

Thanks nicole. That's what I'm planning to do in terms of a fridge. My only difficulty is finding one that has a max width of 33" to fit the space.

I'm planning to add some sort of stacked stone, tile or galvanized
steel to a couple small areas: underneath the breakfast bar and in the
corner of the living room that bumps out (20" x 20"
chimney chase). The entire living room, which the breakfast bar seating
comes out into, is painted so I think this will help break that up and
accent those areas along with tying into the rest of the house.

Galvanized steel or stacked stone were my first choices, but I
figured the creative geniuses roaming these boards might have some good
ideas. I've included a few pictures. Sorry the bad quality; my iPhone 4
camera has seen better days.

I wouldn't worry about finding a 33" (or smaller) stainless french door refrigerator. Whirlpool even makes a 30" french door refrigerator that comes in stainless. 30" refrigerator You definitely want to keep an eye out for sales, so it might be a good idea to do some research in advance to identify models that might suit you, so you can check the store ads when the various holiday sales roll around.

Josh, is that a Granite sink from HD? I've been eyeing up the Karran Q-55 on my kitchen remodel. I just purchased my cabinets (Shenandoah Breckenridge, Maple Mocha Glaze), and my flooring is a topaz birch.

An already darker floor/cabinets, I am not sure if I can get away with the dark sink/dark pulls & handles; and may go with white instead.

Cabinets: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/512425263827339764/

Flooring: http://www.homedepot.com/p/Heritage-Mill-Scraped-American-Birch-Topaz-1-2-in-Thick-x-5-in-Wide-x-Random-Length-Engineered-Hardwood-Flooring-31-sq-ft-case-PF9796/206060622

Josh....Is that a load bearing wall?

Ya know.....I wouldn't do anything....just leave it painted around the breakfast bar. There's a saying in the decorating world....."Decorate for the way you live, not the way you WANT to live". The space is too small for all the plans you have for it. It's NOT a mansion. :0) kidding...

I like the paint around the breakfast bar, Josh! I would not tile it with a stacked stone, adding yet another pattern. Another option would be paneling it to match the cabinets. That's how a did mine in my similar DIY kitchen:

Oh forgot my pic!

Fisher Paykel makes a 33" stainless steel french door fridge. I've had an F&P fridge for 9 years and never had any trouble with it.

I'm curious as to why a French door fridge is recommended here? All the counterspace is to the right, so wouldn't he always be reaching around the open door or past the closed door to get to the contents? And wouldn't the left-side door handle bump the wall? With a full size door it might, as well, but you don't always have to open it 90 degrees-plus. The French door does have to be open all the way for access.

But that's just what I see when I use one, but I don't live with one. They look so cool, though! School me, please!

I have a narrow French door fridge, and yes, I pretty much always open both doors. It's GE and, frankly, a piece of crap. Most of the plastic sliders and bins have cracked or broken off. I'm constantly ordering replacement parts.

A french door fridge makes no sense. So long as you can open the one that you have you are fine. I like that you put the room in order of fridge, landing area, sink, prep area, stove that really makes even a small kitchen work well and your kitchen feels delightfully large for such a small house. I like all of your choices and that the final product looks really good (except the backsplash, but take my comment with a grain of salt because I personally just don't like backsplash.)

I'm hoping a French-door style would be doable, although I understand the caution against it considering my layout. While it isn't a deal breaker, there doesn't seem to be a plethora of other options that have an in-door ice maker and/or water dispenser.

I do realize the hesitancy in adding stacked stone or another pattern to the breakfast bar/living room bump out, but I would like to break it up with something lighter (solid gray/off-white) while minimizing any sort of pattern.

The wall is indeed load-bearing. That was the one thing that I didn't actually do myself. I had a contractor friend who took care of this. It included a header to support the opening.

I think I'll stay away from doing any stacked stone or other material around those areas for the time being as many seem to be strongly opposed to it, and the reasoning makes sense to me. At some point down the road, I'm looking at doing an addition to add approximately 1,000 square feet (master bedroom and bath, new living room, laundry/mudroom).

The old living room would get re-purposed to a nice dining area. That way, if I ever decided to sell, it would be a respectable 1900 square feet with 3 bed/2 bath.

bpathome...French door frigs allow wide trays of food, IE a platter of snacks for entertaining on Josh's breakfast bar. They keep everything you use high up, it's easier on your back. Locally I ran into a sale where it was "just" Samsung french door frigs, $1000 off! So the price may be lower as it was here. They're good looking, a newer style! Josh's frig is the only non SS appliance in his kitchen. (He mentioned he's doing this remodel slowly, one piece at a time)

In order to add stone or tile and make it cohesive...it needs to exist elsewhere in the house. IE: Stone work around an arched doorway...or in the bathroom...then the same stone on the outside of the house. Just sticking things on the wall will not be a pulled together look.

I think paint is just fine under the bar, but how about something like this?

I agree that stone under the bar wouldn't seem cohesive at this point. It also looks like a fairly shallow overhang as it is. I would worry about taking away even an inch or two of knee room for people sitting at the bar. I think that'd be uncomfortable, even without considering what stone against knee caps feels like.

Also, don't forget that you can add interest and beauty to a room without installing permanent features like stone. Try hanging pictures. Try different furniture. Different paint colors. Swap out light fixtures. All of that is non-permanent and easily tweaked (since you like to tweak). You haven't decorated the living room at all, so try that first if your goal is to make the home more interesting.

The trouble with installing permanent features is that they really do need to have a cohesive design across the house that is in-keeping with your home's architecture. Like, if you add crown molding to one room, that's weird. You should have crown molding in all your rooms or nowhere. If you want to add Spanish tile, you should also have other Spanish details throughout the house -- dark wood, arches, a courtyard etc. Similarly, if you add beams or stone or whatever other flair -- it has to relate to the architecture of the rest of the house and belong.

Just randomly adding or removing architectural/permanent things where fancy strikes you is always going to look odd. If what you want to do is randomly add things when fancy strikes you, it looks better, costs less, and is easier to do it with non-permanent features because those don't have the same burden of being architecturally consistent.

I like the rustic/worn wood look but also understand the other comment about being intentional with decisions to maintain consistency with the rest of the house. Is the wood look even an option at this point, or is it best to leave it plain?

I'm definitely appreciating all of the advice.

I'd prefer a plain BS with the busy granite. I don't like busy patterns on most anything - and especially not together. I love the cabinets and I expect the stove made a big difference (can't see much of it) in looks and function. I do like the coffee area with just paint on the wall.

I wouldn't put any patterned rugs down with all the other patterned surfaces.

I do think it is a nice space and looks very pleasant and easy to work in with a good amount of counter space. fridge, counter, sink, counter, stove flows nicely.

if you plan to paint the other room, maybe just using a lighter color will make enough difference. I'd try that before trying another wall surface.